The acquisition of English phonological awareness in Mandarin-speaking children

This thesis investigated the effectiveness of 3 intervention programs on the acquisition of English phonological awareness by 58 typically-developing Mandarin-speaking kindergarteners learning English as a foreign language. The programs consisted of perceptual-based, production-based, and phonemic awareness activities. The perceptual-based or production-based intervention was conducted in Phase I, followed by the phonemic awareness activities in Phase II. Children's phonological awareness skills in both Mandarin and English were assessed before and after each Phase. Results indicated that in Phase I, there was no significant difference of phonological awareness skills after the intervention for the groups who received either the perceptual- or the production-based intervention when compared to the control groups. In Phase II, there was a significant difference in overall English and Mandarin phonological awareness test scores for the groups who received phonemic awareness instruction when compared to the control group. Moreover, those children given the perceptual-based or the production-based intervention previously along with phonemic awareness instruction in Phase II did not show an advantage over those who received only phonemic awareness instruction in Phase II. Even though phonemic awareness intervention was carried out with English materials, children's performance in phonological awareness in both Mandarin and English improved. The findings suggest that implementing phonemic awareness activities in English-learning classrooms and in clinical settings where clients have limited English experiences could enhance children's phonological awareness skills in both English and their native language.