PEDAGOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF PHONETIC SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN PRIMARY LEARNERS: A TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED PERSPECTIVE
Keywords:
phonetic development; primary education; phonological awareness; pronunciation; articulatory instruction; CALL; CAPT; technology-enhanced learning; early literacyAbstract
Phonetic skill development plays a foundational role in early literacy and oral proficiency, particularly for primary-level learners acquiring English as a foreign language. As educational settings increasingly integrate technology, renewed attention has been directed toward the pedagogical principles that underpin effective phonetic instruction and the ways digital tools can strengthen these foundations. This theoretical article synthesizes research from early phonological development, second-language pronunciation studies, and technology-enhanced language learning to conceptualize how phonetic skills can be scaffolded for young learners. Drawing on classic and contemporary scholarship, the review highlights the importance of systematic phoneme–grapheme instruction, articulatory awareness, multisensory engagement, and teacher-mediated feedback. It also examines how technology can provide multimodal input, adaptive practice, and real-time feedback when aligned with pedagogically grounded approaches. The article concludes with implications for educators and curriculum designers, emphasizing the need for thoughtful integration of technology within established phonetic principles to promote more robust and transferable phonetic competence in primary learners.
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