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