The first thing that pupils are exposed to in their first English language lesson is phonics. Phonics is the sound system of the letters of a language, and letter and word associations. According to Tolbert (2010), phonics is a method of teaching reading in which pupils are taught the letters of the alphabet and their sounds first. Next, children are taught to blend the sounds phonetically to form words, and then to certainly build vocabulary, and increase effortlessness and understanding. Children can start reading within three to six months using the phonics method.
Reading is the way a person gets information from written letters and words. A person can read using sight, or touch, such as when a vision-impaired person reads Braille. Reading is a complex, multi-part process. Reading refers to activities as varied as a first grader’s struggles with simple sentences in a storybook, or a scholar's attempting to understand the meanings of a poem. Reading exposes people to the accrued wisdom of human development. Established readers bring to the text their knowledge, capabilities, and interests; the text, in turn, allows them to expand those experiences and abilities and to find new interests. To reach maturity in reading, an individual goes through a series of stages, from readiness to adult reading ability.
Phonics is a system of teaching reading and spelling that stresses basic symbol sound relationships and their application in decoding words; a system used especially in beginning instruction. According to Ankrah, Nyanta, and Opoku (2017), phonics is a method of teaching basic reading and spelling grounded on the phonetic clarification of normal spelling. It is a method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning to associate letters or letter groups with the sounds they represent. It is also a method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning the phonetic value of letters, letter groups, and especially syllables (Rowlingson, 2010). Phonics, therefore, is all about sounds, and more prominently, about the procedure involved in applying letters, letter groups and syllables to phonetic values for beginners.
Phonics, therefore, is all about writing, reading, recognizing and producing the phonetic values of a language, at a beginning level for learners of a second or foreign language (Huo & Wang, 2017). Phonics could be considered a holistic approach which at higher/older levels is generally broken into more specific considerations which fall into formal categories like pronunciation, reading and writing (Rowlingson, 2010). Phonics can also be regarded as phonetics.
Phonics comprises the teaching of how to connect the sounds of the English language with letters or groups of letters. For instance, the sound /k/ can be represented by c, k, ck, ch, or q spellings and pupils have to be taught how to blend the sounds of letters to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words. Children begin learning to read using phonics usually around the age of five to six years. Teaching the reading skills in the English language using phonics requires pupils to learn the connections between letter patterns and the sounds they represent. In the first grade, children begin to learn the printed equivalents for the spoken words they know. Some schools and reading textbooks teach the child to recognize whole words and stress the meaning of the text. Others first emphasize the study of phonics that is, the sounds represented by individual letters and the development of independent word recognition skills. Nearly all current programmes combine both techniques; they try to teach a child to recognize words and to learn phonics. For more than 60 years, research has shown that early, systematic phonics instruction produces high reading achievement, at least until the third grade.
Children learn the sounds of individual letters first, then the sounds of letters in combination and simple words. Phonics instruction requires the teacher to offer pupils a core body of information about phonics rules or patterns. Some of the phonics rules are that vowels letters are "a,e, i,o, and u"; and also sometimes "y" and "w". This also includes the diphthongs which is a mixture of two sounds, each with two different spellings. Here are some examples: /ɑʊ/ as in how, bow, allow; /əu/ as in foam, go, so, bone and /ɔi/ as in boy, joy.
The rules also include the vowel sounds which are
/ɪ/ bit
/ɪ:/ beat
/e/ bet
/æ/ bat
/ɒ/ lot
/ɔ:/ caught
/ʊ/ put, foot
/u:/ boot
/ʌ/ cut, blood
/ɜ:/ nurse
/ə/ ago
/ɑ:/ cart
The consonants are all the other letters which stop or limit the flow of air from the throat in speech. They are: "b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, qu, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z. And consonant sounds include /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /γ/, /h/, /r/, /s/, /ʃ/, /dʒ/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /v/, /w/, /j/, /f/, /ʒ/.
Consonant clusters or blends are the names given to two or three consonants that appear together in a word. Each consonant retains its sound when blended. The term cluster refers to the written form and the term blend refers to the spoken form. Consonant clusters consist of four major categories: r-clusters; s-clusters; l-clusters; and 3 letter clusters.
Pupils can be taught consonant clusters as soon as they have learnt the single consonant sound-spellings for instance r-blends: br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr and tr;
s-blends: sc, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st and sw
l-blends: bl, cl, fl, gl, pl.
3 letter blends: str, spr, thr, chr,shr.
The consonant clusters thr, chr, phr, and shr, are made up of consonant digraph and a consonant. Every syllable in every word must have a vowel. English is a "vocal" language; every word must have a vowel. The consonant letter "C" when followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of /s/. Examples: "cyst", "central", and "city". The consonant letter "G" when followed by "e, i or y" usually has the sound /dʒ/. Example: "gem", "gym", and "gist". When 2 consonant letters are joined together and form one new sound, they are a consonant digraph. When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short. Examples: fat, bed, fish, spot, luck. When a syllable ends in a silent /e/, the silent /e/ is a signal that the vowel in front of it is long. Examples: "make, gene, kite, rope, and use. When a syllable has 2 vowels together, the first vowel is usually long and the second is silent. Examples: pain, eat, boat, res/cue, say, grow. It is important to stress that diphthongs do not follow this rule; in a diphthong, the vowels blend to create a single new sound. The diphthongs are: /ɔɪ/, /au/, /uə/,. When a syllable ends in any vowel and is the only vowel, that vowel is usually long. Examples: pa/per, me, I, o/pen, u/nit, and my. When a vowel is followed by an ‘r’ in the same syllable, that vowel is ‘r’-controlled sounds. It is neither long nor short. /r/ controlled sounds, have a vowel and the /r/ sound. For instance
‘or’ as in more; ‘ar’ as in-car; ‘er’ as in her; and ‘air’ as in fair
Sometimes the rules do not work. There are many exceptions in English because of the vastness of the language and the many languages from which it has borrowed numerous words. The rules do work, however, in the majority of the words (Doyle, 2011).
It has been found that phonics is the most difficult content area in primary English (Ibenegbu, 2010). This was evidenced in the preliminary study conducted by this researcher. There is evidence of mother tongue interference among pupils in the area of this study. The pupils often pronounce some words like rice as lice, road as load, red as led, radio as ledio and love as rove. The importance of phonics calls for a more effective way of preparing common instructional materials like a textbook for primary school pupils.
Textbooks are print media. According to Okwo (2007), print refers to instructional materials that are produced on paper, and this includes textbooks, workbooks, teacher guide books, photographs, charts, flashcards, handbills, posters, cartoons, and comics. Textbooks are the main print materials used in primary schools. Some considerations involved in the design of English textbooks for primary pupils include the nature of illustrations, colour usage in illustrations and art development of the pupils.
Illustrations can be regarded as a drawing, picture or diagram for instructional purposes. Redmond (2008) defined illustration as a picture or the provision of the picture that compliments the text. It is a drawing, picture, photograph, or diagram that accompanies and compliments a printed, spoken, or electronic text. An illustration is a drawing, painting or printed work of art that explains, clarifies, illuminates, visually represents, or merely decorates a written text, which may be of a literary or commercial nature. Images, photographs, drawings, and even cartoons powerfully make an impact on the viewer and convey meaning, and can evoke a visceral emotional reaction (Audsley, 2020). Therefore, the illustration could be regarded as a pictorial material appearing with a text and amplifying or enhancing it. Although illustrations may be maps, charts, diagrams, or decorative elements, they are more usually representations of scenes, people, or objects related in some manner, directly, indirectly, or symbolically to the text they accompany. It is observed that pictures lure children to read and interact with the text and provide mental images, allowing them to understand the written text more easily and remember it longer (Fang, 1996; Purwanti & Bachrudin, 2018). Illustrations may also increase comprehension and retention of the text material (Meredith, Marcia, & Roderick, 2010; Read & Barnstey, 1977; Schallert, 1990). Illustrations are a vital part of visual image-making.
In Nigeria, a new impetus was given to Children’s English language textbooks publishing in the late seventies and early eighties by indigenous publishers such as Onibonje Press, and by indigenized multinational publishers such as Macmillan with its Winner series, Longman with its Palm Library and Leopard series, and University Press with its Rainbow series and new picture books for the pre-school child. However, Okeke (1982) postulated that too often, the illustrator imposes his adult visual ideas on children or gets carried away by his fluency in drawing and painting or mere technical ability. In Nigeria, this poses a lot of problems in that the designers are not knowledgeable enough to be able to ascertain the importance of illustrations produced by children. This can easily be noticeable in the types of illustrations made for children in Nigeria as compared to foreign illustrations. Salisbury (2004) pointed out those successful children’s book illustrators’ start by understanding the author’s flight of fancy, then rendering the ideas and actions imaginatively in pictorial terms. Fiona (2007) in a response to what makes a good children’s book noted that it is the same combination of factors that make any good book: is it original, well written and with the intended reader in mind? Of course, unlike adult books, you also have to consider the illustrations. Fiona (2007) elaborated more on quality illustrations by pointing out that illustrations are what makes children’s books magical. But Fiona (2007) fear that many adult buyers are wooed simply by pretty pictures. Do the pictures complement the text and vice versa? Does the text over-clutter the illustrations or do the two elements work together to tell the story? On the other hand, beware of too much visual detail in stories for younger children. Simpler lines and bolder colours may not be aesthetically pleasing to an adult eye, but they are easier to engage with for a child under four. From four upwards the illustrations may be more sumptuous. However, this trend may be reversed as children approach nine where the ‘cooler’ minimalist, cartoon-style illustrations are more in vogue. Most of these English textbooks meant for children have adult-generated illustrations without integrating artistic ideas or illustrations generated by the children themselves.
Andrews, Scharff and Moses (2002) conducted a study on the Influence of Illustrations in Children’s Story Books. The purpose of the study was to obtain empirical data to determine the relationship between illustrations and reading comprehension. It was also to get a better idea about the specific styles of illustrations that children prefer. A pilot study was conducted to gather some general preference information from K-3 level school children. Subjective data was gathered on preferences for eight books with illustrations. The significant finding was that the children tended to like illustrations in books that depicted brightly-coloured, cartoon-like characters.
New attitudes toward children and their education began to develop in the late seventeenth century when many educators appealed for greater consideration of children’s distinctive needs and when the notion of pleasure in learning was becoming more widely accepted. Most indicative of this evolution of ideas are the writings of philosophers John Locke (1632-1704) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) as reported by Witkin (2005). In 1693 Locke wrote that “children should be treated as a rational creature. They must not be hindered from being children, nor from playing and doing as children, but from doing ill”. Rousseau regarded childhood as a pure and natural state-one distinct from adulthood-and believed that a central goal of education should be to preserve the child’s original nature. Locke also believed that it is essential for teachers to see things as children do. The use of children-generated illustrations especially in the production of pupils’ textbooks is justified based on the philosophical outlook of John Lock and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. There is, therefore, the need to determine which of these modes of illustrations, adult or children-generated will be more effective in pupils learning phonics from texts.
It is highly desirable that illustrators of children’s books, especially English textbooks, should be familiar with the developmental stages of artistic production with the complementary modes of expression. Often the stage of expression that a child has reached will give clues not only to the type of subject matter that may interest him but also to the tools, materials and activities with which he may cope successfully. Knowing his stage of expression will also help the illustrator to determine what kind of illustration, stimulation, assistance and general educational treatment the child requires. It is, therefore, pertinent to take note of the stages and modes, or “form concepts” of children’s artistic expression, including the peculiarities of design in illustrating their texts and also putting the consideration of gender of the pupils. Gender has been seen to be related to the choice of illustration of children’s books, especially in colour usages.
Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviour, undertakings and characteristics that a particular society considers suitable for men and women. The distinct roles and behaviour may give rise to gender inequalities, that is differences between men and women that systematically favour one group. Gender is a set of characteristics distinguishing between male and female, particularly in the cases of men and women which depending on the context, may vary from sex to social role to gender identity (Angel & Henry, 2015; Bland, 2003). It is a sociological concept that ascribed certain roles for males and females. Gender role expectations affect how males or females perform in educational settings. Gender is a set of characteristics distinguishing between males and females. It refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women (David, 2004; World Health Organization, 2015). Traditionally, gender stereotype has over the years continued to limit females’ capabilities and constrain their ability to participate in all aspects of human endeavour. Gender issues themselves affect all aspects of society to the extent that access of women to certain professions/competencies in the higher institution is constrained by these same sex-role stereotypes. Gender is a sociological concept which indicates those responsibilities or tasks that are amenable or at least perceived are such to males and females (David, 2004). According to Munger (2005), girls seem to prefer the colour pink and boys blue. From early to older ages, choice of illustration and colour differ (Munger, 2005). This has to be put into consideration in illustrating English textbooks for primary school pupils for more effective instruction. Gender has been seen to be related to language learning. Many researchers are of the view that the gender of a learner is significant in assessing his/her achievement in a language class. Offorma (2007) found that girls achieved more than boys in foreign language acquisition. Some other studies have shown that females show some superiority over males in language achievement (Umoh, 2003; Nwafor, 2002). Ogo (1995) noted that female secondary school students tended to be more relaxed in a language class than males.
In the field of children’s artistic development, there are some controversial assumptions. One is the universality of children’s drawing patterns in their early years regardless of their gender or culture, which means no matter where children are born, their patterns of artistic development do not differ in the early stages of so-called primitive art. Characteristic and universal patterns such as representational graphic patterns, spatial patterns, and so on, emerge with their cognitive development and physical growth at an early age (Golomb, 2003; Stefanie, 2016). The issue of concern here is whether gender has any influence on pupils learning phonics from the illustrated text.