Exploring reading to learn methodology in the teaching of reading comprehension in grade 6 Isixhosa home language: an action research study
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Date
2024
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University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Reading is central to language literacy, but it has been problematic for decades in South African schools, with poor schools being most heavily affected. Reading comprehension has been identified as a barrier not only for languages but across all learning areas. Contemporary reading literacy studies, such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study report (2016), have shown reading literacy deficits in relation to Home and First Additional languages in South Africa. The objective of this study was ultimately to improve reading comprehension in an isiXhosa Home Language class, in which the majority of learners speak an urbanised, non-standard variety of isiXhosa and struggle to comprehend and produce texts in standard isiXhosa, as required by the curriculum. To achieve this, the study explored the use Reading to Learn (RtL). RtL is based on genre theory and relates to the text-based approach advocated by the CAPS curriculum for Languages. RtL uses language as a resource for making meaning. RtL is specifically designed to foster intensive reading and help learners understand the purposes, structure, and content of the text. Reading then becomes a stage on the way to writing (Rose, 2018). Regarding research design, the study used the critical paradigm. In this paradigm, researchers believe that reality is shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, and other dynamics. Critical theory deals with issues of transformation, fairness, and equality. The context of the study allowed for the use of action research method, which is important because it enables teachers to engage in professional learning, change their way of teaching through systematic reflection, and encourage active participation and critical thinking in learners. The intervention has an observable influence on learners’ reading comprehension in isiXhosa Home Language. The research site was a township primary school in greater Cape Town, focusing on Grade 6. Data collection included one on one interviews with teachers, focus group interviews with learners, document analysis, and classroom observation videos. It is thus designed as a qualitative case-study with an interventionist orientation.
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Keywords
reading comprehension, reading to learn, text-based approach, action research, Isixhosa