Literacy development and self-concept of English second language learners: an exploratory study

[摘要] English: This work comprises an exploratory study concerning the literacy development of EnglishSecond Language (ESL) learners and the influence of their literacy skills on their self-concept.The present state of affairs concerning the poor quality of the literacy skills of especially theESL learners in South Africa formed the starting point of this study. A review of theoreticalperspectives underlying literacy development and self-concept provided the basis for thestudy. An empirical examination regarding the challenges faced by primary school ESLteachers assisted in identifying some of the important factors countering well-developedliteracy skills of ESL learners. The research involved Grade 4 ESL learners in the IntermediatePhase who experience literacy backlogs. An intervention in the form of interactive storybookreading was developed and administered to an experimental group of Grade 4 ESL learners.Lastly, the interplay between self-concept and literacy achievement was examined. Thesummary and findings of each article are discussed in the following paragraphs:Article 1 explored the interrelationship between the intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to thedevelopment of adequate literacy skills of ESL learners. This article explored howBronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory relates to the plight of the ESL learner within theSouth African education context. Scholastic and socioeconomic challenges characteristic ofthe scenario of the average learner in South Africa were discussed. In the light of the interplaybetween the different systems in the individual ESL learner's life, the implications of Cummins'sInterdependence Theory on the literacy development of ESL learners were considered. Theeffect of ESL learning without a well-developed mother-tongue basis was scrutinized. Theinfluence of the interaction between different intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the varioussystems surrounding a learner was addressed, in combination with the poor literacy in L2 dueto the implications of Cummins's Linguistic Interdependence Theory on the self-concept of ESLlearners in South Africa. The Reciprocal Effects Model (REM) of self-concept posits thatacademic self-concept and achievement reinforce each other. The literature examined showstrong interactions between Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Systems Theory, the LinguisticInterdependence Theory proposed by Cummins and the status of a person's self-concept. Theresearcher thus argues that the interaction of intrinsic and extrinsic factors within the differentsystems wherein the ESL learner functions, in combination with the implications of Cummins'stheory, is likely to have an impact on the self-concept of ESL learners in South Africa.Article 2 determined and described the challenges that ESL teachers experience in their questto create responsive literacy environments for ESL learners. The qualitative research designenabled the researcher to identify five overall themes posing as obstacles preventing ESLlearners from optimal academic progression. It included the LOLT that is not the mother tongueof the learners, the gap between the curriculum of the language of learning and teaching inGrade 3 and Grade 4; disciplinary problems; self-concept and emotional problems; and thelack of time and structure to provide essential individual support to learners. English, as theLOLT for learners with another mother tongue proved to be not only a major challenge forteachers teaching ESL learners, but it also seemed to be the underlying cause for the poorliteracy quality of many of South Africa's ESL learners. The participating teachers agreed thatliteracy and associated academic problems had a negative effect on the self-concept andmotivation of ESL learners. In this article, the importance of mother tongue education wasemphasized by a theoretical study and verified by qualitative research. In the light of the varietyof mother-tongue speakers in classrooms in South Africa, it is recommended that languagesupportive learning and translanguaging as teaching strategies in classrooms where the LOLTis not the mother tongue of the learners must be examined.In exploring the challenges ESL learners in South Africa face regarding literacy skills, Article 3sought to determine the development of the literacy skills of an individual. The importance ofemergent literacy skills in literacy development was highlighted. Phonology, morphology,syntax, semantics and pragmatics as components of language form the underlying structureof any language. Forthcoming from this foundation are the skills essential for the developmentof reading skills, including phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.Based on the Sociocultural Learning Theory, a literacy intervention incorporating a wholelanguageapproach in the form of storybook reading was applied to support the literacydevelopment of the participating ESL learners. Literacy exercises accompanied the storyreading to improve the word reading, reading fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension andspelling of these learners. Utilising an experimental pre-test/post-test research design, theresults emphasize the value of interactive storybook reading in creating responsive literacyenvironments to develop the literacy skills of ESL learners. The findings from this studyindicated a significant improvement in the literacy skills of the experimental group by taking thepre-test and the post-test measures into account. The scores for speed-reading improved from56.57(pre-test) to 74.71 (post-test); for word reading it improved from 29.5 to 41.8; spellingscores improved from 17.33 to 23.90; the average scores for vocabulary improved from 12.54to 17.19; and reading comprehension scores improved from 9.61 to 13.23.Article 4 explored the interplay between self-concept and literacy achievement. The selfconceptof an individual includes the perception of one's abilities in a certain context. In thecontext of the ESL learner's literacy skills, it indicates the learner's academic self-concept. Theliteracy ability of a person plays an important role in academic success. The practiceconcerning a large part of ESL learners in South Africa learning through a LOLT that is nottheir mother tongue largely has a negative effect on their literacy skills.In Article 4, the impact of a literacy intervention programme on the self-concept developmentof Grade 4 ESL learners was examined. Secondly, possible correlations between global selfconceptand the following self-concept dimensions Behavioural Adjustment (BEH), Intellectualand School Status (INT), Physical Appearance and Attributes (PHY), Freedom from Anxiety(FRE), Popularity (POP), and Happiness and Satisfaction (HAP) were established. Thirdly, thepossible relationship between literacy abilities and self-concept of these learners was explored.The Piers Harris Self-concept scale was administered prior to and after the literacy interventionprogramme to establish the relationship between ESL learners' literacy abilities and their selfconceptdevelopment. With regard to the first aim, pre-test/post-test results yielded small, butsignificant improvements in the total self-concept score (p = 0.000), as well as four of the sixdomains as measured with the Piers-Harris self-concept scale, namely for BEH (p = 0.007),PHY (p = 0. 000), POP (p = 0.000) and HAP (p = 0.03). Pearson Product Moment correlationanalyses were performed to investigate the second and third aims. With regard to the secondaim, the results have shown a significantly positive correlation between the Piers-Harris selfconceptscale's Total (TOT) scale and self-concept before and after the intervention (r = 0.61),as well as yielded significant positive correlations between global self-concept and all six selfconceptdomains. The results further show that the correlation coefficients show an increasefrom the pre-test to the post-test occasion. Results pertaining to the third aim demonstratedsignificantly positive correlations between self-concept and the following literacy measures:Reading comprehension (r = 0.67); Vocabulary (r = 0.58); Word reading (r = 0.55); Readingfluency (r = 0.55) and Spelling (r = 0.50). The effect of the intervention on the self-concept ofESL learners thus indicated noteworthy improvement.Concluding the interplay between the different systems - as described by Bronfenbrenner's'Bioecological Systems Theory, in combination with the consequences of Cummins's LinguisticInterdependence Theory on the literacy acquisition of a person, resulting in a negativeinfluence on the academic self-concept of the ESL learner - was confirmed. The ReciprocalEffects Model self-concept, which proposes that academic self-concept both affects and isaffected by academic achievement was considered as a contributing factor to the self-conceptof the individual. The quality of an individual's literacy skills as a prerequisite for academicsuccess and future socio-economic independence stands central in the formation of one'sacademic self-concept. The plight of many ESL learners, who have a LOLT other than theirmother tongue, in combination with the effect of the interaction of different systems within whichthey function, resulting in poor literacy skills, is emphasized by the results of this mixed-methodstudy. Emanating from the study, a literacy intervention in the form of storybook reading withaccompanying literacy development exercises was developed and applied with positiveresults.

[发布机构] University of the Free State