Phonological awareness training

University of Luxembourg research exploring language learning revealed that acquiring an unfamiliar second language requires the ability to analyse speech sounds in words, which has implications for curriculum in preschool.

Learning (an unfamiliar language) represents a cognitively challenging task. Study findings, published on 15 May 2012 in the Journal of Educational Psychology, have implications in the teaching of second languages.

Dr. Pascale Engel de Abreu found that for young Luxembourgish-speaking children, French words contain unfamiliar sounds and sound combinations, which means children need to first recognise and analyse the individual sounds to efficiently learn the new word. Research findings suggest that basic phonological processing abilities are an important springboard to the success of learning a second language with an unfamiliar sound structure.


"Phonological awareness training should be an explicit part of the curriculum in preschool and early elementary school."


http://www.innovation.public.lu/en/actualites/2012/05/german-french-learning/index.html