Phonological awareness for all children:
Many correlational studies have identified phonological awareness as one of the best predictors of how well children will learn to read during kindergarten and first grade (Blachman, 2000; Juel, 1991; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987; Wagner, Torgesen, & Rashotte, 1994)
Students who have excellent phonological awareness become better readers than those students who have poor phonological awareness (Adams, Foorman, Lundberg, & Beeler, 1998)
Becoming phonologically aware prepares children for later reading instruction, including instruction in phonics, word analysis, and spelling (Adams, Foorman, Lundberg, & Beeler, 1998; Chard, Simmons, & Kameenui, 1998).
The most common barrier to learning early word reading skills is the inability to process language phonologically (Liberman, Shankweiler, & Liberman, 1989).
Best practice in phonological awareness instruction should include (1) classroom instruction for all kindergarten children, (2) small group intensive instruction for children who evidence phonological awareness deficits at the end of kindergarten or the beginning of first grade, and (3) on-going intensive instruction for hard-to-remediate children (Torgesen, 1999).
Phonological awareness for Spanish-speakers:
As in English, Spanish speakers with reading disabilities consistently display poorer phonological awareness skills and use a phonological strategy less often than non-disabled peers. (Jiménez, 1997).
Because children often transfer skills from L1 to L2 as they learn language sequentially, their phonological awareness skills in Spanish should be predictive of their reading acquisition in Spanish as well as in English. Furthermore, helping children who receive native language instruction cultivate their phonological awareness skills in Spanish will have beneficial effects on Spanish literacy and on later literacy development in English (Gorman and Gillam, 2003).
The results indicated that Spanish phonological awareness predicted English word-reading. These results led the researchers to suggest that native-language (Spanish) phonological awareness training could facilitate children’s ability to read in English (Diane August, Margarita Calderón & María Carlo, 2002).
The Spanish phonology system is different than that of English. There are fewer consonant and vowel phonemes in Spanish, less complex syllable structure and longer words, and phonological development for Spanish speaking children is also different. Training of students in spelling, blending, and segmenting syllables and phonemes may be especially valuable because these skills are closely related to those which students use when actually reading and writing. ( Dr. Nydia V. Bou Puerto Rican Spanish Phonology; a Case Study on Phonological Awareness Intervention).
Because of its salience in Spanish, the syllable appears to be a significant unit of processing for Spanish speakers.” (Gorman and Gillam, 2003).
In Spanish, for example, it is considered important to consider syllable structure and stress as a salient factor in children’s perception of phonemic awareness. (Carreira, M., Alvarez, C.J., & de Vega, M.,1993).