Bring Home Oral Material Activity (Bhoma): An Intervention on Phonemic Awareness

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Developing strong reading skills in learners is one of the key goals of every early education program because, through reading, learners can expand their vocabulary and learn about the word (Cicerchia, 2016). Phonemic awareness is literally sound' awareness. It is primarily an auditory skill of distinguishing and recognizing the sound structure of language (National Reading Panel, 2000). Stokes (2015) stressed that Phonemic awareness of preschooler’s children is the single best predictor of their future reading ability.

METHODS

This research made use of quantitative approach through quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test control group design method to determine the effectiveness of BHOMA in teaching Phonemic Awareness among Kindergarten learners. The subjects of this study were the 38 Kindergarten pupils enrolled at Kinabigtasan Elementary School for the school year 2018-2019. To gather the data, the researcher formulated and administered test questionnaires to the subjects for the control group and the experimental group. The questionnaires were checked by the Master Teacher of Kinabigtasan Elementary School. The questionnaire focused on the second grading letter cluster target. The test was in multiple choice and there were items that need to be orally sounded to cover the area of sound and word discrimination, rhyming, blending, and segmentation.

RESULTS

The results reveal that the experimental group gained high scores in the pre-test and post-test compared to the control group. Findings also show a lower value of the standard deviation in the experimental group and a high standard deviation in the control group.

There is a significant difference in the mean percentage score of the pupils in the pre-test and post-test based on experimental and control group.

DISCUSSIONS

The relationship between phonemic awareness instruction and stronger reading and spelling abilities has been well established; however, most earlier studies of phonemic awareness have utilized educators or trained researchers as the primary instructors (Hanzl, 2014). To address this gap, the researcher used parental involvement in the teaching of phonemic awareness. This is based on the premise that parental involvement in children's learning can critically enhance their performance as supported in a variety of research contexts (Christian and Morrison 2007).