Department of Modern Foreign Languages

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Browsing Department of Modern Foreign Languages by Subject "Adolescent literacy -- South Africa"

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    An examination of the effectiveness of a digital tool as an intervention measure to improve the reading comprehension skills of high school learners
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-03) Brand, Irene; Bergman, E. K.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The current level of literacy in South Africa is cause for concern. The Annual National Assessment of Literacy and Numeracy, conducted nationally by the National Department of Education of South Africa, shows that only 28% of Grade 3 learners and 35% of Grade 6 learners passed these tests in 2011 (Department of Basic Education (a), 2011). According to the policy on progression and promotion issued by the National Department of Education, learners may only be retained once in a phase, which means that these learners may lack essential academic literacy skills when they reach high school. The main concern addressed in this thesis is whether high school teachers can help improve academic literacy by using reading comprehension software, like Reading Rocket, as an intervention tool to help learners who struggle with reading comprehension, and whether Reading Rocket is in fact an effective program to use for such purposes. This study was conducted by using data from one school within the Western Cape which has been using Reading Rocket for the past three years. Use of the program forms part of their timetable, and Grade 8 and 9 learners spend twice per cycle working with the program. Learners are first tested on entering Grade 8 and group reports are retrieved from the program each term to monitor their progress. These reports give a summary of the reading level, the percentage gained in the reading exercises, reading speed in w.p.m and a spelling score in percentage. This data was used to compile a summary of the results obtained over six terms Term 1 2010 until Term 3 2011. These results were compared with quarterly classroom (paper‐based) comprehension and language tests in order to determine is a correlation between the program data and the paper‐based test data. There is no control group for this study as all the Grade 8 and 9 learners use the program. There is no conclusive evidence that the program is an effective intervention tool, but findings show a positive correlation between program data and paper‐based test data which indicates that the program may be used as a tool to determine on what grade level learners read. Given the numerous responsibilities and duties of teachers, it is essential that they are given an effective measuring tool for literacy and because computer software is essentially objective and time‐effective in provide results, using computer technology for such purposes may be part of a solution to improve literacy in South Africa.