Language and Literacy resources

Sesotho and IsiZulu Reading Project research report
Authors: Sesotho and IsiZulu Reading Project
Published: 2019
Reference:

Sesotho and IsiZulu Reading Project. 2019. Report on teaching reading in Sesotho and isiZulu at Higher Education Institutions. Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg, Sesotho and IsiZulu Reading Project

This is a report on a research survey undertaken in 2019 to establish the present state of teaching Sesotho and isiZulu reading in a home language at the Foundation Phase level at twelve Higher Education Institutions that that offer training to Sesotho and isiZulu student teachers.

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy
Skilled reading in isiZulu: what can we learn from it?
Authors: Land, S.
Published: 2015
Reference:

Land, S. 2015. Skilled reading in isiZulu: what can we learn from it? Journal of Education, No. 63, 2015

Study of what the orthography of isiZulu requires of readers. As an agglutinative language with a conjoined writing system, isiZulu carries meaning not only in separate words, but also in morphemes that cluster together, forming long complex words. Eye tracking data shows that competent adult readers of isiZulu move their eyes across text in saccades (shifts of the point of focus) that are short in comparison with the saccades of efficient reading of English. It also shows that readers of isiZulu fixate on points of text for longer periods than do readers of English. The key argument of the paper is that the orthography of isiZulu has features that require attention by teachers of reading if their learners are to benefit from the advantages that reading in their first language should bring.

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy
Exploring relationships between Oral Reading Fluency and comprehension amongst ESL learners in South Africa
Authors: Spaull, N. and Pretorius, E.
Published: 2015
Reference:

Spaul, N. and Pretorius, E. 2015. Exploring relationships between Oral Reading Fluency and comprehension amongst ESL learners in South Africa. Presentation to Economic Society of South Africa, University of Cape on 4 September 2015

Conference presentation on Oral Reading Fluency and its correlation with comprehension among EFAL learners in South Africa

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy
Teach in first language, it’s key to success
Authors: Dikotla, M.
Published: 2018
Reference:

Dikotla, M. 2018. Teach in first language, it’s key to success. Mail and Guardian, 2 February 2018

Opinion piece by the Director of the Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy on why switching to second-language teaching too early places pupils at a great disadvantage.

Keywords: Literacy, Primary, Language, Reading, English
Why Jaydon can't read: the triumph of ideology over evidence in teaching reading
Author: aitchisonjjw@gmail.com
Published: 2013
Reference:

Buckingham, J., Wheldall, K., and Beaman-Wheldall, R. 2013. Why Jaydon can't read: the triumph of ideology over evidence in teaching reading. Policy, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 21-32

A lively discussion of the entrenched rate of illiteracy among Australian children which identifies a failure in the institutions teaching reading educators to accept evidence-based science on the effective teaching of reading which has five main components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension..

Keywords: Literacy, Reading
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading: Elementary
Authors: Texas State Board for Educator Certification
Published: 2019
Reference:

Texas State Board for Educator Certification. 2019. Chapter 110. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading Subchapter A. Elementary . Austin, Texas: Texas State Board for Educator Certification, Texas Education Agency 

Essentially a curriculum framework for elementary school grades (up to Grade 4). Detailed and useful.

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy, Curriculum framework
Four standards for reading specialists
Authors: Texas State Board for Educator Certification
Published: 2001
Reference:

Texas State Board for Educator Certification. 2001. Four standards for reading specialists. Austin, Texas: Texas State Board for Educator Certification, Texas Education Agency 

For useful standards for reading specialists and subject advisors

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy, Standards
English Language Arts and Reading Generalist EC–6 Standards
Authors: Texas State Board for Educator Certification
Published: 2008
Reference:

Texas State Board for Educator Certification. 2008. English Language Arts and Reading Generalist EC–6 Standards. Austin, Texas: Texas State Board for Educator Certification, Texas Education Agency 

Twelve well thought out standards with details on What teachers know and on What teachers can do for each standard

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy, Standards
The National Reading Coalition
Author: aitchisonjjw@gmail.com
Published: 2019
Reference:

Marneweck, L.  National Reading Coalition. Centurion:  National Reading Coalition, National Education Collaboration Trust

Presentation on the work of the National Reading Coalition set up by the National Education Collaboration Trust and the Department of Basic Education's Read to Lead campaign

Keywords: Reading, Literacy
Towards competency standards for language and literacy teachers
Authors: Aitchison, J., Dixon, K., Pretorius, E., Reed, Y. and Verbeek, C.
Published: 2019
Reference:

Consolidated Literacy Working Group. 2019. Towards competency standards for language and literacy teachers. Unpublished document

A position paper of the Consolidated Literacy Working Group of PrimTEd on its approach to standards for language and literacy teachers

Keywords: Reading, Literacy, Standards
Why the New Zealand National Literacy Strategy has failed and what can be done about it.
Authors: Tunmer et al
Published: 2013
Reference:

Tunmer, E., Chapman, J.W., Greaney, K.T., Prochnow, J.E. and Arrow A.W.  2013.  Why the Language and Literacy resources repository New Zealand National Literacy Strategy has failed and what can be done about it. Auckland, New Zealand: Massey University Institute of Education

Responding to evidence from PIRLS 2011 and Reading Recovery monitoring data that New Zealand’s 1999 National Literacy Strategy had failed, the authors look at the factors causing the failure (a constructivist orientation towards literacy education with a lack of attention to phonemic awareness and alphabetic coding skills, lack of response to differences in literate cultural capital, and policies on the first year of literacy teaching resistant to providing explicit instruction and assessment) and review more effective strategies based on contemporary theory and research.

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy
Papers on the Core Academic Language Skills Instrument (CALS-I)
Authors: Ucelli, P. et al
Published: 2015

The Core Academic Language Skills Instrument (CALS-I) was designed by the Institute of Education Sciences of the United States Department of Education to measure high utility academic language skills hypothesized to support reading comprehension across the content areas in grades 4 through 8.

Annotation:

Uccelli, P., Barr. C.D., Dobbs, C.L., Galloway, E.P., Meneses, A., and Sánchez, E. 2015.  Core academic language skills: An expanded operational construct and a novel instrument to chart school-relevant language proficiency in preadolescent and adolescent learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, Volume 36 (2015), pp. 1077–1109

Argues that the construct of core academic language skills (CALLS) tested with 235 fourth to eighth grade students with an innovative instrument (the CALS-I) was found to be predictive of reading comprehension.

Uccelli, P., Galloway, E.P., Barr. C.D., Meneses, A., and Dobbs, C.L. 2015.    Beyond Vocabulary: Exploring cross-disciplinary Academic-Language Proficiency and its association with Reading Comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, Volume 50, Issue 3, pp. 337–356

Another study on the core academic language skills (CALS) construct which was found to be an independent predictor of reading comprehension even after controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge, word reading fluency, and socio-demographic factors.

Uccelli, P., Barr. C.D., and Galloway, E.P., 2016. Core Academic Language Skills Instrument (CALS-I): Final Report

Description of development and validation of the Core Academic Language Skills Instrument (CALS-I) used to measure a comprehensive set of high-utility language skills that are relevant across content areas. CALS-I is normed for English proficient students attending urban public schools in grades 4 to 8.


Uccelli, P., and Galloway, E.P. 2016.  Academic language across content areas: lessons from an innovative assessment and from students’ reflections about language. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Volume 60, Issue 4, pp. 395-404

Popular level description of development and validation of the Core Academic Language Skills Instrument (CALS-I) that concludes that CALS is an important component of students' reading skills and that schools need to target the development of these skills, given that large proportions of students have not yet developed the language skills to understand many of the
linguistic features that heavily populate most of their school texts.

Keywords: Language, Literacy
Using Funda Wande resources in teacher education programmes
Authors: Murray, S. and Verbeek, C.
Published: 2020
Reference:

Murray, S, and Verbeek, C. 2020. Using Funda Wande resources in teacher education programmes. Cape Town: Funda Wande

Presentation made to a PrimTEd seminar in February 2020

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy
What’s Hot in Literacy. 2018 Report
Authors: International Literacy Association
Published: 2018
Reference:

International Literacy Association. 2018. What’s Hot in Literacy. 2018 Report. Newark, Delaware: International Literacy Association

A useful guide to what topics “literacy experts” (mainly teachers and reading/literacy specialists in the United States, Canada, Phillippines, Australia and Nigeria) are currently most interested in and what they consider most important.

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy
What's hot in literacy - 2020
Authors: International Literacy Association
Published: 2020
Reference:

International Literacy Association. 2020. What's hot in literacy - 2020 report. Newark, Delaware: International Literacy Association

A useful guide to what topics 1 443 “literacy experts” (mainly teachers and reading/literacy specialists in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Jamaica, Nigeria, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom) are currently most interested in and what they consider most important. Keywords: Language, Literacy, Reading

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy
When signals are lost in aggregation: a comparison of language marks and competencies of first-year university students
Author: aitchisonjjw@gmail.com
Published: 2015
Reference:

Fleisch, B., Schöer, V., and Cliff, A. 2015. When signals are lost in aggregation: a comparison of language marks and competencies of first-year university students. South African Journal of Higher Education, Volume 29, Number 5, pp. 156-178

A study exploring the correlations between the English marks (home language and first additional language) in the National Senior Certificate and the National Benchmark Test (academic literacy) (NBT AL)) scores for University of the Witwatersrand first-year education students. The study found that the same mark in home language and first additional language does not necessarily reflect the same level of English-language academic competence as measured by the NBT AL test. Many students who have been accepted into the university based on their English first additional language marks may need academic support irrespective of their overall performance in the Senior Certificate. There was insufficient evidence to show that the NBT Al is a better discriminator of competency at this point in time.

Keywords: Literacy
When signals are lost in aggregation: a comparison of language marks and competencies of first-year university students
Authors: Fleisch, B., Schöer, V., and Cliff, A.
Published: 2015
Reference:

Fleisch, B., Schöer, V., and Cliff, A. 2015. When signals are lost in aggregation: a comparison of language marks and competencies of first-year university students. South African Journal of Higher Education, Volume 29, Issue 5, January 2015, pp. 156 - 178

A comparative analysis of National Senior Certificate marks and National Benchmark Test (NBT) Academic Literacy (AL) test results for a cohort of first-year education students at the University of the Witwatersrand, which showed that the same mark in English HL and FAL does not necessarily reflect the same level of English language academic competence as measured by the NBT AL test. On average, students who wrote the FAL papers scored between .5 and .9 of a standard deviation below students who wrote the HL paper (and probably need extensive and ongoing academic support).

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy, University
Brain wave study shows how different teaching methods affect reading development
Author: aitchisonjjw@gmail.com
Published: 2015
Reference:

Wong, M. 2015. Brain wave study shows how different teaching methods affect reading development. Psychology & Psychiatry, May 29, 2015

Popular report on Stanford University research led by Bruce McCandliss that provides some of the first evidence that a specific teaching strategy for reading has direct neural impact. Beginning readers who focus on letter-sound relationships, or phonics, instead of trying to learn whole words, increase activity in the area of their brains best wired for reading.

Keywords: Reading, Literacy
Brain wave study shows how different teaching methods affect reading development
Authors: Wong, M.
Published: 2015
Reference:

Wong, M. 2015. Brain wave study shows how different teaching methods affect reading development, Psychology & Psychiatry, 29 May 2015

Report on a study done at the University of Stanford that shows how different literacy teaching methods affect reading development. Beginning readers who focus on letter-sound relationships, or phonics, instead of trying to learn whole words, increase activity in the area of their brains best wired for reading, according to the Stanford research investigating how the brain responds to different types of reading instruction.

Keywords: Literacy
Investigating the Comprehension Iceberg: Developing empirical benchmarks for early grade reading in agglutinating African language
Authors: Spaull, N., Pretorius, E., and Mohohlwane, N.
Published: 2018
Reference:

Spaull, N. Pretorius, E., and Mohohlwane, N. 2018. Investigating the Comprehension Iceberg: Developing empirical benchmarks
for early grade reading in agglutinating African languages. RESEP Working Paper Series No. WP01/2018. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch

Investigating the Comprehension Iceberg: Developing empirical benchmarks for early grade reading in agglutinating African languages

Annotation:

Report on an assessment survey using an adaptation of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA)with 785 Grade 3 learners across three languages (Northern Sotho, Tsonga and Zulu) that showed that there were large differences in reading results on fluency, accuracy and oral comprehension between languages with conjunctive and disjunctive orthographies. Te results suggest that there are minimum words correct per minute (wcpm) rates for each language, below which it is virtually impossible to read for meaning - 52-66 wcpm for Northern Sotho, 39-48 wcpm for Tsonga nad 20-32 wcpm for Zulu. The authors argue that there is a strong need for empirical language-specific norms and benchmarks for African languages.

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy, African languages
Zenlit. The Expert Reading Teacher materials: 2015-2017
Authors: Fok, L., Murray, S., and Pretorius E.
Published: 2020
Reference:

Fok, L., Murray, S., and Pretorius E. 2020. Zenlit. The Expert Reading Teacher materials: 2015-2017. Johannesburg: Zenex Foundation

Presentation made to a PrimTEd seminar in February 2020 outlines the Zenlit Project working with Foundation phase teachers and the Expert Reading Teacher course materials released in 2019.

Keywords: Language, Reading, Literacy