LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:2 February 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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An Investigation on Secondary School Students’ Literacy Skills and
Their Academic Performance:
Identifying Critical Areas for Intervention

Mebratu Mulatu, Ph.D. and Eshetu Mandefro, M.A.
Hawassa University

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to evaluate the students’ perception and performance in the basic literacy skills (Reading and Writing Skills). The design was basically a descriptive survey. The study encompassed 4 Woredas (local districts) of Hawassa University Technology village. The samples were 226 Grade 10 students of which 76 were High, 75 were Medium and 75 were Low achievers in the overall academic subjects. The sampling technique employed was purposive. The instruments were Standard Literacy Test and questionnaire. The data from the test was analyzed using SPSS, specifically independent sample t-test, to make comparisons among the scores of the students. On the other hand, the data collected through questionnaire was analyzed using simple statistics like frequency count and percentile. The main findings of the study revealed that high achievers managed to score high marks in Standard Literacy Test (SLT) when they are compared with low achievers. When the reading and the writing items scores were compared, reading skills test scores have high potential to predict the academic performance of the learners. On the other hand, most high and low achievers couldn’t score the average point in the literacy skills test which implies that pool literacy performance of students is one of the main challenges in ensuring quality education. The other important finding of this study is that high and low achievers have differences in interest, reading and writing experience and classroom practice towards literacy skills. However, both groups experience similar challenges such as scarcity of materials, poor back ground experience, and inconvenient environment to develop their literacy level. It is recommend that EFL teachers, school administrators, governmental and non-governmental organization should take part in the intervention components mentioned in the study.

Keywords:

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

The most common understanding of literacy is that it is a set of tangible skills – particularly the cognitive skills of reading and writing – that are independent of the context in which they are acquired and the background of the person who acquires them. Scholars continue to disagree on the best way to acquire literacy, with some advocating the ‘phonetic’ approach and others ‘reading for meaning’, resulting in what has sometimes been called the ‘reading wars’ (Street, 2004). The emphasis on meaning has recently given way to a ‘scientific’ attention to phonetics, word recognition, spelling and vocabulary. This approach has lately turned to research in the cognitive sciences on important features of human memory (e.g. how the brain processes reading patterns) and to techniques such as phonological awareness training and giving increasingly faster reading tasks (Kourea, et al., 2007).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Mebratu Mulatu, Ph.D.
College of Social Sciences and Humanities
Hawassa University
Hawassa
Ethiopia
mebratumulatu@gmail.com

Eshetu Mandefro, M.A.
College of Education
Hawassa University
Hawassa
Ethiopia
eshe1972@gmail.com

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