JOLLY PHONICS FOR IMPROVING THE PRONUNCIATION OF 1ST YEAR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

Pronunciation is a crucial component of foreign language learning (FLL), directly impacting students' English language skills.  Unfortunately, a lot of elementary school teachers concentrate only on teaching the basic 26 letters and fail to introduce students to the other sounds in the language at an early age. Students' ability to read and write words correctly and fluently is hampered when they are taught letters alone without the sounds that go with them. One of the most widely used strategies in British schools to improve students' literacy and pronunciation while making learning fun is Jolly Phonics. The purpose of this study is to examine how well first-year primary school students' pronunciation can be improved through Jolly Phonics instruction. The primary method involved running an experiment with two groups: experimental and control. The experimental group of five students received Jolly Phonics instruction for three months, while the control group of five students received traditional classroom instruction focused solely on letter recognition. Both groups' pronunciations were assessed before and after the experiment using standardized tests. The results were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings revealed that Jolly Phonics and multisensory learning methods significantly improve the pronunciation of young learners. This study will benefit primary school teachers, as well as course book and curriculum designers, by demonstrating effective instructional strategies for teaching pronunciation in early language education.