Teaching strategies for improving reading and writing in English First Additional Language for men and women

Abstract

Reading and writing have become one serious national issue in primary schools in South Africa, and has affected the male and female gender alike. This becomes more so after the ANA (2014) and Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS,  2015) revealed that learners struggle to construct sentences and to spell words  correctly. Thus, beyond the stereotype of restricting gender discourse to women,  this paper, on a generic note, addresses the question of 'what strategies teachers  use to improve reading and writing in English First Additional Language (FAL) in  primary schools' This article, therefore, reports on a case study that was conducted in the Acornhoek area of Mpumalanga Province. 2 schools were selected as the settings for the study. Data was generated from semi-structured interviews with 2 grade 6 English teachers and 10 grade 6 learners, observed 6 lessons and  documents consulted. The study found that learners have difficulties in reading and writing, for example, they cannot punctuate, pronounce and spell words correctly. Furthermore, the study also found that teachers use various strategies in dealing with the problem. The strategies include learners reading aloud, group work and giving learners more reading and writing exercises. There are however, some constraints which include lack of library in one of the schools. In the other school which has a library, learners did not use it.

Keywords: Reading, Writing, Strategies, Difficulties, Constraints