Reading in Capetown Schools: A Comparative View.

The article compares the teaching of reading in the three main sectors of the Cape Town population in South Africa. The three distinct groups of children are the European, the Colored and the Bantu. The European children speak two languages, Afrikaans and English. The Colored population has informal learning of the alternative language outside the classroom and little actual teaching of the second language. The method of teaching was structured with different reading groups and a systematic program of studying words and practicing phonic skills. The Bantu schools are involved with basic issues of literacy. The European teachers are worried by a declining interest in and standards of reading of their older pupils. The method of teaching used by the Colored teachers was much less complex.