An Application Study Of Phonics In English Phonology And Vocabulary Teaching In Primary School

English pronunciation and vocabulary teaching is the crucial pedagogical task forprimary English teachers. It is clearly elaborated in the Level-2requirements of2012National English Curriculum Standard that ‘Be able to learn600-700words and beable to pronounce simple words according to the spelling rules’. However, how toproperly guide pupils to study English words becomes a difficult problem. Accordingto the textbook of People’s Education Press, students learn new vocabulary from theletters to the words and then to the word phonetics, which did not build up a linkbetween the pronunciation, form and meaning, especially between the sound andspelling. Owing to the ineffective method, most of students face the trouble that theycan neither correctly pronounce the words, nor accurately spell them.Based on the situation of vocabulary learning in primary school, the author madean experimental study on phonics, which aims to discuss and analyze its definition,approaches, theoretical basis and teaching procedure. And then it was applied into theEnglish Classroom of Grade4in an elementary school to study whether phonicscould really improve word pronunciation and spelling ability in order to promoteelementary students’ language proficiency.The Experimental Group (experimental group，N=40)and the Control Group(control group，N=40)were chosen from Grade4in San Yanjin Primary school inXiHu District of Nangchang. Phonics was implemented to the experimental groupwho was trained in phonics method while teaching vocabulary and phonology.Meanwhile, the control group adapted the traditional method. According to theanalysis of the data, the thesis firstly intends to answer whether phonics can improvestudents’ English pronunciation, promote students’ word spelling, and students’language proficiency development. Then, the relationship between phonics andpronunciation, spelling and language proficiency will be discussed.Through the pronunciation, spelling and language proficiency pre-tests and post tests, the data would be calculated by SPSS13.0and then be analyzed. Combining theresult of interview, the result shows that Phonics can not only improve students’English pronunciation, but also students’ English word spelling ability. At the sametime, it is an effective way to promote students’ language proficiency development.And the relationship between Phonics and sounding, spelling and languageproficiency was proved closely related，which indicates that phonics is of great benefitto the language skills development. Besides, most of pupils showed keen interests inPhonics and would prefer to learn new words’ pronunciation and spelling by usingPhonics.Some implications have been drawn from the results of the study of phonics forphonology and vocabulary instruction in primary English education. Based on thesefindings, the study also provides some suggestions for primary English teachers suchas cultivating students’ word reading and spelling ability, providing moreopportunities to learn and use phonics, and strengthening spelling ability through alarge amount of English reading etc.