Buddy Reading in a Singaporean Primary School

Abstract

■ Buddy Reading, a peer tutoring programme, is popularly adopted in Singapore schools to increase the reading proficiency of lower primary children who are not reading at age appropriate levels. However, this programme is rarely subjected to systematic evaluation. In view of this, the present study undertakes an evaluation of the programme as it is implemented in a Singaporean primary school. The evaluation brings to the fore some of the shortcomings inherent in the programme and proposes how the training could be enhanced. The final part of the paper evaluates the effects of the newly proposed training programme and concludes with implications for training and research in the area.

Linking reading and writing with picture books: A literacy buddy approach in rural Taiwan

“…This study was primarily influenced by previous studies demonstrating the benefits of buddy reading (e.g., Friedland & Truesdell, 2006;Kreuger & Braun, 1998;Mak et al, 2008) and reading picture books (e.g., Louie & Sierschynski, 2015;Sheu, 2008;Sun, 2015). To begin with, buddy reading is a reading approach that involves students reading books to a partner who may be younger or at a lower reading proficiency level (e.g., Mak et al, 2008;Shegar, 2009;Theurer & Schmidt, 2008). It does not need to follow a standard implementation format (Shegar, 2009), which gives teachers considerable flexibility in adapting this instructive activity for their students based on their curricula and students' reading proficiency.…”

“…To begin with, buddy reading is a reading approach that involves students reading books to a partner who may be younger or at a lower reading proficiency level (e.g., Mak et al, 2008;Shegar, 2009;Theurer & Schmidt, 2008). It does not need to follow a standard implementation format (Shegar, 2009), which gives teachers considerable flexibility in adapting this instructive activity for their students based on their curricula and students' reading proficiency.…”

“…It was limited to 3 days because a short-term, intensive camp was technically more feasible in the target school during the winter vacation. To plan the camp and its curriculum, the researchers referred to studies on buddy reading (e.g., Friedland & Truesdell, 2004;Kreuger & Braun, 1998;Mak et al, 2008;Shegar, 2009;Theurer & Schmidt, 2008) and included two main pedagogical stages, buddy reading and buddy writing (see Figure 1), which involved nine lessons in total (see Table 1). All of the activities were implemented mainly by the first author, and the second author and another teaching assistant acted as student supervisors, circulating in the classroom to monitor and assist the students most of the time.…”

Tutoría entre Iguales y Comprensión Lectora: ¿Un Tándem Eficaz?

“…Prácticas de lectura y tutoría entre iguales desarrolladas en otros países y siempre en lengua inglesa, Read On (Topping & Hogan, 1999), Scotland Reads (Topping, 2006), America Reads Challenge (Wasik, 1997), Reading Together (Hattie, 2006) y Buddy Reading (Shegar, 2009), destacan resultados positivos respecto al desarrollo de la competencia lectora en aspectos clave como la comprensión, la fluidez, la motivación y las actitudes hacia la lectura.…”