Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Carole C. Pearce

Abstract

Public elementary schools in the Republic of Korea (Korea) do not reliably include phonics in their third and fourth grade English language curriculum. Therefore, examining how teachers are currently including phonics instructions in the classroom could significantly impact the level of reading skills acquired in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes in Korea. This basic qualitative study addressed what teachers needed to reliably and competently teach phonics in Korean public elementary school districts, what difficulties they encountered, and what kind of support could effectively ameliorate said difficulties. The conceptual framework for this research was provided by Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of constructivism. Eight semistructured interviews conducted with third and fourth grade teachers who had more than 3 years of experience teaching phonics. The data collected in these interviews were analyzed through inductive analysis to identify common themes. Results from the study presented a significant reality of English classrooms, such as English class focused on students’ interest rather than phonics, curriculum regarding phonics, varying student levels of competency, short period of teaching phonics, and lack of phonics training. The findings of this study provided substantial insight into both how Korean teachers use phonics instruction and into what resources might support the consistent teaching of phonics in English language classrooms. Moreover, this study can support a positive social change if basic EFL literacy skills in Korea improve as a result of consistent and effective phonics curriculum.

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