Overall, the findings showed that teaching children phonics in context was effective and
that teaching phonemic awareness seems to significantly improve students’ reading.
Although teaching phonics with a whole language approach does not represent a
complete reading program, it provided students with essential foundational knowledge
of the English phonemic system. The findings of this research provide evidence that
raising phonemic awareness is a valuable and essential part of a successful classroom
reading program. Data collected during the implementation of the action plan revealed
that teaching phonics should be a key component of the UAE elementary schools’
English curriculum.