Background: Language analytic ability is well researched in the context of foreign language acquisition but its role in the acquisition of grammar in the native language is under investigation. Objectives: Our study explored the influence of language analytic ability and print exposure on receptive grammar and reading comprehension in childhood.…

Background: The high number of poor-performing learners in reading comprehension in South African schools is a concerning factor that calls for studies to mitigate this problem. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) of 2021 indicates that about 81% of South African Grade 4 learners who participated, failed to reach the…

Questioning is a fundamental skill in communication because it elicits a productive and accurate response. However, it poses challenges to English second language learners living in deep rural traditional villages. The paper explored the use of wh-questions in reading comprehension text by Grade 10 English First Additional Language learners at…

Background: Research into language and reading scores show that South African learners struggle to read for meaning. Many local researchers report on the inadequate teaching training programmes. Teachers cannot teach basic comprehenion skills. Objectives: This research identifies a gap in the research and records an intervention programme designed…

Educators' reading comprehension instructional practices have been identified as 1 of the factors that contribute to learners' poor reading comprehension performance. To this end, several studies were conducted to identify and analyse educators' practices while teaching reading comprehension. As a result, the aim of the study reported on here was…

Background: The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study of 2016 lays claim to the need for critical thinking to be developed since, in the South African context, 78% of learners could not even retrieve explicitly stated information (lower-order thinking) from texts, as opposed to 4% in the rest of the world. Critical, higher-order…

The South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) technology Grades R-9 includes indigenous technology under its third aim, to appreciate the interaction between people's values, technology, society, and the environment, and the sub-aim emphasises that students learn how indigenous cultures use specific materials and processes to…

Background: Although one of the most significant educational goals is to teach learners to comprehend written texts, the Global Education Monitoring Report (UNESCO 2021) identified that many children and adolescents have not acquired the minimum proficiency in reading even at the end of their secondary school career. South African literacy rates…

At most, schools in South Africa, the learners' performances in English first additional language (EFAL) reading comprehension are a source of worry for stakeholders. The majority of these learners are EFAL speakers. To counteract this discomfort, effective and appropriate resources in the teaching of reading comprehension become handy. This study…

Learners in South African schools often respond poorly in questions related to the asymptote. Despite the fact that there are only a few functions in the South African curriculum that actually explore the asymptote, learners still show some deficiency in their understanding of the concept. This research examined Grade 11 learners' mathematical…

This study examined the relationship between language difficulties and learner's errors in financial mathematics, and it employed a quantitative research approach using a case study design. The population for the study consisted of all grade 10 mathematical literacy (ML) learners from three selected schools in East London District, from which 40…

This study investigated the reading demands of restricted-use items administered to South African grade 9 learners as part of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015. The method proposed by Mullis, Martin and Foy (2013) was used to categorise items into low, medium and high readability groups. The 'knowing' domain…

Background: Apart from being a knowledge-gaining commodity, critical literacy is believed to be a practice that exists between people, groups and communities in a sociopolitical and cultural context. It is assumed that without strong literacy skills, post-secondary education and employment options are limited. It is thus against this background…

Guided reading (GR) approach has been shown to have positive effect on reading fluency and comprehension. However, most studies on GR have focused on primary schools, specifically the Foundation Phase. Therefore, this study employed the GR approach to examine its possible effects on the reading proficiencies of Grade 9 English Second Language…

Despite the fact that comprehension plays an important role in the reading process, the literature in a South African context reveals that learners continue to struggle with it and teachers continue to neglect it in their teaching. The literature has further shown that teachers' neglect of comprehension in their reading lessons could be attributed…