Implementing Synthetic Phonics in Malaysian English as a Second Language (ESL) Primary School: An Analysis of Pedagogical Practices and Classroom Realities

Abstract

Synthetic Phonics (SP) in early reading development was well established and was strongly advocated by the Rose Review of England, as it stated how synthetic phonics offers the best passage to become a skilled reader. In the Malaysian context, there is a lack of in-depth understanding of how it is being implemented in classroom settings, particularly teachers’ pedagogical practices in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and students’ points of view on this approach. This qualitative study was designed to address the experiences and practices of Malaysian primary school teachers and corresponding perceptions of students from Standard 1 and 2 regarding the implementation of SP through the teachings of blending and segmenting. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from both teachers and students and analyzed using thematic analysis. Though various effective pedagogical practices for teaching the approach of SP could be identified, a gap between their practices and the realities in the classroom was discovered. The gap is driven by issues of class size and students' lack of prior exposure to the language. This paper consequently concludes that effective implementation of successful blending and segmenting pedagogical practices in phonics teaching is best achieved through collaboration of teachers, education leaders, and policymakers.