Assessment of phonological awareness in low-progress readers

摘要

The assessment of phonological awareness (PA) can serve several purposes, including providing a useful diagnostic function in the management of low-progress readers. This paper discusses various aspects of phonological awareness that have implications for literacy teaching at three different points in children's school career: the point of school entry, where children first come to grips with alphabetic instruction; the first two or three years of formal schooling, during which PA becomes refined; and the subsequent years, during which phonological awareness and orthographic (spelling) awareness normally become intertwined. The discussion provides a critical exploration of issues relating to both the assessment of PA at these levels and the implications of the assessment results for low-progress readers.