:: Volume 26, Issue 2 (9-2023) ::
IJAL 2023, 26(2): 254-265 Back to browse issues page
Early Reading in EFL Contexts Deserves More Attention from ELT Community
Ahmadreza Eghtesadi Roudi
Farhangian University, Iran
Abstract:   (2199 Views)
Reading is the main language skill in English as a Foreign Language (EFL)contexts, and the key to the reading skill is the knowledge of the alphabet. Although there are various approaches to teaching early reading and the alphabet in L1, such as whole language, language experience, literature-based, whole word, alphabetic method, and analytic and synthetic phonics, the topic of teaching alphabet and early reading is almost missing in language teaching methodology textbooks, and the few sources which deal with the subject seem to be mainly concerned with English as a Second Language (ESL) contexts where the learners’ mother tongue also uses a Latin alphabet. Early reading and alphabet teaching in EFL contexts has also received little research attention, and many aspects of literacy teaching in these contexts such as the effectiveness of different approaches for different age groups are still a mystery. ELT community, hence, needs to pay more heed to the needs of teachers and learners in EFL contexts. This paper intends to sensitize the international ELT community, including the researchers, teachers, and publishers to the importance and necessity of taking early literacy in EFL contexts into account.
Keywords: alphabet, reading, literacy, phonics, EFL
Full-Text [PDF 249 kb]   (554 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2025/04/14 | Accepted: 2023/09/1 | Published: 2023/09/1


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Volume 26, Issue 2 (9-2023) Back to browse issues page