Pre-service early childhood education teachers’ views and competency levels regarding neurolinguistic-based STEAM applications in phonemic skills instruction

The purpose of this study is to determine pre-service early childhood teachers’ views and perceived competency levels regarding neurolinguistic-based science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) applications in phonemic skills instruction, and to examine whether these perceptions differ significantly according to demographic (gender, age, and grade level) and professional/experiential (having received phonemic awareness training, STEAM experience, and familiarity with the concept of neurolinguistic programming [NLP]) variables. Adopting a descriptive survey design, one of the quantitative research methods, the study group consisted of 179 pre-service teachers enrolled in an early childhood education undergraduate program at one university in Kazakhstan. The research data were collected through a demographic information form, a structured views questionnaire, and a data collection tool measuring pre-service teachers’ perceived competency. The findings show that participants’ overall perceived competency was high. However, 36.9% of participants regarded phonemic awareness as a naturally developing process and 31.3% viewed STEAM as unrelated to language skills, which may indicate conceptual gaps; and although 41.9% stated that the art component made phoneme discrimination more concrete, 53.6% considered art either unrelated to phonemic awareness or merely entertaining. Perceived competency did not differ significantly by gender or age, whereas third-year pre-service teachers reported lower perceived competency than first- and second-year students; a “reality shock” after practicum is a possible but untested explanation, as practicum was not measured. In addition, pre-service teachers who had previously received phonemic awareness training, who had STEAM experience, and who were familiar with the concept of NLP reported significantly higher perceived competency. The findings suggest that teacher educators may consider adding applied, STEAM-integrated phonemic awareness modules supported by microteaching, including a critical examination of the evidence on NLP and learning-styles claims. The findings are limited by self-report data and a single-university convenience sample.