Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
English language is the mother of all the disciplines studied in the various
schools of this country. It is the linqua-franca of this nation (Ghana) and most widely
as defined by Ben Bows and Stanley (1980) as a “Complex process that requires the
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, reading is the particular way in which you
Poor reading among pupils has been a big problem for most teachers in our
A learner may be good in all the subject areas but may find a problem in reading.
The researcher is a teacher of the said school. She observed that almost all the pupils
in the school find it difficult in reading and all the reading is done by teachers
during reading lessons. The researcher is surprised about that and wants to know by
herself whether the problem she identified is real. A short test on reading was
conducted for primary two pupils and from the test the researcher got to know that
1
Enchi, where the researcher was embarked on is a town primary inhabited by
farmers.
The researcher has observed from the community that, parents mostly engage in
farming activities and never care for the children to supplement what government
has provided.
The researcher again notice from the reading lesson that, the right techniques for
teaching reading were not used by the previous class teacher. In 1948, the
school methods of teaching reading place emphasis on the learners’ needs rather than
quality. Therefore the researcher has decided to develop strategies to help improve
The problem being investigated into is why pupils in class two of Enchico
whenever pupils are called upon to read a simple passage for discussion, they read at
a slow pace and pronounce simple words wrongly. It then became necessary for me
disabilities.
2
Purpose of the study
Proper reading is the basis of studying all other subjects. The purpose of this study
is;
in reading
2. To design some ways of solving their problem using techniques that will help
Research Question
As a researcher in a class where pupils are facing reading difficulties, these are the
1. What are the causes of Enchico Demonstration Primary Two poor reading?
2. What are some of the teaching techniques that can help improve Enchico
The outcome of the study will be helpful to untrained teachers and educational
planners as well. Thus, it will help improve pupils’ reading ability that will enable
3
In addition, the findings of the study will be very beneficial to the curriculum
preparation of the English syllabus and English textbook for the basic schools of this
country. This will also meet language needs of teachers and pupils at Enchico
Demonstration Primary School and all other basic schools in the country.
Limitations
Since no proper researcher has been done on this problem, the researcher may
enough of the researcher’s time in finding the root causes of the problems.
In addition, during the intervention stage, the pupils may feel reluctant to read
for fear of making mistakes and being laughed laugh at by their colleagues. This
Delimitation
The scope of the study by the researcher was narrowed to pupils in Enchico
The study was also restricted to only an aspect of English Language that is,
4
Organization of the study
The entire research work was organized into broad chapters. Chapter one is the
purpose of the study, research questions. It also included significance of the study,
Chapter two in the literature review which indicates what other researcher had
Chapter three is the methodology, and it describes the research design and
The fourth chapter contains the findings, results and discussions of the study.
Chapter five which is the last chapter, contains the summary, conclusion and
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter deals with a review proof of related literature on poor reading
3. Teaching techniques
Just and Graves (1998) regarded reading as the process of making sense from
information at all levels of language and checking hypothesis about what the writer
might mean.
Hafner (1974) also discussed that, reading involves the process of encoding and
decoding.
6
Brornlay (1995) also says that, the pupils have some misconceptions and
mistakes about reading. Reading takes a lot of their time which can be used profitably.
Most pupils feel lazy and reluctant to read simple materials. Pupils’ willingness and
Teaching Techniques
Webster (1956) believes that, neither teaching techniques nor teaching methods
may bear much relation to what children do when reading. Reading involves a wide
range of complex activities, however; many teaching techniques and methods have been
1. Whole word method/look and say; according to Roger Beard 91983), the use of
the whole word method was influenced by the theories of child development
whole word techniques in which the emphasis on meaningful words was taken a
Hamil and Bartels (1990) said that pupils’ reading abilities could be determined
by constructing and administrating word and sentence recognition test. Hamil and
Bartels (1990) again noted after estimating an appropriate instructional level for
words recognition, teacher made readings test can also be used to determine pupils’
reading abilities.
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In the sentence method sentence is put under pictures and because children have
acquired a large stock of words through the use of whole word method, they can now
For instance, after recognizing the word ‘ball’, it can be put into a meaningful
3. The syllabic method; as Roger Beard (1998) put it, the syllabic method is the
extension of the phonic method. Children are taught the syllable and consonant
sound is added.
Roger Beard (1998) again noted that the syllabic method is concerned with the
J.K Asamoah et al (2003) also put forward a syllabic method in teaching and
and it signifies the first syllable of the word. When a second finger is raised the
children are to pronounce the second syllable of the word. Children are expected
to pronounce the two syllables together when the two fingers are sent round. The
tables below were used as teaching and learning materials for further explanation
of the technique
Football Foot-ball
Organ Or-gan
Fabric Fa-bric
Teacher Tea-cher
Table Ta-ble
Finger Fin-ger
Below Be-low
Pencil Pen-cil
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Summary and Conclusion
Work of many prominent writers and specialist were contacted for this research
work. Many of them see and define reading as ‘process’ that is continuous.
Reading holds man firmly on the right path without knowing how real life is
unsafe, unbearable and unworthy. Reading is an integral part of man’s life that
their reading through reinforcement and the used of right teaching techniques.
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CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This chapter focuses on the research techniques and methods emphasis in the
study. It also elaborates on the population of the study, sampling procedures and
It again describes the research designs that were used to make the research work
Research Design
The design for the study is an action research design. This is to help the research
collaborate with others to solve a perceived problem. The rationale of the design is to
improve upon the problem of poor reading at Enchico Demonstration Primary School.
The design will enable the researcher get the necessary information that will help
and the problem of poor reading, the problem could be corrected using the eclectic
techniques, which combined all the methods of teaching reading in basic schools, as the
intervention I chose the action research design because it affords the researcher to come
However, the design has its own cons. It at times becomes difficult to get
information from parents who are mostly illiterates at where the research takes place.
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Population and sample Selection
The study was done at Enchi, the capital town of Aowin District. Enchi is a town
in the Western Region. Enchi has a population of about seven thousand people with its
inhabitants mainly farmers. Enchi has four public schools but the research was
conducted at Enchico Demonstration Primary School. The researcher chose basic two
Sample Procedure
The researcher would have to use all the pupils and teachers in the school but it
could not happen since it would be a tedious task in handling such a large number.
However, the accessible samples selected were twenty pupils out of sixty seven in the
basic two class. The five teachers who the pupils had passed through their heads and
twenty parents out of the lot were used due to limited time.
The main procedure used was the random sampling. The researcher wrote the
letter a,b and c on pieces paper that corresponded to the numbers of pupils the researcher
wanted to use. The pieces of papers were placed in a box and mixed them up. Pupils
were then invited to pick a paper each. All those who picked the letter ‘c’ were chosen
for the research. Any of the chosen pupil’s parents thus either the father or the mother,
was also considered for the research and five teachers were not left out.
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Research Instruments
Questionnaire and observation were the main instruments used for the study.
These instruments were used because they would make it easier to obtain the necessary
information for the study. It would also help the researcher to obtain valid and reliable
results and know how to correct the problem of poor reading among the pupils.
Questionnaire
The researcher gave out some questions to the pupils parents and the five
teachers to answer. This was to pave the way for the researcher to gather factual
information needed for the study. The questions were based on the attitude towards
Whether the pupils were encourage by both parents and teachers to read, the sort
of reading materials pupils often used. The questions were also centered on the problems
teachers encounter when teaching reading and more importantly, what needs to be done
Three separate questionnaire made of twenty questions was for five chosen
teachers. Another mode questions was for the selected pupils and the last questionnaire
also made of ten questions were for the selected pupils parents.
To make sure that the questionnaires elicited the required information without
presenting any difficulties to the respondent the researcher explained the item in them.
The questionnaire for teachers and pupils were properly fill on the same day
collected because they were on the administration. On the other hand, it took the
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researcher about two weeks to finish with the target parents. Some of the parents were
not able to write so the researcher had to put down the answers they gave for them. The
administrating of the questionnaire was not tedious and did not pose any problem all
Observation
respondents. It was geared toward getting information on pupils’ reading ability and
ways of improving it. It was constant with Grarvenor and Rose (2001) observation,
researcher critically noted down the behaviours of pupils towards reading in the
classroom and lessons and others which concerned them with reading for about three
weeks.
The pupils reading exercise books were also observed and were not encouraging.
The researcher again went outside the classroom to unremarkably observe the chosen
In the same way, the class teacher was closely observed on his methods of
teaching reading and learning materials he made use of and their appropriateness to the
The observation undertaken by the researcher, gave her insight into pupils
reading abilities. The questionnaire confirmed and added more value to the researcher’s
observation. The date collected were clearly edited and recorded for analysis.
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Intervention
procedure which is constantly monitored over varying periods of time and by a variety
Pre-Intervention Stage
These instruments were used to find out the factors reading to the poor reading habit of
Intervention Stage
The researcher used about one month to implement the strategies for the propose
After the data had been collected and critically analyzed, the researcher realized
the cause of the pupils’ poor reading. In the same vain, some of the teachers did not
make use of appropriate teaching and learning materials. Most parents did not motivate
their wards to form good reading habit. Most of the pupils were ready to improve upon
The following intervention steps were taken by the researcher to put right the
existing problem.
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Phonic Method
English alphabet letter cards were made into cardboard with upper and lower
case letters. The sounds of the alphabets were taught and progressively learnt. The
researcher laid more emphasis on the sounds of the letters and not their names. The
students unconsciously trained themselves in the left to right eye movement since the
letters led in that order, thus from the left to the right.
The letter cards with the English letters were then flashed to students to
pronounce them. Students had no problem with pronunciation of the English letters of
the alphabets.
In groups of five, pupils were assisted to blend the letters of these letters to read
them. The researcher noticed that the pupils were able to work out the pronunciation of
C a p = Cap
B a g = Bag
M a d = Mad
G u m = Gum
Syllabic Method
The syllabic method is an extension of the phonic method, where children are
taught a syllable and consonant sounds are added. For example, letter ‘c’ is added to the
15
Words are written on a cardboard based on their syllabic divisions. The research
taught pupils how to break words into their various syllables. In pronouncing the word,
the researcher took pupils through how to pronounce the word. For instance the word
‘plastic’ was divided into syllables plas-tic. This was repeatedly done in groups and
individually.
The tables below were used teaching and learning materials for further
Plas-tic
Ca-ble
Tea-cher
Hel-per
Win-dow
It is a method whereby words are broken into syllabic units before they are pronounced.
Polysyllabic words
Ma-te-rial
To-ge-ther
Im-pro-per
Abi-li-ty
De-pen-dent
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Sentence Method
This is where large vocabulary which has been stocked y pupils is being put into
meaningful sentences.
The researcher carefully came out with many pictures. Pupils were first asked to
talk about the pictures. A word was attached to each pictures for the pupils to read them.
Later, the words were removed and pupils were asked to attach word to the right picture
and read them. These words again developed into meaningful sentences. All these
Since pupils had already acquired a large stock of vocabulary, they mad quick progress
in reading. The researchers also realized that pupils had developed some skills in
reading.
Picture puzzles below were used as learning materials for further explanation.
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Post-Intervention Stage
The post intervention stage of this research aims at evaluating the effectiveness
of the intervention strategies used by the researcher. This was to ascertain whether the
pupils in class two had improved upon their reading skills after being taken through the
In view of this, the researcher used one day, for post-intervention as the
researcher conducted a reading teat for the selected twenty pupils in the class.
A passage of about one hundred and thirty words, with the topic ‘Air Transport’ was
chosen for pupils to read. Ten question were also set to test pupils’ comprehension on
Fifty minutes was fixed for the whole exercise after which answer sheets were
collected from the pupils for marking. One point was awarded for each correct answer.
Reading Passage
Air Transport
Air transport is the newest form of transport. Today, planes can carry almost
Some planes are big e.g Boeing 747, other are smaller e.g helicopter. We have
two main kinds of air routes which are domestic and international air routed. Many
countries now have their own airlines e.g Ghana has Ghana Airways. Travelling by air
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First, one should obtain an international passport from immigration department
and a health certificate. In addition, one should obtain visa from the embassy of the
When the day of the flight comes, one goes to the airport and reports at the
departure hall for departure formalities each plane has a crew comprising the pilot, co-
It is the duty of the pilot to fly the plane steering it y the compass. Poor visibility
caused by dark and heavy clouds are one of the hazards affecting air transport, other
hazards include strong winds like tornadoes, and sandstorms in the deserts.
Conclusion
For effective teaching of reading to pupils, the teacher should not use one
method as each of them helps to improve pupils’ reading. Appropriate use of teaching
and learning materials add value and progress to pupils reading ability.
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CHAPTER FOUR
The fourth chapter of this action research parents the analysis and interpretation
of that results attained after the intervention strategies conducted for the pupils. It further
deals with analysis of findings made through the use of questionnaire and observation
Primary School. The researcher used pie-chart and table in analyzing the results and
findings.
Analysis of test result attached after the intervention strategies. Out of the twenty
pupils selected for the reading test, about fifteen pupils were able to pronounce and read
more than one hundred words correctly, figure one gives the detailed analysis.
Angle sector =
20
¿ ×270
360
= 15
20
More than ninety words;
Angle of sector = 54
20
= ×54
360
Angle of sector = 18
20
¿ ×18
360
=1
Angle of sector = 18
20
¿ ×18
360
=1
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The analysis of figure one shows a great improvement in pupils reading. There is
observation. What are the causes of Enchico Demonstration Primary two pupils’ poor
reading?
Table 1
Data on whether pupils were supplied with adequate reading materials for reading
lessons.
Yes 4 20
No 16 80
Total 20 100
The above table displays information from pupils on whether they had enough reading
materials for their reading lessons. It could be noticed that out of the twenty pupils,
sixteen pupils representing 80% indicated NO, whereas only four pupils representing
20% said YES. Some of the pupils revealed to the researcher that, one textbook had to
be shared by about four pupils, most of them ended up reading nothing from the
textbook during reading lessons hence lost interest in reading activities that might take
place in the class. The finding in table1 proves beyond doubt that inadequate reading
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In attempt to get the pupils views on the use of teaching and learning materials and their
Table 2: Take a close look at that Data on the use of appropriate TLMS y teachers.
Yes 3 15
No 17 85
Total 20 100
From the above, it could be seen that seventeen representing 85% of the selected twenty
pupils responded NO, while only three pupils representing 15% responded YES. The
pupils further indicated that most of the teachers do not make use of teaching and
teaching materials at all and a few that use them do not use appropriate one but for
effective teaching and learning to take place, there must be the use of right teaching and
learning materials this already proved that the failure of using teaching and learning
materials and their appropriateness to the lesson is one of the contributing factors of
poor reading among primary two pupils of Enchico Demonstration primary School.
Teachers’ Questionnaire
Questionnaires were given to the selected teachers to sack their views. They included the
class teachers from class one to class six. Out of the six teachers, four were men while
only two were women the table below takes a takes a look at questionnaire structure of
the teachers.
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Table 3
Degree Holder 0 0
Certificate ‘A’ 4 67
Untrained 2 33
Total 6 100
From table 3 above, more of the teachers was a degree holder four out of the total
representing sixty-seven percent (67%) were certificate holders and two are untrained
The questionnaire for the teachers also looked at some of the problems teachers faced in
Table 4
method
reading
Total 6 100
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From the table above, three teachers representing 50% of the six teachers stated that
insufficient reading materials was the problem they encountered in their reading lessons
which hindered the effectiveness of their teaching, in the same way, one teacher
representing 16.9% also indicated that they have problems in choosing appropriate
teaching methods which further explained that they sometimes faced problems in how to
The remaining two teachers also indicated that students’ bad attitude such as laziness
and truancy towards reading are major problem they have been encountering in their
reading lessons.
The findings from the table 3 helped the researcher to find some of the causes of the
problem stated by the teacher in table 4. Thus, as some teachers are untrained, there will
Findings from the table also made it clear to the researcher that, poor reading among the
pupils is also caused by insufficient reading and inappropriate teaching methods used by
teachers views and suggestions on some of the teaching techniques that could help limit
the problem of poor reading among the pupils, the researcher gave out questionnaire to
Questionnaires was prepared for twenty parents. Out of them were ten males whereas
the remaining ten were females. The questionnaire took a look at how often the parents
encouraged their wards to read. The table below presents data on that.
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Table 5: Data on how often parent encourage their wards to read.
read
Total 20 100
From table 5, could see that as many as fourteen parents representing 70% said that
children are seldom encouraged by their parents to read. Some parents even don’t know
the kind of reading materials their wards use and how their children perform in reading
text. On the other hand, six parents representing 30% do use some incentives such as
biscuits, toffees and bread to encourage their wards to read at home and in school.
Research questions 2; what are some of the teaching techniques that can help improve
Table 6: Data on teaching techniques that can help solve, the problem of proof reading
Electic Method 3 50
Total 6 100
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From table 6, three teachers representing 50% suggested the eclectic method to be
appropriate teaching technique that can help improve pupils’ poor reading, each of the
remaining three representing 16.7% method and the whole sentence method
respectively. This method will expose the pupils to varieties of teaching methods that
On the issue of who participated in answering the questionnaire indicated that, children
must be taken through pre-reading activities are the following; picture reading, the
matching of words with objects, matching picture reading matching of words with
Moreover, about fifty percent of the respondents indicated that appropriate teaching and
learning materials must be used at both pre-reading and actual reading stages. About
three reading techniques must be applied to ensure effective teaching and learning. This
method is what they term as the application of the eclectic approach in teaching reading.
They testify that if the teaching techniques are properly designed and applied in reading
to pupils; it will help the children to acquire the reading skills with ease also to motivate
Conclusion
From the various tables shown, it can be seen clearly that, apart from the observation
questionnaire is the best instrument. Pupils poor reading as seen is caused by a lot of
factors stated already, like inadequate reading materials, the use of inappropriate
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teaching and materials, students bad attitude towards reading, and lack of
It could also be seen that, the eclectic approach of teaching reading and the type can help
disability. These tables make it easier for one to get real concept on poor reading and
The researcher decided to use these instruments to find a way to this menace and help
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CHAPTER FIVE
Introduction
The last chapter of this research deals with the summary of key findings, drawing of
conclusion and recommendation to help reduce problems of poor reading among the
purpose for writing the action research was to determine how to improve pupils reading
ability and to motivate and sustain their interest in reading lessons. The researcher used
basic two pupils of Enchi Demonstration Primary through interesting activities with
Summary
The main findings forms the studies were on the issue of the need for teachers to vary
their methods and techniques to teach reading. It was realized that teachers who vary
It also became obvious that, allowing that, allowing unprofessional teachers to teach in
our basic schools results in ineffective teaching of the subject as these types of teachers
Again, it was observed that the failure of teachers to use teaching and learning materials
such as flash cards, pictures, word card and others largely contributed to pupil’s poor
reading.
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The further study revealed that the teachers were confronted with problems which
Moreover, the study disclosed the fact that most parents of Enchi were not encouraging
and motivating their wards to read at home privately. All these contributed to the pupil’s
poor reading.
The population for the study was primary two of pupils of Enchico Demonstration
Some teachers and parents were selected for the study. Questionnaire and observation
were the main instruments used for data collection. The questionnaire was structured in
close-ended and open-ended questions of “Yes or No”. the open-ended questions sought
The responses obtained were collected for analysis. The results got were later converted
to percentages and were tabulated in the fourth chapter to make it easier for one to get
The instruments used made it easier for the researcher to obtain facts pertaining to why
pupils read poorly and ways of reversing it. In the same way, the tables used for the data
analysis made it easier for me to know the number of people who agreed and disagreed
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Conclusion
Based on the critical analysis of the available data retrieved, it can be seen that the
findings confirmed most of the research questions. For instances, inadequate teaching
and learning materials and the use of untrained teachers to teach reading are some of the
Also, the improper use of teaching method and some problems faced by teachers in the
school impede effective teaching and learning of reading. On the other hand, the eclectic
approach which exposes the teachers and the pupils to various teaching techniques is the
most appropriate teaching method that can help improve reading as discovered by study.
The ultimate aim of every research is to find lasting solution to the problem at hand.
This study aims to achieve the same. Findings of this research cannot be said to have
large degree of generalization, they tend to make findings related to the literature.
However, the intention used can be applied in engaging further researcher on the
problem.
Recommendations
Looking at the findings from the research on the factors leadings to poor reading among
the basic two pupils of Enchico Demonstration Primary School, the researcher therefore
recommends that, teachers should vary their teaching methods for better delivery of their
lessons in order to make their lessons lovely to arouse pupils for them to participate fully
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In view of this, the eclectic techniques incorporated with words cards, flash card,
pictures and real objects are recommended for teachers who teach reading in the basic
schools.
Previsions should be made in the classroom to meet the need of all pupils most
In additions, in-service training should be conducted for all teachers especially teachers
of English Language, the effective handing of the subject by the head teachers ad Ghana
Also, parents and other stakeholders should motivate their wards by providing them with
story books and other reading materials to enable them read always and this will help
Division (CRDD) of Ghana Education Service (GES) should design textbooks which
Lastly, the duration of the project work such as action research should be beyond two
sentences so that researchers could have ample time for effective administration of
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REFERENCE
improves
reading Comprehension of primary six pupils at University primary school, Cape Coast.
Asamoah J.K. et al (2003) teaching English in basic schools (2nd Edition) Institution of
(1998) Developing reading (2nd edition) London holder and stoughton. Bromley, M and
Martin Alain (2001) the international abstraction journal for language teachers and
Goodman K.S (1993) windows on the reading processed (ed miscue analysis)
Hammily D.D and Bartels N.R (1990) teaching students with learning and behaviour
Sackey (2006) factors influencing reading problems facing upper primary pupils in
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APPENDICES
Appendix A
4. State any one preparation that needs to be done by someone travelling y air.
5. According to the passage where does one go to report on the day of departure?
34
Appendix B
Yes ( ) No ( )
6. Do you personally have a copy of the prescribed textbook for English Reading?
Yes ( ) no ( )
Yes ( ) No ( )
a…………………………………………………………….
b…………………………………………………………….
Yes ( ) No ( )
10. Do your parent encourage and assist you to read at home? Yes ( ) No ( )
12. What are some of the things or strategies that can be part in place to improve
a………………………………………………….
b…………………………………………………..
35
c…………………………………………………..
d………………………………………………….
13. Is the number of English textbooks in your class enough to the number of pupils
14. If no please, state how many pupils share one textbook during reading lessons
………………………………………
Appendix C
Yes ( ) No ( )
5. If No, how many English textbooks do you have in your class? Please state
……………………………
6. Apart from the English Textbook, what other books do you consult in
……………………………………………………
8. If Yes, how many of the pupil cope with them? Please state;
………………………………………………………
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9. Do you encounter difficulties in teaching reading to pupils?
Yes ( ) No ( )
a. ……………………………………………………………………
b. ……………………………………………………………………
c. …………………………………………………………………….
d. …………………………………………………………………….
11. Do you always use teaching and learning materials in teaching reading?
Yes ( ) No ( )
……………………………………………………………………………
13. nState some of the teaching and learning materials used in teaching reading.
a. ……………………………………………………………………….
b. ………………………………………………………………………..
c. …………………………………………………………………………
d. …………………………………………………………………………
Yes ( ) No ( )
15. If Yes, how often do you undertake such in-service training? Please state.
……………………………………………………………………………..
16. What teaching techniques and methods could be the best that can help curb
the poor reading among the basic two pupils of Enchico Demonstration
………………………………………………………………………
17. What other things are used to be done to improve reading ability of pupils.
37
a. …………………………………………………………………………
b. …………………………………………………………………………
c. …………………………………………………………………………
d. …………………………………………………………………………
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Appendix D
………………………………………………………………
Yes ( ) No ( )
5. Have you bought any story or reading materials for your child (ren) to motivate
6. Have you found out to know whether the school has adequate textbooks or
7. Do you consult the teacher to know the reading ability of your children?
Yes ( ) No ( )
8. Do you know the reading ability of your children by looking into their termly
a. ………………………………………………………………
b. ………………………………………………………………
c. ………………………………………………………………
d. ………………………………………………………………
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