本研究目的在於了解並比較Word Box 和Word Sort兩個字母拼讀法對於國小三年級學童之音韻覺識及拼字能力的影響。研究對象為台北縣某國小兩班三年級的學童，每班各27人參與，研究對象總人數為54人。兩個班級分別利用早自習的時間接受Word Box 和Word Sort字母拼讀法的訓練。教學的時間每次40分鐘，每個星期一次，為期八週。為比較兩個字母拼讀法的效果，所有參與實驗的學童於教學前後分別接受前測與後測。前測包括三個音韻覺識的測驗，後測除了有音韻覺識的測驗，還多了拼字能力的測驗。
研究結果顯示Word Box 和Word Sort字母拼讀法均能有效提昇學童的音韻覺識。再者，研究發現強調音素教學的Word Box字母拼讀法比強調頭音尾韻的Word Sort字母拼讀法更能提昇學童的音韻覺識能力。此外，接受Word Box字母拼讀法的班級在後測中的假字拼字此一項目表現顯著優於接受Word Sort字母拼讀法的班級。本研究凸顯了音韻覺識，尤其是音素覺識在英語教學早期的重要性。

The purpose of the present study was to investigate and compare the effects of two contemporary phonics instructions, Word Box and Word Sort, on EFL third graders’ phonological awareness and spelling ability. Two intact classes, each consisting of 27 third graders, were selected from an elementary school in Taipei County to participate in the study. The two classes of third graders were randomly assigned to either the word box group or word sort group. The phonics instructions were provided once a week during the students’ morning self-study time, and each lesson lasted for 40 minutes. The total training time was 320 minutes. All of the participants were given phonological awareness tests before and after the phonics instructions in order to compare the effects of word box and word sort on subjects’ PA performance. They were also given a spelling test in the posttest.
The result showed that both word box and word sort could improve the subjects’ phonological awareness. Moreover, the present study found that word box, a phoneme-based phonics instruction, resulted in significantly more improvement on subjects’ phonological awareness than word sort, an onset/rime-based phonics instruction. Subjects receiving word box training also performed significantly better than those receiving word sort training on the pseudoword spelling test. The results of the study highlighted the importance of phonemic awareness in the beginning level of English learning.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….1
1.1 Background of the study………………………………………………………1
1.2 Research purpose and research questions……………………………………..8
1.3 Significance of the study……………………………………………………..11
1.4 Definition of terms…………………………………………………………...11
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………13
2.1 Phonological awareness……………………………………………………...13
2.1.1 Components of phonological awareness……………………………...14
2.1.2 The development of PA………………………………………………16
2.1.3 The training programs of PA…………………………………………19
2.1.4 The development of PA in Taiwanese EFL children………………….23
2.2 Early spelling…………………………………………………………………25
2.2.1 The development of early spelling ability…………………………….25
2.2.2 PA and early spelling………………………………………………….29
2.2.3 Onset/rime awareness and learning to spell…………………………..32
2.2.4 Phonemic awareness and learning to spell……………………………34
2.3 Phonics approaches…………………………………………………………..36
2.3.1 Phonics and spelling ability…………………………………………...37
2.3.2 Word box phonics instruction…………………………………………40
2.3.3 Word sort phonics instruction…………………………………………44
2.3.4 A comparison between word box and word sort phonics instruction…47
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………51
3.1 Setting………………………………………………………………………...51
3.2 Subjects………………………………………………………………………52
3.3 Instructor……………………………………………………………………..52
3.4 Instruments…………………………………………………………………...53
3.4.1 Pretest…………………………………………………………………53
3.4.2 Posttest………………………………………………………………..56
3.5 Procedures……………………………………………………………………58
3.6 Materials……………………………………………………………………...60
3.7 Phonics Instruction…………………………………………………………...64
3.7.1 Group of word box phonics instruction……………………………….65
3.7.2 Group of word sort phonics instruction……………………………….67
3.8 Coding………………………………………………………………………..68
3.9 Data analysis…………………………………………………………………69
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS………………………………………………………….71
4.1 Pretest………………………………………………………………………..72
4.1.1 Word box group in the pretest………………………………………..72
4.1.2 Word sort group in the pretest………………………………………..73
4.1.3 Comparison of Between-Group in the pretest………………………..73
4.2 Posttest……………………………………………………………………….74
4.2.1 Word box group in the posttest………………………………………..75
4.2.2 Word sort group in the posttest………………………………………..76
4.3 Within-Group Development………………………………………………….78
4.3.1 Within-Group Development under word box phonics instruction…...78
4.3.2 Within-Group Development under word sort phonics instruction…...79
4.4 Comparison of Between-Group in the posttest………………………………80
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION………………………………89
5.1 The effects of word box………………………………………………………89
5.2 The effects of word sort………………………………………………………91
5.3 The comparative effects of word box and word sort in PA…………………..93
5.4 The comparative effects of word box and word sort in spelling……………..94
5.5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………96
5.6 Pedagogical implications……………………………………………………..98
5.7 Limitations…………………………………………………………………...99
5.8 Recommendations…………………………………………………………..100
Appendix A Pretest………………………………………………………………….103
Appendix B Posttest………………………………………………………………...106
Appendix C Answer sheet of pretest………………………………………………..110
Appendix D Answer sheet of posttest……………………………………………….111
Appendix E Lesson plan (word box group)………………………………………...113
Appendix F Lesson plan (word sort group)…………………………………………115
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………...117

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