Studies by Vickie Snider have shown that phonemic awareness has a direct correlation with students' ability to read as they get older.
Johnson and Tweedie's (2010) study applied direct PA instruction to young English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in rural Malaysia.
Those children given direct PA instruction achieved significantly greater test scores than a control group.
The study suggested that direct PA instruction might assist in closing existing literacy gaps between urban and rural children.
A study of Arabic-speaking ELLs in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program showed substantial gains in vowel recognition and improved C-test scores after PA tuition, despite concerns of the researchers that adult ELLs may negatively perceive PA instruction as a "childish" approach.