Abstract:
The study investigated the effect of synthetic phonics reading strategy on interest and achievement in reading among pupils. Six research questions and six hypotheses were answered and tested effectively to give direction to the study. The study is a quasi- experimental design. The population of the study was 1776 primary one pupils while the sample of the study was 120 primary one pupils drawn from four public primary schools in Oshimili South Local Government Area Two instruments: the Reading Achievement Test (RAT) and the Reading Interest Scale (RIS) were validated by experts and used for the study. Mean, Standard Deviation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used for analysis. Major findings in the study indicated that Synthetic Phonics reading strategy could be employed as a strategy for teaching reading among pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. The pupils exposed to synthetic phonics reading strategy performed significantly better than those taught with look and say method. The interest of pupils taught using synthetic phonics reading strategy was significantly higher than that of those taught using look and say method. Gender had no significant effect on the mean scores of pupils taught using the synthetic phonics reading strategy. Based on the findings, it was concluded that synthetic phonics reading strategy should be integrated into the curriculum of English language study as one of the methods of teaching English for a balanced reading programme. This has implication on the teaching of word recognition at the basic level. It was recommended among others that the pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area should be taught using synthetic phonics reading strategy thus seminars and workshops for retraining of teachers on the use of this strategy to enhance reading skills of pupils in the primary schools should be intensified.
