Conscious Knowledge, Unconscious Practice: Rethinking Teacher Awareness in Phonological Instruction
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study seeks to reconceptualize teacher awareness by critically examining the discrepancy between teachers’ stated beliefs about the International Phonetic Alphabet and their actual classroom practices in English as a Foreign Language context. The study is grounded in the problem that teacher awareness is often narrowly defined as declarative knowledge, without sufficient attention to how such knowledge is enacted pedagogically. Employing a qualitative case study design, the research involved three Indonesian English as a Foreign Language teachers at UIN Ar-Raniry and utilized questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and direct classroom observations to triangulate data on declarative knowledge and procedural practice. The findings reveal a clear paradox: although all participants demonstrated strong conscious endorsement of the importance of the International Phonetic Alphabet for phonological instruction, none explicitly applied it in classroom practice, instead relying on intuitive and implicit instructional strategies. This disjunction indicates that theoretical knowledge alone does not ensure pedagogical enactment. The study argues that teacher awareness should be understood as a multi-layered construct integrating both conscious knowledge and proceduralized practice. Consequently, teacher education programs must move beyond theory transmission toward the systematic development of practical, embodied instructional skills.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Achadiyah, R. (2024). Tertiary EFL learners’ barriers in translating Indonesian news item text into English and vice versa. Wiralodra English Journal, 8(2), 134–146. https://doi.org/10.31943/wej.v8i2.304
Aksakall?, C., & Ya??z, O. (2020). The pre-service EFL teachers’ development of phonological processing and evaluation of their attitudes toward pronunciation. GIST – Education and Learning Research Journal, 20, 7–31. https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.712
Alghazo, E. M., & Al-Hilawani, Y. A. (2010). Knowledge, skills, and practices concerning phonological awareness among early childhood education teachers. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 24(2), 172–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568541003635276
Anderson, J. R. (1982). Acquisition of cognitive skill. Psychological Review, 89(4), 369–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.89.4.369
Baker, A. (2014). Exploring teachers’ knowledge of second language pronunciation techniques: Teacher cognitions, observed classroom practices, and student perceptions. TESOL Quarterly, 48(1), 136–163. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.99
Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36(2), 81–109. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444803001903
Brutt-Griffler, J., & Samimy, K. K. (1999). Revisiting the colonial in the postcolonial: Critical praxis for nonnative-English-speaking teachers in a TESOL program. TESOL Quarterly, 33(3), 413–431. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587672
Burri, M. (2023). Comparing L2 teachers’ practices with learners’ perceptions of English pronunciation teaching. Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 25(1), 129–145. https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v25n1.101156
Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511733109
Couper, G. (2017). Teacher cognition of pronunciation teaching: Teachers’ concerns and issues. TESOL Quarterly, 51(4), 820–843. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.354
Gonçalves, A. R., & Zárate-Sández, G. (2024). Effective learning begins with effective teaching: Teacher cognition and L2 pronunciation instruction. Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, 77. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2024.e102729
Gordon, J., & Barrantes-Elizondo, L. (2024). Idealizing nativeness vs. embracing nonnativeness: A case study on L2 pronunciation teachers’ identity. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688241233840
Karmiloff-Smith, A., Grant, J., Sims, K., Jones, M.-C., & Cuckle, P. (1996). Rethinking metalinguistic awareness: Representing and accessing knowledge about what counts as a word. Cognition, 58(2), 197–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(95)00680-X
Kochem, T. (2022). Exploring the connection between teacher training and teacher cognitions related to L2 pronunciation instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 56(4), 1136–1162. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3095
Li, S., & Woore, R. (2021). The effects of phonics instruction on L2 phonological decoding and vocabulary learning: An experimental study of Chinese EFL learners. System, 103, 102677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102677
Tomlinson, P. (1999). Conscious reflection and implicit learning in teacher preparation: Part I—Recent light on an old issue. Oxford Review of Education, 25(3), 405–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/030549899104062
Ur, P. (2008). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge University Press.
Wardana, I. K., Astuti, P. S., & Sukanadi, N. L. (2022). Examining the effect of phonological awareness instruction on EFL learners’ pronunciation and motivation. Erudita: Journal of English Language Teaching, 2(2), 129–147. https://doi.org/10.28918/erudita.v2i2.6191
Wilson, J., & Colmar, S. (2008). Re-evaluating the significance of phonemic awareness and phonics in literacy teaching: The shared role of school counsellors and teachers. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 18(2), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1375/ajgc.18.2.89
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.