Investigating the Comprehension Iceberg: Benchmarking African languages

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Baldric Harrison
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1 Investigating the Comprehension Iceberg: Benchmarking African languages Nompumelelo Mohohlwane (DBE) RASA Conference Zenex Foundation Symposium 4 October 2017

2 Background Improved access over the past decade in East and Southern Africa: 97%+ of 7-15 year old learners Increase from 39% to 58% of learners getting Matric ( ) Increase from to Matric Bachelor passes since 2008 BUT poor learner attainment : low performance in Maths, Science and Languages New benchmark for reading levels in Grade 4 Pre-PIRLS % of Grade 4 learners did not have the rudimentary reading skills for Grade 2 More than 50% of learners tested in Sepedi and Tshivenda are at risk 57% of Sepedi children did not meet the lowest international benchmark

Reading outcomes in African languages (2006) PIRLS 2006: How many

US: 12% 47% 82% 96% South African learners are only given access

read and a restrictive set of resources with which to critically

3 Reading outcomes in African languages (2006) PIRLS 2006: How many South African learners can read in any language in Gr4? US: 12% 47% 82% 96% South African learners are only given access to an extremely basic and impoverished notion of what it means to read and a restrictive set of resources with which to critically and pleasurably engage with text. Prof Ursula Hoadley (2017) (Taylor, 2016) 3

4 Can children read in African languages? PrePIRLS Proportion of Grade 4 students that are illiterate and the proportion who cannot read for meaning in any language(in LOLT Gr1-3) Using prepirls 2011 illiterate: cannot reach low benchmark. Read for meaning: reach intermediate benchmark. Not % Illiterate % Cannot read for meaning 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 83% 57% 60% 63% 66% 50% 44% 58% 27% 32% 32% 21% 26% 29% 29% 11% Western Cape Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Eastern Cape Mpumalanga North West Limpopo South Africa

5 Do children in English or Afrikaans LOLT schools learn to read? 100% PIRLS Proportion of Gr5 students in English & Afrikaans schools acquiring basic reading skills by school location Note: Proportion reaching low international benchmark in PIRLS SA tested 3515 grade 5 students in 92 schools where Eng/Afr was LO 95% 90% 80% 81% 84% 70% 60% 50% 55% 64% 57% 40% 30% 26% 28% 20% 10% 0% Remote rural Township Small town/ village Medium-city or large town Urban Suburban National International median (Gr4)

6 Complex language dynamics in SA ANA 2013 Language of Assessment 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 23% 23% 24% 23% 19% 19% 13% 22% 20% 9% 8% 8% 9% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 6% 5% 5% 90% 90% 90% 91% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 9% 9% 9% 8% 0% 0% 0% 0% Gr1 Gr2 Gr3 Gr4 Gr5 Gr6 Gr9 English isizulu isixhosa Sepedi Afrikaans Setswana Sesotho Xitsonga siswati Venda isindebele

7 Language Inequality in SA Only 58% of Africans reported being able to read and write in Home Language. This is 95% for Whites Direct relationship between English proficiency and earning in SA Study showed men reading and writing in English earn 55% more Those with English proficiency & post-schooling qualification earn 97% more Apartheid-era policies - inequalities can be seen along a number of correlated dimensions, including Language, Geographical location, Socioeconomic status, Race Former department

8 Reading comprehension outcomes

9 Developing benchmarks in African languages There is no one size fits all benchmark; reading benchmarks are language specific. Benchmarks for reading in English are known based on evidence: Learners at the 50th percentile should read 107 words correct a minute (Hasbrouck & Tindal, 2006)" There are currently ZERO benchmarks for African languages in SA Thal, Bates, Goodman and Jahn-Samilo (1997, p.241) argue that : If there are no clear criteria for identifying what is normal, then it is especially difficult to be certain that a child is delayed.

10 ESRC Leadership for Literacy Study Team: Servaas van der Berg, Gabrielle Wills, Nick Taylor, Ursula Hoadley, Jaamia Galant, Nic Spaull and Nompumelelo Mohohlwane Aim was to identify outlier Q1-3 schools. i.e. those that are performing well in spite of challenging circumstances and serving poor communities. 61 schools selected based on a matched-pair design (1 outlier, 1 typical match) 21 Gauteng 21 KZN 19 Limpopo Panel: Surveyed and assessed in Feb 2017 and Oct 2017 Feb 2017: 785 Grade 3 learners assessed 1-on-1 using an adapted EGRA on a tablet platform (Tangerine) 514 in isizulu 143 in Sepedi 128 in Xitsonga

11 Languages assessed Southern Bantu language family in South Africa Nguni language family (Conjunctive orthography) isizulu isixhosa Siswati isindebele Sotho language family (disjunctive orthograhy) Northern Sotho Southern Sotho Setswana Minority languages (Mainly disjunctive orthogrphy) Tshivenda Xitsonga

12 Morphology Language N Sotho (Sepedi) Xitsonga isizulu Text Ka le lengwe la matšatši mosepedi yo a bego a na le tlala. O fihlile motseng wo mongwe a kgopela dijo. Go be go se na yo a bego a na le dijo. Siku rin wana mufambi loyi a ri na ndlala. U fikile emugangeni. A kombela swakudya, kambe a ku nga ri na loyi. Kunesihambi esasilambile kakhulu. Sahamba sicela ukudla emizini yabantu. Abantu babengenakho ukudla. Gloss There was a stranger who was very hungry. He came to a village and asked for food. Nobody had any food. Words in Sentence1 Words in Sentence2 Words in Sentence3 Total words Words per sentence Letters per word Total single syllable words: V/ CV N Sotho Tsonga Zulu

13 Descriptive statistics

14 Accuracy and fluency: words The ability to identify letters and read words accurately reduces comprehension complications (Adams, 1994; Spear-Swerling, 2006). 1. Independent reading level: word recognition is 99% and comprehension is 90% or better. 2. Instructional reading level: (the level at which the reader can be successfully instructed) word recognition is 95% and comprehension is 75% or better. 3. Frustration reading level: word recognition is 90% or less and comprehension is less than 50%. At this level the reader cannot really understand the text. A grade level two years above one's reading level is usually

15 Accuracy and fluency: words

16 Tentative benchmarks for 3 African languages

17 Moving forward 1. We need to move beyond a repetitive focus on low comprehension outcomes; this is simply the tip of the iceberg. 2. What is lacking is research on the different reading components or the cognitive-linguistic processes involved in reading (De Vos et al, 2014) in African languages 3. We need to better understand this cognitive linguistic data generating process for African languages. 4. Below the surface there is widespread evidence that most children have not acquired the basic tools for reading success the ability to accurately and fluently decode letters and words and move from an effortful activity to an automated skill

18 Thank you

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