Practical methods of teaching reading for foreign children and primary students
Keywords:
Lesson Planning, Foreign Learners, Reading Comprehension, Short Stories, Phonics InstructionAbstract
This study explores practical methods for teaching reading to both foreign children and primary students, focusing on how different instructional approaches contribute to reading development. The paper emphasizes that reading is a fundamental skill in education and that learners, especially those for whom English is a foreign language, face particular challenges that require carefully selected strategies. Traditional methods such as phonics and the Look-and-Say approach are considered alongside modern strategies that incorporate short stories and structured lesson planning, with the aim of determining their combined impact on learner outcomes. The review of previous literature demonstrates that phonics provides a strong foundation for decoding and word recognition, while the Look-and-Say method facilitates quick vocabulary recognition. However, both methods have limitations if used in isolation. Short stories emerge as a powerful tool not only for expanding vocabulary and improving comprehension but also for fostering motivation and cultural awareness. Structured lesson planning, with its pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading stages, is highlighted as an effective framework for ensuring systematic skill development and deeper engagement with texts. The study adopts a quantitative descriptive survey design and collects data from fifty English language teachers with varying levels of experience and qualifications. A structured questionnaire measured teachers’ practices in phonics instruction, story-based activities, and lesson planning. The data were analyzed using SPSS through descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Results reveal high levels of teacher agreement regarding the value of phonics, storytelling, and structured planning, with mean values above 4.0 across most items. Regression analysis further confirms the statistical significance of these variables, with β coefficients ranging between 0.76 and 0.84. The findings suggest that phonics remains central to decoding, but its effectiveness is enhanced when combined with story-based instruction and structured lesson design. The study concludes that a blended approach, integrating phonics, storytelling, and systematic lesson planning, provides the most effective framework for improving reading comprehension, motivation, and cultural competence among both native and foreign learners.
References
[1] Harmer, J. (2010). The practice of English language teaching (4th ed.). Pearson Longman.
[2] Patel, M. F., & Jain, P. M. (2008). English language teaching: Methods, tools and techniques. Sunrise Publishers.
[3] Rack, J. P., Snowling, M. J., & Olson, R. K. (1992). The nonword reading deficit in developmental dyslexia: A review. Reading Research Quarterly, 27(1), 29–53.
[4] Scott, W. A., & Ytreberg, L. H. (1990). Teaching English to children. Longman.
[5] Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. Cambridge University Press.
[6] Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge University Press.
[7] Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge University Press.
[8] Ehri, L. C. (2014). Orthographic mapping in the acquisition of sight word reading, spelling memory, and vocabulary learning. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(1), 5–21.
[9] Ghosn, I. (2002). Four good reasons to use literature in primary school ELT. ELT Journal, 56(2), 172–179.
[10] Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. Cambridge University Press.
[11] Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Pergamon.
[12] Nation, I. S. P. (2013). Learning vocabulary in another language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
[13] Nunan, D. (1999). Second language teaching and learning. Heinle & Heinle.
[14] Patel, M. F., & Jain, P. M. (2008). English language teaching: Methods, tools and techniques. Sunrise Publishers.
[15] Rack, J. P., Snowling, M. J., & Olson, R. K. (1992). The nonword reading deficit in developmental dyslexia: A review. Reading Research Quarterly, 27(1), 29–53.
[16] Snow, C. (2002). Reading for understanding: Toward an R&D program in reading comprehension. RAND Corporation.
[17] Tomlinson, B. (2011). Materials development in language teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
[18] Taha Abuali, & Abdussalam Ali Ahmed. (2025). Challenges and Opportunities in Implementing E-Learning in Developing Countries. The Open European Journal of Social Science and Education (OEJSSE), 1(1), 1-12. https://easdjournals.com/index.php/oejsse/article/view/2
