The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter?
The main aim of the study was to determine the reading comprehension performance of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking children in a rural province in South Africa, where the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) is English. Thirty-four Grade 5 learners from one province and from the same socio-economic b...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
| Published: |
Stellenbosch University
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Per Linguam : A Journal of Language Learning |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://perlinguam.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/844 |
| _version_ | 1818210929352900608 |
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| author | Munyane Mophosho Katijah Khoza-Shangase Lesedi L Sebole |
| author_facet | Munyane Mophosho Katijah Khoza-Shangase Lesedi L Sebole |
| author_sort | Munyane Mophosho |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The main aim of the study was to determine the reading comprehension performance of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking children in a rural province in South Africa, where the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) is English. Thirty-four Grade 5 learners from one province and from the same socio-economic background were selected through purposive sampling. The research design adopted was non-experimental, descriptive and quantitative in nature. Participants were required to perform reading comprehension tasks in English and Setswana. Four stories were utilised from the reading comprehension subtest of the GORT-4™ Test Form A. Two of the stories from the test were administered on completion of the English reading comprehension task. The other two stories were translated and adapted into Setswana. The mean raw scores of results obtained were calculated and comparisons at different levels were performed using t-tests. Results revealed poor overall reading comprehension scores in both languages; with scores below 55%. Furthermore, current results indicated better performance in Setswana reading comprehension, with higher scores obtained in the difficult Setswana story than in English. These findings were statistically significant (p<.05). Implications of the influence of home / first language on reading comprehension, if the LoLT is not the learner’s first language, are raised. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T05:24:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b65455cef0714f87920b43281cfbb555 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0259-2312 2224-0012 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T05:24:25Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Per Linguam : A Journal of Language Learning |
| spelling | doaj.art-b65455cef0714f87920b43281cfbb5552022-12-22T00:36:32ZafrStellenbosch UniversityPer Linguam : A Journal of Language Learning0259-23122224-00122019-12-01353597310.5785/35-3-844The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter? Munyane Mophosho0Katijah Khoza-ShangaseLesedi L SeboleUniversity of the WitwatersrandThe main aim of the study was to determine the reading comprehension performance of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking children in a rural province in South Africa, where the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) is English. Thirty-four Grade 5 learners from one province and from the same socio-economic background were selected through purposive sampling. The research design adopted was non-experimental, descriptive and quantitative in nature. Participants were required to perform reading comprehension tasks in English and Setswana. Four stories were utilised from the reading comprehension subtest of the GORT-4™ Test Form A. Two of the stories from the test were administered on completion of the English reading comprehension task. The other two stories were translated and adapted into Setswana. The mean raw scores of results obtained were calculated and comparisons at different levels were performed using t-tests. Results revealed poor overall reading comprehension scores in both languages; with scores below 55%. Furthermore, current results indicated better performance in Setswana reading comprehension, with higher scores obtained in the difficult Setswana story than in English. These findings were statistically significant (p<.05). Implications of the influence of home / first language on reading comprehension, if the LoLT is not the learner’s first language, are raised. https://perlinguam.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/844reading comprehensionsetswanamultilingualism |
| spellingShingle | Munyane Mophosho Katijah Khoza-Shangase Lesedi L Sebole The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter? Per Linguam : A Journal of Language Learning reading comprehension setswana multilingualism |
| title | The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter? |
| title_full | The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter? |
| title_fullStr | The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter? |
| title_full_unstemmed | The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter? |
| title_short | The reading comprehension of Grade 5 Setswana-speaking learners in rural schools in South Africa: Does home language matter? |
| title_sort | reading comprehension of grade 5 setswana speaking learners in rural schools in south africa does home language matter |
| topic | reading comprehension setswana multilingualism |
| url | https://perlinguam.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/844 |
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