Question 1: Have learners' phonological awareness improved after the application of phonics instruction teaching?

Question 2: Did learners' spelling ability change after the application of phonics instruction teaching? 

1.3 Significance of Study

Phonics method is commonly used to train and improve children's comprehension in foreign countries where English is the first language. The effectiveness of teaching is not only related to the accuracy of learners’ phonic and word memory, but also directly affect interest and confidence in learning English. Therefore, teachers should draw enough attention to phonics. At present, academics and teachers in our country are trying to introduce English spelling teaching methods. This thesis can have theoretical and practical significance on English teaching and learning.

1.3.1 Theoretical Significance

    This thesis deepens to children's cognitive features and law of second language acquisition through the literature review in chapter 2. On the other hand, the experiences of using phonic method in primary school can be enriched by learning phonics method home and abroad. Therefore, this thesis can provide an experiential base for the future study of phonics in primary school English teaching and broaden the research scope and support empirical basis for similar research. Taking into account Chinese English learning context and Chinese primary school students’ characteristics, it is very necessary to apply the relevant studies of the phonics method to English vocabulary teaching in China. It can testify or sometimes confirm the previous studies about the phonics method.

1.3.2 Practical Significance

Firstly, the study about the relationship between phonics and learners’ phonological awareness and spelling ability is rarely carried out. The experiment done by the author can clarify the problem and prove that phonics is really an effective way in vocabulary teaching. It is expected that the model can serve as a reference for English primary school teachers.

It can provide some suggestions for English vocabulary phonics teaching in primary schools. For example, the teachers should teach the pronunciation of letters and letter combinations, etc. According to the English teaching situation in primary schools in China, combined with the English textbook content and the related phonic teaching materials, many vocabulary teaching resources based on phonics method can be got and shared with other teachers. 

    On the basis of the appropriate theories and the previous study, the author will make a further research on the practice of phonics in primary school English teaching for the purpose of enriching the theory of phonics and finding out its feasibility and effectiveness in our country, especially in primary school English teaching.