Exploring relationships between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension amongst English second language readers in South Africa

Pretorius, Elizabeth J.; Spaull, Nicholas

doi:10.1007/s11145-016-9645-9

Cited by 61 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The results of this study affirm the significance of fluency (including both automaticity in word recognition and prosody) as a significant variable in proficient reading and reading comprehension [9,18,[51][52][53][54][55] in Turkish fourth grade students. As such, continued instruction in reading fluency, automaticity, and prosody, for Turkish students beyond third grade is warranted.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Testing the KAPS Model of Reading Comprehension in a Turkish Elementary School Context from Low Socioeconomic Background

et al. 2020

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This correlational study aimed to explore the relations of background knowledge, automaticity (rate), prosody, and strategy use with reading comprehension (KAPS model of reading comprehension) in the written Turkish language context with 207 fourth grade students. Successful comprehension requires readers to make meaning out of what they read. Our KAPS model of reading comprehension hypothesizes relations of background knowledge, fluency components (rate and prosody), and strategy use with reading comprehension components (literal and deep) in the Turkish language and addresses the direct effects of these predictors on the reading comprehension of fourth grade students. The results showed that, whereas fluency and strategy use made statistically significant contributions to reading comprehension, background knowledge did not. Based on the results, the study affirms the importance of automaticity in word recognition, prosody, and comprehension strategies in contributing to reading comprehension in Turkish and, as such, should be given priority for literacy instruction in Turkish.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Testing the KAPS Model of Reading Comprehension in a Turkish Elementary School Context from Low Socioeconomic Background

et al. 2020

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“…These indices correspond to at least some answer-guessing without reading, suggesting possible difficulty even with word decoding. This corresponds to Pretorius and Spaull's 39 findings of poor decoding skills among the majority of South African township learners. A considerable number of learners (11) guessed all the multiple-choice questions without reading and two did not show any evidence of engaging in any word decoding.…”

Section: Quiz Engagementsupporting

confidence: 80%

influence of science reading comprehension on South African township learners’ learning of science

Stott¹,

Beelders²

2019

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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The majority of South African township learners have poor reading comprehension skills, which is known to impact negatively on their understanding of content subjects such as science, although the extent of the impact is not fully understood. We explored this impact, as well as the extent to which reading comprehension accounted for the differential effectiveness observed for out-of-class, text-dependent science intervention programmes. Eye movement and mouse-click data were collected from 65 Grade-8 and Grade-9 township learners as they read texts and answered electronic quizzes about electric circuits and lightning on a computer fitted with eye-tracking hardware and software. These data were used to describe the learners' reading and question-answering patterns and derive a composite English for science and technology (EST) reading comprehension index for each learner. Correlations were sought between this index and the learners' Natural Sciences marks and the benefit gained from two previous out-of-school science intervention programmes. Most learners were able to engage meaningfully with a less text-rich, moderately familiar quiz, but there was a prevalence of reading avoidance, guessing and reliance on superficial text features to answer questions for a more text-rich, unfamiliar quiz. Moderate to strong correlations were found between the EST index and both Natural Sciences and intervention marks. The findings suggest that while a significant number of higher achieving township learners possess sufficient levels of EST reading comprehension skills to benefit from textbased interventions, the majority require help in developing EST reading comprehension skills to enhance the likelihood of the intervention's success. Significance:•From this study, we infer that a small group of South African township learners, identifiable by their relatively high Natural Sciences marks, are able to read English science texts with sufficient comprehension to be able to benefit from text-dependent interventions, including engagement with self-study interactive software. The majority, however, read such texts at the frustration level, making it unlikely for interventions to be effective if they rely on the learner being able to engage in independent reading.

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“…There have, however, been stimulation interventions that have been shown to have a positive impact on early childhood development in low-income SA settings (Cooper et al, 2009;Murray et al, 2016;Vally, Murray, Tomlinson, & Cooper, 2015). Considering the importance of early childhood development outcomes for educational trajectories in SA children from low-income settings (Pretorius & Spaull, 2016;Spaull & Kotze, 2015), interventions that could address these as well as obesity-related outcomes could address an important research need.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility and acceptability of a home‐based intervention to promote nurturing interactions and healthy behaviours in early childhood: The Amagugu Asakhula pilot study

Draper

Howard

Rochat

2019

Child

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Background The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a home‐based intervention—Amagugu Asakhula—to promote nurturing interactions and healthy behaviours with the caregivers of preschool children. Amagugu Asakhula means “treasures that are still growing” and focuses on children's cognitive development, physical activity, screen time, diet and sleep while also promoting the caregiver–child relationship. Methods This study took place in a low‐income setting in Cape Town, South Africa. The 6‐week intervention was implemented by community health workers (CHWs) with 20 caregivers of preschool children. CHWs provided written feedback on intervention sessions, and two focus groups were conducted, one with the CHWs involved (n = 4) and another with caregivers (n = 6), to obtain their feedback on the intervention and its implementation. Data were collated according to themes relating to implementation. In this pilot study, training and recruitment proved feasible and were facilitated by partnership with a community‐based organization. Results The intervention was generally implemented as intended, in terms of dose and delivery. Family support and active engagement of caregivers' preschool children in intervention activities were reported by CHWs and caregivers, and CHWs also reported mostly positive interactions with caregivers. CHWs and caregivers perceived the intervention to have benefits relating to the following: caregivers' awareness and knowledge of health behaviours, awareness of their role, changes in behaviours, and connection between the caregiver and child. The only change to the intervention suggested was the inclusion of some group sessions to promote support amongst intervention participants and sustain engagement in the intervention. Conclusions The findings of this pilot study indicate that Amagugu Asakhula was both feasible and acceptable with caregivers of preschool children in a low‐income urban setting. Further research is needed to assess the extent to which this intervention has an objective and measurable effect on intended outcomes.

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Exploring relationships between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension amongst English second language readers in South Africa

Cited by 61 publications

References 26 publications

Testing the KAPS Model of Reading Comprehension in a Turkish Elementary School Context from Low Socioeconomic Background

Testing the KAPS Model of Reading Comprehension in a Turkish Elementary School Context from Low Socioeconomic Background

influence of science reading comprehension on South African township learners’ learning of science

Feasibility and acceptability of a home‐based intervention to promote nurturing interactions and healthy behaviours in early childhood: The Amagugu Asakhula pilot study

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