TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content Page
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………………. ii
DECLARATION…………………………………………………………………………………. iii
DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………………….. iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………………………… v
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………………. vi
LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………… viii
LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………………. ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………………………. x
CHAPTER ONE:GENERAL INTRODUCTION…………………………………….. 1
CHAPTER TWO:LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………… 11
vii 2.9 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….. 36
CHAPTER THREE:DATA PRESENTATION……………………………………….. 37
3.4 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………… 46
CHAPTER FOUR:ANALYSIS OF DATA……………………………………………. 47
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION………………………………………………………. 59
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………. 64
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………….. 68
Appendix A:The story used for both tests……………………………………………….. 68
Appendix B:Some of the story charts composed by pupils during the intervention 69
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3. 1 Test 1Scores Obtained by Girls0………………………………………………… 38
3. 2 Test 2Scores Obtained by Girls………………………………………………….. 38
3. 3 Test 1Scores Obtained by Boys………………………………………………….. 39
3. 4 Test 2Scores Obtained by Boys………………………………………………….. 39
3. 5 Test 1 Scores Obtained by Girls in the Control Group………………….. 40
3. 6 Test 2 Scores Obtained by Girls in the Control Group…………………… 41
3. 7 Test 1 Scores Obtained by Boys in the Control Class……………………. 41
3. 8 Test 2 Scores Obtained by Boys in the Control Class……………………. 42
3. 9 Test 1 Experimental Group………………………………………………………… 43
3.10 Test 2 Experimental Group………………………………………………………… 44
3. 11 Test 1 Control Group………………………………………………………………… 45
- 12 Test 2 Control Group………………………………………………………………… 45
- 1 Summary of Results of the Independent t-Test, Means and
Standard Deviation of Teaching Approaches……………………………… 53
4. 2 Level of understanding of comprehension question 1 by the participants of the Control group participants………………………………………………………… 54
4.3 Level of understanding of comprehension question 2 by the participants of the Control group subjects…………………………………………………………….. 55
4. 4 Level of understanding of comprehension question 1 by
experimental group subjects……………………………………………………… 56
4. 5 Level of understanding of comprehension question 2 by
experimental group participants………………………………………………… 57
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
4. 1 The number of boys and girls in the control group……………………………. 48
4. 2 The number of boys and girls in the experimental group……………………. 48
4. 3 Marks obtained in Pre Intervention test by Control group…………………. 50
4. 4 Marks obtained in Pre-Intervention Test by Experimental group………… 51
x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
B.E.C.E. Basic Education Certificate Examination CA Communicative Approach
CEO Chief Executive Officer
ESL English as a Second Language
EELs English Language Learners
JHS Junior High School
LEA Language Experience Approach
UG University of Ghana
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CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Introduction
This thesis investigates the use of the Language Experience Approach in teaching reading at La Anglican Basic School. The basic premise of the approach is that an effective way to help students learn to read is through their already known words. In the Language Experience Approach, students relate an experience and the teacher writes down what the students say. The transcription is then used as a literacy source.
This chapter discusses the spread of English language to Ghana. It also discusses the important role it plays in the country. The chapter also states the research problem, the research questions, the hypothesis and the theoretical framework.
The Spread of English to Ghana
The English language was introduced into Ghana as a result of trade contact between Ghana and Britain. The main aim of the British for coming to the Gold Coast was to trade. In the course of the trade, the indigenous traders learnt most of the commonly used expressions of the British. It was after the British realized that there were many business opportunities in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) that they started establishing schools. A few who excelled were sent to England to receive special training. These Africans came back to serve as clerks to the British.
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The teaching and learning of the English language in formal educational institutions could be traced back to the colonial schools. Lessons were planned around reading, writing and the study of the Bible, (Sackey, 1997:127). According to Sackey (1997:127), learning took place in the form of repeated reading of primers and spelling books.
During the tenure of Sir Charles McCarthy (1822-1824) as governor of the then Gold Coast, English was taught in all government schools the way it was taught in England. It exposed the students to the English way of life as the readers contained stories from and about England. English, thus, was the medium of instruction in all government schools. The 1822 and 1887 educational ordinances passed by the colonial government brought a real change in formal education, which has persisted right down to today. Some of the recommendations made in those ordinances were: “grants-in-aid, payment by result and division of primary schools into those maintained entirely from public funds and assisted schools established by the missions and private persons,” (Sackey, 1997: 129).
In the 1920s, the colonial government accepted the use of the indigenous languages in the primary schools. This notwithstanding, a committee of enquiry set up in 1951 by the colonial office made the following observation, as quoted by Sackey (1997):
It may well be that children will be able to read and write English at the end of the primary school course better if they have first been taught to read and write in the vernacular; but in the absence of comparative experiments the mere assertion that this is so ought not be accepted as proof.
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(H.M.S.O. 1953: 21, cited in Sackey 1997: 130)
Those who opposed local languages as a medium of instruction gave such reasons as a non-existence of adequate literature and lack of qualified teaching personnel.
The Language Policy of Education in Ghana
Different committees had been set up to review the country‟s educational system. The current language policy of education in the country comes from the recommendations made by the committee led by J. Anamoah-
Mensah. Among other issues the committee recommended that
- At the basic level, emphasis shall be placed on literacy (reading and writing), numeracy and creative arts
- The medium of instruction in kindergarten and lower primary will be the dominant Ghanaian language of the area.
The Ghana Education Service is following these recommendations currently. The medium of instruction used at the lower primary (primary 1 to 3) is the dominant Ghanaian language of the area where the school is situated. English Language becomes the medium of instruction from primary 4 onward where the Ghanaian language becomes a subject that is taught like any other subject. This approach, some experts believe, facilitate the acquisition of second language.
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Statement of the problem
Although there are several factors that contribute to reading problems, the fundamental issue has something to do with how reading is taught. Most teachers of English do not follow any particular approach to the teaching of reading. The reading textbooks available to most public schools are inadequate in terms of both contents and quantity. The textbooks in most cases are not enough to go round the class. This situation forces teachers to resort to a combination of a number of different approaches such as phonics, bottom-top etc.
Every language teacher should have one aim and that is to guide the pupils/students to both grammatical competence and communicative competence, (Dzameshie 1997:173). “But this does not seem to be the case with regard to the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) in Ghana,” (Dzameshie 1997:173). The majority of students the researcher interacted with exhibited lack of both communicative and grammatical competence.
