Jolly phonics: effective strategy for enhancing children english literacy

English Education Department, Ganesha University of Education, Singaraja Bali Indonesia

Abstract

Having strong foundation in English literacy nowadays is believed to be a very crucial requirement for the children to survive and success both in educational and social lives. One of the most effective strategies for enhancing children’s early reading and literacy skill is through Jolly Phonics. Despite the popularity and its effectiveness, there is still factor to the absence of the strategy, namely lack of teacher knowledge. This paper is intended to share the techniques of how to implement Jolly Phonics strategy for teaching and developing children’s English literacy. This study was conducted in one of innovative bilingual schools in Denpasar, Bali. The study employed descriptive qualitative method as a research design and used observation, documentation and interview to collect the data from the teacher. The findings showed that the teacher had successfully implement the 5 skills in Jolly Phonics, namely (1) learning the letter sounds, (2) learning letter formation, (3) blending-for reading, (4) identifying sounds in words-for writing and (5) tricky words, through variety of enjoyable techniques involving children’s sight, sound and kinesthetic means. Thus, implementing Jolly Phonics through techniques explained will improve children’s overall English literacy skill.