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10.4102.rw.v4i1.28
http://www.rw.org.za
Author:
Beatrice B.S. Lukhele
1
Affiliation:
1
Faculty of Education,
Southern Africa Nazarene
University, Swaziland
Correspondence to:
Beatrice Lukhele
Email:
bsblukh@yahoo.co.uk
Postal address:
PO Box 932, Manzini M200,
Swaziland
Dates:
Received: 27 Aug. 2012
Accepted: 28 Jan. 2013
Published: 14 Feb. 2013
How to cite this article:
Lukhele, B.B.S., 2013,
Exploring relationships
between reading attitudes,
reading ability and academic
performance amongst
primary teacher trainees
in Swaziland,
Reading &
Writing
4(1), Art. #28,
8 pages.
http://dx.doi.org/
10.4102/rw.v4i1.28
Copyright:
2013. The Authors.
Licensee: AOSIS
OpenJournals. This work
Introduction
Attitudes to reading for leisure were examined in a Swazi
context featuring teacher trainees
enrolled for the Primary Teachers Diploma at a Teacher
Training College in Manzini, Swaziland.
The basis for the study was that the affective domain
attitudes, motivations, interests and
personal evaluations on any phenomenon seems to be
influential in the behaviour and practice
Theoretical framework
Reading attitudes seem to emanate (come or issue) from
perceptions acquired from peoples reading history and
experience (Guthrie & Greaney 1991). Day and Bamford
(1998) argue that a learners experience
of reading in the first language influences the learners
attitude to reading in the AL. Furthermore,
it seems that cultural beliefs are another cradle (babys
bed on rockers) for the incubation of negative or positive
attitudes
towards reading (McKenna
et al
. 1995). A culture where reading is viewed in a negative
light
by people whose approval a learner seeks, may not
encourage positive reading attitudes.
This argument underscores (underline) the role of
teachers, parents and communities in the development
Read online:
Original Research
doi:
10.4102.rw.v4i1.28
http://www.rw.org.za
grades (McKenna
et al
. 1995). An increase in reading seems
to improve not only a readers reading ability but also a
readers attitude to reading. Furthermore, it is suggested
that
attitudes are a stable construct among children,
emphasising
the importance of developing positive reading attitudes
early
in the life of a child (Smith 1990). Research further
suggests
that reading attitudes are affected by such factors as
socio-economic status, home environment, availability
of spare time, amount of television watched, quality of
kindergarten instruction, library facilities and availability
of
reading resources at home (Walberg & Tsai 1995).
It appears that, in some cases, the more years some
students
spend studying in English as an AL, the less inclination
(tend,have a preference, influence)
they have to read in English during their leisure hours,
due
to the lack of interest in reading extensively (Camiciottoli
2001). In contrast, it seems that the more students read
in
the first language (L1), the more enthusiastic they are to
find
and read books in the AL (English). It seems that there is
a
positive correlation between reading attitude and reading
in
Research questions
There were four research questions:
1.
What are the participants attitudes to and perceptions of
extensive reading?
2.
Is there a relationship between the students reading
attitudes and their AL reading ability?
3.
Is there a relationship between the students vocabulary
knowledge and their AL reading ability?
4.
Is there a relationship between the students academic
The rationale of the study was based on the fact that the
teacher trainees would, on completion of their diploma,
leave for schools in the country to be influential in the
lives of impressionable young Swazi learners. In light of
this momentous task, a crucial question was: what kind of
influence would the new teachers wield in terms of
attitudes
to leisure reading? What are their attitudes toward
extensive
reading? Do these attitudes affect their reading ability?
How
does their reading ability affect their academic
performance?
This study was undertaken against the backdrop of a
country
grappling with a myriad challenges, such as the looming
insolvency of the state and the scourge of HIV. Problems
such
as the lack of leisure reading materials seem to be
insignificant
in light of these socio-economic challenges, yet the worst
collapse the country can experience is of an academic
nature.
This is a context in which reading resources are
inadequate,
if not non-existent; in most primary and secondary
schools,
and very little reading is ever done. There are very few
books
written in both the siSwati and English languages and this
is
The participants
Procedure
vocabulary test
was marked and the scores were converted
to percentage.
Academic performance
was compiled from the
participants end-of-year results, from key subjects such
as English, Mathematics, Science, Agriculture, Academic
Communication Skills, Education, Social Studies and
siSwati.
Results
The exploratory question sought to investigate the
participants
attitudes toward and perceptions of extensive reading.
Based on the questionnaire data, the researcher found
that
the participants attitudes toward extensive reading were
positive, as depicted in Table 1 below.
It appears that the answer to the exploratory research
question,
judging from the descriptive statistics above (Table 1), is
that the participants were enthusiastic about reading.
Below
(in Table 2) are some of the questionnaire items and the
participants responses.
The results as shown in Table 2 seem to indicate that the
majority of the students (63.5
%
) enjoy reading. The students
TABLE 2:
Some questionnaire responses.
Questionnaire
PTD 1
(
N
= 45)
PTD 3
(
N
= 39)
Overall
(
N
= 84)
4.Do you enjoy reading?
Not at all
4
%
0
%
2
%
A little
33
%
36
%
34.5
%
Quite a lot
49
%
26
%
38
%
Very much
14
%
38
%
25.5
%
18. Reading for pleasure has had a positive
effect on my proficiency in English.
Strongly Disagree
0
%
13
%
6.5
%
Disagree
3
%
18
%
10.5
%
Not Sure
15
%
13
%
14
%
Agree
58
%
46
%
52
%
Strongly Agree
24
%
10
%
17
%
27.Reading novels is a pleasant activity for me.
Strongly Disagree
0
%
0
%
0
%
Disagree
11
%
15
%
13
%
Not Sure
8
%
3
%
5.5
%
Agree
68
%
77
%
72.5
%
Strongly Agree
13
%
5
%
9
%
Source
: Data compiled by author for article
Values are given as means.
PTD, Primary Teachers Diploma.
TABLE 3:
Culturally-held views about extensive reading.
Culturally-held views
PTD 1
(
N
= 45)
PTD 3
(
N
= 39)
Overall
(
N
= 84)
21. Reading novels and magazines is a
woman thing, not for men.
Strongly Disagree
58
%
56
%
57
%
Disagree
31
%
28
%
29.5
%
Not Sure
0
%
3
%
1.5
%
Agree
7
%
5
%
6
%
Strongly Agree
4
%
8
%
6
%
24. Reading in public places, like in buses
and parks, is not cool.
Strongly Disagree
24
%
21
%
22.5
%
Disagree
40
%
49
%
44.5
%
Not Sure
11
%
10
%
10.5
%
Agree
22
%
15
%
18.5
%
Strongly Agree
3
%
5
%
4
%
37. Too much reading can be dangerous as
it can lead to mental disturbance.
Strongly Disagree
49
%
36
%
42.5
%
Disagree
29
%
31
%
30
%
Not Sure
13
%
21
%
17
%
Agree
9
%
8
%
8.5
%
Strongly Agree
0
%
4
%
2
%
Source
: Data compiled by author for article
Values are given as means.
PTD, Primary Teachers Diploma.
TABLE 1:
Attitudes toward and perceptions of extensive reading.
Variables
PTD 1 Mean (
N
= 45)
PTD 1 SD
*
PTD 3 Mean (
N
= 39)
PTD 3 SD
Overall Mean (
N
= 84)
Overall SD
Attitudes & perceptions
71.9
%
9.79
71.9
%
8.75
71.9
%
8.75
Source
: Data compiled by author for article
Values are given as means.
PTD, Primary Teachers Diploma; SD, Standard Deviation.
Original Research
doi:
10.4102.rw.v4i1.28
http://www.rw.org.za
Page 5 of 8
Is there a relationship
between the students vocabulary knowledge and their
AL reading
ability
? The descriptive statistics (as shown in Table 4) indicate
a clustering of both the reading and vocabulary scores
around
a Mean in the lower fifties (53
%
and 51
%
respectively). As in
the reading test, the participants vocabulary skills
indicate
rather low achievement (Tables 4 and 5).
The performance of the participants in the vocabulary
test is
interesting in the sense that, on scrutinising (examine
closely) the performance
at all the word levels, one encounters a remarkable
pattern
of uniform achievement. The 3000, 5000, University Word
List and 10 000 word levels appear to be a serious
challenge
to the participants, with most of them scoring up to half
the total score on each word level. Only one student
scored
89
%
in the UWL. Considering the participants performance
in the 3000 and 5000 word levels, the 10 000 word level
was, not surprisingly, beyond their capability. None of the
participants scored above 50
%
51.3
%
9.73
PTD 3 (
N
= 39)
71.9
%
8.75
50.9
%
13.00
50.6
%
10.31
Overall (
N
= 84)
71.9
%
8.75
53.0
%
13.63
51.0
%
9.95
Source
: Date compiled by author for article
Values are given as means.
PTD, Primary Teachers Diploma; SD means Standard Deviation.
TABLE 5:
Word Levels Performance and Quartiles.
Word level
PTD 1
(
N
= 45)
PTD 3
(
N
= 39)
Overall
(
N
= 84)
Overall quartiles
(
N
= 84)
2000
83.1
%
83.0
%
83.1
%
25th = 76
%
50th = 85
%
75th = 94
%
3000
62.1
%
64.7
%
63.3
%
25th = 56
%
50th = 67
%
75th = 72
%
5000
37.2
%
38.5
%
37.8
%
25th = 25
%
50th = 38
%
75th = 50
%
UWL
58.9
%
54.7
%
56.9
%
25th = 50
%
50th = 56
%
75th = 67
%
10 000
13.7
%
11.4
%
12.6
%
25th = 6
%
50th = 11
%
75th = 17
%
Source
: Data compiled by author for article
Values are given as means.
PTD, Primary Teachers Diploma.
Original Research
doi:
10.4102.rw.v4i1.28
http://www.rw.org.za
Page 6 of 8
%
20
%
96
%
45
%
68
%
45
%
70
%
2nd = 60.0
%
SD
*
14.06
4.61
13.00
5.05
5.20
3rd = 63.0
%
Source
: Data compiled by author for article
Values are given as means.
PTD, Primary Teachers Diploma; AP, Academic Performance; SD, Standard
Deviation.
Original Research
doi:
10.4102.rw.v4i1.28
http://www.rw.org.za
Page 7 of 8
Acknowledgements
The researcher is indebted to the student teachers who
participated so willingly in this study and made it possible
to learn more about pre-service teachers reading
attitudes,
reading ability, vocabulary levels and academic
performance
in the Swazi context. My gratitude also goes to my
supervisor,
Prof. E.J. Pretorius, the administrators of the Faculty and
the lecturers. Thank you for your role in the completion of
this project.
Competing interests
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HINTS: