An exploratory study of the benefits of reading clubs for learners in English First Additional Language classrooms
- Authors: Mbebe, Xolela Desmond
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: English language Study and teaching (Secondary) South Africa , Second language acquisition , Group reading , Reading comprehension , Exploratory research
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463724 , vital:76435
- Description: The study explored how reading clubs inculcate the love of reading in Komani, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Reports indicate that learners at secondary schools do not understand the vocabulary used in comprehension passages. They need exposure to a variety of texts to promote reading comprehension. This study is situated in the interpretive paradigm. The participants were three educators with 24 learners in the reading clubs. Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory was the theoretical framework to explore how reading clubs promote the love of reading. Data was analysed by using an inductive, thematic approach. The findings indicate that the reading clubs instilled the love of reading among the learners, improving their comprehension skills. The other benefits were that reading clubs are a source of pleasure, instil the culture of reading, and develop the learners’ confidence. The implications of the findings of the study are that reading boosted thinking, reading skills, fluency, knowledge, writing, and vocabulary use. Reading clubs were beneficial to both teachers and learners. Teachers improved their practice and could determine, through oral and written reviews, whether reading took place during the silent reading sessions. Involvement in reading clubs had social benefits for learners. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Institute for the Study of Englishes of Africa, 2024
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- Authors: Mbebe, Xolela Desmond
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: English language Study and teaching (Secondary) South Africa , Second language acquisition , Group reading , Reading comprehension , Exploratory research
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463724 , vital:76435
- Description: The study explored how reading clubs inculcate the love of reading in Komani, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Reports indicate that learners at secondary schools do not understand the vocabulary used in comprehension passages. They need exposure to a variety of texts to promote reading comprehension. This study is situated in the interpretive paradigm. The participants were three educators with 24 learners in the reading clubs. Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory was the theoretical framework to explore how reading clubs promote the love of reading. Data was analysed by using an inductive, thematic approach. The findings indicate that the reading clubs instilled the love of reading among the learners, improving their comprehension skills. The other benefits were that reading clubs are a source of pleasure, instil the culture of reading, and develop the learners’ confidence. The implications of the findings of the study are that reading boosted thinking, reading skills, fluency, knowledge, writing, and vocabulary use. Reading clubs were beneficial to both teachers and learners. Teachers improved their practice and could determine, through oral and written reviews, whether reading took place during the silent reading sessions. Involvement in reading clubs had social benefits for learners. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Institute for the Study of Englishes of Africa, 2024
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Exploring how language teachers’ employment of Reading to Learn (RtL) pedagogy enhances Grade 10 learners’ reading skills
- Authors: Gazide, Sydney
- Date: 2024-04-05
- Subjects: Reading (Secondary) South Africa , Social learning , Systemic functional linguistics , Zone of proximal development , English as a second or foreign language , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Influence , Second language acquisition , Reading comprehension
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436442 , vital:73272
- Description: The study aimed to explore how language teachers’ employment of the Reading to Learn (RtL) pedagogy enhances Grade 10 learners’ reading skills. The RtL was designed to address challenges regarding learners’ literacy development which other methods could not successfully address. Unfortunately, poor reading skills in English First Additional (FAL) and home languages (HLs) continue to be a challenge among learners from schools situated within poor socio-economic communities in South Africa. The study employed the six-stage curriculum cycle advocated by RtL pedagogy as a scaffolding interaction cycle in the teaching practice reading development sequence to bridge the gap in acquiring reading skills. The main research question for the study was: How can the language teachers’ employment of the RtL pedagogy enhance the teaching of reading? The study was located within the critical education paradigm which encourages critical thinking, creativity, freedom to appreciate and critical awareness in students. This study generated data through focus group discussions, interviews, and document analysis. The research was a case study involving four teachers selected from a secondary school in an informal settlement with low socio-economic standards. A sample of four grade 10 classes with 45 learners in each class for English First Additional Language (FAL), Sesotho Home Language (HL) and Isizulu Home Language (HL) were used in the study. Purposive sampling allowed the researcher to choose participants who were willing to be part of the project. The Reading to Learn pedagogy developed by Rose was drawn from Vygotsky’s, Bernstein’s, and Halliday’s theories. The findings revealed that RtL was used for the professional development of teachers and a methodology that supported learners to improve their reading skills. Even though the study was conducted when South Africa was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic with concomitant learning losses, evidence shows that the Reading to Learn pedagogy improved the sampled Grade 10 learners’ reading skills. It was also highlighted that the department of education (DoE) should create conducive teaching and learning conditions through infrastructural development and provision of resources. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Institute for the Study of Englishes in Africa, 2023
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- Authors: Gazide, Sydney
- Date: 2024-04-05
- Subjects: Reading (Secondary) South Africa , Social learning , Systemic functional linguistics , Zone of proximal development , English as a second or foreign language , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Influence , Second language acquisition , Reading comprehension
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436442 , vital:73272
- Description: The study aimed to explore how language teachers’ employment of the Reading to Learn (RtL) pedagogy enhances Grade 10 learners’ reading skills. The RtL was designed to address challenges regarding learners’ literacy development which other methods could not successfully address. Unfortunately, poor reading skills in English First Additional (FAL) and home languages (HLs) continue to be a challenge among learners from schools situated within poor socio-economic communities in South Africa. The study employed the six-stage curriculum cycle advocated by RtL pedagogy as a scaffolding interaction cycle in the teaching practice reading development sequence to bridge the gap in acquiring reading skills. The main research question for the study was: How can the language teachers’ employment of the RtL pedagogy enhance the teaching of reading? The study was located within the critical education paradigm which encourages critical thinking, creativity, freedom to appreciate and critical awareness in students. This study generated data through focus group discussions, interviews, and document analysis. The research was a case study involving four teachers selected from a secondary school in an informal settlement with low socio-economic standards. A sample of four grade 10 classes with 45 learners in each class for English First Additional Language (FAL), Sesotho Home Language (HL) and Isizulu Home Language (HL) were used in the study. Purposive sampling allowed the researcher to choose participants who were willing to be part of the project. The Reading to Learn pedagogy developed by Rose was drawn from Vygotsky’s, Bernstein’s, and Halliday’s theories. The findings revealed that RtL was used for the professional development of teachers and a methodology that supported learners to improve their reading skills. Even though the study was conducted when South Africa was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic with concomitant learning losses, evidence shows that the Reading to Learn pedagogy improved the sampled Grade 10 learners’ reading skills. It was also highlighted that the department of education (DoE) should create conducive teaching and learning conditions through infrastructural development and provision of resources. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Institute for the Study of Englishes in Africa, 2023
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