Introduction
This is a literature review of research study, which revealed the importance of reading ability in learners. The research is a continuation of chapter- How to Improve Reading Using Phonic and Syllabic. Continue reading.
This chapter deals with the views of related source of materials, bodies of knowledge or information of the study and views of authors who have contributed to the subject of study, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.
Tsadidey (1997), said “English language has been of immense benefit”. He went on to say that “It is one of the colonial legacies that will remain with us for a long period of time in Anglophone Africa”.
It is therefore more valid in Ghanaian situation in which English has become the lingua Franca (common language). In Ghana, English is the official language. It is the language of the administrative machinery, of law, of the national press and even of commerce.
English is the language of education starting as a subject on the time table for the first three years of formal education and thereafter becoming a medium of instruction.
Inside Ghana, one of the surest ways of going round the country without having to face linguistics barriers is by having knowledge in English – no matter how small. For the above reasons, English must be carefully and effectively taught in the basic schools in the country.
Reading
Reading plays a very important role of individual. It is the most effective self-reliance tool for learning; a key that opens the door to physical, emotional, intellectual and moral or self-improvement.
It is true that the capability of an individual to profit from formal education depends largely on the quality and quantity of reading that he does.
For reading to take place, there should be a written language and the ability to read should be manifested in the readers understanding of what has been written.
Importance of Reading
There is the need to improve learners’ reading habits in early life. It would be of great value if reading is inculcated in children as a habit to enable them live up to the growing standards of their immediate society and the world at large.
Willinky, (2000) explains that reading is a basic life skill. It is a cornerstone for a child’s success in the school and indeed throughout life. He further argued that without the ability to read well, opportunity for personal fulfillment and job success will inevitably be lost.
He summarized the importance of reading in this few words, “through reading and writing we can explore, expand, classify, confirm and communicate our own thought, ideas and feelings as well as discover those of others”.
Gray (2001) asserted that the ability to read, serves a tool of vocation, an aid in meeting every day’s needs, a pursuit for leisure time, a tool of citizenship, a source of spiritual refreshment, an aid to enrichment of experience including personal development and incautious experience contribute greatly to the importance of reading.
Similarly, Bond and Wagner (2002) like Gray have continuing values for reading.
They asserted that reading has a lot of advantages for it helps broad the vision of readers, making their lives richer and more meaningful so that it enables readers to read and meet practical needs of life more effectively, develop their understanding, develop their ability to use reading in their intelligent search for truth to promote common culture abroad.
Kle (2000) stated that one read for pleasure to expand our understanding of life and in order to succeed in vocation we choose.
Reading is an activity with a purpose. A person may read in order to gain information or variety of existing knowledge in order to criticize a writers’ idea.
A person may read for enjoyment to enhance knowledge of the language being read. The purpose is to guide the reader’s selection of the test (Rumbold, 2006).
The purpose of reading also determines the appropriate approach to reading comprehension. A person who needs to know whether one can afford to eat at a particular restaurant needs to comprehend of the menu, but does not need to recognize the name appetizers listed.
However, a person using scientific article to support an opinion needs to know the vocabulary that is use to understand. However, Orton (2001) stated that the ultimate goals or purpose of reading is to be able to understand written materials, to evaluate it and to use it for ones needs.
Nature of Phonic Activities
There are two types of phonic methods, these are;
a) Analytical Method (“implicit method”) of teaching phonics
This method is designed to help readers use the known words to discover the strategies for decoding unknown words.
For example, if pupils are able to sound the word ‘b-a-n-a-n-a to be “banana”, they can easily read B-a-n-a-n-a-s as “Bananas”.
b) Synthetic word families (explicit method of teaching phonics).
This method is designed to serve three purposes
(1) To help readers to learn the sounds represented by letters and some methods of blending these sounds into words. For example, the sounds of m-a-n-g-o is blended to read as ‘mango’
(2) Increases pupils sight of vocabulary through the use of the consonant substitution. For example, pupils can follow the sound of the first letter of the word “tall” to pronounce the word “fall” or “ball”
(3) To aid pupils in word identification skills through the use of blending minimally contrasting word elements.
According to S.W.K Tsadidey, in his book, English Methods for Teachers in Training (1997, 42).
The success of phonic technique (Atomistic Method) depends on the effective teaching of the various sounds which the letter of the alphabet could represent. For example c-a-t = cat, d-o-g = dog, m-a-n = man (reading by spelling)
Advantage of Phonic Activities
Phonic technique helps pupils to embolden their effort and to spell-pronounce some words that they may be completely new to them.
Phonic activities train pupils in left to right eye movement since the letters have to be sounded from left to right (right-order form). Phonic activities also help pupils to proceed at their own rate to master the mechanism of reading.
The Syllabus (Syllabic) Technique
J.K Asamoah et al (2003) suggested that when pupils are able to pronounce a word and pronounce as word, you then concentrate on helping them to read letters put together to make syllables.
The word selected either begins with common consonant or end with a common vowel. For example, /ba/. /be/ bi, bu/or ma/ pal.
Advantages
The syllabic technique helps pupils to progress very fast at the initial state since it becomes very easily to read a host of di-syllabic words for examples, pa-pa, pen-cil, hel-per, win-dow, da-da and so on. Pupils are also able to read many common syllabic words. For example, s-o → so, g-o → go.
Through syllabic activities pupils will be able to join two mono-syllabic words and pronounce them as word. For example, Ko – fi to be ‘Kofi’, S.W.K Tsadidey (1997).
Action Research
Best and cahn (1995) defines action research as “a systematic subjective analyses and recording of controlled observation that may lead to the development of generalization, principles or theories resulting in prediction and possibly alternate control of event to solve it”.
According to Borg (1965), action research emphasis on the involvement of teachers’ problems in their own classroom and has it primary goal on the in-service training and development of the teacher rather than the acquisition of general knowledge in the field of education.
Guidelines for Preparation of Action Research, University of Cape Coast (2006), sees action research as “the inquiry conducted into a particular issues of current concern, usually undertaken by those directly involved with the aim of implementing a change in a specific situation”. The guidelines suggest the below implications and merits of Action research.
Implication of Action Research
i. It involves identification of problem, data collection analyzing the data to provide answer to write a report to solve a problem.
ii. It is directed towards the solution of the problem.
iii. It emphasizes the development of generalization.
iv. Action Research is based on observable experience.
v. It demands accurate observation and description.
It requires patience on the part of the researcher since work must be carefully recorded and reported. Action research is the research design applied by the researcher due to the following merits:
Guidelines for Preparation of Action Research, University of Cape Coast (2006), makes it clear that, findings from action research provides teachers with the opportunity of acquiring a better understanding of all aspects of their own practice be it in the relation to subject, content, the curriculum or the methods appropriate to the levels of pupils of study. Action research helps to identify problems in educational issues.
SOURCE: bbcpulse.com