There has been limited attention towards the affective aspect in literacy development; yet, reading attitude, an affective component, is a significant element within literacy instruction. This makes a compelling case for investigating Grade 3 learners’ attitudes towards reading. In this study, a situational analysis was conducted as Phase 1 of the research process before implementing a responsive reading programme at a primary school in Grahamstown, South Africa. In an effort to explore Grade 3 learners’ attitudes, experiences and perspectives about reading, the study adopted the use of drawings, which is a child-centred approach. Learners were required to draw their perspectives or experiences about reading. In analysing the drawings, a range of semiotic theorists were integrated. Findings of the study indicate that by using drawings as a methodological tool, learners were able to provide detailed insights about their daily experiences with reading, attitudes towards reading and their varied individual views about reading. Such information gathered was vital for future consideration when implementing a responsive and extensive reading programme.
The publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books'. The manuscript underwent an evaluation to compare the level of originality with other published works and was subjected to rigorous two-step peer review before publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the editor(s) or author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher, editor(s) and author(s). The publisher shared feedback on the similarity report and the reviewers' inputs with the manuscript's editor(s) or author(s) to improve the manuscript. Where the reviewers recommended revision and improvements the editor(s) or author(s) responded adequately to such recommendations. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the book be published.
As the world came to grips with the coronavirus diseases (COVID-19), educational institutions and the society at large faced the challenge of figuring out how to continue with teaching and learning in such a context. Many countries, including South Africa made efforts to help contain and suppress the spread of Covid-19. In the South African education sector, about 13 million learners and 440 000 teachers were released before the end of the first school term in March 2020. In addition, 30 000 Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres, about 100 000 teachers were also required to end their term before the official closing date. For many young learners, the lockdown period meant that they would be at home with (a) Limited access to age appropriate, fun and explicitly educational resources to play with as many shops considered resources that could be used to develop children’s sensory skills as not essential goods (b) They had limited exposure to structured learning and play as most caregivers are not qualified ECD practitioners (c) Children could not play outside, visit playgrounds and parks, yet, freedom of movement, activity and exercise is important for every child’s development and young children learn best through play and experimenting (d) Most of their curriculum content cannot be fully taught using online platforms. Given this background, through a semi-ethnographic study, the paper documents the early literacy experiences of two 3 year old children during the Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa. In addition, analysis of parents or caregivers’ feedback about their experiences in providing assistance to the young learners during the lockdown is presented. Findings of the study show that in both research contexts, literacy practices were different, but not lesser. Challenging as it was for the caregivers to support the development of literacy, the home environment provided many opportunities for learning.
Debate on whether the use of translanguaging is disruptive of monolingual ideologies and practices that predominate global tertiary education seem to be still in its infancy. Contemporary research in the area focuses on what appears conflicting though lucid discourses on eliminating boundaries between codes or languages, resulting in no ‘named’ languages. This study adopted a qualitative case study approach in which second year undergraduate students taking a literacy course were purposively sampled. The data was collected through analysing the participants’ course related interactions on the virtual space, WhatsApp. The efficacy of WhatsApp as an instructional tool in the teaching and learning context has escalated the interest among researchers in exploring its potential benefit in a multilingual setting. The paper reports on the crucial role language plays in the comprehension, participation, motivation, and consequent ameliorated academic performance of multilingual students. The findings attest that translanguaging, where languages of input and output are consciously alternated, proves to be an indispensable pedagogy and recommends its incorporation in daily instructional practices. Keywords: epistemic access, language learning, literacy, multilingualism, translanguaging, monolingualism
The publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books'. The manuscript underwent an evaluation to compare the level of originality with other published works and was subjected to rigorous two-step peer review before publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the editor(s) or author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher, editor(s) and author(s). The publisher shared feedback on the similarity report and the reviewers' inputs with the manuscript's editor(s) or author(s) to improve the manuscript. Where the reviewers recommended revision and improvements the editor(s) or author(s) responded adequately to such recommendations. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the book be published.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.