Teaching Reading Skills in Home Language: A Case Study of Foundation Phase Teachers

Abstract

Foundation phase teachers are the beginning and the foundation of it all. Teachers of foundation phase should be commended for being eye openers. They start learners from scratch and teach them the basics of reading. But research has shown that most foundation phase teachers are uncertain about the methods and approaches that they need to use in order to teach reading to the beginners at schools. Admittedly, some teachers have developed methods of their own that are far superior to any that have been investigated and commercially published. It is therefore imperative to understand the different ways that teachers employ to engage children when they start to teach them reading and how they help them gain literacy as the first step in the empowerment of the mind. This study is qualitative in nature and it examines methods used by foundation phase teachers in teaching the grade ones reading Setswana. Data for this paper was collected data from 8 different foundation phase schools in Bojanala District at Brits which falls under the Department of Basic Education (DBE). In this study, four foundation phase teachers were observed and subsequently interviewed on the methods that they use when they teaching Setswana to the foundation phase learners. The teaching of Setswana involved teaching the learners to read. While they are four teachers observed, this paper will, however, focus on two teachers only. In the end it was clear that more cooperation and collaboration between teachers and local circuit and district administrators in planning and delivering teaching approaches and the workshops. Teachers and local administrators need to keep abreast with new developments in the fields of language and literacy development in order to effectively challenge and critique new approaches. Finally, teachers should also be supported by the Department of Basic Education in conducting investigation on teaching and learning in their classrooms.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n3p463