從研究者在台灣國小教授英文的經驗發現，許多一年級的學生覺得英文很難，特別是與字母有關的教學活動。研究者試圖從字母識字的發展與年齡和第二語言習得的關係的研究文獻中找尋可以解釋孩童字母學習困難的原因。根據這些文獻，研究者對現行的國小一年級的英語課程有三項建議：（一）字母教學應延後一或二年，（二）小一課程應以發展語音覺識為主，（三）小一的英語教學應以非正式課程的方式進行。
根據以上建議，本研究試圖發展一個以發展語音覺識為主的教學法並測試不用字母教授語音覺識技能的可行性。本研究的兩組小一學生來自一所位於北台灣的公立小學，實驗時間是一個學期。控制組以教字母為主的傳統教學法授課，實驗組以發展語音覺識的教學法授課。兩組各施予語音覺識技能的前測與後測以評估語音覺識的能力是否有進步。實驗組在後測中有明顯的進步，顯示不用字母教授語音覺識技能是可行的。另外，實驗組中字母知識較差的學生比較好的學生，在語音覺識技能的進步更多，更證明不用字母教授語音覺識技能是可行的。雖然實驗組在語音覺識上有明顯的進步，但進步的幅度與控制組沒有顯著的差別。可能的原因包括實驗的時間太短，以致於實驗組的進步沒有預期中比控制組大的多。若新教學法的內容能再充實，相信將來可以在台灣的小學實施。本論文亦討論新教學法的內容細節。

From firsthand experience as an English teacher in a public elementary school in Taiwan, the researcher observed that many grade one students had difficulty with the subject matter, and especially with tasks related to the alphabet. A review of the literature on alphabetic literacy development and the relationship between age and second language acquisition was undertaken to try to identify the theoretical basis of the observed difficulties. Three major recommendations for changes to the traditional grade one English curriculum arose from this review of literature: (a) teaching of the alphabet should be postponed until later grades, (b) explicit training in English phonological awareness (PA) skills should be offered, and (c) less formal instructional techniques should be employed. The current study seeks to develop an alternative grade one English curriculum based on these recommendations and to empirically test the feasibility of training PA skills without recourse to the alphabet. Two intact first grade classes at a public elementary school in northern Taiwan participated in the study, which lasted for the first semester of grade one. The control group received traditional English instruction and the experimental group received instruction according to the proposed curriculum. Pre- and posttests of PA were administered to both groups in order to gauge improvements in PA skills over the period. Significant improvements for the experimental group on all PA tasks indicate that training in PA skills can be effective even without reference to an alphabetic script. Corroboration of this finding is available from the fact that students in the experimental group who entered first grade with low levels of alphabetic knowledge improved more in PA skills over the period than did students who possessed high levels of such knowledge. A comparison of PA test scores for the two groups showed that while the experimental group did evidence a tendency to improve more in terms of PA test scores, no statistically significant difference existed between the groups. While this indicates that the proposed curriculum is at least as effective as the traditional one at stimulating improvements in PA skills, confounding variables such as the shortness of the treatment period likely prevented the experimental group’s advantage from reaching significance. It is suggested that with further refinement this approach has promise for future application in Taiwanese public elementary schools. Details of the curriculum developed for this study are also discussed.

Adams, M. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Ashmore, R. A., Farrier, M. J., Paulson, L. H., Chu, X., (2002). The effects of phonemic awareness drills on phonological awareness and word reading performance in the later learned alphabetic script. Missoula, MT: Montana University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED471632)

Bialystok, E., Majumder, S., Martin, M. M. (2003). Developing phonological awareness: Is there a bilingual advantage? Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 27-44.

Bradley, L., & Bryant, P. E. (1983). Categorizing sounds and learning to read – a causal connection. Nature, 301, 419-421.

Bruck, M, & Genesee, F. (1995). Phonological awareness in young second language learners. Journal of Child Language, 22, 307-324.

Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.).White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman.

Bryant, P. E., MacLean, M., Bradley, L. L., & Crossland, J. (1990). Rhyme and alliteration, phoneme detection, and learning to read. Developmental Psychology, 26(3), 429-438.

Chiappe, P., & Siegel, L. S. (1999). Phonological awareness and reading acquisition in English- and Punjabi-Speaking Canadian children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 20-28.

Clay, M. M., (1993). An observation survey of early literacy achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heiremann.

Collier, V. P. (1987). The effect of age on acquisition of a second language for school. 'New' Focus Series: Occasional Papers in Bilingual Education, Number 2(a). Retrieved May 21, 2004 from http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/classics/focus/02aage.htm

Comeau, L., Cormier, P., Grandmaison, E., & Lacroix, D. (1999). A longitudinal study of phonological processing skills in children learning to read in a second language. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 29-43.

Cummins, J. (1980). The cross-lingual dimensions of language proficiency. TESOL Quarterly, 14, 175-187.

Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. In California State Department of Education (Ed.), Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework. (pp. 3-49). Los Angeles: National Dissemination and Assessment Center.

de Jong, P. F., Seveke, M. J., & van Veen, M. (2000). Phonological sensitivity and the acquisition of new words in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 76, 275-301.

Flege, J. E. (1987). A critical period for learning to pronounce foreign languages? Applied Linguistics, 8(2), 162-177.

Flege, J. E. (1992). Speech learning in a second language. In C. A. Ferguson & C. Stoel Gammon (Eds.), Phonological development: Models, research, implications (pp. 565-604). Timonium, MD: York Press

Francis, N. (2000). The shared conceptual system and language processing in bilingual children: Findings from literacy assessment in Spanish and Nahuatl. Applied Linguistics. 21(2), 170-204.

Gay, L. R., & Airasian, P. (2003). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Giambo, D. A., & McKinney, J. D. (2004). The effects of phonological awareness intervention on the oral English proficiency of Spanish-speaking kindergarten children. TESOL Quarterly, 38(1), 95-117.
Griffith, P. L., & Olson, M. W. (1992). Phonemic awareness helps beginning readers break the code. The Reading Teacher, 45(7), 516-523.
Harley, B., & Wang, W. (1997). The critical period hypothesis: Where are we now? In A. de Groot & J. Kroll (Eds.), The Epigenesis of mind: Essays on biology and cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Holm, A., & Dodd, B. (1996). The effect of first written language on the acquisition of English literacy. Cognition, 59, 119-147.

Hu, J. (2003). Phonological memory, phonological awareness, and foreign language word learning. Language Learning, 53, 429-462.

Huang, H. S., & Hanley, J. R. (1977). A longitudinal study of phonological awareness, visual skills, and Chinese reading acquisition among first graders in Taiwan. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20(2), 249-268.

Krashen, S. (2003). Dealing with English fever. In Yi-ju Chen & Yiu-nam Leung (Eds.), Selected Papers from the Twelfth International Symposium on English Teaching (pp. 100-108). Taipei, Taiwan: The Crane Publishing Co.

Krashen, S., Scarcella, R. C., & Long, M. H. (1982). Age, rate, and eventual attainment in second language acquisition. In S. Krashen, R. C. Scarcella, & M. H. Long (Eds.), Child-adult differences in second language acquisition (pp. 161-172). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Lan, R. & Yang, J. (2001). ABC in Story. Hsinchu, Taiwan: Hsinchu City Government.

Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). Biological foundations of language. Malabar, FL: Robert E. Krieger Publishing.

Lin, L. C. (2004). Effects of early English education on phonological awareness and linguistic development of Taiwanese Bilingual Children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Manuscript in preparation, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Lundberg, I. (1991). Phonemic awareness can be developed without reading instruction. In S. A. Brady, & D. P. Shankweiler (Eds.), Phonological awareness in literacy: A tribute to Isabelle Y. Liberman (pp. 47-54). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lundberg, I., Frost, J., & Peterson, O. P. (1988). Effects of an extensive program for stimulating phonological awareness in preschool children. Reading Research Quarterly, 23(3), 263-284.
Mann, V. A. (1991). Are we taking too narrow a view of the conditions for development of phonological awareness? In S. A. Brady, & D. P. Shankweiler (Eds.), Phonological awareness in literacy: A tribute to Isabelle Y. Liberman (pp. 55-64). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

McLaughlin, B. (1992). Myths and misconceptions about second language learning: What every teacher needs to unlearn (Educational Practice Report: 5). Santa Cruz, CA: University of California. Retrieved May 21, 2004 from http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/CMMR/FullText/McLaughlinMyths.pdf
Morais, J. (1991). Constraints in the development of phonemic awareness. In S. A. Brady, & D. P. Shankweiler (Eds.), Phonological awareness in literacy: A tribute to Isabelle Y. Liberman (pp. 5-28). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Peng, M. (2004, February 27). MOE English-teaching policy sparks storm of controversy. Taiwan Journal. Retrieved May 27, 2004, from http://publish.gio.gov.tw/FCJ/past/04022771.html
Read, C., Zhang, Y. F., Nie, H. Y., & Ding, B. Q. (1986). The ability to manipulate speech sounds depends on knowing alphabetic writing. Cognition, 24, 31-44.

Scarcella, R. C., & Higa, C. A. (1982). Input and age differences in second language acquisition. In S. Krashen, R. C. Scarcella, & M. H. Long (Eds.), Child-adult differences in second language acquisition (pp. 175-201). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Stahl, K. A. D., Stahl, S. A., & McKenna, M. C. (1999). The development of phonological awareness and orthographic processing in reading recovery [Electronic version]. Literacy Teaching and Learning, 4(1), 27-42.

Stahl, S. A., & Murray, B. A. (1994). Defining phonological awareness and its relationship to early reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(2), 221-234.

Stanovich, K. E., Cunningham, A. E., & Cramer, B. B. (1984). Assessing phonological awareness in kindergarten children: Issues of task comparability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 38, 175-190.

Torgesen, J. K., & Mathes, P. G. (2002). Assessment and instruction in phonological awareness [Second Edition]. Tallahssee, FL: Florida State Department of Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED473732)

Twyford, C. W. (1987). Age-related factors in second language acquisition. 'New' Focus Series: Occasional Papers in Bilingual Education, Number 2(b). Retrieved May 21, 2004 from http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/classics/focus/02bage.htm

Verhoeven, L. (1994). Transfer in bilingual development: The linguistic interdependence hypothesis revisited. Language Learning, 44, 381-415.

Yopp, H. K. (1988). The validity and reliability of phonemic awareness tests. Reading Research Quarterly , 23(2), 159-177.

Yopp, H. K. (1992). Developing phonemic awareness in young children. The Reading Teacher, 45(9), 696-703.

Yopp, H. K. (1995). A test for assessing phonemic awareness in young children. The Reading Teacher, 49(1), 20-29.