isahluko 1 - UKZN ResearchSpace - University of KwaZulu-Natal

ABSTRACT
The problem of poor reading levels among South African students is still prevalent at all
levels of education. Attempts to eradicate the problem through various means, for
example, Foundations for Learning Campaign, Readathon Campaign, National Strategy
for Reading, and many more have been made, yet to date no observable improvements
have been noted.
The purpose of this study is to explore the teaching of reading in isiZulu home language
classrooms. The study aimed to answer three research questions: (i) What do foundation
phase teachers say about teaching reading in isiZulu home language classes? (ii) How
do foundation phase teachers teach reading in isiZulu home languages classes?, and (iii)
Why do foundation phase teachers teach reading in isiZulu home language classes in the
way they do?
The study is conducted at Umlazi, an African Township, where isiZulu is the language
spoken in the community and is the language of learning and teaching in all foundation
phase classrooms. The research sites are two schools, in the same area. The
participants of the study are eight teachers, all mother tongue speakers of isiZulu. There
are six teachers in one school, and two from the other school. The children taught are
also speakers of isiZulu.
The study is a qualitative case study, situated in the constructivist paradigm. Semi-
structured interviews; observations as well as document analysis are used as data
collection methods. The study uses qualitative methods for the analysis of data.
Vygotsky’s (1978) social-constructivist theory is used as a theoretical framework, and a
conceptual framework is also developed for data analysis.
Eight themes emerge from the findings. The first theme; content taught, is found to focus
on the teaching of sounds and words, taught in isolation. The second one; ways of
teaching, seem to be the phonic and look and say methods, which are due to beliefs that
teachers have about them. The third one; reading resources is seen to be lacking in both
schools, and teachers are seen to rely on traditional resources for the teaching of
reading. The fourth one; context in which reading is taught, appears to be not conducive
to the children’s reading development.
Fifth; assessment of reading; is indirect. This means that teachers use written tasks, and
not reading activities to assess reading. The sixth; aims of reading; is found to be on
writing accuracy and not on reading for comprehension. The seventh; teachers’ beliefs;
are the reasons for teachers’ actions and sayings. The last one; teachers’ attitudes
towards isiZulu, are found to be the most dominant predicament, as teachers themselves
see isiZulu as a problem, and prefer English rather than isiZulu.
Findings of the study indicate that, teachers are highly influenced by their beliefs, the
aspect which impacts on the ways they teach reading in isiZulu home language
classrooms. Secondly, teachers do not adequately encourage children to read in isiZulu
because of their bias towards the English language. The third finding is the lack of
resources for the teaching of reading in isiZulu home language. It is concluded that
isiZulu home language learners in such schools are not able to read because the
problem starts at a very elementary level, in the foundation phase, and the problem is
carried over into their whole academic life.
xi