Phonological Awareness among Japanese Senior High School Students of a Japanese High School: Basis for a Proposed Reading Intervention Program

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the phonological awareness of Japanese senior high school students as a basis for developing a reading intervention program. This study collects data through an interview to determine the participants’ demographic profile as well as to conduct the phonological awareness test adopted from Hastings and Prince Edwards District School Board which consists of ten parts to assess the phonological awareness skills of the students. The participants in this study are ten (10) Japanese senior high school students from Japanese High School. The researchers also had an adult translator for participants who did not fully understand English, and the participants were able to understand the test through the translator. All of the participants demonstrated different phonological awareness skills as they responded to the activities. The researchers found that Japanese students struggled with phonological awareness skills such as initial, medial, and final sound identification, sound segmentation, and syllable awareness. Apart from the phonological awareness skills mentioned, the participants also had difficulty pronouncing some English words and producing rhymes. The researchers discovered that orthographic influence is the main factor affecting their ability to recognize, produce and manipulate sounds. Based on the findings, the researchers proposed a reading intervention program. This program addressed the problem identified in the findings.