Uppsatsen är en komparativ studie om läsundervisningen i två klasser i Sverige och Danmark. Den danska läroplanen, Fælles Mål, 2009, har tydligare riktlinjer angående läsning, vilken vi har jämfört med den svenska läroplanen, Lgr11. Två rapporter om elevers läskunnighet sammanfattas i uppsatsen. Delar av rapporterna har lyfts då vi anser att dessa är betydelsefulla för elevers läsning. Till exempel har vi redogjort för betydelsen av olika läsmaterial och individuell läsning. Syftet med studien har varit att göra jämförelser i läsundervisningen och läroplanerna. För att kunna jämföra läsundervisningen beslutade vi oss för att genomföra observationer och därefter samtal med lärare i Sverige och Danmark. Resultatet är att läsundervisningen bedrivs i stort sett likartat på båda skolorna. Skillnaden vi sett kan likväl finnas mellan skolor i Sverige och vise versa i Danmark. Resultatet hade troligtvis sett annorlunda ut om urvalet varit större. Dock är läsundervisningen av största prioritet, oavsett om den bedrivs i Sverige eller Danmark. Som bisyfte har vi tagit reda på om det finns någon kännedom om rapporterna Northern Lights on PISA 2006 och PIRLS 2006. Kunskapen om rapporterna är vag hos båda lärarna i undersökningen.

The aim of this study is to validate the Tshivenda learner performance in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 in which there is an anomaly in the Tshivenda language group. By comparing the performance of the Tshivenda learners to that of learners who wrote the PIRLS 2006 test in the other official languages, the notion of performance is related to equivalence in translation in that, if the learners wrote equivalent instruments across all official South African languages, then it is possible that the difference in performance was related to different translation equivalence. Therefore, the validation of the learner performance in this study is directly linked to the validation of the translation. The South African national results of PIRLS 2006 revealed that the Tshivenda language speakers, who had written the PIRLS tests in a secondary language, achieved higher scores than those Tshivenda speakers who had written the tests in their mother tongue (Tshivenda). This result was considered an anomaly. This research investigated the role of translation as an influencing factor in learner comprehension, which may have contributed to this anomaly. Some of the procedures and standards set in place for PIRLS 2006 related to translation and verification were examined. Issues of language and culture, with specific reference to the availability of media in Tshivenda are discussed in the literature. Further investigation was conducted into what translation entails including translation and back-translation, equivalence and non-equivalence as well as the comprehension processes required by each of the four released PIRLS 2006 texts. This study is a secondary analysis of data gathered for PIRLS 2006. Permission to use the data was given in 2011 by the Centre for Evaluation and Assessment at the University of Pretoria, the PIRLS National Centre. Details of the original sampling, collection and analysis methods are provided as part of the discussion on the quality assurance, validity and reliability of the original study. The secondary analysis of the data utilised a mixed methods approach which involved Classical Test Theory and Content Analysis in order to accurately explore this data. The results of this study indicated that, despite the fact that the back-translation revealed many errors, the translation did not affect the learners’ level of comprehension. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted

This study aims to determine the effect of school conditions on learner reading achievement in primary schools in South Africa. Reading skills are not only imperative for further study but are essential for economic and meaningful citizenship. Initiatives such as the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign, geared to improve the quality of education for all children and to ensure improved learner achievement have resulted in an increase in educational spending. Despite such initiatives, learner achievement remains poor. In order to measure the relative relationship between school conditions and learner reading achievement, this study focused on selected variables from the PIRLS 2006 South African data, notably from Grade 5 learner reading achievement, teacher and school questionnaires. A secondary data analysis through multiple regression technique was utilised in an attempt to measure those school conditions that may enhance or impede learner reading achievement. This study follows the tradition of school effectiveness research by utilising the context-input-process-output (integrated model for school effectiveness research) model as espoused by Scheerens (2000; 2005). The integrated model was adapted combining school and classroom factors in order to measure the effect of school wide processes on learner reading achievement. Although this study was unable to measure the effect of educational leadership on learner reading achievement, it found significant school and classroom factors associated with learner reading achievement. This study highlights the importance of improving the teaching and learning of literacy across all 11 official languages. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted

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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.

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

This study aims to identify and explain relationships between some major factors associated with successful reading at Grade 5 level in South African primary schools. In South Africa, grave concerns with regards to low levels of student achievement pervade research initiatives and educational debates. Despite considerable investments in educational inputs (such as policy and resources) and processes (such as curriculum provision and teacher support), outcomes (such as student achievement) remain disappointingly low. The South African population is characterized by great diversity and variation. With 11 official languages, current educational policy in South Africa advocates an additive bilingualism model and students in Grade 1 to 3 are taught in their mother tongue. Thereafter, when these students progress to Grade 4, the language of learning and teaching changes to a second language, which in most cases is English. At this key developmental stage students are also expected to advance from learning to read to a stage where they can use reading in order to learn. With this complexity of issues in mind, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to determine the effect of a number of explanatory variables at learner and school level on reading achievement as outcome variable, while controlling for language using the South African Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 data. As an international comparative evaluation of reading literacy involving more than 40 countries, PIRLS 2006 was the second, after PIRLS 2001, in a series of planned five-year cycles of assessment to measure trends in children’s reading literacy achievement, policy and practices related to literacy. Grade 5 learners in South African primary schools who participated in PIRLS 2006 were not able to achieve satisfactory levels of reading competence. The gravity of this finding is exacerbated by the fact that these learners were tested in the language in which they had been receiving instruction during the Foundation Phase of schooling. This study found most significant factors associated with reading literacy at learner-level, but this does not mean that the existence of teacher- and school-level factors is not of importance. While some explanatory factors at learner-level can more easily become the target of reading interventions, the higher level effect of the classroom and school are not diminished by this study. Creemers’ Comprehensive Model of Educational Effectiveness was utilized as theoretical point of departure. Creemers’ model was adapted for the purposes of this study to reflect a South African model of reading effectiveness in contrast with Creemers’ original use of it as a model of school effectiveness. Evidence was provided that the conceptual framework was inadequate in identifying factors affecting reading achievement for all South African language groupings. More specifically, the adapted South African reading effectiveness model was only appropriate in explaining reading achievement scores for the Afrikaans and English language groupings than for those from African language groupings. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted