Metakognitiewe bewustheid as vereiste vir die effektiewe onderrig van leesbegripstrategieë

Statistics from PIRLS 2006 Summary Report (PIRLS 2008) and the national systemic tests (WKDvO 2009: 3) shows very clearly that South Africa is currently in a quandary regarding literacy. Nearly 90% of all participating grade 4 students and 80% of all participating Grade 5 students could during the PIRLS assessments are not coping to perform at the lowest acceptable level of reading skills for their grade. It is clear that changes in the current approach to reading instruction is vital. The aim of the research that produced this article report was to establish guidelines that the effective teaching of reading comprehension strategies in South Africa, in the senior phase, will enable. In this study, a qualitative approach within the critical paradigm followed. A participatory action research project was undertaken during the researcher reading comprehension strategies explicitly to a group of Grade 7 students taught through transactional teaching. The results of the detailed analysis of the summative and formative assessments, as well as the observations of the researcher, showed a marked improvement in the strategy using both skilled and struggling readers. A definite positive attitudinal change in reading in general was also clear. This study revealed important principles, including metacognitive awareness that must be taken into account when teaching this nature will be considered, and showed beyond doubt that the explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies a viable solution to the problems relating to literacy currently in the South African education system is experiencing, offer