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The teaching of reading in grade 4 English home language
Author(s)
Buys, Amber
Date Issued
2025
Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Abstract
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021, an international
assessment that tests reading comprehension, revealed that 81% of South African Grade 4
learners could not identify explicit information or generate required information from a text.
Reading ability is a crucial skill needed to acquire information and continue learning. The
purpose of this study was first to determine how teachers teach reading in Grade 4 English
Home Language. Second, the study aimed to identify the guidelines offered by policymakers
on how to teach reading. The research also focused on the challenges teachers experience
when teaching reading in Grade 4 English Home Language. Last, it aimed to find out how
teachers assisted struggling readers. This study employed a qualitative approach and an
interpretive paradigm was used to investigate how teachers taught reading. The study was
conducted at two schools in the Western Cape, a public school in the Metropolitan North
District of Cape Town (School A) and a former Model C school in the Metropolitan South
District in the Western Cape (School B). The participants selected for this study were four
teachers in Grade 4 English Home Language from each school. Data were collected by means
of document analysis, classroom observations, and semi-structured individual interviews. The
researcher received ethical clearance from both the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
(CPUT) and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). The study aimed to provide
guidelines on how to teach reading and recommended reading strategies. The findings
revealed that the teachers were qualified professionals, although they had not received specific
training on how to teach reading. Furthermore, teachers applied various teaching strategies
when teaching reading, some of which were recommended by policymakers in the Curriculum
and Assessment Policy Statement and Adjusted Teaching Plan. However, despite the use of
these strategies, teachers experienced challenges when teaching learners how to read in
Grade 4 English Home Language, the main issue being that English was not the learners’
mother tongue as learners came from backgrounds where they were more exposed to
Afrikaans or isiXhosa at home. Teachers identified struggling readers through baseline
assessments at the beginning of the year and offered intervention programmes after school
hours to aid in improving learners’ reading ability.
assessment that tests reading comprehension, revealed that 81% of South African Grade 4
learners could not identify explicit information or generate required information from a text.
Reading ability is a crucial skill needed to acquire information and continue learning. The
purpose of this study was first to determine how teachers teach reading in Grade 4 English
Home Language. Second, the study aimed to identify the guidelines offered by policymakers
on how to teach reading. The research also focused on the challenges teachers experience
when teaching reading in Grade 4 English Home Language. Last, it aimed to find out how
teachers assisted struggling readers. This study employed a qualitative approach and an
interpretive paradigm was used to investigate how teachers taught reading. The study was
conducted at two schools in the Western Cape, a public school in the Metropolitan North
District of Cape Town (School A) and a former Model C school in the Metropolitan South
District in the Western Cape (School B). The participants selected for this study were four
teachers in Grade 4 English Home Language from each school. Data were collected by means
of document analysis, classroom observations, and semi-structured individual interviews. The
researcher received ethical clearance from both the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
(CPUT) and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). The study aimed to provide
guidelines on how to teach reading and recommended reading strategies. The findings
revealed that the teachers were qualified professionals, although they had not received specific
training on how to teach reading. Furthermore, teachers applied various teaching strategies
when teaching reading, some of which were recommended by policymakers in the Curriculum
and Assessment Policy Statement and Adjusted Teaching Plan. However, despite the use of
these strategies, teachers experienced challenges when teaching learners how to read in
Grade 4 English Home Language, the main issue being that English was not the learners’
mother tongue as learners came from backgrounds where they were more exposed to
Afrikaans or isiXhosa at home. Teachers identified struggling readers through baseline
assessments at the beginning of the year and offered intervention programmes after school
hours to aid in improving learners’ reading ability.
Additional information
Thesis (DEd)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2025
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