This Master's thesis discusses the importance of developing English language literacy skills in pupils from the earliest stage of their schooling. Although in the past this subject was not given much attention and was often perceived as a mere corollary of other foreign language learning activities, it is becoming more and more important. In the Slovenian education system, a foreign language has recently been included among the compulsory school subjects in the first three years of elementary school. Foreign language teaching is adapted to pupils’ development phase and their interests. The greatest emphasis is put on exposure to the language from an early age, as well as on the promotion and development of listening and speaking skills. In the third grade, after pupils have mastered the skills well enough in their mother tongue, it is appropriate to also include progressive, yet systematic reading and writing exercises in a foreign language. However, because for pupils in Slovenia learning English as a foreign language includes familiarizing themselves with a system of phonetics and alphabet that is very different from their mother tongue, English teachers face a big challenge in teaching English literacy at an early stage in elementary schools.
The theoretical part provides definitions of literacy and literacy development. It describes the concept of systematic literacy development and highlights the importance of phonemic awareness as its key factor. It includes a short presentation of early, systematic mother-tongue literacy development as a pre-condition for efficient foreign language literacy development. This is followed by a more detailed presentation of systematic literacy development in English language learners, including similarities and differences between both. It highlights the importance of transfer from a mother tongue into a foreign language, as well as potential difficulties arising from this. Different approaches are presented regarding English literacy development, focusing on the systematic phonics approach. Dilemmas that can occur when choosing each approach are identified, together with their possible solutions.
The empirical/research part presents the process of conducting, and the results of, a research that included a class of third-grade pupils from a small branch school (ten pupils). The purpose of the research was, firstly, to design, and put into practice, activities that included elements of the systematic phonics approach and, secondly, to determine whether these activities effectively contributed to acquiring reading and writing skills in English. One of the goals was also to assess third-grade pupils’ motivation for learning to read and write in English, as well as whether the activities that included the phonics approach reinforced their interest.
The results of the research conducted show that teaching a systematic, 28-hour course of English literacy to third-grade pupils was effective and had a positive impact on their motivation for learning to read and write. Their progress was confirmed by the results they achieved in reading and writing skills tested before and after. Undoubtedly, these results were also influenced by the fact that the pupils were highly motivated to fulfil the task, and their answers to a non-standardised interview corroborate this. Based on the results achieved it can be concluded that it is reasonable to include foreign language literacy development systematically, as early as after two years of learning a foreign language. At this stage, pupils are eager for this kind of knowledge, whereas at the same time it offers an excellent opportunity for introducing early systematic literacy development in a mother tongue, which can subsequently be upgraded with the specific features of developing literacy in a foreign language.
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