Background: South Africa's PIRLS 2021 outcomes revealed that learners struggle with comprehension. The reasons for poor reading need to be identified and addressed to stem this challenge. Aim: This study assessed Sesotho Grade 4 learners' knowledge of simple and complex letter sounds, their oral reading fluency and the relationship to their oral…

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.…

The Simple View of Reading (SVR) proposes that successful reading comprehension depends on proficient decoding and on linguistic comprehension. Some have found the SVR too simplistic and argue that other skills, such as reading fluency, explain unique variance in reading comprehension. Using longitudinal data from a sample of 103 children, our aim…

Background: According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS, 2006 with 87%, 2011 with 82%, 2016 with 78%, 2021 with 81%), an international reading comprehension assessment conducted at the Grade 4 level, South African learners perform very poorly in reading comprehension, even when reading in their African home languages.…

Background: Research acknowledges the importance of phonological processing and orthographic processing for reading and spelling in both consistently and inconsistently written languages. While the focus has tended to be on the role of phonological processing in languages with consistent orthographies, the role of orthographic processing,…

Background: One factor which is consistently highlighted in research on literacy is the lack of understanding of how literacy develops in the Southern-Bantu languages. In particular, little is known about spelling in the Southern-Bantu languages such as isiXhosa. Objectives: Through the use of an initial exploratory study and a conceptual…

Background: Learner performance in literacy in the primary education sector is in a state of crisis in South Africa. Whilst many more learners have physical access to education post-1994, the quality of education remains polarised along socio-economic lines. This article sets out to engage with current literature on literacy interventions…

Background: Reading development in agglutinating African languages is a relatively underresearched area. While numerous studies highlight the low comprehension levels among learners reading in African languages in South Africa, little has been done to probe beneath this 'comprehension iceberg' in terms of decoding skills. Aim: As a tentative step…

Background: Phonological awareness (PA) skills and working memory (WM) are universally regarded as crucial precursors to skilled reading. The orthography of the language being read influences the ease with which a child learns to read. Research has been undertaken on reading in languages with an opaque orthography. Research on the role of PA and…

This article describes a short-term longitudinal study conducted in low-performing rural primary schools in South Africa. The authors were involved in developing a two-year multimedia reading programme for rural South African children in grades 1-3, and sought to assess key learning outcomes in existing school computer laboratories. The programme…

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…

Background: A large amount of evidence highlights the obvious inequalities in literacy results of South African learners. Despite this, a sound understanding of how learners approach the task of reading in the African languages is lacking. Aim: This article examines the role of the syllable, phoneme and morpheme in reading in transparent,…

Most analyses of oral reading fluency (ORF) are based on L1 reading, and the norms that have been developed in English are based on first language reading data. This is problematic for developing countries where many children are learning in English as a second language. The aim of the present study is to model the relationship between English…

Background: This small-scale study investigated English vocabulary exposure from graded readers and teacher talk in Grade 3 classrooms in poorly resourced township schools in South Africa. Vocabulary is one of the key building blocks for becoming a fluent reader. Most words are learnt through incidental exposure to oral or written language.…

The ability to read for meaning and pleasure is arguably the most important skill children learn in primary school. One integral component of learning to read is oral reading fluency (ORF), defined as the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with meaningful expression. Although widely acknowledged in the literature as important, to date…