Competences 

1. assess students’ phonological awareness skills and identify areas of difficulty through systemic evaluation;
2. develop students’ phonological awareness skills by implementing evidence-based strategies using grounded in pedagogical theory and research to effectively address identified difficulties;
3. respond to individual students’ phonological awareness needs by adapting teaching skills and strategies to provide tailored support;
4. assist parents/caregivers in implementing phonological awareness skills strategies at home to reinforce learning and support literacy development;
5. implement reading and spelling strategies within a scaffolded literacy intervention programme, actively involving parents/caregivers;
6. explicitly and effectively teach concepts of word recognition and phonics, ensuring comprehension and application by students;
7. effectively teach all steps in decoding and encoding lessons, including single word reading and connected text promoting fluency, accuracy and appropriate intonation and expression;direct students’ attention to speech sounds, reading, spelling and vocabulary instruction during reading instruction.

Knowledge

1. describe the theories underpinning phonological awareness;
2. demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the language processing in phonological awareness highlighting its role in literacy development;
3. articulate the sounds in Maltese and English in a clear manner;
4. recognise the phonemic systems of both 1^st and 2^nd language, identifying challenging sounds and linguistic features;
5. define a grapheme as a functional correspondence unit or a representation of a phoneme, illustrating its role in written language;
6. explain the sequencing of phonological awareness skills from simple to more complex, facilitating effective instructional planning;
7. understand the reciprocal relationships between phoneme processing, reading, spelling and vocabulary acquisition, emphasising the interrelation in literacy development;

Skills

1. identify students’ phonological awareness skills and pinpoint areas of difficulty through systematic assessment and observation;
2. plan phonological awareness lessons using a pedagogy based on research and best practices;
3. organise and deliver phonological skills explicitly and systematically through a hierarchal approach tailored to students’ developmental needs;
4. understand and implement the principles of explicit and direct reading instruction, including modelling, leading, guided practice and review;
5. anticipate and address potential challenges faced by second language learners, recognising differences between the two phonological systems;
6. develop lesson plans with a cumulative progression of wordand sound awareness , ensuring sequential and scaffolded learning instruction;
7. apply concepts to reading single words, phrases, and connected text promoting fluency and comprehension in literacy development;
8. support parents/caregivers within the family literacy intervention sessions, fostering collaborative partnerships.