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Download full textVos, Elize; Fouché, Nadine – South African Journal of Education, 2021
Language is a contextual factor of an education system as it determines the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). In order to provide for diversity in South Africa, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, makes provision for 11 official languages and the Language in Education Policy (LiEP) promotes respect for not only these…
Descriptors: Language of Instruction, Educational Policy, Native Language, Multilingualism
Joyce Mokobe; Jo Badenhorst; Luzaan Schlebusch – Reading & Writing: Journal of the Literacy Association of South Africa, 2025
Background: Proficient reading skills are crucial for Foundation Phase learners to develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. The 2021 PIRLS assessment highlighted alarmingly low reading proficiency among ten-year-olds. Effective reading instruction, and a positive reading environment are essential for developing confident, skilled…
Descriptors: African Languages, Reading Skills, Teacher Attitudes, Foreign Countries
Nel, Carisma – South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2018
Making decisions about English reading instruction is as core a component to teaching as providing the instruction itself. When providing support to learners at risk for poor reading outcomes, for which currently there is a large percentage in South Africa, it is especially important to ensure that the decisions that are made have the highest…
Descriptors: Reading Achievement, Literacy, Decision Making, Reading Instruction
Howie, Sarah; Chamberlain, Megan – International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, 2017
The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's (IEA's) Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011 provided evidence which showed differences in the reading achievement of students who spoke the language of assessment at home and those who did not for many countries including a selection of the…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Grade 4, International Assessment, Reading Achievement
Direct linkTaylor, Nick – Perspectives in Education, 2016
Initial teacher education (ITE) serves as a bridge between prospective teachers exiting the school system to enrol in teacher education faculties, on the one hand and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who are embarking on a career in schooling on the other. The present paper describes the language and thinking skills student teachers bring to their…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Thinking Skills, Knowledge Base for Teaching, Teacher Effectiveness
Combrinck, Celeste; van Staden, Surette; Roux, Karen – Reading & Writing: Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa, 2014
This study draws on the preProgress in International Reading Literacy Study (prePIRLS) 2011 data. It aims to illustrate the effect of early home literacy activities and the early introduction of reading skills and strategies in the school setting on reading literacy achievement amongst South African Grade 4 learners across the 11 official…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Reading Instruction, Critical Reading, Reading Strategies
Shepherd, Debra Lynne – Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 2018
The regional and cultural closeness of Botswana and South Africa, as well as differences in their political histories and language policy stances, offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the role of language in reading outcomes. This study aims to empirically test the effect of exposure to mother tongue and English instruction on the reading…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Reading Achievement, Grade 4, Native Language
van Staden, Surette; Bosker, Roel; Bergbauer, Annika – South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2016
This study utilised regression methods to explain Grade 4 reading literacy achievement taking into account discrepancies between the language of the test and home language for learners who participated in the South African preProgress in International Reading Literacy Study (prePIRLS) 2011. Grade 4 learners were tested across all 11 official…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Academic Achievement, Native Language, Language of Instruction
Combrinck, Celeste; Mtsatse, Nangamso – South African Journal of Education, 2019
South Africa participated in the electronic version of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (ePIRLS) in 2016 but faced many challenges during implementation. Accurate databases on information and communication technologies (ICT) capacity of schools were not available for sampling in Gauteng, many schools had old and/or…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Grade 4, International Assessment, Achievement Tests
Palane, Nelladee McLeod; Howie, Sarah – Perspectives in Education, 2019
In this article, preProgress in Reading Literacy Study (prePIRLS) 2011 data is used to compare the performance of different language of instruction groupings (English, Afrikaans and African languages) in primary schools on the more complex, higher-order reading comprehension items tested in a large-scale international test. PrePIRLS 2011…
Descriptors: Reading Comprehension, Language of Instruction, Models, Elementary School Students
Zimmerman, Lisa – Reading & Writing: Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa, 2014
The evidence of the huge challenges of literacy development faced by South African learners is primarily gleaned from the results of learners' external assessments. There is little research which explores, in-depth, the strategies used by teachers to teach reading literacy and reading comprehension specifically. Questions remain about what is…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Achievement Tests, Grade 4, International Assessment
Zimmerman, Lisa; Smit, Brigitte – South African Journal of Education, 2014
The South African 2006 and 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) findings continue to highlight major concerns about the quality of reading literacy teaching in primary schools. Of specific concern is the lack of representation of the sampled South African learners at the PIRLS international benchmarks, revealing a distinct…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Reading Comprehension, Grade 4, Reading Achievement
van Staden, Surette; Howie, Sarah – Educational Research and Evaluation, 2012
This article reports on the South African results of a study to identify and explain relationships between some major factors associated with successful reading at Grade 5. With 11 official languages, educational policy in South Africa advocates an additive bilingualism model, and students in Grades 1 to 3 are taught in their mother tongue.…
Descriptors: International Studies, Official Languages, Reading Achievement, Instructional Effectiveness
Hoadley, Ursula; Muller, Johan – Curriculum Journal, 2016
Why has large-scale standardised testing attracted such a bad press? Why has pedagogic benefit to be derived from test results been downplayed? The paper investigates this question by first surveying the pros and cons of testing in the literature, and goes on to examine educators' responses to standardised, large-scale tests in a sample of low…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Standardized Tests, Developing Nations, Visual Discrimination
van Staden, Surette; Howie, Sarah – Reading & Writing: Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa, 2010
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessment is an international comparative study of reading skills of Grade Four learners. South Africa's first participation in the study took place in the 2006 cycle (Mullis "et al.", 2007), with repeat participation planned to take place for PIRLS 2011. PIRLS 2006 results…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Achievement Tests, International Assessment, Reading Achievement
