Phonics has an important role in English language learning for young learners. Those who are equipped with phonics skills show greater confidence and competence particularly in the areas of pronunciation, spelling and reading.

To offer a one-stop online resources package on the teaching of phonics, HKedCity will launch a website in mid-March with teaching and learning resources on phonics -
"Phonics at HKedCity" (http://www.hkedcity.net/english/phonics). Resources will include good practices, downloadable students' worksheet, video clips and other resources on the learning and teaching of phonics.

HKedCity has the pleasure to invite Dr Roxana Fung from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to address "Raising Phonological Awareness Among Hong Kong Students" and Dr Roland Chin from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on "Empowering English e-Learning by Advanced Speech Technology" in a workshop available on two Saturdays, 8 March and 15 March 2003.

In addition to the talks given by the leading academics of the field, the workshop will also feature a hands-on practice session of the on-line interactive speech recognition software on developing phonics skills among young learners - Sonic Ranger. This software is developed by The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI), an R&D company wholly-owned and funded by the HKSAR Government.

A video viewing session on the "Teaching of Phonics" and a mini book fair featuring books on teaching and learning of phonics will be presented.