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EFFECTS OF READING PROGRAMMES ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN PANKSHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the Study

Not everybody learns in the same way – we all have our natural preferences as to how we acquire and store the information that we learn. Traditionally, there was only really one learning style employed in mainstream education. Reciting information, such as times tables or a new language in parrot fashion, or listening and writing down information were most common.

But in recent years there have been moves to adopt many different types of learning styles, to help reach out to children that have different learning style preferences. The wider the learning style approach, the more children can benefit from learning in a way that maximises their potential. This is especially relevant for children with learning difficulties, who historically have struggled to cope and learn with from traditional learning methods.

Proficient reading is an essential tool for learning a large part of the subject matter taught at school. With an ever increasing emphasis on education and literacy, more and more children and adults need help in learning to read, spell, express their thoughts on paper and acquire adequate use of grammar.

A dyslexic child who finds the acquisition of these literacy skills difficult can also suffer a lot of anguish and trauma when they may feel mentally abused by their peers within the school environment, because they have a learning difficulty. Much can be done by a teacher to alleviate this by integrating the child into the class environment (which is predominantly a learning environment) where he/she can feel comfortable and develop confidence and self esteem.

Class teachers may be particularly confused by the learner whose consistent underachievement seems due to what may look like carelessness or lack of effort. These children can be made to feel very different from their peers simply because they may be unable to follow simple instructions, which for others seem easy. It is a class teacher’s responsibility to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning for all pupils within their class.

Of particular importance is an understanding of the problems children with poor reading skills have in a classroom with diverse learners. Contrary to the commonly-held belief that learning to read is natural and easy, learning to read is a complex linguistic achievement. It is an acquired ability that requires effort and incremental skill development. Yet most children can learn to read if taught appropriately. In fact, scientists have estimated that 95 percent of all children can be taught to read at a level limited only by their reasoning and listening comprehension abilities.

Although many children learn to read regardless of the method used, and a few learn to read with little or no formal instruction, pupils with dyslexia have difficulty learning the letter-sound system unless they are taught in an organised, systematic, efficient way by a knowledgeable teacher using a well designed instructional approach. Pupils with dyslexia need direct and explicit instruction to develop the knowledge and skills that underpin efficient word reading. These include an understanding of the alphabetic principle (the understanding that speech sounds are represented by letters of the alphabet) and phonological awareness (the ability to segment words into their constituent phonemes).

Reading does not constitute a skill that occurs naturally in an individual. Rather, it is one of the most difficult and complex skills acquired in human life. Although anyone without a neurological disability can speak, not everyone can read. This is because reading requires more sensitive visual, auditory and mental activities compared to the speaking. Learning to read is a cognitive and linguistic skill, and can usually be acquired through external support. It is linguistic since it is learnt using certain areas of the brain during the processing of language. It is also cognitive for as much as the existing cognitive reserves of the brain are used during learning to read. Therefore, learning to read has a cognitive-linguistic structure (Shaywitz, 2003).

Frith (2015) describes this cognitive-linguistic structure of reading in three stages: logographic, alphabetical and orthographic. In the logographic stage, one begins to recognize the shapes of the words that one sees. In alphabetical order, the letter-sound relation is learnt. They use this knowledge whenever they read unfamiliar words. The alphabetical stage is a term where intensive phonological processes are used. In the orthographic stage, however, one does not need phonological translation during reading. The words are not read letter by letter or through spelling; they are rather automatically recognized. Also, since they are orthographically recognized, the words are read faster and the meaning of the word is reached.

These stages, which are experienced by successful readers while learning to read, may not be the same for all readers. Among the logographic process, alphabetical process and orthographic process, the individuals with dyslexia are most likely to stumble in the alphabetical stage. Frith states that especially young readers experience problems in phonological processes and, accordingly, have problems in transiting from the alphabetical process to the orthographic process. Those with developmental dyslexia usually spend more time in the acquisition of phonemes and in the development of phonological skills (Balcı & Çayır, 2017).

On the other hand, Ehri (2005) suggests that children with enough alphabetic skills can read the words more easily, can add any new words that they read to their vocabulary and, thus, can achieve a fluent and automatic reading. This period, referred to as the orthographic process by Frith, includes the accurate, fast and automatic word recognition and reading process which is also necessary for fluent reading. The individuals with dyslexia who hesitate to misspell each sound unit that forms the word, keep themselves under control through slow reading, and encounter problems in the orthographic stage even if they pass the alphabetical stage. According to Barton (2002), fluency problems in reading constitute one of the problems that are difficult to solve even in the adulthood of an individual with dyslexia (Ehri, 2005)

Knowing the problem into which the students with dyslexia are most likely to stuck during their process of learning to read would provide benefit for instructors and researchers in terms of improving the methods to be used by these students in their education.

• Statement of the Problem 

From early time to the present, Nigeria has attached much importance to reading from primary school to secondary level. It is important to note that there exist many complex problems that may result to the problem of poor reading and its consequences on the academic performance of a child in school system. This made the researcher to investigate into possible effects of reading programme on the academic performance of students with dyslexia in secondary school in Pankshin Local Government Area. It is of great interest to note that most secondary schools especially in Pankshin Local Government Area are crowded with learners with dyslexia. This problem has formed deep roots in the part of the students either as a result of lack of qualified teachers, ill-health of students, bad method of teaching, outdated textbooks, family background and psychological factors and teachers poor attitude towards reading and teaching students the proper reading skills.

It is in line with the above that this study seeks to examine the effects of reading programmes on the academic performance of students with dyslexia in selected secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area.

1.3. Research Questions

             The pertinent research questions designed for this study are as follows:

1. What is the difference in the mean ability score for identify sounds between the students taught reading using phonemic awareness instructional strategy and those taught using the conventional teaching method among JSS 1 dyslexic children in Pankshin Local Government State?
2. What is the difference in the mean ability score for decoding words between the students taught reading using phonemic awareness instructional strategy and those taught using the conventional teaching method among JSS 1 dyslexic children in Pankshin Local Government State?

iii. What is the difference in the mean ability score for reading beyond the word level between the students taught reading using phonemic awareness instructional strategy and those taught using the conventional teaching method among JSS 1 dyslexic children in Pankshin Local Government State?

1.4. Hypothesis

             The following null hypothesis was generated to guide the study and tested at p≤0.05.

H₀₁: There is no significant difference in the mean ability score for identifying sounds between the students taught reading using phonemic awareness instructional strategy and those taught using the conventional teaching method among JSS 1 dyslexic children in Pankshin Local Government State.

H₀₂: There is no significant difference in the ability of decoding words between the students taught reading using phonemic awareness instructional strategy and those taught using the conventional teaching method among JSS 1 dyslexic children.

H₀₃: There is no difference in the mean ability score for reading beyond the word level between the students taught reading using phonemic awareness instructional strategy and those taught using the conventional teaching method among JSS 1 dyslexic children.

1.5.Significance of the Study

This study is important because it focuses on teaching reading. Indeed, teaching reading is an area that has stimulated public interest and generated many controversies over the years since the ability to read is tantamount to ability to interpret a message. Therefore, the study will be of benefit to dyslexic children, teachers of English, administrators, curriculum planners and future researchers.

This study is very significant because it will provide the dyslexic children with an easy way of understanding how phonemes are manipulated for easy decoding, through activities such as phoneme identification, phoneme deletion, phoneme addition, phoneme substitution, blending and segmentation.

It is also significant because it will furnish teachers as well as parents with instructional skills of teaching phoneme manipulation to facilitate reading among dyslexic children. Teachers are indeed at the centre stage and therefore play the most vital role in the process of teaching reading to the beginners or dyslexic children.

Furthermore, it will help school administrators in designing a reading programme in their schools that will include phonemic awareness activities, which are beneficial in facilitating reading ability.

It will guide education planners and curriculum developers to include phonemic awareness activities that will facilitate reading instruction to learners generally and to dyslexic children in particular.

Lastly, when this study is completed, it will add to the already existing body of literature of strategies for teaching reading comprehension and it will serve as a reference material to future researchers who would want to research on the same topic.

1.6. Scope and Delimitation of the Study

  Reading can be taught to secondary school students through many means. This study covers all the public secondary schools in Pankshin, but is limited to examining the effects of phonemic awareness instructional strategy on reading ability of JSS 1 dyslexic children in Pankshin Local Government. The choice of JSS 1 students is not unconnected with the fact that students at this stage have just transited from primary school to secondary schools and it is expected that they are supposed to have learnt to read and have started reading to learn.

In terms of substance, this study covers issues related to phonemic awareness instruction, its activities and reading disability. In terms of time frame, the study covers the period of two weeks. This is to enable the researcher  conduct the experiment and come up with a reasonable conclusion

• Operational Definition of Terms

Reading: It is the ability to attach meaning to printed symbols.

Skills: The ability to do something well

Student: A person usually under the age of 13 who is in secondary school.

Comprehension: The power of understanding and exercise aimed at improving or testing one’s understanding of language.

Challenges: These are problems or obstacles faced by an individual in the course of carrying out a task.

Dyslexia: Dyslexia is a specific learning problem that has its roots in the brain’s neurological development.