The reading skill is the most important skills for the 21st century. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) found that nearly 80% of South African students haven’t mastered the basic reading skills at Grade 5 level. If the learner hasn’t mastered the skill of reading, his/her progression at school will be severely inhibited and learning problems will result. Reading consists of certain basic skills, namely receiving messages, perceptual skills, decoding the message and learning. A reading programme that stimulates the learner visually, auditory and tactually promotes learning and memory, is the key to reading success. There are a variety of reading methods, but in the scope of this study the multisensory reading approach is regarded as the most suitable reading approach for the Foundation Phase. The literacy study found that the human being is a multisensory creature that uses all senses to explore his/her environment. Multisensory approaches to learning have been applied with success to learners for longer than a century and are supported by the latest neuro images scientific research. During a multisensory approach, the emphasis is on phonological awareness, decoding, spelling and comprehension. In this study, the Orton-Gillingham approach is used where sounds are linked with the written symbol through visual, auditory and tactile stimuli. A quantitative pre-experimental two group pre-test, post-test research design was followed. 42 Grade 2 Afrikaans-speaking students participated in the intervention programme. The degree to which the students reading improved in the five week period determined to which extent the intervention programme influenced the reading abilities of the learners. The data analysis of pre-and post-reading revealed that after application of the multisensory reading programme a significant improvement regarding reading speed, word recognition and reading comprehension occurred. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

The reading skill is the most important skills for the 21st century. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) found that nearly 80% of South African students haven’t mastered the basic reading skills at Grade 5 level. If the learner hasn’t mastered the skill of reading, his/her progression at school will be severely inhibited and learning problems will result. Reading consists of certain basic skills, namely receiving messages, perceptual skills, decoding the message and learning. A reading programme that stimulates the learner visually, auditory and tactually promotes learning and memory, is the key to reading success. There are a variety of reading methods, but in the scope of this study the multisensory reading approach is regarded as the most suitable reading approach for the Foundation Phase. The literacy study found that the human being is a multisensory creature that uses all senses to explore his/her environment. Multisensory approaches to learning have been applied with success to learners for longer than a century and are supported by the latest neuro images scientific research. During a multisensory approach, the emphasis is on phonological awareness, decoding, spelling and comprehension. In this study, the Orton-Gillingham approach is used where sounds are linked with the written symbol through visual, auditory and tactile stimuli. A quantitative pre-experimental two group pre-test, post-test research design was followed. 42 Grade 2 Afrikaans-speaking students participated in the intervention programme. The degree to which the students reading improved in the five week period determined to which extent the intervention programme influenced the reading abilities of the learners. The data analysis of pre-and post-reading revealed that after application of the multisensory reading programme a significant improvement regarding reading speed, word recognition and reading comprehension occurred. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

Educationists, linguists and other stakeholders are concerned about the effectivity of the level of teaching regarding Afrikaans Additional Language. Some of the teachers of Afrikaans Additional Language are not qualified in the teaching of specifically a foreign language. There is a lot of uncertainty concerning the difference between the teaching of a home language and additional language teaching. In order to ensure learners improvement and achievement as well as future use of Afrikaans Additional Language it is necessary that the teaching of additional languages, especially Afrikaans must be given appropriate attention. The purpose if this study was to determine the selection the teachers made regarding teaching and learning approaches, methods and teaching materials, including the curriculum, textbooks and other documents, as well as to establish the perceptions of the learners regarding these approaches, methods and materials in the teaching of Afrikaans Additional Language in the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District through empirical research, and to undertake a literature study to establish a teaching-learning program framework that can facilitate to the effective implementation of the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement in all the language skills of Afrikaans Additional Language. An interpretive research paradigm was used as foundation for this study. A literature study was undertaken to establish what such a framework should look like with specific attention to language skills. Qualitative research was undertaken through using multiple case studies where teachers and learners who were willing to take part were questioned and observed regarding the teaching of Afrikaans Additional Language as well as the problems they experienced. Documents such as teaching materials and the curriculum were analysed as well. The analyses had a two-pronged focus: thematic analysis with the use of the computer software program, NVivo 8, where the data was reduced and thereafter analysed manually by the researcher. The researcher then used a comparative analysis to compare the different case studies (schools). The results of this study showed that the implementation of the curriculum was problematic for teachers, they were uncertain about the degree of difficulty of the teaching materials, and would rather stick to textbooks. The results also indicated that the teachers who did not use the communicative approach preferred to teach mainly through direct instruction. The communication in the classrooms was mainly teacher-orientated and the learners got little chance to use the language in interactive activities. The proposed teaching-learning programme framework for Afrikaans Additional Language should help teachers with the planning of their teaching as well as the implementation of the curriculum that could result in more effective Additional Language Teaching to learners. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Teaching and Learning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Educationists, linguists and other stakeholders are concerned about the effectivity of the level of teaching regarding Afrikaans Additional Language. Some of the teachers of Afrikaans Additional Language are not qualified in the teaching of specifically a foreign language. There is a lot of uncertainty concerning the difference between the teaching of a home language and additional language teaching. In order to ensure learners improvement and achievement as well as future use of Afrikaans Additional Language it is necessary that the teaching of additional languages, especially Afrikaans must be given appropriate attention. The purpose if this study was to determine the selection the teachers made regarding teaching and learning approaches, methods and teaching materials, including the curriculum, textbooks and other documents, as well as to establish the perceptions of the learners regarding these approaches, methods and materials in the teaching of Afrikaans Additional Language in the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District through empirical research, and to undertake a literature study to establish a teaching-learning program framework that can facilitate to the effective implementation of the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement in all the language skills of Afrikaans Additional Language. An interpretive research paradigm was used as foundation for this study. A literature study was undertaken to establish what such a framework should look like with specific attention to language skills. Qualitative research was undertaken through using multiple case studies where teachers and learners who were willing to take part were questioned and observed regarding the teaching of Afrikaans Additional Language as well as the problems they experienced. Documents such as teaching materials and the curriculum were analysed as well. The analyses had a two-pronged focus: thematic analysis with the use of the computer software program, NVivo 8, where the data was reduced and thereafter analysed manually by the researcher. The researcher then used a comparative analysis to compare the different case studies (schools). The results of this study showed that the implementation of the curriculum was problematic for teachers, they were uncertain about the degree of difficulty of the teaching materials, and would rather stick to textbooks. The results also indicated that the teachers who did not use the communicative approach preferred to teach mainly through direct instruction. The communication in the classrooms was mainly teacher-orientated and the learners got little chance to use the language in interactive activities. The proposed teaching-learning programme framework for Afrikaans Additional Language should help teachers with the planning of their teaching as well as the implementation of the curriculum that could result in more effective Additional Language Teaching to learners. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Teaching and Learning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012