Promoting English Language Literacy among Jordanian Kindergarten Children

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of an instructional program designed by the researcher for the purpose of teaching English language literacy skills among Jordanian Kindergarteners. The study was conducted in Irbid Directorate of Education in the second semester of the academic year 2009/2010. The participants of the study were randomly chosen from Zainab Bint Arrasoul School. Then, they were divided into two equal experimental and control groups (N=17). The experimental group received the instructional program designed by the researcher, whereas the control group received the textbook designed by the Ministry of Education. To answer the question of the study, the researcher designed an achievement test. Proper statistical methods were used to analyze the pretest and posttest scores. The results revealed that with the help of the instructional program application, the experimental group outperformed the control group in terms of learning English language literacy skills. These results explain how components of the instructional program contributed to promote English language literacy. As a result, the researcher recommended that educators should conduct further experimental studies across all early language learning settings to test what contents and instructional methods of teaching best help children improve their English language literacy skills.

Key words: English language literacy skills.