Literacy programs efficacy for developing children’s early reading skills in familiar language in Zambia

Abstract

This study investigated the comparative efficacy of a phonics based reading program and a language experience approach based literacy program to develop reading skills among Zambian early childhood school learners. The learners (n=1,986; Grade 2 level, (females =50.1%) took either the phonics based reading program (n=1,593) or the alternative language experience approach based program (n=393). They were all assessed for reading skills utilizing the Early Grade Reading Assessment test (EGRA) in four languages (Cinyanja, Icibemba, Kiikaonde and Silozi). Results suggest that learners in phonics based literacy program were significantly better in letter-sound knowledge in all the four languages and in reading skills (non-word reading, oral passage reading and reading comprehension) only in Icibemba and Silozi compared to those who took the alternative program. Results reveal that children in PLP had significantly better performance in most reading skills than in PRP, but the effect sizes were small or medium. The high floor effect in all directly reading-related measures is an indication that most children in Zambia have not acquired even the basic reading skill of the transparently written language they are familiar with in neither PRP nor PLP and thus are in urgent need of better instruction. The implementation of the phonics approach is not effective enough. Instruction of the sounds of letters requires special attention where digital training tools (such as GraphoGame) may provide the most effective help to both teachers and children.

Supporting Acquisition of Spelling Skills in Different Orthographies Using an Empirically Validated Digital Learning Environment

“…The traditional reading instruction used in Sub-Saharan African countries is based on teaching English has not been successful teaching reading in a transparent orthography (Lyytinen et al, 2019a , b ). Using this approach in Zambia has resulted in almost every learner requiring additional help to learn to read and write mainly because of the mismatch between teaching a non-transparent orthography (English) to teach a totally different type of orthographies (Sampa et al, 2018 ). As a result, very few children have learned the basic foundations of reading prior to third grade (i.e., the time when the reading instruction focusing on local languages ends), resulting in poor performance on the main measure of academic achievement; the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) (Sampa et al, 2018 ).…”

Literacy and Child Development in a Contemporary African Society

“…Research on literacy and child development in Zambia has often reflected an autonomous view of individual literacy as a set of measurable competencies that can be assessed independently of context (Street, 2006), with studies designed to investigate how their attainment is influenced by extraneous variables such as language variety or instructional input. Language variety was operationalized as a medium of instruction in evaluation studies of Zambia’s major curriculum reforms in the 1960s, 1990s, and 2010s (McAdam, 1973; Sampa, 2003; Sampa, Ojanen, Westerholm, Ketonen, & Lyytinen, 2018). In these studies, it is difficult to interpret comparisons of average literacy outcomes between large numbers of children enrolled in classes following different curricula because the curricula differed on several dimensions.…”

“…But the study examined only children’s expressive language preferences without assessing receptive competence or speed of learning in the medium of instruction, which may have underestimated the children’s plurilingual adaptability (Serpell, 2014). In larger scale studies, children for whom the zonal medium of instruction was their home language had only slightly superior early literacy outcomes (Jere‐Folotiya et al, 2014; Sampa et al, 2018; Williams, 1996).…”

Challenges Associated with Reading Acquisition in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…The programme provides two years of literacy instruction in the local language instead of just one year as in the previous programme. While the most recent programme of literacy instruction is more promising than earlier ones, the most recent assessment results achieved through the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) (Brombacher, et al 2015;Sampa, Ojanen, Westerholm, Ketonen & Lyytinen, 2018) in Zambia reveal that the majority of children are still failing to acquire basic reading skills in a local language before the end of Grade 2. Failure to learn to read in the local language during the first two years of primary school is a major risk for failure in upper grades taught in the English language.…”

“…This practice naturally causes problems when teachers are teaching literacy in a local language (Yalukanda, in preparation). It can slow down learning of all children, as shown by the results of the recent Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) (Sampa, Ojanen, Ketonen, Westerholm & Lyytinen, 2018), and can pose a special risk for children who have learning difficulties.…”