Introduction of Phonological Concepts in an Initial Teacher Education Literacy Unit - Article 3 - 2022

Oct 15, 2026

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Pre-service teachers (PSTs) require solid Knowledge About Language (KAL) to support both professional communication and effective English teaching in schools. This study examines First Year PSTs at an Australian university through an intervention aimed at building KAL, with emphasis on phonological awareness (PA) and phonics. Students largely accessed the provided resources online after classroom discussion. Online tests measured achievement, while unit evaluations and a survey captured attitudes. Results show increased confidence and improved knowledge, though applying that knowledge lagged behind defining concepts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Knowledge About Language (KAL)

Accreditation and literacy testing (LANTITE)

Defined scope and research perspectives

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 47 Issue 1 | Article 3 | | --- | --- | | 2022
Introduction of Phonological Concepts in an Education Literacy Unit
Anne Thwaite
Edith Cowan University
Helen Adam
Edith Cowan University
Yvonne Urquhart
Edith Cowan University
Susan Hill
Edith Cowan University
Follow this and additional works at: [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte)
Part of the Language and Literacy Education Commons | Initial Teacher | Recommended Citation Thwaite, A., Adam, H., Urquhart, Y., & Hill, S. (2022) . Introduction of Phonological Concepts in an Initial Teacher Education Literacy Unit. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 47(1) . [http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2022v47n1.3](http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2022v47n1.3) [This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.](This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.)[ ](This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.)[https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol47/iss1/3](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol47/iss1/3) Introduction of Phonological Concepts in an Initial Teacher Education Literacy Unit Anne Thwaite Helen Adam Yvonne Urquhart Susan Hill Edith Cowan University Abstract: Pre-service teachers (PSTs) need sound Knowledge About Language (KAL), both for their own professional communication and for their teaching practice. In the longer term, enhanced KAL will benefit our graduates in their implementation of the Australian Curriculum. This paper reports on work with First Year PSTs at one Australian university. We present an analysis of students’ response to an intervention designed to develop their KAL, focusing on Phonological Awareness (PA) andphonics. While the designed resources were introduced and discussed in class, students mainly accessed them online afterwards. Student achievement was measured by online testing, and attitudes were obtained from unit evaluation instruments and a survey. We present results documenting their knowledge before and after the intervention, and their attitude toward the content. Most students demonstrated improved confidence and increased knowledge in particular areas post intervention. Nevertheless, their ability to apply their knowledge lagged behind their ability to give definitions. Introduction It is crucial that our pre-service teachers (PSTs) have a sound Knowledge About Language (KAL), both for their own professional communication skills, including writing of university assignments, and as a knowledge base for their teaching of English in schools (Sangster et al., 2013) . In the short term, improved KAL is likely to mean that student teachers perform better in their degrees. In the longer term, enhanced KAL will benefit our graduates in their implementation of the Australian Curriculum English (ACE) . KAL underpins all literacy teaching. In order to teach children how to write, teachers need good knowledge about how language works at the text, paragraph, sentence, clause, group and word level. Students need to understand word classes (parts of speech) and how they carry and expand the topic in different learning areas. They need to appreciate how different types of sentences and clauses create relationships with the audience. To teach children how to read, they need to know about semantics (from the text to the word level), sentence structure and word classes, as well as phonemic awareness (being able to recognize the individual sounds in words) and phonics (the relationships between letters and sounds) . Further, they need to understand the differences between speaking and writing so that they can move children from talking into written discourse. The understanding of the PA concepts (covered in our initial Language and Literacy unit, which we will call LAN1) underpins all these other aspects of English language structure. All of these aspects are explicitly mentioned in the ACE, especially in the Language strand, an

FAQs

What knowledge about language does this paper target for pre-service teachers?

The paper focuses on Knowledge About Language (KAL), emphasizing phonological awareness and phonics as key components for effective literacy teaching.

How was the intervention implemented and where did students engage with resources?

Resources designed to develop KAL were introduced and discussed in class, but students mainly accessed them online afterward.

How were students’ achievement and attitudes measured?

Achievement was measured with online testing, while attitudes were collected using unit evaluation instruments and a survey.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Franzy