“We’re going to sit with a generation [of learners] who cannot even construct a CV because they can’t bloody read”: Reading interventions by English teachers

Abstract

Teaching reading skills is one of the most intricate tasks expected of teachers. This is especially true since the COVID-19 pandemic because of the decline in Grade 4 learners' reading comprehension levels. The Department of Basic Education indicated that the 2021 PIRLS report revealed that 81% of South African Grade 4 learners struggle to read with comprehension in their home language. This hinders Intermediate Phase learners' ability to transition effectively from learning to read to reading to learn, given that they must start acquiring subject-specific knowledge. In this article, we explore how English Home Language (EHL) and English First Additional Language (EFAL) Intermediate Phase teachers have been teaching reading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an interpretivist qualitative research approach with a phenomenological research design, we determined the reading teaching practices used by EHL and EFAL Intermediate Phase teachers to teach reading.