D. Ed. (Didactics)

Thesis (MPhil (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / This emperical study is another addition to the expanding body of research on the effect of computer-based reading instruction on tertiary students within the South Africa context. Grounded in a sound theoretical framework and informed by practice, it identifies the importance of reading as a skill and the potential of new technology to enhance reading skills.

published_or_final_version / Curriculum and Educational Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Developmental dyslexia is a common disorder affecting around 10% of the British population characterized by difficulties with reading despite adequate intelligence and education (IDA, 2007). Although most researchers and practitioners would agree that early identification is key in limiting negative consequences of reading problems, this is still difficult to achieve due to theoretical and practical inconsistencies in the field. This thesis focuses on investigating a novel, computer and tablet-based “dot-to-dot” (DtD) task that may aid the process of identification particularly in pre-reading children and English as additional language (EAL) individuals who, by definition, are more susceptible to misidentification. Performance on this task was tested in primary school children (N = 457) and in adults (N = 111) together with a set of dyslexia-sensitive, vision and reasoning tests. Performance on DtD (especially the first sector error) demonstrated significant differences between children at high and low risk of dyslexia (as assessed by Lucid Rapid), as well as between children prospectively identified as poor and typical readers. DtD measures added small but statistically significant unique contributions to the models predicting reading scores and reading level group membership, and DtD measures could distinguish between poor and typical readers as well as between adults with and without diagnosed dyslexia. The findings provide evidence for the DtD test to be a useful addition to existing tests as it presumably relates to a number of mechanisms in line with automaticity and cerebellar deficits theories of dyslexia. It also has a potential to identify a distinct type of dyslexia that is not related to phonological processing which has important theoretical and practical implications.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-182). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Not available / text

This case study examines the pedagogy of early reading in a South African Basic Education Centre. Existing literature shows that illiteracy among adults in South Africa is a great concern. The acquisition of reading competence in adults is under - researched in South Africa and previous research has tended to focus on literacy/reading in relation to health issues or the acquisition of reading in children. This study attempts to contribute to understanding poor reading conditions in adult classes by providing a description of beliefs and practices of three Adult Basic Education and Training teachers of reading. The study captures the beliefs and practices of the teachers of reading in ABET Level 1- 4 with respect to the teaching of reading in Zulu and English. Data is examined using constructivism and dialogic space as theoretical frameworks. Data was gathered from teacher interviews and classroom observations. The findings of this paper include that these teachers lack pedagogical knowledge to inform their practice and are often influenced by their own experience of being taught to read. The dominant instructional practice was a focus on pronunciation while reading aloud as opposed to text comprehension. Recommendations are made regarding the support that could be offered to the teachers of reading in this centre. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

The aim of this essay is to learn how I as a teacher can work with reading in different ways to promote learning for students in upper secondary school. This is discussed with examples from Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Randa Abdel-Fattah's Does My Head Look Big In This?. In this study, I found out that there are many factors that contribute to students' attitude towards reading and that affect their experience of a text. These factors consist of five emotions that affect reader response: assimilation, accommodation, sympathy, memories and identification, as well as four categorizing factors: age, gender, ethnicity and class.  Knowing these factors, we teachers have the tools to turn students' resistance to reading into something positive, and by doing this, we open up a myriad of learning opportunities through reading.