by CHANTEL LEE-ANNE GOOSEN submitted in accordance - Unisa

173 Pages·2013·1.32 MB·English

TEACHING, READING AND SPELLING IN GRADE 2 ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSES
THROUGH THRASS METHODOLOGIES

by

CHANTEL LEE-ANNE GOOSEN

submitted in accordance with the requirements for
the degree of

Master of Education

in the subject

Inclusive Education

at the

University of South Africa

Supervisor: Professor A.J. Hugo

August 2013
Student number: 3094-853-3

I declare that TEACHING, READING AND SPELLING IN GRADE 2 ENGLISH SECOND
LANGUAGE CLASSES THROUGH THRASS METHODOLOGIES is my own work and that
all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means
of complete references.

_____________________________ _____________________
CHANTEL LEE-ANNE GOOSEN DATE
ACKNOWELDGEMENTS

My sincere gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the abundant talents and blessings
You have bestowed me with.

A word of appreciation to the following individuals for your incessant support and
encouragement during the research process:

 My loving husband Clinton for your abundant love and support
 My son, Ethan, for being part of the process
 Professor Anna Hugo for your expertise, guidance and inspiration
 Mrs Helene Muller, for your insightful statistical contributions
 To my parents, Alan and Gill, thank you for your support, motivation and
belief in me
 My brothers, John and Andrew, for your support
 My in-laws, Jimmy and Pat, for your support
 Sister Bernadette, for your support and inspiration
 Gillian, for the superb editing job
 The staff, parents and learners for your agreeable involvement as this would
not have been possible without you

In loving memory of my brother-in-law, Colin
TEACHING, READING AND SPELLING IN GRADE 2 ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE
CLASSES THROUGH THRASS METHODOLOGIES

BY: Chantel Lee-Anne Goosen
DEGREE: Master of Education
(with specialisation in Inclusive Education)
UNIVERSITY: University of South Africa
SUPERVISOR: Professor AJ Hugo

______________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT

In South Africa, the topic of reading has been of great interest on the development of
language since it has been estimated that 12 million learners will go through the
education system per year. A key concern for all these learners is language. The
majority of South African learners do not speak English as their home language, yet
the dominant language of learning and teaching (LoLT) is English. It is important for
these learners to become fluent in the LoLT as the future of education is dependent
upon it. South Africa has been struggling since 2001 to implement a programme in
schools that will improve the Literacy abilities of learners.
An in-depth study was undertaken to determine whether the THRASS methodology
would possibly improve the reading and spelling abilities of Grade 2 English second
learners at an inner city school in Pretoria. The research explored the reading and
spelling difficulties encountered by these learners. A profile of the Grade 2 English
second language learner was compiled. An understanding of how the THRASS
programme works has been included. The results from the research indicated that
the reading abilities of the Grade 2 learners had improved, however, there was not a
significant difference in their spelling abilities.
KEY TERMS

 English second language (ESL) learners
 First Additional Language
 Home Language
 Language Development
 Phonemic Awareness
 THRASS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables ......................................................................................................... vii

CHAPTER 1
AN INRODUCTORY ORIENTATION ..................................................................... 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY................................................................... 3
1.3 ANAYSIS OF THE PROBLEM ....................................................................... 6
1.3.1 Awareness of the problem ..................................................................... 6
1.3.2 Statement of the problem ....................................................................... 9
1.4 AIM OF THE RESEARCH ........................................................................... 10
1.4.1 Sub aims ............................................................................................. 10
1.4.2 Specific aims ....................................................................................... 11
1.5 RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................... 11
1.6 DEMARCATION OF THE RESEARCH ........................................................ 13
1.7 CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS ............................................................... 14
1.8 RESEARCH PROGRAMME ......................................................................... 16
1.9 SUMMARY .................................................................................................... 17

CHAPTER 2
APPROACHES TO TEACH READING AND SPELLING WITH REFERENCE
TO PHONICS AND THRASS ............................................................................... 19
2.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 19
2.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF PHONICS INSTRUCTION ..................................... 19
2.2.1 Systematic and non-systematic programmes .......................................... 20
2.3 KNOWLEDGE NEEDED BY PROFESSIONALS IN ORDER TO TEACH
PHONICS ............................................................................................................. 21
2.3.1 Implicit and Explicit Instruction ................................................................. 21
2.4 APPROACHES USED TO TEACH PHONICS ............................................. 21
2.4.1 Synthetic phonics ................................................................................. 22
2.4.1.1 Controversial points to synthetic phonics ......................................... 24
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2.4.2 Analytic phonics ................................................................................... 25
2.4.3 Systematic phonics approach ............................................................. 27
2.4.4 Analogy-based phonics ....................................................................... 27
2.4.5 Embedded phonics ............................................................................. 28
2.4.6 Phonics-Through spelling ..................................................................... 28
2.4.7 Onset/Rhyme phonics ......................................................................... 28
2.5 THE WHOLE-LANGUAGE APPROACH ..................................................... 29
2.5.1 Look and Say or Whole Word approach ............................................. 30
2.5.2 The combined or eclectic approach ..................................................... 31
2.6 THRASS ....................................................................................................... 31
2.6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 31
2.6.2 The main distinguishing features of the THRASS programme ............. 32
2.6.3 The ten stages to follow when teaching THRASS ................................ 33
2.6.3.1 Stage 1: Picture location .................................................................. 33
2.6.3.2 Stage 2: Letter Location .................................................................. .34
2.6.3.3 Stage 3: Letter Formation ................................................................ 34
2.6.3.4 Stage 4: Grapheme Location ............................................................ 35
2.6.3.5 Stage 5: Keyword Location .............................................................. 35
2.6.3.6 Stage 6: Phoneme Location ............................................................ 36
2.6.3.7 Stage 7: Keyword Synthesis ............................................................ 37
2.6.3.8 Stage 8: Key-grapheme Recall ........................................................ 38
2.6.3.9 Stage 9: Keyword Analysis .............................................................. 39
2.6.3.10 Stage 10: THRASS 500 Tests ........................................................ 40
2.6.3.11 THRASS resources ....................................................................... 41
2.6.3.12 My THRASS experience ................................................................ 43
2.6.3.13 THRASS around the world ............................................................ 44
2.7 TEACHING READING IN THE EARLY GRADES: A TEACHER’S
HANDBOOK ........................................................................................................ 47
2.7.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 47
2.7.1.1 Time allocation for Literacy Learning Programme ............................ 48
2.7.1.2 The essential features of the Literacy Learning Programme ........... 48
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2.7.1.3 The Reading and Writing Focus Time explained ............................. .48
2.7.1.4 Activities during Reading and Writing Focus Time .......................... 49
2.7.1.5 Guided and Independent Reading and Writing ................................ 50
2.7.1.6 Listening and Speaking ................................................................... 50
2.7.1.7 Writing and Handwriting .................................................................. 51
2.7.1.8 Learning Outcomes (LOs) ............................................................... 51
2.7.2 Teaching Reading ............................................................................... 51
2.7.2.1 Planning the Reading and Writing Focus Time ................................ 51
2.7.2.2 Skillful readers ................................................................................. 52
2.7.2.3 The stages of reading development ................................................ 53
2.7.2.4 The usefulness of the reading stages .............................................. .55
2.7.2.5 The five components used to teach reading .................................... 55
2.7.3 Shared Reading and Other Reading Strategies .................................. 61
2.7.3.1 Shared reading ................................................................................ 61
2.7.3.2 Other reading strategies .................................................................. 66
2.7.4 Assessing reading ................................................................................ 71
2.7.4.1 Reasons for assessing reading ........................................................ 71
2.7.4.2 What the reading results reveal ........................................................ 71
2.7.4.3 Reading level tests .......................................................................... 72
2.7.5. The Teacher’s Handbook and research project .................................. 76
2.8 ENGLSIH SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNRES ........................................... 76
2.9 SUMMMARY ................................................................................................ 77

CHAPTER 3
A PROFILE OF GRADE 2 LEARNERS AND THE DIFFICULITIES THEY
EXPERIENCE ACQUIRING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE ................ 78
3.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 78
3.2 A PROFILE OF THE GRADE 2 LEARNER ................................................. 78
3.2.1 Development ....................................................................................... 78
3.2.1.1 Physical development ...................................................................... 78
3.2.1.2 Cognitive development .................................................................... 80
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3.2.1.3 First language development ............................................................ 83
3.2.1.4 Second language development ....................................................... 86
3.2.1.5 Psychosocial development .............................................................. 89
3.2.2 Physical aspects ................................................................................. 92
3.2.2.1 Nutrition ........................................................................................... 92
3.2.2.2. Health ............................................................................................. 98
3.3 AN OVERVIEW OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ........................................ 99
3.3.1 Regular and Irregular languages .......................................................... 100
3.4 SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 103

CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES ............................................... 105
4.1 NTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 105
4.2 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND AIM .................................................... 105
4.3 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS ...................................................................... 106
4.4 RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................ 106
4.4.1 Sampling .......................................................................................... 107
4.4.2 Instruments and Administration ......................................................... 108
4.4.3 Participant observations .................................................................... 109
4.4.4 Collection of Data ............................................................................. 110
4.5 ANALYSIS OF DATA ................................................................................ 110
4.6 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY .................................................................... 111
4.6.1 Validity .............................................................................................. 111
4.6.1.1 Face and content validity ............................................................... 111
4.6.1.2 Concurrent and predictive validity .................................................. 112
4.6.1.3 Construct validity. ........................................................................... 112
4.6.2 Reliability ............................................................................................ 113
4.7 SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 113

CHAPTER 5
RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE INVESTIGATION ...................................... 114
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5.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 114
5.2 RELIABILITY OF THE READING AND SPELLING TESTS ....................... 114
5.3 VALIDITY .................................................................................................. 115
5.3.1 Content validity ................................................................................. 115
5.3.2 Construct validity ............................................................................... 116
5.4 SCORES OBTAINED FOR THE READING AND SPELLING TESTS ........ 116
5.5 TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS .................................................................... 122
5.5.1 Testing of the hypothesis .................................................................. 122
5.6 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ...................................................................... 128
5.7 SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 129

CHAPTER 6
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS YIELDED FROM THE RESEARCH AND
RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ........................................ 131
6.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 131
6.2 CONTRIBUTIONS YIELDED FROM THE RESEARCH ............................ 133
6.3 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................ 134
6.3.1 The teacher in the classroom ............................................................ 135
6.3.2 The parent at home ........................................................................... 137
6.4 MOTIVATIONAL ASPECTS ....................................................................... 138
6.5 LIMITATIONS REGARDING THE RESEARCH AND SUGGESTIONS
FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ............................................................................ 139
6.6 CLOSING REMARKS ................................................................................ 139

Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 141

Appendix A ........................................................................................................ 153
Appendix B ........................................................................................................ 156
Appendix C ........................................................................................................ 159
Appendix D ........................................................................................................ 161

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