South Africa’s current performance on national and international studies is an
indication that all is not well with our literacy teaching. In spite of the implementation
of the National Curriculum Statement Grade R-9, illiteracy is currently a serious
problem in South Africa.
Current international and national documents call for direct, explicit, systematic
teaching of reading and language concepts to beginning readers. The five principal
components of reading instruction, namely phoneme awareness; phonics; word study
and spelling; reading fluency; and text comprehension encompass language instruction
at the phoneme, grapheme, syllable, word, sentence, and discourse levels. Teachers
need specific and explicit linguistic knowledge to recognise and address the needs of all
learners on the continuum of reading and language proficiency.
Phonological awareness skills are considered as the most important indicators of
early reading skills. Literature suggests a strong positive correlation between
phonological awareness skills and reading skills development. Longitudinal studies
show that children who don’t have phonological awareness skills have difficulties in
reading. Experimental studies on phonological awareness suggest that the
implementation of phonological awareness training has positive effects on the
development of reading and spelling abilities. Phonological awareness is a key
component in the prevention of reading failure. The information collected through the
assessment of phonological awareness, enables teachers to make informed decisions
about modifications of the literacy learning programme and implement reading
interventions to prevent failure of reading acquisition. This early, preventative
intervention reduces the possibility that learners fall behind in reading.
The teaching of phonological awareness is par excellence for emergent literacy
in the grade R class. Phonological awareness can be improved through the systematic,
explicit instruction thereof. Therefore, teachers need to be able to implement a variety
of phonological awareness activities in their classroom instruction. Teachers need
content knowledge about phonological awareness, and how to implement it
successfully.
The purpose of this study was to determine:
What a SWOT analysis reveals about grade R-teachers’:
* Current in-depth knowledge of phonological awareness.
* Preparedness to teach phonological awareness.
* Implementation of instructional practices relevant to phonological
awareness.
* Perceptions of the support received from DoBE, in terms of relevant
documentation, teaching and learning support material and professional
development.
The limitations, if any, in the teacher support documents of the DoBE, regarding
the teaching of phonological awareness in grade R and to make suggestion with
regard to the improvement thereof.
What the perceptions of grade R teachers are about their in-depth knowledge,
instructional practices and preparedness, concerning phonological awareness,
after the implementation of a teacher training programme, focussing specifically
on phonological awareness.
The study was conducted utilizing a case study with thirteen grade R teachers
from Lichtenburg, and the surrounding towns, Koster, Coligny and Itsoseng in the
North West Province, Department of Basic Education, in South Africa. Data was
collected in three phases, using questionnaires, interviews, observations and document
analyses.
In the first phase, the researcher gathered information on the knowledge and
implementation of phonological awareness before the intervention (i.e., a teacher
training programme).
In the second phase, the teachers received training about the concept of
phonological awareness and its relevance in reading acquisition. The training
programme included relevant teaching activities as well as learning and teaching
support material. In the third phase, the researcher trained the participants in the implementation
of phonological awareness and gathered data about the implementation process.
The results indicated that if teachers received explicit training about
phonological awareness and are provided with relevant learning and teaching support
material, they are able to implement phonological awareness activities in grade R
classrooms.
The results of this study have implications for teacher training. The concept of
phonological awareness, its relevance in reading acquisition as well as relevant teaching
activities need to be included in the training of grade R teachers. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Learning and Teaching))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/4512 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Wessels, Elsabé |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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