Abstract
This paper aims to analyse Form One students’ ability in reading prose. A qualitative research method was carried out involving 6 average ability students. The prose “Fair’s Fair” byNarinder Dhami was used as an instrument to gauge students’ ability in oral reading. The assessment carried out on the reading is miscue analysis, a tool to measure oral reading accuracy at the word level by identifying when and the ways in which the students deviates from the text while reading aloud. Miscues analysed are insertions, hesitation, omission, repetition and substitution. Miscues that maintain the meaning of the sentences are the participants’ strengths while miscues which disrupt the meaning of the sentences are the participants’ weaknesses. The data collected are analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings show that the percentage of strengths outweighed the percentage of weaknesses for all the participants on the occurrences of miscues. The students’ reading behaviour has provided insights into their language cueing system and the strategies they use during the reading process to comprehend a text.
Highlights
Reading is a thinking process that involves recognizing words and it allows students to use his or her prior knowledge to make meaning of a text
Miscues are defined as instances in oral reading when a reader reads a text in a way that the person listening would not expect
The research question addressed in the study is: What are students’ strengths and weaknesses in reading and understanding prose?
Summary
Reading is a thinking process that involves recognizing words and it allows students to use his or her prior knowledge to make meaning of a text. In this process, miscues occurrences explain students’ strategies used to overcome difficulties while reading. Miscue analysis is an effective technique for examining and evaluating the development of control in the reading process of students. It is an analytical procedure for assessing students’ meaning construction from the print and demonstrates the knowledge that a student brings to the text (Goodman, 1996). It helps students to become aware that they are better readers than they think they are. Goodman (1996) believes that readers who revalue themselves become more confident and are willing to take risks
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