UTILIZATION OF PHONO-DEO IN INTEGRATING PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS TO FRESHMEN ENGLISH MAJORS AT BESTLINK COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Abstract

Phonological awareness is a critical foundational skill for learning to read in any alphabetic writing system. According to Erbs (2021), this skill can be developed through a wide range of instructional strategies. However, a gap remains in understanding how the duration of students’ academic exposure affects the development of phonological awareness. In recent years, technology has increasingly supported teaching and learning processes through the use of audio-visual materials. Given the Philippines’ fluctuating rankings in global language proficiency assessments, these challenges may be attributed to the varying levels of learners' language skills, highlighting the need for targeted and sustained phonological instruction. To collect the necessary data, the researchers employed an experimental approach using pre-test and post-test measures to evaluate the respondents’ progress and understanding in phonological awareness. A researcher-made instrument was developed specifically for this purpose, structured to assess phonological awareness across three distinct levels: the phoneme level, syllable level, and word level. This design allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of the learners’ phonological skills before and after the intervention. The respondents of the study were freshman English majors from Section 1201. Out of the 49 participants, 93.8% demonstrated significant progress in the post-test following the presentation of Phono-deo. Despite this improvement, several challenges were observed during the assessment. These included unfamiliarity with certain words, limited learning opportunities, and pronunciation difficulties influenced by variations in native dialects. After thorough analysis and interpretation of the gathered data, the researchers found that the majority of freshman English major students demonstrated a lack of phonological awareness. One of the primary challenges identified was word unfamiliarity, which can be attributed to the absence of paced and structured instruction. Students showed difficulty in distinguishing, segmenting, and blending words, syllables, and sounds. However, following the implementation of Phono-deo, a notable improvement was observed in the post-test results. The instructional material proved to be effective, significantly aiding students in developing their ability to accurately identify and manipulate sounds, thereby enhancing their overall phonological skills.