Phonemic Awareness Training: Both Boring and Ineffective?
S Krashen
There is strong evidence that affect counts, that positive emotions enhance performance and learning, and that negative emotions hinder them (for evidence supporting this "pleasure hypothesis," see Krashen, 1994; Coles, 1998). If this is correct, a recent report on children's attitudes toward phonemic awareness (PA) training gives us strong reason for concern.
Castiglioni-Spalten and Ehri (2003) compared the effects of regular PA (segmentation) training ("ear treatment") and PA segmentation training that included instruction in articulatory gestures (this group, the "mouth treatment," "learned to position pictures to depict the sequence of articulatory gestures in words, " p. 25). The control group had no special treatment. (The mean age of all subjects was 5 years, 9 months.) Castiglioni-Spalten and Ehri reported no difference among the two PA groups on segmentation tests, and spelling, although both groups were better than the group that got no training, a familiar result: PA training results in improved performance on tests of PA (but not necessarily reading; Krashen, 2000, Coles, 2002) and is better than doing nothing (Coles, 2002). There was no difference among the groups in reading pseudowords and on a test in which children were taught new words. Castiglioni-Spalton and Ehri reported that the articulation group was better on the latter test when a post-hoc analysis was done and partial credit was allowed.
Of interest here is the children's reactions to the training: In the pilot study, the experimenter recorded "several off-task and resistance behaviors committed by students: refusing to use the mirror (during articulation training); leaving their seats without permission; playing with blocks by building a tower, house, or train; throwing the blocks on the floor; talking about extraneous topics; interacting with others in the room; and expressing reluctance to finish the instruction" (p. 36). In the actual study, the experimenter had a "procedure for curbing such behaviors. When one occurred, she reminded students that she would be reporting back to their teacher about how well they did and surely they wanted a good report. In addition, a screen was positioned to isolate children from distractions in the room" (p. 36).
During the actual study, "the experimenter recorded instances of off-task and resistance behaviors ... However, students rarely committed such behaviors more than twice because the experimenter discouraged them" (p. 43). Castiglioni-Spalten and Ehri reported there was more disruption for the "ear" condition than the "mouth" condition but do not provide details, only the incredible statistic that 87% of the children in the ear condition "exhibited at least one of these behaviors such as playing with blocks by building a tower, horse, or train" (p. 43).
The training sessions lasted only between 20 and 30 minutes, and there were only "three to six" of them. Despite the short treatments, these children were clearly bored.1
Compare this to children's reactions to hearing stories. Here is one typical description: Feitselson, Kita, and Goldstein (1986), a study that took place in Israel, confirmed the positive impact of read alouds on language development (see also Blok, 1999; Bus, van IJzendoorn, and Pellegrini, 1995). In addition to providing test scores, Feitelson et. al. also presented this interesting report on how children reacted to hearing stories. First graders in Israel were read to from the Kofiko series, which dealt with the adventures of a monkey. The following is a quote from a teacher's observational record, two months after the reading program began: "11:20: The class is busy copying home assignment questions from the blackboard. At 11:25 the teacher reminds the children that 'we need to hurry because we want to read Kofiko.' There are immediate shouts of approval and children hurry to finish the task. A few faster children to to the desks of the slower ones and assist them. Cries of 'hurry up' and 'let's get it done so we don't lose time,' are heard from various directions ..." (p. 348).
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