CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
4.4 Approaches to teaching and the methods and materials used
4.4.4 Methods used
4.4.4.1 The synthetic method
This is a method of teaching reading and writing, which Lyster (1992b) divides into three sub-methods namely: alphabetic methods, phonic methods and syllabic methods. The synthetic method assumes that elements of words must be taught first and then combined to form words later. According to what I observed, this particular method used at all the three levels in the programme, varied from level one to another. Whereas the emphasis in the Beginner's level was on the alphabetic method, the Basic level emphasised the phonic methods and the Intermediate level laid more emphasis on the syllabic methods.
The Beginner's level is basically for the people, who are very new to the programme, have never been to a classroom before and are therefore confronting the letters of the alphabet for first time. In each centre I visited, the Beginner's level was always the biggest. The learners sat under a tree and went to write on the sand when the time for writing came. However, there were a few learners who had afforded their own exercise books and were allowed to write in them.
There was no arranged pattern of sitting in the class. Learners sat in different places on different days. The lesson usually started at 2:00 pm. The
instructors started by greeting the learners and asked one or two of them to
go and fetch the old portable chalkboard from either the church or the preacher's house. They then asked four to five learners to come and write down any letter they could remember or know. Another three learners were also invited to come and write down the date. The task was divided as follows: one was asked to write the day, another the month and another, the year.
Some learners would shy away while others would go courageously and try their best. The instructors would then correct the mistakes. This process would continue for a while and the instructor would write down the 26 letters of the alphabet. The learners would then begin to chant each letter after the instructors. After repeated practice, the instructors would pick learners randomly to come and try to write some letters. The instructors said that the deliberate repetition in writing the letters helps the learners to remember them quickly when they are asked to write them next time.
Then the instructors would ask the learners to go to the floor and write down at least five to six letters they could remember. The instructors would then go to cross check and mark the work done by each learner one by one. It is actually at this point that the child learners at this level became very active and finished their task faster than adults. It was common to hear them saying: "Sir, I have finished, here, here, here, teacher here..." All the instruction in this level was in the vernacular.
In the Basic level, the instructor always started by calling some learners to come forward and write certain simple things such as two lettered words in vernacular or a particular aspect of the date. Examples include: tf (cow), at (salt), ai(water) 5/(tooth) etc. The instructor then took the learners through the vowels and then consonants.
The idea of matching letters to sounds and then the objects that look like them as shown in Appendix L was common. For example, the following letter
combinations were matched to their sounds: ba - ba (breast), be - be (mountain), bi - £/(ear)and the process would continue. The words in italics represent pronunciations in vernacular. The Laubach method of matching letters to pictures that resemble their shape (Laubach, Kirk & Laubach 1981) was also commonly used. Learners acknowledged that the methods helped them understand and remember the letters quickly.
It was only when the simple letters and words were clearly understood that the instructor began to introduce some fairly difficult ones and then later started combining them. In this class, learners all had their own exercise books and pens. They all looked excited about being in a classroom-like environment. The two centres had their Basic classes taught inside a church and instruction was done in vernacular and English. However, the emphasis was still more on reading and writing in mother tongue.
In the Intermediate level, the tendency was to emphasise the syllabic method, where letters are separated into key units known as syllables and taught to the learners. When the syllables are grasped, they are then used as the building blocks to come up with new words. At this stage, the instructors always attempted to integrate the other methods described earlier. The instruction was mainly in English since the learners at this level tended to show little interest in reading and writing in vernacular.
I noted that the whole language methods or the analytic methods were not being used. When asked why the instructors preferred the synthetic methods to the whole language method, the instructors said that it was very easy for them to use and that it helped the learners grasp faster than other methods.
When I asked the two URLCODA officials whether that was what they had wanted their instructors to use, they said that although they would have loved all the methods of teaching reading to be employed, the ones in use currently appear to be what the instructors know best and that they had no problems with it. Besides they said that the learners seemed to have
appreciated the methods. When I asked how the learners felt, they said:
"Very great." One learner had this comment to make:
Look, this is unbelievable, I did not think at one time I could be able to read and write.... but this methods of matching letters to their sounds, shapes and first breaking the big ones into small ones is very good. It is just like teaching a kid how to feed. We started with simple
things, but now we are moving to slightly difficult ones. I really like it...
I noted that the above methods that were used for the basic formal literacy and numeracy skills development acted as the foundation stones of the whole programme. This is because the skills obtained through the above methods were integrated into the life skills. The other methods that were also used are described in the following sub-sections below.
4.4.4.2 Group discussions/groupwork
This method was mostly used to discuss the causes, nature and extent of certain problems that are common to the community so that the group members can come up with some resolutions to collectively tackle the problems. One of the most painful problems learners were discussing in
Appendix G was the issue of acute shortage of wood fuel facing the women in the villages. One woman was heard saying:
This problem has now reached a level that can no longer be ignored. Can you imagine we are now depending on digging the roots of the dead eucalyptus as our wood fuel! I wonder what will happen to our children in the next ten years to come if we do not take pragmatic steps on this matter...
Other problems common to members of the community often discussed included: the frequent cholera outbreaks, outbreaks of cassava mosaic, performance of their representatives in the local council, poverty, agriculture, water and sanitation, and immunization of children against the eight killer diseases. At the end of the group discussions, the members of the group democratically make resolutions, which are then implemented.
The above method was appeared to be more effective in the Intermediate and Basic levels than in the Beginners level. This was because of the composition of the Beginners' level. Most of younger child learners always attended with adult learners of the Beginners level and for various reasons discussed later in section 4.6, the child learners tend to play a low profile in the group discussions.