An assessment of learners’ ability to transfer literacy skills acquired in a Zambian language to english by the end of their grade two: a case of five selected primary schools in Chadiza district, Zambia
| dc.contributor.author | Banda, Mtiose | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-12-01T13:57:28Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-12-01T13:57:28Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019 | |
| dc.description | Thesis | en |
| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to assess Grade Two learners' ability to transfer literacy skills acquired in a Zambian language to English by the end of second grade. The research adopted a descriptive case study design in which the mixed methods approach was employed. 75 Grade Two learners were randomly selected from five rural selected primary schools and were tested in Nyanja word reading and writing tests. A Burt reading test was used to assess pupils' ability to decode English words. Qualitative data was collected through, classroom observation, document analysis, and interviews with 10 Grade Two teachers, from selected five schools, and one DEBS representative. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Frequency and percentage of tables showing the population distributions were generated. Paired and independent t-tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for statistical analysis. To examine whether there is a relationship between Zambian language reading performance and English word reading ability, the correlation test was conducted. The findings showed that 42(56 percent) out of 75 learners managed to score above the mean of 5.5 with a standard deviation of 4.3 in reading out of the total score of 10. The calculated mean score for writing was 4.4 with a standard deviation of 3.9 and 41(54.6%) of the population sample scored above the mean. An independent t-test further indicated that there was a significant difference between boys and girls reading performance with boys outperforming the girls; mean score for boys (M = 6.7, SD = 4.0) and girls (M = 4.2, SD = 4.3) in Nyanja word reading performance; "p < .01. In a Burt reading test, the findings show that learners were reading far below their grade level. The results from correlation analysis revealed that L1 reading ability was a significant predictor of L2 reading performance before instruction in English was given. There was a positive correlation between learners' L1 reading performance and L2 reading word reading, r = 0.796, n = 75, p(2-tailed) < .001 The results suggest that English word reading is dependent on learners' L1 reading performance. The low reading levels in a Zambian language affected English word reading negatively. The study recommends that learners need more time of L1 instruction and there should be more practice in writing activities. There is a need to ensure that teachers teach literacy using systematic phonics methods. Keywords: Decoding, Literacy, Reading, Transfer | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dspace.unza.zm/handle/123456789/8309 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | The University of Zambia | en |
| dc.subject | Decoding--Literacy--Grade two learners--Zambia | en |
| dc.subject | Reading-- Transfer--Local languages--Zambia | en |
| dc.title | An assessment of learners’ ability to transfer literacy skills acquired in a Zambian language to english by the end of their grade two: a case of five selected primary schools in Chadiza district, Zambia | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |