Teaching Intermediate Phase isiZulu reading comprehension skills to at-risk readers in uMkhanyakude mainstream schools: Pedagogical strategies that work

Abstract

Despite several interventions put in place to alleviate the reading crisis in South African primary schools, many teachers still experience challenges in teaching reading comprehension. The situation is even more dire with regards to teaching inclusive reading to at-risk readers in mainstream schools in under-resourced settings. The term at-risk readers refer to learners with reading difficulties. Curriculum guidelines on reading do not outline pedagogical strategies that are effective in reading classrooms that include both at-risk and healthy progress readers. It is against this background that this study investigates the pedagogical strategies used to teach isiZulu inclusive reading comprehension at the Intermediate Phase level. Since the majority of studies conducted around literacy challenges focus on teachers’ capabilities to teach reading, this study extends this debate by interrogating teacher educators’ facilitation of inclusive reading. This qualitative study is guided by the interpretivist paradigm and framed by the Lexical quality hypothesis, Word Learning Theory and the Simple view of reading approach. Non-participant classroom observations and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 10 intermediate phase isiZulu teachers based in mainstream schools, in uMkhanyakude district. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with seven isiZulu methodology lecturers purposively selected from five South African universities. The qualitative data were analysed by the researcher through thematic analysis. The unit of analysis in this research are the pedagogical strategies for developing intermediate phase isiZulu inclusive reading among At-Risk readers. Findings indicate that intermediate phase isiZulu teachers struggle to organize meaningful and cohesive reading strategies. Strategies employed are not structured to address specific reading challenges and consequently at-risk readers in mainstream schools remain inadequately catered for. Furthermore, university teacher education departments do not adequately equip pre-service intermediate phase teachers with the necessary pedagogical skills to teach inclusive reading to at-risk readers in mainstream schools. This study, thus contributes to the body of knowledge related to the pedagogical strategies best suited for developing inclusive reading.