Abstract:
The objectives of this research were to investigate the effects of a reading program using phonological awareness-raising and phonics instruction to enhance English reading accuracy and fluency. The participants were 20 seventh grade struggling readers studying at a public school of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Thailand and achieved the scores below 70% on graded word lists at pre-primer. The instruments were an Informal Reading Inventory tests (IRI test), and learning logs. The data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative statistics. The findings of the study revealed that: (1) the reading program was shown to be effective in improving the students’ reading ability as the average scores on the post-test of the IRI test were significantly higher than the pre-test at the .05 level of significance; and (2) struggling readers collectively developed a positive opinion towards the reading program, as they perceived that the phonological awareness-raising and phonics instruction had brought benefits that enhanced their reading ability.
