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Much research exists about South African learners’ low literacy and numeracy levels and about poorly performing schools. In contrast, there are far fewer detailed descriptions of instructional practices and what teachers are actually doing in their classrooms, and far less evidence exists of in-depth research attempts to understand in what way and why teachers may experience problems with the teaching of reading literacy, particularly reading comprehension. This article aims to contribute to narrowing that gap by reviewing recent South African research on classroom comprehension instruction and obtaining information from teachers about how they perceive themselves as readers, what their teaching context is, what they claim to be doing about reading in their classrooms, and to match these responses with ANA results at their schools. Data were obtained through a quantitative questionnaire from 159 teachers at 30 schools across three provinces. The results show that many teachers are not themselves immersed in rich reading practices, many teachers claim to be doing more than is reflected in their schools’ literacy results, and in general teachers don’t seem to have a clear understanding of reading concepts, reading development and reading methodology.

‘How can I measure my learners’ reading ability in order to manage my instruction more effectively?’ This seems to be the refrain of many teachers these days. However, while teachers are taught new methods of instruction and new reading methods, they do not seem to be taught about reliable ways to measure their learners’ reading-related ability independently. In this article, a recommendation is made for the use of two measurements by teachers: a word reading test (which measures word recognition) and Cloze tests (which measure a reader’s ability to comprehend at more than word level). While acknowledging the difficulties related to measuring reading ability, in particular comprehension, the author of this article provides evidence that, when combined, a word reading test and a Cloze test can provide teachers with a reliable indicator of their learners’ reading-related abilities. The article concludes with a list of benefits that can be gained from obtaining such measurements.

Comprehension is a critical part of the reading process, and yet learners continue to struggle with it and teachers continue to neglect it in their teaching. Many reasons exist for the lack of focus on reading comprehension instruction, but for the most part, teachers simply do not seem to view comprehension as part of the reading process, are not able to teach the concept, and are seemingly not taught to do so during their teacher training years. In addition to this, comprehension continues to be viewed as part of "language teaching", and is therefore viewed as the so-called "language teacher's" domain. In support of effective comprehension instruction in the unique, multilingual South African education environment, this article proposes a framework for reading strategy instruction, aimed specifically at teachers. The framework was developed from a research study, and refined through subsequent application in a university course as well as a further study. The framework acknowledges that reading is a multifaceted and complex process, and accordingly, provides sufficient structure for teachers. It further addresses the issue of comprehension instruction through the use of selected reading strategies, designed to be applied by all teachers in all subjects in a flexible and easy manner.

I report on teacher change in the context of a reading strategy instruction intervention. Reading Strategy Instruction (RSI) was implemented by three teachers, new to the concept, over a period of 15 weeks. Observations of these teachers showed that a multitude of factors affect the uptake of RSI as part of everyday teaching practice, and that teachers seem to move through distinct phases in their uptake of RSI. The article focuses on teachers' reaction to RSI and highlights a number of issues that are important to the implementation of RSI, not the least of which is that a clear need exists for changes to in-service teacher training and support and pre-service teacher training. In an effort to address these training issues the article contains specific recommendations for pre-service teacher training in particular.

Comprehension is a critical part of the reading process, and yet learners continue to struggle with it and teachers continue to neglect it in their teaching. Many reasons exist for the lack of focus on reading comprehension instruction, but for the most part, teachers simply do not seem to view comprehension as part of the reading process, are not able to teach the concept, and are seemingly not taught to do so during their teacher training years. In addition to this, comprehension continues to be viewed as part of 'language teaching', and is therefore viewed as the so-called 'language teacher's' domain. In support of effective comprehension instruction in the unique, multilingual South African education environment, this article proposes a framework for reading strategy instruction, aimed specifically at teachers. The framework was developed from a research study, and refined through subsequent application in a university course as well as a further study. The framework acknowledges that reading is a multifaceted and complex process, and accordingly, provides sufficient structure for teachers. It further addresses the issue of comprehension instruction through the use of selected reading strategies, designed to be applied by all teachers in all subjects in a flexible and easy manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literacy statistics show that South African learners' comprehension ability is generally poor and in some cases seems to be getting poorer. At the same time research shows that little, if any, explicit and continuous strategy instruction takes place in classrooms. Reasons seem to include a lack of proper teacher training in comprehension instruction, teachers remaining unconvinced about the value of strategy instruction, and concerns that strategy instruction is time consuming and difficult to learn and teach. This article reports on the effect of a reading comprehension instruction course on university student teachers' lesson planning, strategy use and views about comprehension instruction. The course formed part of a teacher training module and centered on a reading strategy instruction framework designed to enhance comprehension instruction across all subjects in an easy-to-use manner. The article shows that strategy instruction can be taken up successfully in a relatively short time period, and that most existing concerns about strategy instruction can be addressed through in-depth training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]