Reading Skills in English using Jolly Phonics at a Chinese Primary School

Abstract

This study investigates the viability of using a phonics programme for Primary One students who are studying at a National Type Chinese School in Sarawak, Malaysia.  Jolly Phonics is a Synthetic Phonics Programme that is used to address common reading problems. In this study, Primary One students who learn Mandarin as their main language in school, while learning English and Malay Languages at the same time. The phonics consists of teaching reading with five skills, namely learning the letter sounds, letter formation, blending, segmenting and tricky words.  39 students participated in the study. Two groups were formed to compare performances between those who used the phonic programme and those who attended the regular English classes. Data was collected on pre and post-test achievements for both the experimental and control group. Findings revealed that the phonics programme did not significantly impact the students’ reading ability when compared with performances of those who attended regular lessons which used existing methods of teaching reading skills for English language learning at the Chinese medium school.      Keywords: Night reading ability; non-native English language learners; phonics; Chinese school; foreign language learning