EDU20001

Assignment 2: Essay

Assignment 2: Essay
In this essay the topic that will be the focus is phonological awareness in the early years. The
focus age group of phonological awareness in the pre-school age group (4-5 years). In this
essay I will be discussing what phonological awareness means, which is how spoken
language can be broken down into smaller components and learning the ability to identify and
manipulate these components. The other Points that will also be discussed alongside the
meaning of phonological awareness include but are not limited to; the areas of phonological
awareness, what the importance of phonological awareness is, how we can teach
phonological awareness and discussing important resources for teaching this topic. I will also
evaluate and link the Early Years Learning Framework to these experiences.
Phonological awareness is a key component to the development of reading and writing skills.
The development of phonological awareness is an important part of pre reading and early
literacy skills, the written words correspond to spoken words. Phonological awareness gives
children the skills to break down the sounds in the words and translate them to spoken
sounds. It also teaches the skills to decode words and transfer them to written words
(spelling). It is said that "Students with good phonological awareness are in a great position
to become good readers, while students with poor phonological awareness almost always
struggle in reading" (Kilpatrick, 2016) Phonological awareness in early childhood (at around
the age of six) can be a strong indicator of future reading skills. Those children who thrive
phonologically at a young age sets themselves up for future reading success. Children
struggling to grasp the concept of phonological awareness should be paid extra attention to
further the skills needed to move on to early literacy skills. People are mistaken when they
believe that phonological awareness begins when children are talking, phonological
awareness actually begins in infancy with caregivers engaging in conversation, songs and
stories during infancy.
Phonological awareness describes awareness of how spoken language consists of different
smaller components and ability to identify and manipulate these. (Torgenson et al, 2019, Ehri
& Flugman, 2018). Phonological awareness is the beginning of learning to read and
deconstruct words and letter sounds. When we think about phonological awareness we think
of the breakdown of sounds within words (phonics) however, phonics is only a small part of
understanding phonological awareness. Phonemic awareness is achieved towards the end of
phonological awareness, as the areas become more advanced.
Phonological awareness is broken down into eight areas. These eight areas follow a
developmental sequence, usually achieved at a certain age, while all areas should be achieved
before formal schooling begins. The first area of phonological awareness that we look at is
rhyming. We first look at the recognition of rhymes. The ability to recognise words that
rhyme is developed at the age of three to four years. When children rhyme they are playing
with and breaking apart the sounds within the word. For a child to rhyme they must first
recognise the sounds within the word, children can then listen for similar sounds and decide if
they rhyme. The goal of learning the skill of rhyming is for children to be able to list rhyming
words. The next area we look at the is the syllable recognition. The break down of syllables
and the ability to blend those separate sounds into one is an important step of phonological
awareness. The ability to recognise syllables normally occurs at around the age of five. The
process of learning to recognize syllables begins with children slowing down the words and
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Assignment 2: Essay

recognising the sections of the word. Clapping with each segment ( syllable) is a common
way children are taught syllables. For example the word ‘Monkey’ can be broken down into
‘mon’-‘key’. Moving on from Syllable recognition, Alliteration is important for early
language and literacy skills. Alliteration is the process of sorting words by their beginning
and ending sound rather than the using the letter. An example of alliteration is the words fish
and phone can be sorted in the same sound (phonemes) even though they begin with different
letters. Onset and Rime. Onset and rime is the process of breaking up words into their onset
(consonants before vowels) and their rime (the remainder of the world) In the word dog, the
onset is ‘D’ and the rime is ‘og”. The next few stages of phonological awareness becomes
more advanced, blending sounds and segmenting sound. The skill of blending sounds in
generally developed around age 5, around the time that formal schooling begins. Blending
sounds in an important skill of phonological awareness, it is the skill that is used to blend
sounds together during learning to read. Segmenting the sounds of words is a very important
part of phonemic awareness which is a big part of phonological awareness. The last and most
complex area of phonological awareness is deleting and rearranging sounds. In this area
children develop the skills to swap out letters or sounds in words to create a different word.
For example, swapping out the ‘C’ in cat for a ‘H’ to create hat.
Teachers and educators have an important role when it comes to teaching phonological
awareness. They have the job of researching and implementing activities and lessons to teach
children the important skills they need to achieve phonological awareness. Teachers,
educators are families form the main influence on children and how they will be set up for
achieving phonological awareness goals.
The learning experience we will evaluate in relation to phonological awareness is a learning
experience designed to teach children of preschool age (4 -5 years) the ability to recognise
and identify syllables. In this planned learning experience children would sit as a group in a
circle. Each child would be encouraged to say their name first, and then attempt to clap at
each syllable. For example the Name ‘Taylor’ the Child would clap at each syllable ‘Tay-lor’.
A more advanced version of this experience would have children select a picture card with an
animal on it, the child can then sound out and clap the syllables.
The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) outcome 5.4 Children begin to understand how
symbols and pattern systems work refers to children’s ability to recognize patterns in letters
and sounds. The Early Years Learning Framework state that educators can support children to
achieve this outcome by drawing children’s attention to symbols and patterns in their
environment and talk about patterns and relationships, including the relationship between
letters and sounds (EYLF, page 46). This experience is an intentional teaching experience
with the educator’s goal for the children is to gain a knowledge and understanding of
syllables. The learning environment is designed for children to feel a sense of community by
engaging in group experiences (Early Years Learning Framework outcome 2.1.2). The skill of
identifying syllables is an important step in learning to read and identify sounds. For children
to be able to read words they must first be able to break them down into smaller parts (or
syllables). Using physical cards for this experience assists children in visual recognition.
Most children are hands on learners and using a physical resource rather than a digital
resource is beneficial. Not only is the physical cards a visual resource but also using the
physical cards can assist in fine motor skills which is also an important skill for future writing
skills.
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Assignment 2: Essay

Teachers using resources available can greatly encourage the learning of young children. The
use of flash cards is a versatile resource used in many classrooms across multiple age groups.
The age group this resources is aimed for is the pre school age group (4 – 5 years) The flash
cards that I will be discussing are Rhyming flash cards. Rhyming flash cards can be
purchased or hand made. Rhyming flash cards include a picture along with the written word
for children to be able to associate the written word with a visual picture. Children can use
these cards to find rhyming words. Children can verbally say the item on the card and search
for a matching rhyming word. This learning resource can directly link to the Early Years
Learning Framework Outcome 5 Children are effective communicators is multiple sub
outcomes. In the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) outcome 5.2 Children engage
with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts, this outcome can be achieved when
children begin to understand key literacy concepts, such as the sounds of language, letter-
sound relationships, concepts of print and the ways that texts are structured (EYLF, page 44).
This learning resource can also be linked to the Early Years Learning Framework Outcome
5.3 Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media this is evident when
children begin to use images and approximations of letters and words to convey meaning
(EYLF, page 45). The act of rhyming is an important step towards phonological awareness,
children play with sounds and begin to grasp and understanding for how to make those
sounds.
In conclusion, the skills learned while achieving phonological awareness are greatly
important for future reading and writing skills. What we do know and understand is that
phonological awareness is a process that isn’t mastered overnight. It is a process that spreads
over many years of early childhood development, which most areas are generally achieved by
the beginning of formal schooling. Phonological awareness begins in infancy, children
develop phonological awareness by listening to speech and engaging in conversation. Parents
and caregivers speaking, reading stories and engaging in rhyming songs are all a very
important part of the development of phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is not
only developed by the use of language, but the use of resources and the environment for
learning. The Reggio Emilia approach to education recognises and values the environment as
a ‘third teacher’, meaning that how we set up our environment as educators can directly link
to further education opportunities.
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Assignment 2: Essay

Reference list:
Australian Government Department of Education and Training. Belonging, Being &

Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. ACECQA, 2018.

“Equipped for Reading Success: A Comprehensive, Step-By-Step Program for Developing

Phonemic Awareness and Fluent Word Recognition | Silvereye.”

Www.silvereye.com.au,

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2024.

Gelman, Susan A. “Learning from Others: Children’s Construction of Concepts.” Annual

Review of Psychology, vol. 60, no. 1, Jan. 2009, pp. 115–140,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2829654/,

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093659.

Milankov, Vesela, et al. “Phonological Awareness as the Foundation of Reading Acquisition

in Students Reading in Transparent Orthography.” International Journal of

Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 10, 19 May 2021, p. 5440,

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105440.
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Assignment 2: Essay

NSW Government. “Phonological Awareness.” Education.nsw.gov.au, 19 July 2022,

education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/literacy-and-numeracy/

teaching-and-learning-resources/literacy/effective-reading-in-the-early-years-of-

school/phonological-awareness.

“Phonological (Sound) Awareness - Kid Sense Child Development.” Kid Sense Child

Development, 2019,

childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/literacy/phonological-awareness/.

“Phonological Awareness (Emergent Literacy) | Victorian Government.” Www.vic.gov.au, 14

Apr. 2023, www.vic.gov.au/literacy-teaching-toolkit-early-childhood/learning-foci-

emergent-literacy/phonological-awareness.

“Practice Principles for Teaching Birth to 8 Years | Victorian Government.” Vic.gov.au,

2022, www.vic.gov.au/practice-principles-teaching-birth-eight-years.

“Reading and Viewing.” Www.australiancurriculum.edu.au,

www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/national-literacy-and-numeracy-learning-

progressions/national-literacy-learning-progression/reading-and-viewing/?

subElementId=50892&searchTerm=multimodal+texts#dimension-content.

State Government of Victoria. “Phonological Awareness.” Vic.gov.au, Education and

Training, 2019,

www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/

literacy/readingviewing/Pages/litfocusphonological.aspx.
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Assignment 2: Essay