Development of word awareness skills in typically developing english language learners during early primary grades Shivananjappa Somashekara Haralakatta1,*, Prabhu Shwetha2, Bhat Jayashree Sunil3 1Assistant Professor (Selection Grade), Department of Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Mangalore, Karnataka, India 2Junior Project Fellow, Department of Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Mangalore, Karnataka, India 3Professor, Department of Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Mangalore, Karnataka, India *Corresponding Author: Dr. Somashekara H S Assistant Professor (Selection Grade) Department of Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), 575001, Karnataka, India Email address: som.shekar@manipal.edu Mobile: +919886373606, Fax: 0824-2421140
Online published on 9 January, 2019. Abstract Background The paucity of developmental data on phonological underpinnings in English Language learners in the Indian context poses a special concern to professionals in the identification of reading disabilities. Aim To explore the developmental trends of phonological awareness at word level amongst English language learners during the early years of schooling. Method 50 children each from Grade I, II and III attending English medium schools for typical learners were assessed for word awareness skills and the performance across the Grade was compared. Results The results showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in the scores in all the tasks with Grade depicting an ascending trend. The performance of Grade I children was poorer, Grade III was better and Grade II remained intermediate. Conclusion Improved scores with the absence of floor and ceiling effect on all the tasks indicate an active development of word awareness skills in English language learners during the first three years of schooling and they mature beyond Grade III. Top Keywords Word awareness, phonological awareness, English language learner (ELL). Top |