1. The aims of this project were:
(i) to collect data on the reading proficiency in English of primary school children in Zambia.
(ii) to report on methods used by teachers in primary schools in the teaching of reading.
(iii) to describe conditions in schools in terms of class size, books, and teacher qualifications.
(iv) to characterise the approach to reading in teacher training colleges.
2. In Zambia English is taught as a subject and is the main medium of education for the seven years of the primary school course.
3. Following an initial preparatory visit, it was decided to assess reading proficiency in English by means of two tests. The first was a specially prepared modified cloze test of 60 items, graded into three subtests aimed at years 3, 4 and 6 of primary schools. This is referred to as Word Find. The second test was an individual read aloud test with comprehension questions, again graded into subtests for years 3, 4 and 6.
4. In the main data collection visit (May 1992) the Word Find reading test was administered to 452 primary pupils in 5 schools (2 urban, 3 rural). The individual read aloud test was administered to 44 pupils. In addition a 60 item modified cloze reading test in Nyanja was administered (in Lusaka and a Nyanja speaking area) to the same 452 pupils to help establish whether pupils had a reading problem or a language problem in their English reading.
5. Data on the approach to reading in teacher training was obtained through examination of teacher training syllabuses and interviews with training college staff from 2 teacher training colleges.
6. Observation of reading lessons was carried out in 13 classes from Grade 1 to Grade 5.
7. Data was collected on teachers, class numbers, books and general educational provision in the 5 schools where testing took place. Further data at a national level was taken from Focus on Learning (MOE, 1992).
8. The results of the Word Find reading test indicate that in the five schools tested there was inadequate comprehension of texts judged to be at their level on the part of:
- approximately 85% of Grade 3 pupils
- approximately 88% of Grade 4 pupils
- approximately 74% of Grade 6 pupils
The reading ability of year 3 and year 4 pupils gives particular cause for concern. Although year 6 pupils have for the most part adequate comprehension of texts from year 3 and 4 levels, it is difficult to see how such limited ability can enable them to read to learn in other subject areas. These findings are in line with earlier research eg Sharma (1973) who found that on a recognition test of 40 words taken from coursebooks for grades 1, 2 and 3, only 4.5% of grade 3 pupils were able to read all the words correctly, while only 7.2% of grade 3 pupils could read all the grade 1 and 2 words correctly.
9. The findings of the individual Read Aloud tests, although more impressionistic, confirm the results of Word Find, in that they suggest the majority of pupils in Grades 3 and 4 have considerable difficulty with material deemed appropriate to their level. Grade 6 pupils also have problems, although they seem again to cope with material below their level.
10. The results of the Nyanja reading test suggested that the majority of pupils at Grades 3 and 4 are weak in reading in Nyanja. Grade 6 pupils too are not on the whole very proficient. There is a tendency for those whose home language is Nyanja to do better than those from a non-Nyanja speaking background, but this is not statistically significant. The apparent weakness of the pupils in reading Nyanja merits further investigation.
11. As far as the methodology of teaching reading in teacher training colleges is concerned, initial courses have in the past tended to give too much prominence to "look and say" methods which stress accuracy of reading aloud, and which do not promote reading as a process of acquiring meaning from text. Much teacher training seems to be devoted to going through the steps in the Teachers' Handbooks and does not foster a flexible response on the part of the teachers to difficulties that their learners might encounter in reading.
12. Classroom observation indicates that much teaching of reading proceeds through repetition of the text (ie a "look and say" approach) with insufficient attention being paid to the presentation of meaning and checking of understanding. However, there were exceptions in some of the Grade 1 and 2 classes.
13. In the five schools there was a suggestion that the number of books per pupil improved reading proficiency, as did the presence of trained teachers. However the evidence was not conclusive. Class size, on the evidence of these schools, did not in itself appear to be a determining factor in reading proficiency. However, these suggestions should not be regarded as indicative of general trends. Larger differences between schools with respect to these factors, and also a larger number of schools, would be needed to produce more conclusive evidence.
14. There were no statistically significant sex differences in the results of the Word Find reading test, although girls were marginally superior to boys.
15. While urban children were estimated to score about 7 points better than rural children on the Word Find test, this was not statistically significant because of the small number of schools involved.
16. There were, as expected, large and highly significant differences on test performance between the different Grades (3, 4 and 6) indicating that pupils improve the longer they stay in school.
17. Although disquieting, the situation in Zambian primary schools is not entirely gloomy. Pupils certainly progress over time, and there is a small number of pupils who do seem to read adequately at their level, despite the circumstances. If more of their colleagues are to achieve satisfactory standards however, attention should be given to the following:
(i) First, more teachers should see reading as a process of meaning making, and not as a process of "barking at print". A more meaning-oriented approach would require teachers to attend to the presentation of meaning of new language and to develop techniques for the checking of understanding.(ii) There are implications here for teacher trainers. They too need to appreciate the importance of seeing reading as essentially concerned with understanding. It may well be that the first priority should be to provide the trainers themselves with courses that expose them a variety of meaning-oriented approaches to reading.
(iii) This change of approach may be helped by the new teaching material (the Zambia Basic Education Course, currently being introduced) which is claimed to encourage teachers and pupils to think of reading as a process of obtaining information and as an opportunity to be communicated with, rather than a process of parrotting the book.
Recommendation 1: That inservice methodology sessions should be provided for primary school teachers on a systematic basis, and that it should be ensured that a "meaning making" approach to reading is integrated into the sessions.
Recommendation 2: In pre-service teacher training in the colleges it should be ensured that a "meaning making" approach to the teaching of reading is given prominence, and that trainees are equipped with appropriate techniques for presenting meaning and checking understanding, and for reacting to pupils who encounter difficulty with texts.
(iv) The current development of competency tests in reading at Grade 4 to be administered annually to a 1.5% sample as part of a proposed National Assessment Scheme (see Kelly, 1993) will serve a useful role in monitoring a situation which the present descriptive study suggests is serious. As the project is already under way, no specific recommendation is made, other than a general call for support.
Recommendation 3: That support be given to the Zambian project to develop reading achievement tests at Grade 4.
18. The Grade 7 examination has an important influence on teaching, especially in the upper primary school. In order to have a more positive washback effect on teaching, the examination should as far as is practical reflect a more comprehensive view of reading, including a greater variety of text types, and also allow for the assessment of a wider range of ability while retaining its function of selection for Grade 8.
Recommendation 4: That specialist research be carried out into:
(a) specifying the reading comprehension abilities relevant to real-life situations outside the school, to reading to learn in other school subjects, and to the needs of the majority of pupils who will end their schooling at Grade 7.(b) investigating examination formats which lend themselves to assessment of the selected reading abilities, bearing in mind the practicalities of the situation.
19. Although pupils may "learn how to read" at a very basic level, from the blackboard, they will not become fluent readers if they only read from the blackboard (or even if they only read slowly from a coursebook under the teacher's direction). It is widely agreed that people become fluent readers through doing a lot of reading - there is no short cut. In Zambian primary schools at the moment it seems that book provision may be improved not only with the introduction of the Zambia Basic Education Course, but also by the UNICEF funded sets of class readers intended for Grades 2, 3 and 4, and the donation by the ODA of book boxes for self-access reading to Grades 3, 4 and 5. In addition the old Zambia Primary Course readers are to be re-issued as supplementary readers.
Recommendation 5: That appropriate Ministry officials should ensure there is a coordinated policy with respect to the use in schools of the various categories of supplementary readers.
20. In order that the potential benefit from the increase in book provision mentioned in paragraph 19 is fully exploited, a more meaning-oriented methodology in the teaching of reading is an even more vital necessity.
Report on Reading in English in Primary Schools in Zambia
