Magister Educationis - MEd / Drawing on the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study - PIRLS (Howie, et al., 2008), which highlights the reading literacy crisis in South African schools, this study investigated the literacy crisis in relation to reading literacy in Grade Four of the Intermediate Phase. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the debate about challenges around the reading literacy acquisition of South African school children by investigating the current teaching and assessing of reading comprehension practices of language teachers in multilingual Grade Four classes in disadvantaged contexts, focusing on reading comprehension in English and Afrikaans Home language. This study uses a qualitative research approach. Data was collected in Grade Four Afrikaans and English Home Language classes at two schools in the Western Cape, using observation, interviews and document analysis. To analyze the data, the study aligns itself with a learner-centered model (Wilhelm 2004). This learner-centered model draws on Vygotsky’s socio-cultural and constructivist teaching and learning approaches and will be the foundation to analyze current teaching and assessing of reading comprehension practices of language teachers in the Grade Four Afrikaans and English Home Language classes at two multilingual schools focusing on teachers’ questioning skills. It is hoped that this study will contribute to an understanding of the current reading literacy crisis experienced in South African schools and inform more effective teacher training.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Masters in education in the faculty of education and social sciences – Cape Peninsula University of Technology / The Western Cape Education Department’s Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2006-2016 refers to the 2002 assessment (WCED, 2006) of Grade 3 learners. This study found that only 36% of learners were achieving the reading and numeracy outcomes expected of a Grade 3 learner. The vast majority of learners were underperforming two to three years below expectation (WCED Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2006-2016). South African learners’ performance in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2006) assessment reinforces the need for reading instruction practices aimed at addressing the difficulties in language and reading in both the Foundation and Intermediate Phases. It was against this background that I wanted to investigate the value and impact of a children's literature - based reading programme, as the importance of independent and critical reading at the primary level cannot be over estimated. PIRLS, (2006) highlights the areas of low achievement of South African learners by referring to the twelve reading skills and strategies identified by current research as central to the learning of reading. South Africa lags behind in introducing these critical skills. I argue for the inclusion of an alternative reading programme to the phonics only approach currently and predominantly used in Foundation Phase. Social constructivists see as crucial, both the context in which learning occurs and the social context that learners bring to their learning environment. This theoretical framework, as well as the Reader Response theory of Rosenblatt (1982) underpins this study. Relevant cognitive theories and their underpinnings in reading motivation and achievement are reviewed. The literature review is an in-depth study of recent and current reading research. The main aspects covered by the literature are literacy skills, language acquisition and its related skills. The study is lodged in a qualitative paradigm and embedded in action research. The analysis is framed in constructivist grounded theory. The quantitative data collected support the qualitative data and enhance the validity of the findings that indicate that the study of literature is effective in developing higher order thinking skills identified by Bloom (1956) and present in the PIRLS (2006) test methodology.

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) was used to measure Indonesian fourth grade elementary school students’ reading comprehension in 2006 and 2011. Indonesian students scored among the lowest of the participating countries with a score of 405 in 2006 and 428 in 2011, with the PIRLS average scale score being 500. These results raised questions about the alignment of the Indonesian curriculum with PIRLS. Alignment research between the PIRLS 2021 frameworks and the Curr13 language standards and textbooks (the current Indonesian curriculum) was conducted to provide Kemendikbud (Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture) with a prediction of students’ performance in future PIRLS. The alignment research was mixed methods research with an exploratory sequential design (a three-phase design). The first phase was qualitative data collection and analysis. Alignment instruments were developed using the components of Webb, NAEP ESSI, and HumRRO alignment models. The second phase identified features to be tested, where I revised the alignment instruments, guidelines, and codebook based on the first phase and created a new table. The revised instruments were then used to align Curr13 and PIRLS. The third phase was quantitative calculation using Webb's quantitative criteria (categorical concurrence, depth-of-knowledge consistency [DOK], range-of-knowledge correspondence, and balance of representation) and descriptive statistics. After the three phases, the interpretation used both the qualitative and quantitative data. The results found inconsistencies between Curr13 and PIRLS frameworks. There was no categorical concurrence between PIRLS frameworks and Curr13 unit assessments. Curr13 language standards and unit assessments did not include one PIRLS framework, evaluating and critiquing content and textual elements. This resulted in the absence of DOK for this framework. One PIRLS framework mostly covered by Curr13 language standards and unit assessments was interpreting and integrating ideas and information. DOK and balance of representation were achieved in this framework. Two PIRLS frameworks on comprehension processes (focusing on and retrieving explicitly stated information and making straightforward inferences) aligned to Curr13 and had a balance of representation but weak DOK. Meanwhile, Curr13 unit resources mostly aligned to one of two reading purposes in the PIRLS framework, acquiring and using information, but was weakly aligned with the other one, literary experience. The implication of research findings was to support Kemendikbud in predicting students’ performance in future PIRLS participation by examining the inconsistencies between Curr13 and PIRLS. Recommendations were provided for the elementary school teachers, students, parents, publishers, policymakers, local governments, and other elementary school stakeholders to be familiar with and understand PIRLS. The role of AKSI should also be maximized. In addition, the concept and practice of curriculum alignment should be introduced and enacted into the educational system in Indonesia.

The 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) painted a gloomy picture of South African literacy when South Africa came last out of 40 countries. It was from this background that my study set out to investigate two English and two isiXhosa grade 4 home language textbooks with their accompanying teachers’ guides from two publishing houses, together with the home language curriculum documents for English and Xhosa because they are an important component in literacy development. It is important to emphasise that this study examined textbooks, not how teachers mediate such textbooks in their classrooms. In other words, my focus was on the textbooks themselves, and it was primarily through textual analysis of this stable, readily available data that I have been able to compare and analyse the potential they offer learners and teachers to achieve the literacy goals prescribed by the curriculum. The study also investigated the likelihood of differential attainment for learners as a result of using these textbooks. This was done by looking at whether the textbooks were in line with the literacy outcomes for English and isiXhosa home languages. It also looked at the kind of reader/writer envisaged in the selected textbooks and the level of challenge the selected textbooks offer and how, if at all, learners are encouraged to be critical readers and writers. The findings of the study were that the English and isiXhosa textbooks of each publishing house envisaged different learners. The English textbooks envisaged a cosmopolitan learner who has greater access to academic literacy. While the isiXhosa textbooks envisaged a parochial learner who has less access to academic literacy compared to the English learner

The findings of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 highlighted concerns about support for and the quality of reading literacy teaching in South African primary schools. In South Africa there is a paucity of research outlining schooling conditions and teachers’ reading literacy teaching practices especially in the Intermediate Phase. The aim of this mixed methods study was to explore schooling conditions and teaching practices for the implementation of the curriculum for Grade 4 learners’ reading literacy development across a range of education contexts. Two research sub-questions explored in two research phases were used to investigate the overall question which was: What influence do schooling conditions and teaching practices have on curriculum implementation for Grade 4 reading literacy? In phase one, PIRLS 2006 principal and teacher questionnaire data were re-classified for secondary analysis according to language of instruction (English First Language or English Additional Language) and the mean performance of each participating class of learners on the PIRLS 2006 international benchmarks and further benchmarks established to reflect the performance of the majority of South African learners. Response distributions on selected classroom level variables detailing teacher characteristics and reading literacy teaching practices as well as selected school level variables describing teaching conditions impacting the teaching of reading literacy were compared across each reclassified benchmark sub-sample. In phase two, six school and teacher case studies were purposively selected from each of the sub-samples to complement and extend the findings from the analysis of the survey data using multiple qualitative data sources. The findings revealed that differences in schooling conditions and teaching practices across the PIRLS achievement spectrum were generally aligned to differences between advantaged, high achieving schools and disadvantaged low-achieving schools. Thus, the study provides insights into the high levels of between-school inequalities for the development of Grade 4 reading literacy and school and classroom level reasons for such inequalities. On the basis of the findings, recommendations for policy, teacher practice and teacher education, and further research are provided. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

The present study puts forward two models which examine the relationship between at home at school variables of (1) engagement in shared and independent reading and (2) access to print with reading achievement. Participants were fourth grade English speakers from Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia), New Zealand, England, and USA. Data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) questionnaires and reading achievement test were used to design the two models, and Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to analyze the data where students (Level-1) were nested within classrooms (Level-2). The results of the Engagement in Reading Model demonstrate that activities of shared reading at home and at school did not statistically significantly relate or related negatively with reading achievement. Parents helping their children with school readings emerged as the strongest negative predictor of reading achievement in the entire model. However, the relationship between how often participants talked with their families about what they read on their own and reading achievement was positive. Additionally, independent reading at school, reading for fun at home, and reading printed material (books and magazines) at home predicated reading achievement positively; reading for homework did not predict reading achievement; and reading for information and reading on the internet at home predicted reading achievement negatively. The results of the Access to Print Model demonstrate that while access to books and other reading material at home related positively with reading achievement, access to books and other reading material at school did not overall relate to students’ reading achievement. Additionally, access to the library, generally, did not relate to reading achievement; and when statistical significance was found it was not replicated in all or even most of the countries. Based on the results of the present study, it is recommended that fourth graders be given ample opportunities to read books of their own choosing independently at school, and to develop students’ habits and motivation to read for leisure during their free after school time. Additionally, children should be provided with ample access to reading material at home which is geared towards their interests.