Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This study focuses on the effect of a reading strategy instruction research intervention on teachers and learners in Grade 4 to 6 at a primary school in the Western Cape.Literacy levels for South African Intermediate Phase learners remain at a disturbingly low level and Systemic Evaluation Assessments performed by the Department of Education show that reading, and more specifically reading comprehension, is a serious area of concern.A closer look at the Revised National Curriculum Statement and in-service as well as pre-service teacher training courses reveals that while teachers are trained to teach reading, very little, if any, focus is placed on training them how to teach comprehension.With a growing trend towards English as language of instruction for multilingual, non-English first language learners, the need to equip learners with ways of constructing meaning from texts becomes ever more crucial.This study addresses the need for reading comprehension through the use of reading strategies -conscious tools that readers can be taught to improve their individual meaning-making efforts during the reading process.The study implements reading strategies through an intervention based on pre-selected reading strategies set within a structured teaching approach which aims to provide teachers (and learners) with adequate guidance and support for implementing reading strategies.Through a case-study design this study utilises a mixed-method methodology for gathering both quantitative and qualitative data.The quantitative data serve to provide baseline data of selected reading-related abilities for learners before the start of the intervention, and to provide comparative data for specific measurements taken before and after the intervention.The qualitative data, gathered through classroom observations, unstructured interviews and obtaining samples of learners' work, provide rich, in-depth data about how teachers and, to a lesser extent, learners took on reading strategy instruction, and what factors influenced them in the process.
Author: Nanda Klapwijk
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1959717465