In Japanese schools, 4.5% of students with significant learning difficulties are enrolled in regular classes which include learning disabilities (LD), and support for children with learning disabilities (Ministry of Education, 2012). However, It is not included that who have difficulty only in English. From the start, it is hard to say that learning disability in English is recognized in Japan. Therefore, students with difficulties in English are hidden in regular classes with no support. Furthermore, that kind of student often to be truancy because of the strict lesson in English writing. This is the current state of junior high schools in Japan.
One of the assessments named the Understanding Reading and Writing Skills of School children – English (URAWSS-English) was developed to determine whether words that fail to read are due to unlearning or cognitive characteristics (Murata, et al., 2017). The test features a phonetic representation of the word in katakana for students who cannot spell the correct English spelling. Since katakana is a syllabic character, it cannot correctly represent the alphabetic words, but it is possible to guess whether the misspelling is due to a lack of knowledge or phonemic weaknesses. The study found that 11 of 154 eligible junior high school students may have learning disabilities.
In this study, we picked up the students who performed low scores in URAWSS-English and evaluated the effect of teaching phonological awareness. 144 middle-high school students aged from 13 to 14 participated in this study. 23 students were determined as lower scores in URAWSS-English. We also used the pre-post test to evaluate the change of skills around phonological awareness. After the assessment, all the students attended the lesson on phonological awareness. There were 20 lessons in 6 months and one lesson took 10 minutes. English teacher used the PowerPoint files and speaker to teach phonological awareness. As a result, the scores were improved in 17 of 23 students compared to other students without difficulties.
These students were not diagnosed with learning difficulties. However, they were struggling with reading and writing in English and their difficulties were proven by the results of the URAWSS-English. Their English skills were improved by learning phonological awareness. These results mean that we need to provide education that does not rely on a diagnosis. We also found the importance of teaching phonological awareness skills. The efficacy of phonological awareness was reported by Murakami in primary school children in Japan (Murakami, 2018). This study shows that teaching phonological awareness is also effective for middle school students. With the installation of phonological awareness in a normal lesson in Japanese middle-high school, the student who feels difficulties in English may decrease.
Murata, M., Hirabayashi, R., Kono, T. & Nakamura, K. :Understanding Reading and Writing Skills of Schoolchildren – English. atacLab, 2017
Murakami,K. Practical Report of Teaching the Alphabet, Phonological Awareness and Word reading to an Elementary Student with Reading and Writing Difficulties. Bulletin of Kobe Yamate Junior College, 61, 39-53.
