The influence a reading intervention programme for grade 8 learners in their first language (Afrikaans) has on their first and second language (English) reading skills

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An increasing number of studies indicate that South African learners' literacy levels aredeplorably low. According to one international study, the Progress in International LiteracyStudy (PIRLS), conducted in 2006, South African grade 4 learners' literacy levels are the lowestof the 40 countries that participated in the study. The results of the first Annual NationalAssessment (ANA), conducted in 2011, show that the average literacy performance of grade 3learners in South Africa lies at 35%. Even though numerous reasons can be presented for theselow literacy levels - amongst others, large classes, insufficient teacher training, insufficienteducational practices (especially the fact that so little time is spent on reading instruction), anda lack of teaching material - the blame is often cast on the insufficient language proficiency ofSouth African learners. South African learners often receive education in a language which isnot their first language. A large number of learners only receive education in their firstlanguage for the first three years of their school career and thereafter English usually becomesthe language of learning and teaching. It is, however, not only those learners who receiveeducation in their second language who have low literacy skills. Learners who receiveeducation in their first language also encounter problems. The aim of this study was todetermine whether a reading intervention programme, designed on the basis of the most recentresearch on reading, could improve the reading comprehension skills of grade 8 learners in theirfirst language Afrikaans and whether these skills could be transferred to their second languageEnglish. The study showed that there was a significant improvement in the participatinglearners' reading comprehension skills in their first language Afrikaans, as well as in theirsecond language English, even though the reading intervention was only offered in Afrikaans.According to the results of this study, it seems that reading comprehension skills which areacquired in the first language can indeed be transferred to a second language. The implicationsof these findings for first and second language literacy development are discussed in the finalchapter of the thesis.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University