© Kamla-Raj 2014 Int J Edu Sci, 7(1): 155-167 (2014)

Reading Literacy in Primary Schools in South Africa:

Educator Perspectives on Factors Affecting Reading Literacy
and Strategies for Improvement
Usha Naidoo1, Karunanidhi Reddy2* and Nirmala Dorasamy3
1
Department of Operations and Quality Management, 2Department of Applied Law,
3
Department of Public Management and Economics, Durban University of Technology,
South Africa
Telephone (Office): 1<+2731-5646412>, 3<+2731-3736862>;
Mobile: 1<0849108438>, 3<0722678704>
KEYWORDS Barriers to Learning. Intermediate Phase Reading. Reading Abilities. Quality of Reading. Reading
Problems
ABSTRACT As a developing country, South Africa is faced with challenges in the sphere of education which have
a direct impact on the literacy level of learners. Learners are taught in a language (English) which is not their home
language. The socio-economic challenges, particularly of having little or no parental support, as well as the
challenges of educators who are not proficient in English as a medium of instruction, and large class sizes, also
contribute to the low literacy levels. South Africa’s performance in terms of the international reading tests, as well
as the national literacy tests, has confirmed the seriousness of the problem and the urgency of finding solutions.
This paper seeks to investigate the factors that impact on reading literacy as a preliminary step to finding measures
to improve the quality of reading. Through an empirical study using a survey, data has been gathered from the
perspective of educators from 40 schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The study will be beneficial to educators in the
inter-mediate phase of primary schools; curriculum development specialists and national policy makers.

INTRODUCTION tunities and wellbeing. One of the aims of edu-

cation since the change in government is, there-
The political history of South Africa has im- fore, to improve the quality of teaching and learn-
pacted negatively on the quality of literacy and ing. In support of this, an equal opportunity for
education in general in the country. South Afri- all learners irrespective of race, religion or creed,
ca has been undergoing many radical changes to develop holistically through education in
in education since the introduction of democra- South Africa, has become the main focus. In this
cy. Since 1994 the government in South Africa respect, literacy is one of the areas which have
has used various means to improve literacy lev- come under the spotlight.
els using literacy and reading campaigns. How- South African learners in the intermediate
ever, the literacy level among learners is still low phase of schooling participated in both national
(Bharuthram 2012; Republic of South Africa, and international assessments to evaluate the
Department of Education (DoE) 2008a) and many state of literacy in the country. Progress in Inter-
educators in South Africa believe that learners national Reading Literacy Study 2006 (PIRLS)
do not have well developed reading abilities (Howie et al. 2007), which is an assessment of
(Hugo et al. 2005: Spaull 2013; Msila 2014). Zuze the reading comprehension of learners in the
and Reddy (2014: 100) declare that proficiency intermediate phase, was administered to South
in reading lays the foundation for personal de- African learners in grades 4 and 5. Of the forty
velopment, and that there is a definite link be- five participating countries, South Africa was
tween reading literacy and educational oppor- placed last with a score of 302 with a benchmark
of 400 being the cut-off point for low achievers
*Address for correspondence: (Howie et al. 2007; Bharuthram 2012). National
Professor K. Reddy averages of 30-35% in tests of numeracy and
Head, Department of Applied Law literacy are the norm for the country as evident
Durban University of Technology
Durban, South Africa from the National School Effectiveness Study
Telephone: +2731 373 5367 (2007-2009 for Grades 3-5) and the Annual Na-
Fax: +27313735408 tional Assessments (ANA) (2011 for Grade 1-6).
E-mail: [email protected] South Africa has the lowest average score of all
156 USHA NAIDOO, KARUNANIDHI REDDY AND NIRMALA DORASAMY

low income countries (as in the case of PIRLS) ic book technologies, would not necessarily
(Spaull 2013). Bharuthram (2012) contends that mean that one is literate today in light of new
drastic measures have to be employed to im- technologies such as Google, Skype, iMovie,
prove the overall literacy and reading levels of Dropbox, Facebook and the many mobile appli-
learners. Reading skills are indespensible to the cations. Being literate in the future would be
academic achievement of learners in middle or defined by the technologies that emerge in years
high school (Rajchert et al. 2014). to come. Thus, the concept of new literacies im-
This paper, firstly, focuses on reading litera- plies that literacy is not just new today but be-
cy in the intermediate phase of primary schools. comes new everyday (Leu et al. 2013).
Secondly, it explores the factors that impact on
reading literacy in the intermediate phase. Third- Reading Literacy in the Intermediate Phase
ly, it examines strategies for improvement of read-
ing literacy. An empirical study was used to gath- In the intermediate phase (grades 4, 5 and 6),
er data from managers and educators from pri- learners extend their knowledge over a wider
mary schools in the province of Kwa-Zulu Na- range of texts than in the foundation phase.
tal, South Africa. The study was restricted to Learners in the intermediate phase must be able
intermediate phase educators only. to read a variety of texts for different purposes,
use a variety of reading and comprehension
Reading Literacy in the Intermediate Phase strategies; view and comment on visual texts;
describe their feelings relating to texts; discuss
Literacy certain aspects of fiction texts, such as central
theme, character and plot; identify and recog-
Literacy has been popularly and convention- nize different structures, purpose, language use
ally defined as the ability to read and write at an and audiences of different types of texts; identi-
adequate level of proficiency that is necessary fy and discuss values in texts; comprehend and
for communication. However, literacy does in respond suitably to information texts; interpret
fact go beyond reading and writing and it is in- simple visual texts; and select information texts
deed a contested term. Hence, the term reading for their own information needs (DoE 2002;
literacy is referred to. According to the United PIRLS South Africa 2006).
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Or- According to the Foundations for Learning
ganization (UNESCO) statistics, about 861 mil- (FFL) (2008b), an initiative of the national DoE
lion people (20% of the world’s adults) cannot to enhance literacy and numeracy in South Afri-
read or write, and therefore, cannot be fully ca, “read aloud”, “shared reading” and “guided
fledged members of their societies. UNESCO is reading” by the educator and learner, form the
of the opinion that approximately one billion components of a reading programme. In terms of
people were illiterate worldwide at the turn of this approach, the “guided reading” constitutes
the century, and prospects of a radical improve- a significant segment of the reading process in
ment seem to be unlikely (University of Pretoria the intermediate phase. During “guided reading”,
2006). learners of similar reading requirements are
In the broader sense, literacy encompasses grouped and instructed under the guidance of an
the basic learning skills of listening, reading and educator (DoE 2008b). According to the Founda-
writing. Literacy, specifically reading literacy, tions of Learning (DoE 2008b), the educator se-
forms the foundation of scholastic success at lects the text that is at the learners’ instructional
primary, secondary and tertiary level (Pretorius reading level and will reinforce or introduce ap-
and Machet 2004). Pretorius (2002) confirms that propriate reading strategies and concepts.
learners who are good readers also tend to excel Government in South Africa, has made sig-
academically. Bearing in mind the new literacies nificant efforts to make primary school educa-
theory, the meaning of literacy has also become tion accessible to learners of school age regard-
deictic since we are living at a time where there less of their environmental locality, religion, so-
are rapidly changing communication and infor- cio-economic status and political associations.
mation technologies, each of which requires new However, research conclusions and the person-
literacies (Leu 2000, cited in Leu et al. 2013). al interpretation of classroom sessions by re-
Hence, being previously literate in terms of stat- searchers in the South African context, have also
READING LITERACY IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS 157

shown that a significant proportion of learners their home language from Grades 1 to 3, while
are deficient in many of the literacy skills they from Grades 4 to 12 the medium of instruction is
are obliged to have in their formal and informal English or Afrikaans. Consequently, White, Co-
learning circumstances (Bharuthram 2012; Mal- loured and Indian learners are instructed in En-
da et al. 2014). glish or Afrikaans from Grades 1 to 12 while Af-
In view of the fact that the focus of this study rican learners, whose home language is not En-
is on South Africa, it is strategic to commence glish or Afrikaans, receive instruction in English
by explaining the National Department of Edu- or Afrikaans from Grades 4 to 12. This prevails
cation’s (DoE) perception of literacy. The DoE’s despite the government policy on language,
National Curriculum Statement (NCS) (DoE 2002) which makes provision for learners to receive
refers to a ‘balanced approach’ to literacy devel- instruction in their home language from Grades
opment. Such an approach commences with 1 to 12 (Howie et al. 2008).
learners’ emergent literacy, progressing to learn- Reading literacy is viewed as an important
ers’ reading ‘real books’, for authentic reasons aspect of learners’ functionality as developing
with a focus on phonics. individuals, both within and outside schools.
The 6 learning outcomes described in the Re- When one examines the history of schooling in
vised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) (DoE South Africa, including the classroom methods
2002) were to be incorporated in teaching and and systems that have developed in western
learning. In terms of the National Reading Strate- education, it is clear that it benefits the selected
gy (DoE 2008) learners had to be taught a variety upper class and marginalizes the majority (Rose
of learning techniques to facilitate appropriate 2006a; Spaull 2013). In a study conducted in 2003
reading levels with comprehension; to extract in- by the DoE to determine literacy levels among
formation; and also to read for pleasure. Grade 3 learners in South Africa, it was found
that 61% of learners could not read and write at
Why Improve Literacy in South Africa? their appropriate age levels (University of Pre-
toria 2006). An investigation of the factors that
contribute to poor reading literacy is therefore
Bharuthram (2012) highlights the problem of
imperative as a preliminary step in finding solu-
low literacy among learners in South Africa. The
tions to such problem.
2009 National Benchmark Tests Project discov-
ered that only 47 percent of new university stu- Improving the Quality of Reading in the
dents were proficient in the academic literacy Intermediate Phase
test, while 46 percent had intermediate skills and
7 percent had basic skills (Bharuthram 2012). Imperative for Enhanced Reading
The challenge presented by the South Afri-
can Education system is to provide quality edu- South Africa’s performance in the PIRLS 2006
cation to the multi-cultural learner in a country and ANA shows that there is an urgent need for
where there are 11 official languages (Van der reading programmes that will encourage and
Berg et al. 2011). According to Howie et al. (2008), maintain appropriate literacy levels nationally,
English as a first language is spoken by less as well as internationally. Reading is seen as an
than 10 % of the population. Although English integral part of nation-building. There is there-
is the most frequently used language in schools, fore an urgent need to improve reading in order
it is not the most frequently spoken home lan- to encourage and improve the confidence of
guage. Hence, the challenge of learning and learners in modern society and the world gener-
mastering a second language is a reality for the ally. South Africa has embarked on a National
majority of learners. Such a language system Reading Strategy which is focussed on improv-
where learners are not taught in their home lan- ing the reading competency of all learners, in-
guage is known as immersion (Howie et al. 2008). cluding those learners who encounter barriers
According to Admiraal et al. (2006), instructions to learning (DoE 2008a).
in a language foreign to them contribute to the
poor reading abilities of these learners. The Reading Development Curriculum
An added challenge is the issue of language
policy. In terms of the National DoE’s language According to Rose (2006b), since reading is
policy, learners should receive instruction in seen as the primary mode of learning in formal
158 USHA NAIDOO, KARUNANIDHI REDDY AND NIRMALA DORASAMY

education, it should be the core focus of teach- tion the notion that only one of the languages is
ing. It is also apparent that most educators have best for classroom practice in all educational
no previous training on how to teach reading. contexts, including multilingual ones (Banda
Further, learners who have home grounding 2014).
speedily learn to become independent readers South Africa is a developing country and, as
in the early years and are well prepared to com- such, learners who are not adequately compe-
mence with learning from reading in later prima- tent in the language of instruction, which is En-
ry years. However, those that lack such ground- glish, will experience barriers to learning a sec-
ing are less prepared and may be greatly disad- ond language. According to Lessing and Ma-
vantaged (Rose 2006b). habeer (2007), learners who are instructed in a
language different from their mother tongue, will
Barriers to Learning experience problems in reading. Dixon et al.
(2008) maintain that, in Southern Africa, many
The term “learners who experience barriers to children’s home and school literacy practices
learning” is an all-encompassing concept. This do not afford them access to local and global
refers to learners who are possibly experiencing a literacy practices.
multiplicity of problems with learning and who
subsequently cannot realise their optimal poten- Contextual
tial (Weeks 2008). These present themselves as
physical and/or physiological impairments, de- Socio-economic conditions, parental commit-
velopmental problems, learning problems, emo- ment, parents’ educational achievement and the
tional problems or behavioural problems. language and culture of the community, are some
of the contextual factors that many second lan-
Factors That Contribute to Poor Reading guage learners (L2) acquire as barriers to learn-
Abilities of Learners ing. These factors may explain the lack of ad-
vancement in reading (Lessing and Mahabeer
The following factors are barriers that con- 2007). In a study conducted by Linnakyla et al.
tribute to low literacy achievement. (2004) in Sweden and Finland, there were many
factors that contributed to low literacy achieve-
Language of Instruction ments. Learners from lower socio-economic back-
grounds with big families; single-parent fami-
Bilingual education (BE) is a form of instruc- lies; poor availability of books; a lack of political
tion used in Netherlands which refers to situa- and social discussions in the home; learners’
tions where learners who are in the minority re- personal interest and attitudes indicated low lit-
garding language are taught in the language of eracy achievements.
the majority (Admiraal et al. 2006). This method
is termed “submersion”. It aims to develop skills Qualifications and Proficiency of Teachers
in a language that may be alien to them, but
which governs daily life outside school. It may According to the Reading Strategy (DoE
also refer to “immersion”, in which an alien lan- 2008a), numerous educators in South Africa have
guage, for example a language that is not the an inadequate perception of teaching literacy and
language of the larger society, is the medium of reading. Many educators simply possess a mod-
instruction. Instructions in a language foreign est understanding of teaching reading. Educa-
to them contribute to the poor reading and writ- tors are not familiar with methods of teaching read-
ing abilities of these learners (Admiraal et al. ing which may be suitable to the learning ap-
2006). Some studies in South Africa (Alexander proach of all learners (Spaull 2013). The Reading
2005) have blamed the poor achievements of Strategy (DoE 2008a) emphasises that educators
learners from African language speaking homes are not acquainted with how to motivate reading
on the early transition to English, while others inside and outside the classroom.
see a negative attitude by African parents to- The National Teacher Education Audit of
wards African languages which makes it diffi- 1995 (DoE 2007) revealed that many South Afri-
cult to enforce mother-tongue education (De can educators are under qualified or unquali-
Wet 2002). There are also arguments that ques- fied. Teacher training fails to meet the required
READING LITERACY IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS 159
standard (Malda et al. 2014). It was further em- Availability of Resources
phasised that educators are not reasonably
knowledgeable in the principles that underpin Children who have greater access to books
bilingual and multi-lingual education. Unquali- and other literacy materials learn to read more
fied educators have been identified as one of easily than children who come with a paucity of
the factors responsible for the poor performance literacy experiences (Dixon et al. 2008). The lack
of learners (Uwatt and Egbe 2011). of access to quality reading materials is another
A study by Uys et al. (2007) found that the factor contributing to poor performance (Uwatt
inability of English educators of Second Lan- and Egbe 2011). The general lack of resources at
guage Medium of Instruction (L2MI), to assist schools in South Africa includes textbooks for
their learners in the acquisition of academic lit- reading and general teaching aids.
eracy, was due to several factors. The factors The National Reading Strategy (DoE 2008a)
identified included the following: the educators states that South Africa faces many challenges
were often unaware of their inability to meet lan- in promoting literacy. It is uncommon to find
guage-related needs of their learners; they not schools with fully fledged libraries. Numerous
only lacked knowledge and skills for teaching homes have no books or valuable reading litera-
language skills, but also could not identify strat- ture. Books in African languages are rare, and
egies to promote effective L2MI; and they lacked learners do not have the opportunity to read in
the personal language proficiency that was need- their home language. A number of classrooms
ed to assist learners with literacy. have no books, and even those classes which
do have sets of readers, often have them at an
Lack of Early Childhood Development inadequate level. According to the Reading Strat-
egy in South Africa (DoE 2008a), the language
Early childhood development (ECD) refers of the resources at school (for example, books,
to an inclusive advancement to policies and pro- posters) is not equivalent to the home language
grammes for learners from birth to nine years of of the learner.
age with the dynamic involvement of their par- According to Twist et al. (2006), learners who
ents and caregivers (DoE 2001). According to experience reading difficulties in the Netherlands
the White Paper 5 on early childhood education are assisted by support educators who work with
(DoE 2001), approximately 40% of young chil- learners away from the usual classroom. Educa-
dren in South Africa are prone to under-devel- tors in England and New Zealand indicated that
opment in poverty stricken areas. These chil- this type of support was available all the time
dren are neglected in these poor households (Twist et al. 2006).
and are therefore at high risk of infant death, low In South Africa, learners with special needs
birth-weight, stunted growth and subsequently and severe reading problems are incorporated
do not adjust to school easily. These children into the mainstream and educators do not have
are often school dropouts. Such children never the assistance of support educators. This is re-
reach their full potential. However, with quality
ferred to as inclusive education (DoE 2001).
early childhood development (ECD), these chil-
dren can acquire language skills, perception-
motor skills that are required for learning to read The Socio-economic Order of the Classroom
and write, basic numeracy concepts and skills;
problem-solving skills; and a love of learning. Rose (2005) is of the opinion that there is a
The shift to early childhood education (ECE), moral order in the classroom that defines learn-
which refers to processes having the object of ers as successful, average or unsuccessful. He
developing young children before schooling, is believes that the education system favours the
creating a debate on quality provisioning (Ebra- reproduction of an unequal socio-economic en-
him 2010). Ebrahim (2010) observes that achiev- vironment by not designing the curriculum to
ing the best outcomes for young children, is meet the needs of all learners. Spaull (2013) points
closely linked to the training of teachers. It is out that schools which served predominantly
crucial that ECD plays a crucial function in en- white children during apartheid remain functional
suring the quality of children especially from while those that are situated in areas that are in
black communities in terms of development the townships (predominantly Black African ar-
(Msila 2014). eas), have low literacy and numeracy rates.
160 USHA NAIDOO, KARUNANIDHI REDDY AND NIRMALA DORASAMY

Gaps that Exist in Schools  Previewing: reviewing titles, section head-

ings, and photo captions to acquire a sense
As an incentive for learners to advance them- of the structure and essence of a reading
selves in reading, they should be exposed to a selection;
proper programme structured to facilitate pro-  Predicting: applying knowledge of the sub-
gression. Research conducted by Condy et al. ject matter to build predictions about content
(2010) investigated final year student-teachers’ and vocabulary and verify comprehension;
responses relating to a teaching method bear- applying knowledge of the text type and rea-
ing the acronym THRASS (Teaching Handwrit- son to formulate predictions about discourse
ing, Reading and Spelling Skills). The respon- structure; applying knowledge about the au-
dents indicated that the learners are not encour- thor to formulate predictions about writing
aged to read for enjoyment, neither do they fre- style, vocabulary, and content;
quent the library. Furthermore, learners rarely  Skimming and scanning: by means of a quick
witness educators reading. investigation of the text to get the main idea,
recognizing text structure, confirm or ques-
Class Size tion predictions;
 Guessing from context: applying prior
According to the Southern and East Africa knowledge of the focus and the ideas in the
Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality text as clues to the meanings of unknown
(SACMEQ) (2011), the educator-learner ratio and words, instead of stopping to look them up;
class size impacts on teaching and learning. It is and
deliberated that a smaller class size supports  Paraphrasing: stopping at the conclusion of
quality education. Lower class sizes allow for a section to test comprehension by declar-
more interaction between the educator and learn- ing the information and ideas in the text.
er, resulting in quality teaching and learning. The “Learning to Read Reading to Learn” (LRRL)
recommended educator-learner ratio and class is a literacy instruction course the purpose of
size in South African primary schools is forty which is to aid all learners to read and write at
learners per educator (SACMEQ 2011). Hence, levels commensurate with their age, grade and
class size may also be a factor that impacts on area of study. This course was developed with
the level of literacy of learners as well. educators of primary, secondary and tertiary
learners across Australia and internationally, to
Strategies for the Improvement of Reading sustain reading and writing across the syllabus
(Rose 2006a).
It is important to continuously integrate the In South Africa, long-established approach-
five components of reading (phonemic aware- es to teaching literacy in both the mother tongue
ness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text com- and as a second language, is primarily viewed
prehension) into the daily reading instruction as language in terms of many small tactful units
(Meier and Freck 2005). According to Condy et which comprised syntax and parsing, phonics,
al. (2010), literacy approaches that use phonics spelling, grammar and punctuation. These skills
may seem efficient in the short term, but unless are taught and often dedicated to recall from
they are entrenched within focused texts and small to larger units. Learners used this language
reading activities, they may well be analysed as structure learnt by drill, but without purpose or
drills for school and not as reading ‘for real’ au- meaning (Condy 2008).
thentic purposes. Meier and Freck (2005) be-
lieve that educators should be familiar with learn- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
ers’ interests and blend them into teaching meth-
ods and texts that are chosen for reading pur- Research design entails a coherent course
poses. Many studies have revealed that read- of activities to obtain research participants, to
ing and writing skills sustain and strengthen each gather data from them and to draw conclusions
other as they are learned (Reading Rockets 2008). about a research problem. In this study a combi-
The following strategies assist learners to nation of qualitative and quantitative methods
read more speedily and efficiently (NCLRC 2004): were employed. Quantitative research deals with
READING LITERACY IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS 161

questions of relationship, cause and effect, or referred to as reliability. Cronbach’s Alpha is one
current status that researchers answer by col- of the means of measuring such consistency of
lecting and statistically analyzing numerical in- results. A reliability coefficient of 0.7 or higher is
formation (Ary et al. 2010). According to Cre- regarded as acceptable. In this study the overall
swell (2009) qualitative research involves pro- reliability score was 0.906, which indicates a high
posing questions and course of action, informa- degree of acceptability.
tion characteristically assembled in the partici-
pant’s surroundings, data analysis inductively FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
building from fine points to general themes and
the researcher producing interpretations of the Average Number of Learners per Class
meaning of the information. A survey is a means
of gathering information from a large group of Most of the respondents (58%) have be-
people in a relatively short period of time and is tween 21 and 40 learners, while 37% of them
always conducted within a specific socio-cul- have between 41 to 60 learners and 2% have
tural context (Wagner et al. 2012). The study more than 60 learners. Bearing in mind that the
entailed a survey though questionnaires for the recommended educator/learner ratio and class
purpose of gathering information on the factors size in South African primary schools is forty
impacting on reading literacy, language and read- learners per educator (SACMEQ 2011), there is
ing instruction, strategies for teaching reading, a significant proportion (39%) with average class
resources available for reading, systems for im- sizes above that number.
proving quality reading and reading as a home-
work activity. The questionnaires were designed Factors Impacting on Reading Literacy
by one of the researchers based on the findings
from the literature review. They were adminis- Number of Educators Attending Work-
tered to school management members and edu- shops: The majority (57.7%) of respondents did
cators. This paper will focus on the findings and not attend workshops on reading strategies reg-
conclusions relating to factors impacting on read- ularly, while 23.5% indicated that they did at-
ing literacy. tend frequently. According to Rose (2006b),
most educators have received no previous train-
Study Population ing in teaching reading.
Reading Levels of Learners: The respon-
The study was conducted among managers dents were asked if the reading levels of the
and educators of primary schools in the North learners in their class were above average. The
Durban region of KwaZulu Natal, in the cluster majority of the respondents (55.4%) indicated
which geographically extends from Umlazi in the that their learners did not have above average
south to Umhlanga in the north and from the reading abilities, while 24% of the respondents
Bluff in the east to KwaSanti (Pinetown) in the indicated that the reading abilities of learners is
west. In this cluster there are both public state above average. The DoE of South Africa under-
schools and independent schools. The cluster took a study in 2003, to determine the literacy
is divided into 8 wards. In each ward there are levels among grade 3 learners. The results of the
approximately 40 schools. The target respon- study showed that 61% of learners cannot read
dents for this study were educators and man- and write at their appropriate age levels (Univer-
agement in the Umgeni north region, which rep- sity of Pretoria 2006).
resents one of the 8 wards in KwaZulu Natal. 40 Second Language Learners: The majority
schools participated in the study. Purposive sam- (59.5%) of the respondents indicated that most
pling was used and 450 educators were select- of the learners in their classes were second lan-
ed. The questionnaire was completed by 366 re- guage learners, while 30.2% indicated that most
spondents (a response rate of 81%). of their learners were not second language learn-
ers. Even though many respondents (55.4%) had
Reliability indicated that the reading levels of learners were
not above average, nearly 69% indicated that
How consistently a measuring instrument most learners were able to comprehend the lan-
gives similar results for similar inputs has been guage of instruction. English as a first language
162 USHA NAIDOO, KARUNANIDHI REDDY AND NIRMALA DORASAMY

is spoken by less than 10% of the population Common Reading Problems Experienced
(Howie et al. 2008) and is one of the most fre- by Learners
quently used language by schools (the other
being Afrikaans). The respondents were asked to indicate the
Socio-economic Factors: The respondents common reading problems experienced by learn-
were asked to indicate which socio-economic ers. Table 2 shows the results.
factors impacted on the reading literacy of their
learners. Table 1 indicates the results. Table 2: Common reading problems experienced
by learners
Table 1: Socio-economic factors that impact on
reading literacy Learners experience Agree Neutral Disagree
the following reading
The following socio- Agree Neutral Disagree problems
economic factors impact
on reading literacy Poor eyesight 52.4 21.4 26.2
Second language learners 85.7 5.6 8.7
Single parents 62.6 11.7 25.7 Lack of exposure to 84.9 4.0 11.1
Early childhood 85.4 6.9 7.7 reading resources
development Lack of facilities for 84.0 10.1 5.9
Health care 74.3 13.0 12.7 early childhood
Unemployment 72.4 10.1 17.5 development (ECD)
Housing 71.6 12.5 15.9

About half (52.4%) of the respondents agreed

Respondents believed that the most domi- that poor eyesight was a common reading prob-
nant of the factors was early childhood devel- lem experienced by learners, while 85.7% of the
opment (85.4%), followed by healthcare (74.3%), respondents indicated that second language
unemployment (72.4%) and housing (71.6%). learners experienced reading problems. Accord-
This highlights a challenge in education since ing to Lessing and Mahabeer (2007), learners who
early childhood development is important for are instructed in a language different from their
the learners’ future literacy progress. It is evi- mother tongue, will experience problems in read-
dent that all the factors identified were rated high ing. Further, 84.9% of the respondents agreed that
in respect of impacting on reading ability. a lack of exposure to reading resources influenced
A significant observation is that single par- common reading problems and 84% agreed that
ents (62.6%) as a factor impacting on reading the lack of facilities for early childhood develop-
literacy, was ranked lower than the other fac- ment had an effect on learners’ reading perfor-
mance. Even though health problems in terms of
tors. The findings of the study by Linnakyla et
poor sight (52.4%) ranked as the lowest of fac-
al. (2004), confirmed that learners from lower
tors, it is alarming that more than half of the re-
socio-economic backgrounds, big families, and spondents have identified this as a reason. The
single-parent families, indicated low literacy other factors had a higher prevalence.
achievements. A further observation is that the Eighty- five percent of the respondents indi-
results show that there is a high prevalence of cated that second language learners’ lack of re-
all the indicated socio-economic factors. sources and lack of facilities for ECD are prob-
Language of Instruction: A significant pro- lems relating to reading literacy. According to
portion (68.5%) of the respondents indicated that Weeks (2008), there were discrepancies in the
learners do experience difficulties comprehend- supplies for schools, particularly for black learn-
ing the language of instruction and 27.8% indi- ers. Inequalities in the accessibility of educa-
cated that learners did not experience any diffi- tional support services and the lack of available
culties. African learners in South Africa, whose teaching support and equipment were also ap-
home language is not English or Afrikaans, re- parent. According to the ECD policy (DoE 2001),
ceive instruction from grade 4 onwards in En- by 2010 all learners that entered grade 1 should
glish or Afrikaans despite the current govern- have participated in an accredited Reception year
ment language policy which advocates that programme. The insufficient financial support
learning should take place in their home lan- of ECD services for Black communities (mostly
guage from grades 1 to 12 (Howie et al. 2008). rural), has impacted on learning.
READING LITERACY IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS 163

Corrective Teaching  52.9% of the respondents agreed that ade-

quate time was allocated for speaking as an
With respect to corrective teaching and time area of instruction, while 33.9% disagreed.
spent in class, Table 3 illustrates the common  39.3% of the respondents agreed that ade-
trends. quate time was given to literature studies,
while 45.6% disagreed.
Table 3: Common trends relating to corrective
teaching
 53.4% of the respondents agreed that suffi-
cient time was allocated to the development
The following are the Agree Neutral Disagree of language skills, while 33.3% disagreed.
common trends relating The time allocated for English is usually 5
to corrective teaching hours in schools, which is insufficient to suc-
Learners require correc- 92.6 6.6 0.8 cessfully teach the Learning Outcomes that un-
tive teaching in reading derpin reading (DoE 2011). The majority response
Learners do not receive 81.8 6.6 11.6 (51.9%) that time allocated for reading is inade-
corrective teaching quate, supports this contention.
in reading because of
time constraints
Most of the reading time 84.4 6.3 9.3 Resources for Learners with Reading
in class is spent on Difficulty
teaching the entire class
The findings regarding the various reading
Ninety- two percent of respondents indicat- resources available to assist learners with read-
ed that learners required corrective teaching in ing difficulties are presented in Table 4.
reading and 81.8% of respondents agreed that
learners are unable to receive corrective teach- Table 4: Resources available to assist learners
who have reading difficulties
ing in reading because of time constraints. Ac-
cording to the South African DoE (2008a), every The following reading Agree Neutral Disagree
educator in the intermediate phase is envisaged resources are available
to assist learners with
to devote at least 30 minutes daily on reading reading difficulties
for enjoyment. Eighty- four percent of the re-
spondents indicated that the entire class is A reading specialist is 7.7 3.5 88.8
available in my class-
taught reading at the same time. There was a room to assist such
high percentage of agreement with the state- learners
ments as indicated in Table 3. In The Nether- A reading specialist is 14.1 3.2 82.7
available to conduct
lands, learners who experience reading difficul- remedial reading with
ties are assisted by support educators (Twist et such learners
al. 2006). Learners in England and New Zealand An educator aide is
also have such support (Twist et al. 2006). With available in my
classroom 7.7 3.4 88.9
inclusive education, learners in South Africa with Other professionals 10.1 4.8 85.1
special needs and severe reading problems are (for example, teaching
incorporated into the mainstream and educators specialists, speech
therapists) are available
do not have the assistance of support educa- to assist such learners
tors (DoE 2001).

Time Allocation for Specific Areas of Table 4 shows that there are strong levels of
Instruction disagreement with each of the statements relat-
ing to the availability of resources. Educators
Respondents were asked to indicate wheth- are presumed to have adequate resources to
er there was adequate allocation of time for each warrant the effective teaching of reading. On
of the following specific areas of instruction: average, 86.4% of respondents indicated that
reading; speaking; literature and language skills. there are no specialist personnel or resources
 39.1% of the respondents agreed that ade- available for learners with reading difficulties.
quate time is given for reading instruction, The respondents in the survey indicated that a
while 51.9% disagreed. majority of the learners required corrective teach-
164 USHA NAIDOO, KARUNANIDHI REDDY AND NIRMALA DORASAMY

ing in reading and that learners are unable to maining three statements. The strategies used
receive corrective teaching in reading. The lack in the teaching of reading are applied by most
of assistance from support educators contrib- educators. According to the Foundations for
utes to such situation. Learning (DoE 2008b), “read aloud”, “shared
reading” and “guided reading” by the educator
Strategies Used To Improve Reading Literacy and learner, form the components of a reading
programme. “Guided reading” constitutes a sig-
The findings relating to strategies during nificant segment of the reading process.
instruction time that are used to improve read- As far as using “scaffolding” as a strategy
ing are shown in Table 5. is concerned, although 63.2% of the respondents
Table 5: Strategies used during reading instruc-
indicated that the method of scaffolding is im-
tion portant to improve reading, 49.7% indicated that
scaffolding is not applied during reading. A quar-
The following strategies Agree Neutral Disagree ter (24.9%) of the respondents agreed that scaf-
are used during instruc-
tion time
folding is important and they are employing the
technique.
Read aloud to the learners 95.0 1.0 4.0 Chronbach’s alpha is a measure of reliability.
Allow learners to read 97.8 1.1 1.1 Reliability is computed by taking several mea-
aloud to the class
Allow learners to read 89.4 5.0 5.6 surements on the same subjects. A reliability
silently coefficient of 0.70 or higher is considered as ac-
Allow learners to read 81.6 6.6 11.7 ceptable. The overall reliability score of 0.906
books of their own choice for the study indicates a high degree of accept-
Revise skimming, scanning, 66.8 11.9 21.2
self-monitoring methods able, consistent scoring for the different cate-
Teach learning strategies 71.6 9.0 19.4 gories for this study.
involving decoding
sounds and words CONCLUSION
Teach learners new 93.4 2.6 4.0
vocabulary
Assist learners to under- 97.6 1.3 1.1 The National Teacher Education Audit indi-
stand new vocabulary cated many educators in South Africa were un-
in the text they are der qualified or unqualified. The findings of the
reading
study showed that there were a significant num-
The majority (95%) of respondents applied ber of educators that received no training in
“read aloud” as a reading strategy and 70.5% of teaching reading and a majority of the respon-
the respondents allowed learners to read aloud dents indicated that they did not attend work-
in small groups. Further, 89.4% of the respon- shops in teaching reading regularly. These diffi-
dents allowed learners to read silently and 81.6% culties impact on the quality of reading. Many
of the respondents agreed that they allowed of the respondents in the study encounter be-
learners to read books of their own choice as a tween 41-60 learners in their classes. Large class
reading strategy. Also, 66.8% of the respondents sizes are another factor that impacts on reading
applied skimming, scanning and self-monitor- literacy. Resources for reading are limited. The
ing methods, while 71.6% of the respondents socio-economic factors that impacted on read-
taught learning strategies involving decoding ing were: lack of early childhood development,
sounds. Most (93.4%) of the respondents taught health care, unemployment, housing, and to an
learners new vocabulary during reading instruc- extent, single parents. Owing to time constraints
tion time and 97.6% agreed that they assisted and the lack of specialised personnel, correc-
learners with learning new vocabulary from the tive/remedial teaching is limited. A significant
text they were reading. The overall pattern is number of respondents agreed that learners ex-
one of agreement with the statements. The find- perienced difficulties comprehending the lan-
ings show that there is very strong agreement guage of instruction. The findings also revealed
for four statements (first two and last two), strong that second language learners experienced read-
agreement for statements 4 and 5, and agree- ing problems. Since English is not the most fre-
ment levels between 66% and 72% for the re- quently spoken language at home, the acquisi-
READING LITERACY IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS 165

tion, mastery and learning of a second language On Strategies to Improve Reading Literacy
is a reality for the majority of learners in South in the Primary Schools
Africa.
As far as strategies to improve the quality of Educators should develop learners who are
intermediate phase reading is concerned, the critical thinkers; use the compulsory reading time
majority of respondents prefer teaching reading constructively; teach aspects of language in
as a whole class activity, whilst a significant context; work in close collaboration with foun-
number of the respondents indicated that learn- dation phase educators; meet informally weekly
ers of the same abilities are grouped together for to discuss common difficulties; use visual aids,
the teaching of reading. “Read aloud” as a read- DVD’s and CD’s; engage learners in meaningful
ing strategy was very popular and a significant homework exercises, develop learners compre-
number of the respondents allowed learners to hension ability; and engage in ‘read aloud’ more
read aloud in small groups. The majority of re- often. Further, educators should regularly attend
spondents allowed learners to read silently. Sev- workshops on literacy education, the use of re-
eral of the respondents agreed that they allowed medial educators should be introduced; and ex-
learners to read books of their own choice as a tra time should be allotted for literacy learning.
reading strategy. A significant number of the re- Parents need to play an active role in education
spondents applied skimming, scanning and self- by monitoring homework of learners seriously;
monitoring methods, while the majority of the engaging in adult literacy courses if necessary;
respondents taught learning strategies involv- liaising with educators to discuss learners’
ing decoding sounds and words. “Guided read- progress and to act as volunteers at schools.
ing” constituted a significant segment of the School management teams can assist by ensur-
reading process. The respondents also agreed ing that learners are taught at entry level in the
that the method of scaffolding is important, but mother tongue; make reading resources in isi-
it is not being applied during reading. Zulu available; diagnose reading problems of
learners; liaise with DoE to find solutions to read-
The findings of the study also revealed that
ing problems; use retired educators for remedial
many learners required corrective/remedial teach-
teaching; and monitor educators regularly.
ing in reading but were unable to receive correc- In conclusion, there is a dire need in South
tive teaching because of time constraints. Fur- Africa for the nation’s learners to experience
thermore, professional remedial educators who success. There is lack of concern in some
work with learners away from the classroom and schools to reach the most challenged learners
resources for learners with reading difficulties, and this, coupled with the dissatisfaction over
are not available in South African schools. the slow pace of change, creates a sense of ur-
gency. Hence, there is an expectation on re-
RECOMMENDATIONS searchers and organizations to mediate in vari-
ous ways to overcome impediments to academ-
On Factors that Contribute to Poor ic success. Learners believe this ethical order
Reading Abilities and mould their future experiences around this,
thereby creating a small professional elite group
It is necessary to ensure that learners in the and a larger group of unskilled manual workers.
entry level of school are taught in the mother As a result of the failure of educational outcomes
tongue and gradually introduced to English. Li- to keep in line with social and economic chang-
brary books written in isiZulu with English trans- es in South Africa, the centre of attention has
lations are needed at the intermediate phase of been directed to literacy in schools. It is there-
schooling to improve learners’ ability to read fore important to teach learners reading skills
and comprehend. There is a need for the train- explicitly at any stage of the curriculum as op-
ing of more grade R and foundation phase edu- posed to leaving learners to acquire these skills
cators. More educators need to be trained to tacitly. Skilled readers recognise words by visu-
close the gap that exists in the education sys- ally processing letter patterns, while learners with
tem. Reading resources and facilities for early reading difficulty frequently struggle to sound
childhood development need to be easily ac- out words letter-by-letter. Experienced readers
cessible. read with meaning whereas learners with read-
166 USHA NAIDOO, KARUNANIDHI REDDY AND NIRMALA DORASAMY

ing difficulty cannot read with comprehension. Condy J 2008. The development of an enabling self-
Therefore, in order for all learners to be able to administered questionnaire for enhancing reading
teachers’ professional pedagogical insights. South
react to the environment they live in, reading African Journal of Education, 28: 609-624.
and understanding what is read, is fundamental Condy J, Chigona A, Chetty R, Thornhill C 2010. Fi-
to their progress in life in general. nal year teacher training students’ perception of
The most important constituent of high qual- THRASS. South African Journal of Education, 30:
261-275.
ity education is literacy. Without the ability to Creswell JW 2009. Research Design: Qualitative, Quan-
read, people are deprived of access to important titative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. London:
information that impact on their lives. Illiteracy Sage.
in South Africa is an ingrained social phenome- Department of Education (DoE) 2001. White Paper 5
on Early Childhood Education. May 2001. Meeting
non and is threatening the transformation and the Challenge of Early Childhood Development in
development of the country. It is crucial that South Africa. From <http://www.education.gov.za/
reading literacy in primary schools in the coun- LinkClick.aspx? fileticket=4d PdpYszrVQ%3D&
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Department of Education (DoE) 2002. Revised Na-
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY tional Curriculum Statement (RNCS) April 2002.
Pretoria: Department of Education.
The study was limited to intermediate phase Department of Education (DoE) 2007. National Poli-
cy Framework for Teacher Education and Develop-
educators in the North Durban region of Kwa- ment (NPFTED) 2007. Pretoria: Department of
Zulu Natal. Grade 7 educators that teach read- Education.
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Department of Education (DoE) 2011. A Teacher’s
intermediate phase; a study to review the teach- Handbook 2008. Teaching Reading in the Early
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for schools that perform poorly; and a compara- ing early literacy practices at home and school in
tive study with other countries where schools rural Malawi and South Africa. Southern African
are experiencing similar reading difficulties, with Review of Education, 14(3): 5-21.
De Wet C 2002. Factors influencing the choice of En-
a view to sharing best practice. glish as language of learning and teaching. South
African Journal of Education, 22(2): 119-124.
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