Bilingual Literacy in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education: The Jolly Phonics Method

Abstract

This thesis presents research into Spanish pupils’ literacy development in English and Spanish. In recent years this has become an important issue since different European reports showed that Spanish learners have a very low level of Spanish and English reading. For this reason, the present thesis analysed the development process of literacy skills of young learners in English and Spanish. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using a phonics method for developing English literacy skills of young learners. Thus, analysis was also focused on the possible reading predictors of both languages, if there could be transference of skills between the languages and how the teaching and family context could influence children’s literacy development. The research followed a mixed-method parallel research design in which quantitative (pre-tests and post-tests, questionnaires) and qualitative data (recorded daily observations, semi-structured interviews) were collected. The sample consisted of 142 pupils (5-7 years old) from two different schools of Seville (state and private). The research presented a different experimental design for each of them; the first with treatment and control groups and the second with four experimental groups. The treatment was the implementation of the Jolly Phonics method during a school year. Quantitative data were analysed through descriptive, regression, correlation, comparison and clusters analysis whereas the qualitative data followed a textual data analysis. The outcomes revealed that phonological awareness and letter and pseudo-word reading can predict word reading in Spanish whereas phonological awareness and English and Spanish pseudo-word reading can predict English word reading. Regarding Spanish literacy skills, pupils from each school achieved different scores as they seemed to be situated at different stages of reading development, which could be influenced by the teaching methods used. Related to this, a phonics method combined with the global method seemed to be more effective for the development of pupils’ literacy skills. Results also showed that activities created and adapted to children’s needs and a high frequency of literacy practices at home also benefited pupils’ literacy development. Considering the public school, results revealed that, after implementing Jolly Phonics, pupils from the experimental group attained a high level of phonological awareness and naming in English whereas the improvement in the control group was almost non-existent. In addition, both groups were receiving the same Spanish instruction with a syllabic method. However, the treatment group achieved a higher differential growth in phonological awareness and reading variables in Spanish, which seems to suggest that Jolly Phonics was also influencing pupils’ Spanish literacy skills. Furthermore, the final Jolly Phonics test revealed that pupils from experimental groups (7 years old) in both schools attained a reading level equivalent to English children aged 5.7. In addition, the outcomes also showed that literacy skills can transfer between Spanish and English and that there are some sounds which seem to be more transferable than others. These results are aligned with teachers and parents’ opinions, who agree that the method was effective for the development of pupils’ literacy skills in English. The doctoral thesis suggests important implications for the development of literacy skills in English and Spanish. Among them, the appropriateness of using Jolly Phonics in Spanish primary schools which may involve not only the improvement of pupils’ English literacy skills but also an increase of their European reading and comprehension scores; the creation of more teachers and parents’ training programmes; and the dissemination of the presented good results.