Comparison of the effects of two phonics training programs on L2 word reading

Empirical evidence shows that explicit phonics teaching is beneficial for English word reading. However, there has been controversy as to whether phonics teaching should incorporate meaning-involved decodable text instruction to facilitate children's word reading. This study compares the effects of phonics teaching with and without decodable text instruction on immediate and delayed English word reading in 117 Taiwanese children learning English, assigned to a Phonics-only group (n = 58) and a phonics plus decodable text instruction (Phonics+) group (n = 59). Results showed that although both groups significantly improved in immediate and delayed post-test word reading, the Phonics+ group performed better in both post-tests, but the difference was significant only in the delayed word reading, suggesting a better long-term retention effect produced by Phonics+ teaching. These indicated that incorporated meaning-involved decodable text reading might offer another better facilitative linking route for English word reading even for non-alphabetic child learners of English. The findings were discussed from linguistic, psycholinguistic, and reading perspectives, with implications drawn for second/foreign language teaching and research in reading instruction.