Teaching Phonetic Alphabet to Underachieving High School Students

• Main Authors: TSAI, I-CHUN, 蔡宜君
• Other Authors: CHANG, LI-HUNG
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/67086419869052138638

碩士 === 國立屏東教育大學 === 英語學系碩士班 === 101 === The study determined the effects ofremedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols among underachieving high school students in Taiwan, to identify their most frequently used strategies for vocabulary memorization, and to measure the progress of their pronunciation skills as a result of the remedial instructions. Underachievers by definition lack expected grade-level competence; thus, the researcher decided to teach them the most basic rules of letter–sound correspondence, in the hope that it would help them do better in memorizing vocabulary. Since all or virtually all English textbooks and materials used in Taiwan are printed with K. K. phonetic symbols, it is essential for students to be familiar with them. The study used a mainly qualitative research model. Four high school freshmen were recruited as participants and required to attend classes for six weeks. The results were based on their pre-test and post-test scores, responses to background and English learning strategies questionnaires, and interview responses. The findings are as follows: 1. The three most frequently used strategies were 1) reviewing the word to be learned visually (“keeping eyeing” the word), 2) writing the word repeatedly, and 3) using K. K. phonetic symbols to help spell the word. 2. After receiving remedial instruction in K. K. symbols, the underachievers performed significantly better in word retention. 3. After receiving the remedial instruction in K. K., the underachievers performed better in vocabulary pronunciation, but the result did not achieve statistical significance. On the basis of these results, the researcher would suggest that teachers should find ways to better motivate underachieving students in order to achieve better learning. Additionally, remedial instruction classes should be arranged by schools, and teachers should take the responsibility to teach students well.