Rethinking English Phonics Instruction for Early Childhood English Learners

ABSTRACT Low reading proficiency rates, exacerbated by pandemic‐interrupted learning, have made research‐based solutions documented in the Science of Reading a top priority for all learners. Although the benefit of explicit, code‐oriented instruction in early literacy development has been well researched for learners in general, there is considerably less evidence on best practices for teaching phonological skills to designated English learners (ELs). The present study on the RULE of 3 examined the effectiveness of a yearlong early literacy intervention based on Vygotskian social constructivism and the use of instructional mediators. The study focused on the premise that phonics instruction for kindergarten ELs should not be isolated but instead incorporated in the context of oral language and vocabulary development, where students both sound out words and make meaning. Results of the randomized controlled trial RCT showed students in the RULE of 3 intervention classrooms acquired greater phonological skills than peers receiving typical instruction ( η 2 = 0.49, a large effect size per Cohen's guidelines). The findings suggest that ELs can learn phonological skills as they acquire English as a second language when these phonics skills are connected to the language development constructs of oral language and vocabulary development.