Reading for understanding: An investigation into teachers’ reading comprehension strategies in grade three isixhosa home language classrooms in the Western Cape (original) (raw)

READING COMPREHENSION IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS: ARE TEACHERS GETTING IT, AND GETTING IT RIGHT

Much research exists about South African learners' low literacy and numeracy levels and about poorly performing schools. In contrast, there are far fewer detailed descriptions of instructional practices and what teachers are actually doing in their classrooms, and far less evidence exists of in-depth research attempts to understand in what way and why teachers may experience problems with the teaching of reading literacy, particularly reading comprehension. This article aims to contribute to narrowing that gap by reviewing recent South African research on classroom comprehension instruction and obtaining information from teachers about how they perceive themselves as readers, what their teaching context is, what they claim to be doing about reading in their classrooms, and to match these responses with ANA results at their schools. Data were obtained through a quantitative questionnaire from 159 teachers at 30 schools across three provinces. The results show that many teachers are not themselves immersed in rich reading practices, many teachers claim to be doing more than is reflected in their schools' literacy results, and in general teachers don't seem to have a clear understanding of reading concepts, reading development and reading methodology.

The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter?

Per Linguam

The main aim of the study was to determine the reading comprehension performance of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking children in a rural province in South Africa, where the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) is English. Thirty-four Grade 5 learners from one province and from the same socioeconomic background were selected through purposive sampling. The research design adopted was non-experimental, descriptive and quantitative in nature. Participants were required to perform reading comprehension tasks in English and Setswana. Four stories were utilised from the reading comprehension subtest of the GORT-4™ Test Form A. Two of the stories from the test were administered on completion of the English reading comprehension task. The other two stories were translated and adapted into Setswana. The mean raw scores of results obtained were calculated and comparisons at different levels were performed using t-tests. Results revealed poor overall reading comprehension scores in both languages; with scores below 55%. Furthermore, current results indicated better performance in Setswana reading comprehension, with higher scores obtained in the difficult Setswana story than in English. These findings were statistically significant (p<.05). Implications of the influence of home / first language on reading comprehension, if the LoLT is not the learner's first language, are raised.

INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF READING TO LEARN PEDAGOGY TO IMPROVE READING FOR COMPREHENSION IN A SENIOR PHASE CLASS THROUGH SCAFFOLDING: A LITERACY ACCELERATION ACTION RESEARCH CASE STUDY IN A GRADE 8 ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE (FAL) CLASS IN RURAL SOUTH AFRICA.

IJARW, 2020

Academic performance among South African learners at any grade is worrisome to the extent that everyday academics and stakeholders are in search of answers to the scourge. Learners in the majority of the grades where reading for meaning is a prerequisite are found wanting. It has become a well-known fact that whenever, South Africa participates in international assessments, South African learners occupy the last bar of the ladder whether it is literacy or numeracy. It is against this backdrop that this study sought to examine how Reading to Learn pedagogy (RtL) can positively impact learners' literacy development in a South African grade 8 class in a rural school. The pre-test indicated that learners had weak reading skills and after the intervention significant progress was noted in their reading abilities. Learner interviews and journal reflections and learners' work were data generation tools. Findings were processed and analysed according to themes. Based on the findings, RtL pedagogy posits itself as a worthy intervention for reading problems in the classroom.

Making the CAPS fit : an exploration of the reading development strategies of three Intermediate Phase language educators in a rural KwaZulu-Natal school

2013

The aim of this study was to explore the reading life histories of three Intermediate Phase (IP) language educators, and how their histories influence their teaching, as part of a larger University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) reading project. Using the life history research approach, the manner in which the participants learnt to read at home before starting school, in Primary and High School and how they were trained to teach reading was examined. By observing their lessons and interviewing them, the effects that their experiences have had on their current teaching methods and their readiness to implement the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in their phase in 2013, was explored. Research has shown that the literacy levels in South Africa (SA) are reason for great concern. There seems to be an overemphasis on decoding skills with limited exposure to all aspects of comprehension in the lower grades. Thus SA learners struggle to cope as they go on to higher grades where they are expected to read for meaning and read to learn. These problems may be associated with the inadequate training and limited knowledge of teaching reading of many SA educators. Educators who participated in this study seem to define reading as primarily decoding text to speech and view comprehension as a separate entity. In addition to this they do not have a full understanding of the complexities of the comprehension process. By exploring the participants' experiences of learning to read, their training in teaching reading, and current classroom practices, the effects of the former two were visible on the latter. This study contributes to the larger research project as the participants' misconceptions and preconceptions created by their own mediocre schooling, substandard and outdated training and inadequate continuous development, were analysed so these could be addressed in workshops designed by the UKZN reading project team. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………...i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………...ii DECLARATION…………………………………………………………………….iii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………...iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES………………………………………………..vii LIST OF ACRONYMS……………………………………………………………....viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 9 2.4 Research Approach 9 2.5 Data Collection Methods 2.5.1 Interviews 2.5.2 Observations 2.6 Piloting of the data collection instruments 2.7 Data Analysis and Interpretation 2.8 Sample 2.9 Reliability and Validity 2.10 Limitations of the study v 2.11 Ethical Considerations 2.12 Summary CHAPTER THREE: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 3.1 Introduction 3.2 What is reading? 3.3 Reading in the First Additional Language 3.4 Bottom-up models of reading 3.4.1 Applications of bottom-up models 3.4.2 Critiques of bottom-up models 3.5 Top-down models of reading 3.5.1 Applications of top-down models 3.5.2 Critiques of top-down models 3.6 Interactive models of reading

Acquiring Reading Skills in English as Second Language: Listening to the Voice of Grade 1 Teachers in South Africa

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

The research discussed in this article investigated the acquisition of reading skills by Grade 1 learners who are English Second Language (ESL) speakers in South African classrooms. A questionnaire was used for data collection and both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained. Issues that arose from the quantitative data were the class size, the number of ESL learners in a class and the variety in competence in English of the ESL learners. From the qualitative date the following themes which influenced the acquisition of reading by ESL learners became evident: a lack of vocabulary influences comprehension, the influence of the sound system of the English language, auditory perception, parents and the home environment and the socioeconomic and sociocultural background of learners.

Teaching Methods to Support the Teaching of Reading in the Foundation Phase Class: A Case Study of Schools around Capricorn South District, Limpopo, South Africa

Research in educational policy and management, 2024

The purpose of this study was to investigate how instructors experienced teaching reading in Foundation Phase classrooms and how they applied various tactics to make reading instruction successful. In a case study design, a qualitative research methodology was used. Six educators from three distinct schools made up the sample: two were Foundation Phase specialists, two had never participated in in-service training, and two are from former Model C schools. Semistructured interviews and in-class observations were used to gather data. The semi-structured interviews' raw recorded data was first converted into written language, after which initial codes were assigned to each category of data. These results showed that teachers' methods in the classroom did not align with contemporary theories and best practices for teaching reading. Their proficiency in teaching reading utilising the CAPS-recommended reading approaches generally is adversely affected by this aspect. Learners' failure to meet satisfactory reading outcomes in Foundation Phase classrooms may be due to the difficulties in implementing various reading approaches. KEYWORDS Grade R; teaching methods; social constructivism; reading materials; learning techniques.

The Impact of Gender, Socioeconomic Status and Home Language on Primary School Children’s Reading Comprehension in KwaZulu-Natal

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2016

The current study constituted part of a larger, longitudinal, South African-based study, namely, The Road and Aircraft Noise Exposure on Children's Cognition and Health (RANCH-South Africa). In the context of a multicultural South Africa and varying demographic variables thereof, this study sought to investigate and describe the effects of gender, socioeconomic status and home language on primary school children's reading comprehension in KwaZulu-Natal. In total, 834 learners across 5 public schools in the KwaZulu-Natal province participated in the study. A biographical questionnaire was used to obtain biographical data relevant to this study, and the Suffolk Reading Scale 2 (SRS2) was used to obtain reading comprehension scores. The findings revealed that there was no statistical difference between males and females on reading comprehension scores. In terms of socioeconomic status (SES), learners from a low socioeconomic background performed significantly better than those from a high socioeconomic background. English as a First Language (EL1) speakers had a higher mean reading comprehension score than speakers who spoke English as an Additional Language (EAL). Reading comprehension is indeed affected by a variety of variables, most notably that of language proficiency. The tool to measure reading comprehension needs to be standardized and administered in more than one language, which will ensure increased reliability and validity of reading comprehension scores.

Critical reading perceptions and practices of English First Additional Language learners in Gauteng, Tshwane South district

Reading & Writing, 2020

Background: Apart from being a knowledge-gaining commodity, critical literacy is believed to be a practice that exists between people, groups and communities in a sociopolitical and cultural context. It is assumed that without strong literacy skills, post-secondary education and employment options are limited. It is thus against this background that this investigation focused on the critical reading perceptions and practices of Grade 8 English First Additional Language (FAL) learners from two high schools in Gauteng, Tshwane South district. Objective: The study investigated Grade 8 learners' critical reading self-perceptions and practices in the English FAL classroom. Method: A quantitative research approach based on a non-experimental descriptive design was used. The purposively selected research sample consisted of 166 Grade 8 English FAL learners from two high schools in Gauteng, Tshwane South district. Data were collected through the use of a survey questionnaire, as well as a critical reading comprehension activity measurement and evaluation instrument. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used to analyse data solicited through the survey questionnaire and reading comprehension activity. Specifically, the Spearman's correlation coefficient of variables was used to indicate if there was any relationship between the learners' reading perceptions and their reading practices. Results: The results showed that although learners' self-perceptions indicated that they could critically analyse texts, the critical reading comprehension activity measurement and evaluation instrument revealed that learners were unable to apply most of the critical reading strategies they claimed to be using. Thus, learners' perception about their critical reading ability was not automatically an accurate indicator of their actual reading practice ability. Conclusion: The findings from this study re-emphasise the reading crisis that is prevalent within the South African reading literacy landscape. A devastating conclusion that was arrived at, was that because learners did not engage critically in classroom reading, the Grade 8 English FAL learners from the participating schools contributed to the existing reading crisis in South Africa.

The benefits of an extensive reading programme implemented in two Foundation Phase classrooms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Reading & Writing

According to Le Cordeur (2010a), it is important to identify and address reading challenges such as poor reading comprehension, inadequate reading fluency, a lack of vocabulary, and a negative attitude towards reading as early as possible in the early years of schooling. In addition, literature has shown that many FP teachers do not know how to teach reading. They are currently teaching reading in an ad hoc, unsystematic way because of a lack of adequate professional development in effective strategies to address English learners' literacy development (Cekiso 2017; Le Cordeur 2010b; Pretorius & Machet 2004; Taylor 2015; Van Staden 2011). Particularly in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape, Tshuma and Le Cordeur (2019) found that teachers had difficulties teaching in English due to their own lack of proficiency in the language. Of relevance to this study is the lack of access to appropriate reading resources in terms of language and genre, lack of reading opportunities, and an absence of a reading culture, which continue to disadvantage poor communities. Background: This article reports on a responsive extensive reading programme (ERP), involving Grade 3 learners at two primary schools in the Eastern Cape over a duration of 20 weeks. Objectives: The sociocultural perspective of learning guided the implementation of the ERP which aimed at providing learners with opportunities to read books for pleasure in their preferred language. Method: Learners had a choice to talk about their reading in isiXhosa, their home language, or English, which is their first additional language. In supporting the long-term goal of being bilingual, learners were encouraged to see themselves as emergent bilinguals who have reasons to use both languages as young scholars and in future. Results: Data collected through a post-intervention questionnaire, learners' reading logs and observations illuminated interesting findings which show that learners benefited from the ERP. Conclusion: The benefits of participating in the ERP were observed in the learners' acquisition of new knowledge (cognitive benefits), transformation in their attitude towards reading (affective benefits), and they began to take agency of their reading (social benefits). Contribution: This study demonstrates the cognitive, affective, and social benefits of introducing learners to reading for pleasure as early as in the Foundation Phase.