A Comparison Of The Reading Abilities of Junior Secondary School Students With The Reading Levels Required Of Them in Their Content Areas
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Date
1994-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study was an attempt to compare the reading
comprehension level of Ethiopian Junior Secondary School
students with the levels expected of them in their content
areas. To achieve this, the readability level of the seventh
grade textbooks for Geography and Science, which are taught in
English, was assessed using the Fog Index. What is more, in
order to identify the comprehension level of the students, six
cloze tests were administered to a randomly selected sample.
A student questionnaire and interviews were also used to
investigate the problems the students face in reading their
textbooks. In addition to the above tools a readability
checklist was used to assess the views of Geography and
Science teachers about the readability of the texts. Based on
the opinion expressed by the teachers and the students, a
sample unit from the Geography textbook was prepared to see
the effect of text simplification on the students' reading and
understanding. Finally, the attitude of subject teachers
towards the teaching of reading in the content areas was
assessed.
The findings from the study indicated that the Geography
textbook is appropriate to the seventh grade students as far
as the F00 Index is concerned. But the Science Textbook is
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slightly above their level. The result of the cloze tests
showed that the comprehension level of the students is at a
frustration level. The questionnaire and the interview
results revealed that many students cannot read and understand
their textbooks because of vocabulary and sentence complexity.
Findings from the checklist showed that content area teachers
feel that the two textbooks are adequate. The results of the
readability Fog Index and the cloze test of the simplified
unit indicated that the readability level of the simplified
unit is appropriate to the seventh grade. But the students'
performance on the cloze test was found to be very low.
Finally, the findings from the attitude measurement scale
indicated that content area teachers feel that they are not
prepared to teach reading in the content classroom.
Based on the findings, it is recommended that students
must be prepared in elementary English classes to develop
their vocabulary and independent reading. In the Junior
Secondary level, students should be helped in their content
reading through the use of familiar vocabulary and simple
sentences, and questions of various kinds at the pre-reading
and post-reading stages leading to discussions and activities.
What is more, new concepts should be introduced in relation to
what is familiar to the students and a step by step approach
should be used to develop these concepts with various examples
and illustrations. In order to raise the teachers' awareness
of the problem of reading and positively influence their
attitude to the teaching of readingl seminars, workshops and
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in-service training should be organized in a continuous basis.
In addition, courses on the reading skills should be offered
to the teacher trainees. Finally, it is recommended that the
readability of content texts should be carefully assessed and
there should be a working relation between the English panel
and other panels of the Ministry of Education Curriculum
Division in material preparation.
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Keywords
Reading Abilities