Masters Degrees (General Linguistics)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (General Linguistics) by Subject "Academic literacy"

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    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
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011-12) Stofberg, Elmarie; Conradie, S.; Southwood, Frenette; Van Dyk, T. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An increasing number of studies indicate that South African learners' literacy levels are deplorably low. According to one international study, the Progress in International Literacy Study (PIRLS), conducted in 2006, South African grade 4 learners' literacy levels are the lowest of the 40 countries that participated in the study. The results of the first Annual National Assessment (ANA), conducted in 2011, show that the average literacy performance of grade 3 learners in South Africa lies at 35%. Even though numerous reasons can be presented for these low literacy levels - amongst others, large classes, insufficient teacher training, insufficient educational practices (especially the fact that so little time is spent on reading instruction), and a lack of teaching material - the blame is often cast on the insufficient language proficiency of South African learners. South African learners often receive education in a language which is not their first language. A large number of learners only receive education in their first language for the first three years of their school career and thereafter English usually becomes the language of learning and teaching. It is, however, not only those learners who receive education in their second language who have low literacy skills. Learners who receive education in their first language also encounter problems. The aim of this study was to determine whether a reading intervention programme, designed on the basis of the most recent research on reading, could improve the reading comprehension skills of grade 8 learners in their first language Afrikaans and whether these skills could be transferred to their second language English. The study showed that there was a significant improvement in the participating learners' reading comprehension skills in their first language Afrikaans, as well as in their second 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 are acquired in the first language can indeed be transferred to a second language. The implications of these findings for first and second language literacy development are discussed in the final chapter of the thesis.