For adolescent students who are new to learning English, literacy development presents unique challenges that differ significantly from those faced by younger learners. One of the most important foundational skills these students need is phonemic awareness—the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. Phonemic awareness, paired with explicit phonics instruction, creates the essential building blocks for successful reading and academic achievement. For Level 1 English learners, particularly at the secondary level, targeted support in these areas is not simply beneficial—it is vital.
Many adolescent English learners arrive in U.S. schools with limited or interrupted formal education, often lacking basic literacy skills even in their first language. Others may have strong literacy in their native language but struggle to transfer those skills to English due to differences in phonology and orthography. Phonemic awareness serves as the gateway to understanding how spoken language connects to written symbols. Without the ability to discern and manipulate sounds, students cannot fully benefit from phonics instruction or move efficiently toward reading fluency. Moreover, research has shown that phonemic awareness is a critical predictor of reading success across languages. Students who can identify and work with the sounds of English are better prepared to decode unfamiliar words, a skill necessary for reading both academic texts and everyday materials (August & Shanahan, 2006).
Challenges in Literacy Development for Level 1 English Learners
Secondary English learners face additional challenges in acquiring phonemic awareness and phonics skills. Adolescents often feel self-conscious about engaging in activities typically associated with early childhood education, such as rhyming games or sound blending exercises. Furthermore, older learners are expected to access grade-level content rapidly, often without the time or targeted instruction needed to develop basic decoding skills. This is especially true in most public school settings despite having robust ELD programs. Without direct, explicit teaching in phonemic awareness and phonics, these students risk falling further behind academically. Simply exposing learners to English in content-area classes is insufficient. Literacy development must be intentional and systematic, meeting students where they are rather than where the curriculum assumes they should be.
Research-Based Evidence for Explicit Phonics Instruction
A substantial body of research confirms the need for explicit instruction in foundational literacy skills for English learners. In the seminal report Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners, August and Shanahan (2006) concluded that second-language learners benefit from the same types of explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics that native speakers do. Importantly, the report emphasized that ELLs often require more intensive and sustained instruction to achieve comparable outcomes. Similarly, Lesaux and Geva (2006) found that while many adolescent English learners can develop strong word recognition skills, explicit teaching of phonological awareness and phonics principles is necessary, especially when students have limited prior literacy experiences. This instruction must be deliberate and adapted to the learner’s age, ensuring that adolescents engage with age-appropriate materials while still receiving the structured literacy support they need. Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, and Christian (2005) further reinforced these findings, highlighting that approaches successful with native-English-speaking struggling readers, such as systematic phonics instruction, are equally effective with English learners when adapted to their linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
Practical Classroom Strategies for Secondary Teachers
To effectively support adolescent beginners, to put a fine point on this issue, teachers should integrate phonemic awareness and phonics instruction into their daily routines in meaningful, respectful ways. Some strategies include:
- Embedding Phonemic Activities into Content Lessons: Using subject-area vocabulary to practice sound blending, segmenting, and manipulation activities.
- Age-Appropriate Word Study: Teaching phonics through high-interest reading materials geared toward adolescents, avoiding overly childish content.
- Multisensory Instruction: Incorporating visual, auditory, and kinesthetic activities to reinforce sound-symbol correspondences.
- Systematic and Cumulative Instruction: Following a structured sequence that builds from simple to complex phonics patterns, ensuring mastery before moving on.
Moreover, collaboration with special educators and reading specialists can provide additional layers of support, particularly for students with interrupted formal education (SIFE). Ultimately, building phonemic awareness and phonics skills in adolescent English learners lays the groundwork for more advanced literacy development. Once students can decode with automaticity, they are better equipped to focus on comprehension, critical thinking, and academic language acquisition.
Investing time in explicit phonological and phonics instruction may initially seem at odds with the pressure to accelerate content learning. However, skipping these essential steps only compounds difficulties later. By starting with the basics and honoring the developmental needs of beginner learners, educators can empower adolescents to access the rich academic opportunities awaiting them in English.
References:
August, D., & Shanahan, T. (2006). Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lesaux, N. K., & Geva, E. (2006). Development of literacy in second-language learners. In D. August & T. Shanahan (Eds.), Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners.
Genesee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Saunders, W., & Christian, D. (2005). English Language Learners in U.S. Schools: An Overview of Research Findings. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR).
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