PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
4.3 ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
4.3.1 Biographical data
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comprehension have a direct relationship with literacy when considering the speed and simplicity of being able to decode meaning (Moore, 2014: 7). This explains why the students performed poorly in the RC passage test because vocabulary and comprehension go hand-in-hand and the two cannot be separated. For a student to comprehend a larger text, he or she must have knowledge of smaller words that make up the whole text (Boyer, 2017: 1).
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HSBAYD 1 1.2%
HWR – Hydrology 1 1.2%
MNBBSE 1 1.2%
Total 82 100%
According to Table 4.4, the degrees that the students registered for varied widely. Most of the students registered for Bachelor of Arts (30.5%), while a slightly less number registered for Bachelor of Science (30.5%). A much lower number registered for Bachelor of Education (14.6%). However, few students (6.1%) registered for Bachelor of Commerce (6.1%). A few students (2.4%) registered for Bachelor of Library Information Science and half that number (1.2%) each registered for seven different degrees: Bachelor of Health Sciences, Bachelor of Youth Development, Bachelor of Laws, HSBAVD, HSBAYD, HWR – Hydrology and MNBBSD.
The sample consists of students from different qualifications. However, they were all registered for the English course, as it is mandatory in most universities that first year students register for the subject. English is a medium of instruction, teaching and learning in institutions of higher learning. It is also a language that the students use in writing. In addition, most academic texts and materials are written in the English language. Thus, it is very important that students across all streams register for the English subject. English has been dominating in international academic publications, and has become the main language of scientific communication, Social Sciences and Humanities. It is also now dominating in disciplines such as Medicine, Mathematics, Sciences, Psychology, History, Engineering and so on. Further, English for academic purposes (EAP), General English (GE) and English for specific purposes (ESP) courses are taught at universities to meet different needs of students in many universities globally (AL-Khalil, 2015).
85 Figure 4.1: Students’ Grade 12 Pass Symbol
Students were asked to indicate whether they have passed EFAL or EHL examination at matric level and the symbol obtained. The above graph shows that all 82 survey students have passed EFAL or EHL examination at matric level, with majority of them (45%) getting symbol C or level 5. Only 7% of them got distinctions. A distinction is percentage of marks between 80-100%, which is outstanding achievement. In addition, 12% of the students obtained symbol D and 35% obtained symbol B. Symbol B is when a student has achieved percentage of marks between 70 -79%, which is a meritorious achievement. Symbol C is percentage of marks between 60-69%, and this is a substantial achievement. Symbol D, on the other hand, is percentage of marks between 50-59%, which is adequate achievement. The students’ Grade 12 achievement levels in English are good. However, since the students have performed poorly in the comprehension passage, and that they have indicated that they struggle with understanding academic texts, this shows that there might a gap between the English language taught in basic schooling level and the ‘English’ that students encounter at institutions of higher learning. In addition, another factor could be that the students enter universities with little knowledge of RCSs that they can employ to cope with extensive academic vocabulary as RCSs are not adequately taught at basic school level (Cf. Klapwijk, 2015: 2).
Pertaining to what students understood by RC, 5% of the students opted not to answer the question, and 38% of the answers indicated that either the students did not
12%
45%
35%
7%
0%
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D C B A
PASS SYMBOL %
PASS SYMBOL
Yes No
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understand what RC is or that they did not understand the question itself. For example, one student said: “The comprehension is focusing more on the migration that is causing by the lack of job opportunities.” Another said: “Reading comprehension is a short story that you have to read and answer the questions after reading.” However, 57% of students’ responses had to do with the ability to understand and interpret the message conveyed by the writer. They also reiterated that although RC in their field will mean to answer the set questions, it also uncovers new knowledge as well as enhance their vocabulary. One student said: “Reading a comprehension comes with gaining new knowledge, beside the fact that you have to answer questions that follow.”
Below are some of the cases that were made by the students:
“It is basically the concept of reading a passage for understanding”.
“Ability to understand a passage or information provided to read”.
“Ability to read and understand by processing the information you have been reading”.
“Reading comprehension is basically about reading information it could be on the textbook or newspaper and understanding what it says”.
“You need to have an understanding of what the comprehension is about and able to analyse it”.
“By reading comprehension is to understand and help to think openly so that you can be able to understand”.
“What I understand about reading a comprehension is that you must read for understanding”.
“It’s where one reads something written down with understanding and make certain connections with what is written or just simply process whatever is being read”.
“Reading a comprehension means to read a text, understand it and learn or know some information from it”.
“It is the ability to read, analyse and understand the meaning and purpose of the content”.
“Reading comprehension is understanding and interpretation of what I read and to think deeply of what I have read”.
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Pertaining to the types of English texts that students were expected to read at first year level, the results show that the majority of them indicated that they were expected to read textbooks, essays, research articles and case studies, with a minority of them stating that they were expected to read reports. This is captured in the word cloud below.
Figure 4.2: Type of texts students are expected to read at first level.
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The above figure shows the types of texts that students are expected to read at universities. In addition to this, they are also expected to read study guides, slide presentations, course packs and websites. Further, the students are expected to read dissertations/theses produced by postgraduate students. Research indicates that textbooks are still dominate and widely used at universities (Pecorari, Shar, Irvine, Malmstrom & Mezek, 2012: 236). Furthermore, academic texts can be manifested in varied types such as book reviews, research proposals, research reports and scientific articles that are simple, concise, objective and logical in nature (Salam, Mahfud &
Nurhusna, 2018: 123).
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Figure 4.3: Level at which RC was taught to students
Regarding the level of study that they were taught reading comprehension, the students were asked if they were taught RC and to state the level of the study during which they were taught (RC). The figure below is a representation of the proportion of students that were previously taught reading comprehension, and the level of study during which it happened. The representation shows that over 95% of the students said that they were taught RC. A majority of them (47.14) were taught this at primary level, while a slightly lower number (41.43%) was taught RC at secondary school level.
However, the remaining 5% indicated that they were not taught reading comprehension.