Explicit and systematic phonics instruction: an adventure with English vowel sounds

Abstract

This paper presents an action research proposal that investigates the impact of the Explicit and Systematic Phonics Instruction applied on the EFL second graders’ pronunciation of English vowels sounds when performing orally. The study took place at Prado Veraniego School in Bogotá. This research emerged from the continuous observations of the second graders’ English classes, which showed they had not started the reading process in English as a foreign language (EFL); thus, when they attempted to read words aloud they applied the Spanish rules of pronunciation, which is their first language (L1). The research objective was to analyze and describe this impact using field notes, recordings (video or audio), and photographs of artifacts, as the instruments for the data collection. Finally, the data obtained through the implementation stage was analyzed under the triangulation methodology.