Teacher competency in phonemic awareness instruction for development of reading skills among early grade pupils in Effutu municipality

Abstract

This study aimed to examine teacher competency in teaching phonemic awareness in the development of early reading skills among early grade pupils in the Effutu Municipality. The study employed a quantitative research approach to: (1) investigate the phonemic awareness competency level of early grade teachers, (2) find out how early grade teachers perceive their competency in teaching phonemic awareness, (3) examine the relationship between early grade teachers‘ perceived and actual competency levels in phonemic awareness instruction, and (4) examine early grade teachers‘ perception of implicit and explicit instructional strategies in teaching phonemic awareness to early grade pupils. The study used a cross sectional survey which targeted all the 134 teachers who taught at kindergarten to primary two in the 27 public primary schools within the Effutu Municipality. Out of this, 116 teachers responded to the questionnaires. The study found that, although the respondents had a significantly high perception of their competency, they generally had limited competency in phonemic awareness instruction. Moreover, the respondents who were more competent were better able to predict their competency level than their less competent counterparts although they all generally overestimated their competency levels. The respondents were also generally in strong agreement with the use of explicit instructional strategies but they also supported the use of implicit instructional strategies. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommended that the National Council for Tertiary Education should ensure that teacher preparation programmes of Colleges of Education and universities were designed to equip teachers with the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for providing early systematic reading instruction. This study should also be extended to other municipalities in the country to facilitate a broader understanding of early grade teachers‘ competency in phonemic awareness instruction.