Translanguaging as a pedagogical strategy to improve the reading comprehension of Grade 4 learners in a Limpopo primary school

Abstract

The low reading proficiency of Grade 4 learners is a major concern. The use of English (an additional language for the majority of learners in South Africa) as the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) may have contributed to the poor comprehension skills of these learners. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the use of translanguaging as a pedagogical strategy to improve the reading comprehension of Grade 4 learners in a primary school in Limpopo Province. A mixed methods design was used for the study, which was conducted in five phases. In phase 1, 70 learners in a control group and an intervention group wrote a pre-test to determine their reading proficiency level, as well as to establish the homogeneity of the two groups (research question 1). In phase 2, an intervention based on a translanguaging reading instruction programme was conducted with the intervention group. In phase 3, the learners from both groups wrote a post-test at the end of the intervention, and the intervention group completed a questionnaire on the integrated use of Sepedi and English. In addition, six Grade 4 teachers from the school completed open- and closed-ended questionnaires. In phase 4, t-test analysis of learners’ pre- and post-test results was used to determine the differences within and between the two groups. Quantitative analysis of the learners’ questionnaire responses and the teachers’ closed-ended questionnaire responses, together with qualitative analysis of the teachers’ openended questionnaire responses, were used to answer research questions 3 and 4. In phase 5, the results of the qualitative and quantitative analyses were integrated and evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. While the pre-test results showed that the learners’ reading proficiency level was below 50% for both groups, the results of the post-tests (independent and paired t-tests with effect sizes) showed that the intervention group had improved significantly more than the control group. The findings revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The questionnaire responses also showed benefits of the translanguaging approach, as indicated by the learners and the teachers. Based on the findings, recommendations were made for the adoption of a translanguaging teaching approach in schools. The dissertation concluded by showing the significance of the study, which lies in its finding that translanguaging can be used successfully as a pedagogical strategy to improve the reading comprehension of Grade 4 learners using Sepedi and English texts. Keywords: translanguaging, reading comprehension, reading proficiency level, Grade 4 learners’ pedagogy