Teaching Polish learners early reading in english: traditional vs. contemporary approach

Abstract

Learning to read in English usually poses a challenge for early EFL learners because the language represents a deep orthography, which is manifested by the irregularities in the relation between the written and spoken form of words. Teaching learners to read amid such irregularities requires advanced linguistic knowledge and appropriate didactic solutions on part of the teachers. The research concerns in–service teachers’ knowledge of the fundamental subcomponents of early reading, their familiarity with some linguistic terms necessary in teaching early reading and use of appropriate didactic applications. The current study is quantitative and qualitative in nature; a survey was conducted among primary school, Polish EFL teachers working in and around Biała Podlaska. The research indicates that the knowledge teachers have regarding the development of early reading is considerable, however, in some cases the basic linguistic terminology, i.e. phonological awareness, seems to be misunderstood. Also, in some cases, the choice of early EFL reading instruction in early literacy does not follow the current recommendations. The results suggest that in–service, primary school, Polish EFL teachers might need additional, supplementary training in early reading development. It can also be concluded that university courses aimed at pre-service EFL teachers should devote more time and resources to early reading development in English.