The effect of multilingual policies on performance and progression in reading literacy in South African primary schools

Abstract

South Africa's rich multicultural society is reflected by 11 official languages. The

Preparing isiXhosa home language teachers for the 21stcentury classroom: Student teachers' experiences, challenges and reflections

“…This finding confirms the literacy crisis in South African schools as reported in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) (Howie et al, 2006) and in the latest Annual National Assessment (DBE, 2011) in the General Education and Training (GET) band. It alerts student teachers to areas that need more attention in language teaching, such as learners' reading and writing skills, as suggested by Dornbrack (2009).…”

Availability of books as a factor in reading, teaching and learning behaviour in twenty disadvantaged primary schools in South Africa

“…The level of children's literacy is clearly associated with adult illiteracy; UNESCO's figures place South Africa 108 out of 178 countries for literacy (Mohlala 2011). While the ANA results were shocking, they confirmed the results of international tests such as the Progress in International Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 where South Africa achieved the lowest score of 40 countries and 45 education systems 4 (Howie et al, 2008). The pupils from schools where books and libraries are available scored better than those at schools without these resources, viz.…”

Poverty & privilege: Primary school inequality in South Africa

“…SACMEQ (Moloi and Chetty, 2011), TIMSS (Reddy, 2006), PIRLS (Howie et al, 2008), Systemic Evaluations (Department of Education, 2008), National School Effectiveness Study (Taylor, 2011b), and the Annual National Assessments (Department of Basic Education, 2011).…”