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Background: This article describes how the National Reading Barometer project has redefined the concept of 'reading culture' in South Africa. Objectives: As expressed in the 2023 National Reading Survey (N = 4250) and the 2023 National Reading Barometer, a clearer description of reading cultures was developed to describe both individual reading practices (measured through the survey) and the national reading ecosystem (measured through the barometer). Method: We describe the survey and statistical tools developed to measure the new concept of reading cultures. This includes a survey questionnaire that introduced novel questions alongside established indicators. Reading is defined and measured through six distinct dimensions: reading purpose, habits, volume, depth, motivation, and identity. The expanded understanding of reading purpose includes reading for information, communication, and enjoyment. At an ecosystem level, the National Reading Barometer was applied to visualise data from the National Reading Survey and secondary data on reading ability, access to reading material, and enabling environmental indicators to provide a baseline for high-level longitudinal trends in the national reading environment. Results: The National Reading Barometer and National Reading Survey assisted to redefine the debate on reading cultures by providing evidence-based descriptions of varied reading cultures and situating these within the reading ecosystem. Conclusion: We conclude by proposing how this revised concept of reading cultures and the new tools for measuring impact may open research and policy advocacy opportunities in the literacy sector. Contribution: This article contributes a pluralistic, Afrocentric, and modernised understanding of reading cultures.

Background: Owing to the dearth of reading practices within the South African literacy landscape, many learners neither engage in productive reading habits, nor exhibit a positive attitude towards English First Additional Language (EFAL) reading. Consequently, many learners experience reading challenges, which negatively impact on their academic performance. Objective: This study investigated the reading habits, attitudes and motivation of Grades 8-10 EFAL learners through the perceptive lens of EFAL teachers. Method: This qualitative study employed a case study design and a thematic data analysis process. The purposively selected sample for the semi-structured interviews consisted of six Grade 8-10 EFAL teachers from two high schools in the Tshwane South district. Results: Teachers believe that learners experience academic challenges because they do not habitually engage with texts, have a negative attitude towards printed text and read only to progress academically. The results further indicated that all these teachers concurred that there is a corresponding relationship between productive reading habits, a positive attitude towards reading and the academic performance of learners. Regrettably, the data analysis reported that the teachers have a pessimistic perception of the EFAL learners' reading habits, attitudes and motivation to read. More disturbingly, most of the teachers lacked the responsibility for their contribution towards the ongoing demise of productive reading practices among learners in their classrooms. Conclusion: The findings revealed grave implications about learners' reading habits, attitudes and motivation to read. Alarmingly, one of the most remarkable findings produced by this study is that the teachers themselves harbour negative perceptions about the reading practices of the learners in their classrooms.

The importance of getting children off to a good start in reading cannot be overstated. Successful academic performance at primary and secondary school level is partly dependent on the ability to read. It is believed that good learners are those who are proficient in reading. However, many learners are struggling to read and, therefore, struggle to academically succeed in other subjects. The problem of not being able to read transcends negatively on learners' academic achievements. This study proposes a strategy towards motivating learners in developing better reading habits through the distribution of reading bags. The mixed-method approach was adopted in conducting this study. Learners' reading strategies were first identified by administering a survey on reading strategies. About 14 student-educators volunteered in distributing the questionnaires at their respective schools during their teaching practice sessions. The questionnaires were distributed to 155 learners who voluntarily participated in the study. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for descriptive statistics. The results indicated that most of the learners use global reading strategies, with the least utilising the problem-solving strategies and the support reading strategies. The researchers recommend the usage of reading bags as a strategy to motivate learners to develop good reading habits, which will then lead to the usage of all three strategies, in particular, the problem reading strategies.

This article reports on the extensive reading (ER) component of a reading intervention programme to improve first-year students' reading proficiency. To make the intervention more practical and to accelerate improvement, an ER component was included in the programme. Two groups of first-year students (high-risk and low-risk) were required to read short stories and novels of their choice and to record their affective and cognitive experiences during the reading to submit as a portfolio. In addition, students answered pre- and post-intervention questionnaires on their reading habits. Students were selected based on their performance in a reading test and interviewed to gain more insight into their reading experiences. The questionnaires were analysed using the t-test, and the interview responses were analysed by content analysis. The findings show that students had benefited from ER. Questionnaire results show that students' reading habits had improved significantly. The reports from the interviews and inventories show that students' affective and cognitive reading levels, including reading speed, had also improved. Students also reported on the transfer of reading strategies from their ER to their academic reading. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for reading programmes at the tertiary level, specifically at this institution, to include ER in order to complement explicit teaching, instil motivation and accelerate the improvement of students' reading proficiency.

There have been a number of studies on reading interventions to improve students' reading proficiency, yet the majority of these interventions are undertaken with the assumption that students' reading challenges are obvious and generic in nature. The interventions do not take into consideration the diversity in students' reading backgrounds and the specific nature of the challenges. Thus interventions may not address students' specific reading needs. This paper reports on a study that explored students' reading profiles as a needs analysis for an intervention programme to improve the reading proficiency of first-year Sociology students. The aim was to investigate the students' reading backgrounds to determine their specific reading needs. A Likert scale questionnaire with an open-ended section was used to explore the students' reading profiles. The Likert scale questions were analysed quantitatively, while the open-ended questions were analysed qualitatively. In addition, a regression analysis was conducted to determine the correlation between students' use of strategies and their self-efficacy levels. The findings show that a number of students have little reading experience, use inappropriate reading strategies, and have low self-efficacy and poor reading habits. In addition, students identified comprehension, language, vocabulary, length and density of Sociology texts as factors compounding their reading challenges. This paper discusses the implications of these findings in designing an appropriate reading intervention programme for this cohort.

Notwithstanding the substantial transformation of education in South Africa in the last 20 years, specifically to redress the past inequalities, the challenges are ongoing. These challenges include tertiary institutions having to accommodate a culturally and linguistically diverse group of students, often second-language (L2) English speakers, in an English "lingua franca" classroom. This study investigated the reading attitudes and habits of students in an intermediary programme of a tertiary institution and any perceived changes to these attitudes or habits, as well as their perceptions of the promotion of reading by the programme. On successful completion of the intermediary programme, students register for the compulsory first-year English distance learning course and are required to complete a placement test. Results for students who attended the intermediary programme were compared with those of students who did not attend the intermediary programme but registered directly for mainstream. The teaching of reading appeared invaluable at the tertiary level with the indication that students' attitudes and behaviour changed and that they "inter alia" realised the academic value thereof, made decisions to take up reading as a hobby and discovered new genres.

This study employed the survey design on a purposive sample of 100 English Second Language (ESL) teachers from Swaziland and South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, to investigate the extent to which they accessed, utilised and conducted research to better their practice. A survey questionnaire and follow-up structured interviews generated quantitative and qualitative data. Findings pointed to grossly restricted physical and intellectual access to research findings and correspondingly low engagement with, and in research, by teachers. Respondents attributed this to inaccessible and inapplicable research, the nature of the school system, which is characterised by conservative examinations and leadership, time and material resource constraints, as well as inadequate teacher preparation and support. Recommendations for improving teacher knowledge, school support system, as well as accessibility and relevance of research are proffered to provide incentives for teachers' study, actualisation and generation of research findings to inform classroom practice.

This article explores the contradiction between student teachers' acknowledgement of the importance of reading and their actual personal reading habits, and by doing so, attempts to dig below the surface and 'take stock' of future teachers' attitudes towards reading at a private tertiary institution in Durban, South Africa. The rationale is that without fully understanding student teachers' own attitudes towards reading, the challenges of literacy and reading in the classroom cannot be fully addressed. It does this through a survey of 171 student teachers that investigated how much or how little they read for pleasure, what texts they read for pleasure (fiction, non-fiction, magazines, newspapers, online), how many of them are engaged readers of extended texts (fiction and non-fiction) and finally, the role books and reading play in their lives. It emerged that student teachers' positive attitude towards reading and their apparent understanding of its importance starkly contradicted their lack of own reading for pleasure and investment of their time in this activity. The acknowledgement of the importance of reading can be viewed as a small success. However, it is ultimately overshadowed by the reality that if this contradiction is not pointed out and interrupted, it could send a mixed message to future learners: that reading is important, but not pleasurable.

The Family Literacy Project works with women in rural KwaZulu-Natal to help them improve their levels of literacy and provides encouragement as they support the literacy development of their children. These women have regularly visited neighbouring families to read to and play with children and discuss early childhood development and relevant health messages with adults. In addition community libraries and book boxes provide books for these under resourced areas. The findings of an independent evaluation are used to highlight aspects of the project.

Reading ability is fundamental to teaching and learning (AFT 2004). This study assessed the reading ability of 25 in-service science educators at the University of Limpopo for three science texts: Grades 7, 8 and 9, using a cloze test and exploring materials that educators read. The scores were categorised as being independent, instructional and frustrating. The results of One-way ANOVA reveal no significant differences in scores for Grades 7 and 8 texts, but significant differences in scores between Grades 7 and 8 compared to Grade 9 texts. A Tukey (HSD) post hoc test indicates that Grade 9 texts accounted for the main differences, suggesting that educators read Grade 9 texts at a frustration level. The reading ability of most of the educators was at the instructional level. Data from semi-structured interviews suggest that educators do read when preparing for classes. The implications are discussed in the light of improving reading ability of educators at higher education level. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

The importance of reading cannot be overstated. The persistent lack of a reading culture in South Africa has been reported by many scholars. Following the growing concern for the lack of reading habits of South Africans in general and students at the institutions of higher learning in particular, this quantitative study investigates the reading habits of students at the University of Limpopo, South Africa. The data were collected using a questionnaire which was completed by 98 students in the School of Education and Programme of Information Studies. The students were identified on the basis that they are being trained to encourage and promote the culture of reading in their work. Microsoft Excel was used to capture, calculate and organise the collected data for analysing. The major findings of this study were that the majority of the students at the University of Limpopo have poor reading habits and that they read for academic purposes only and not for pleasure. The study also revealed that the students were not reading for pleasure as a result of the unavailability of reading materials at the university. It is recommended that the library of the University of Limpopo introduce reading materials to accommodate students to read for pleasure and recreation. The development of lifelong reading interests and reading habits is a constant process which begins in the home, improves systematically in the school and is carried on in later life. Therefore, reading is not just for school, it is for life, as people have to "read to learn to live". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading is a competency that learners need to acquire from primary school level to enable them to filter through the entire education system. Storytelling is regarded as a teaching resource that literacy teachers can use to stimulate learners to love books, to read and to acquire reading habits and skills. However, in South Africa, it is a stark reality that primary school learners perform poorly in reading, writing and numeracy in comparative and standardised international and national assessments. The lack of exposure to quality reading materials at home and at school has been cited as one of the challenges learners are facing in acquiring reading habits, reading skills and a reading culture. The aim of this study was to investigate storytelling initiatives in primary schools to enhance reading literacy and a culture of reading in learners. To collect in-depth data from 10 Grade 4 or 5 literacy teachers who were selected through purposive sampling, a qualitative research approach was adopted. This approach enabled the researcher to visit literacy teachers physically in 10 primary schools to get first-hand information. Ten primary schools were selected through convenience sampling. The findings indicate that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) encourages storytelling as a weapon to resuscitate and encourage learners to acquire reading skills and to read with confidence in front of their fellow learners from other schools during reading competitions. The study recommends that apart from learning and teaching support materials (LTSM), the DBE needs to procure additional quality reading materials, such as storybooks, including talking books, video games, magazines and newspapers, for distribution to all schools to enable learners to develop reading habits and to inculcate a reading culture in them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on the topic of reading habits shows that reading for leisure benefits children and adolescents in numerous ways. It improves their vocabulary and literacy skills, it encourages self-development and provides young adults with entertainment, relaxation and a means to escape (McKool 2007: 111). The aim of this study was to investigate the reading habits of adolescents in Letlhabile in terms of practise and perception. The study used a mixed methods research approach and collected data from a total of 290 respondents with the aid of questionnaires and a focus group. The researchers wanted to establish how adolescents in Letlhabile perceive leisure reading, to what extent they participate in reading for leisure, and how leisure reading can be promoted in this community. The data collected from the mixed methods approach revealed contradictory findings that a questionnaire alone would not have revealed. The research approach was thus successful, but the findings were not enough to explore and meet fully all the aims of the research. It was, however, found that respondents were aware of the benefits of leisure reading and that they had good ideas about how leisure reading could be promoted in their community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]