CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 COMPONENTS OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2.12 Strategies Used by Foundation Phase Teachers in Teaching Reading
Fleisch (2007) claims that there are eight strategies to teach reading in foundation phase whereas Cofu (2013) stresses only four. In the CAPS document the DBE (2011b) provides nine different strategies to teach reading and writing and the DoE (2008a), highlighted six strategies. Only seven strategies that are suitable to teach learners in Grade 1 will be discussed here, as follows:
i) Reading aloud
Fleisch (2007) asserts that reading aloud by the teacher to the whole class or sometimes to a small group, has been shown to be one of the major motivators for children to read. Cofu (2013) agrees with Maphumulo (2010) that in reading aloud, the teacher reads the material that is at the learners’ level and at the listening comprehension level of the whole class.
Fleisch (2007) claims that this strategy develops love for reading and a love for good literature which would motivate learners to read on their own. Reading aloud demonstrates the relationship between the printed word and meaning.
ii) Shared Reading
Hugo and Lenyai (2013) define shared reading as an activity in which children and a teacher share the reading of an enlarged book. The DoE (2008a) have also highlighted that shared reading is the kind of lesson which takes place in a relaxed learning environment where the
23 teacher and the learner share a reading task. In this type of reading, the teacher encourages guessing, risk taking and accepting all attempts from the learners.
According to DBE (2011b) in the CAPS document, shared reading is when the teacher reads a big book in bold print with the whole class or with a group so as to give them exposure to a meaningful and supportive context. The DoE (2008a) has highlighted that in shared reading the teacher reads the material to the whole class or to a particular group, and the learners join in reading with the teacher when they can do so.
iii) Group Guided Reading
The DBE (2011b) posit that group guided reading is when learners are placed into groups of 6–10, according to their barriers to reading or according to their reading abilities. This group guided reading is supported by the teacher as they read a reader appropriate to their level. The purpose of group guided reading is for the teacher to give learners individual attention so as to develop comprehension skills.
iv) Paired reading
DoE (2008a) and DBE (2011b) both claim that paired reading is a technique used when teaching learners to read. DBE (2011b), in the CAPS document, emphasised that the text in paired reading should be at a lower level than the one used in shared reading. Contrary to this, Cofu (2013) groups together paired and independent reading. She states that paired reading is when learners are divided into pairs and read aloud to each other. She further stresses that teachers can also pair learners with the same reading ability or they can combine a more fluent reader with a less fluent reader. Learners also need to choose books according to their ability and to their interest. Maphumulo (2010) and Cofu (2013) both maintain that emergent readers are the ones who should be encouraged to read independently.
v) Look-and-say method
The Look-and-say method is one used to teach beginners to read. Maphumulo (2010) explains that a three-pronged approach is used in the look-and-say method; the word, the sentence and the story. The teacher uses flash cards with words, sentence strips, and story cards because this method focuses on the whole and not on a certain part. Learners read the flash cards as a whole and write the words down. The sentence strip is used to read a sentence. The words can
24 be cut out and pieced together again as this can assist in building up a different sentence. The teacher can also tell a story, and learners can use the sentence strips to build a story.
vi) Phonic Method
Blunden-Greeff (2015) p. 158 posits that the “phonic approach to reading involves learning the sounds of vowels and consonants, followed by blending, and the construction of phonemic families or phonograms”. The DoE (2008a) states that the phonic method of teaching reading and writing of a language centres around developing learners’ phonemic awareness. The phonic method connects the visual to both the phonological structure and the spoken words.
Teachers teach vowels followed by the consonants, and the word can produce a sound which is able to be read. These words can be learned in a composition with double vowels as well as with multi-consonants. These are taught as the children gradually build up reading and writing vocabulary by sounding the words shown.
According to Blunden-Greeff (2015) there are different phonic approaches. For example, one of them is synthetic phonics which is used where every word is examined as an individual sound. The sounds are then blended. The aim of synthetic phonics instruction is that learners identify the sound symbol and blend their phonemes automatically. Synthetic phonics puts accuracy before fluency. The phonic method has strengths and weaknesses. For example, through phonics learners can sound the letters and develop an automatic association of letters with sounds. However, its limitation is that reading fluency and comprehension skills are impaired if too much energy is spent on the sounding of the word (Blunden-Greeff, 2015).
vii) Integrated Approach
The DBE (2011b) emphasises an integrated approach. This is a teaching approach that is based on the notion of whole language teaching. In the CAPS document, speaking, listening, reading, writing and phonics are seen not as completely separate but as interacting. Language skills are not taught in isolation from each other or in a linear manner. For example, a teacher uses one text to teach different aspects of language such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar and other language structures and conventions. DBE (2011b, p p.16) stresses that, “since there is a limited time available for teaching phonics, teachers are encouraged to integrate phonics teaching into Listening, Speaking and Shared Reading activities”. Killen (2015) also highlights that it is important to integrate language skills
25 because learners see the whole subject as a set of the same ideas rather than ideas which are isolated. He further warns that integration should be for specific purposes in helping the learners not just to make links that have no substance.
This literature review has helped the researcher in contextualizing the study and in discussing the concepts framing the study, given below. These concepts are relevant to the study because it concentrates on what strategies teachers use when teaching reading in mother tongue and also on teachers’ knowledge when teaching reading in isiZulu mother tongue.