Pre-Reading Activities and Their Effects On English Reading Comprehension of ESL Basic School Pupils

Abstract

The study sought to ascertain the effect of pre-reading activities on the English reading comprehension of upper primary pupils in Ho-West Basic Schools of the Volta Region of Ghana. The study adopted the concurrent mixed method design which aimed at gathering both quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. The sample size of the study consisted 18 upper primary teachers and 99 upper primary pupils. The sample was drawn using census, simple random and purposive sampling techniques. A structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Questionnaire data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation while the interview data were thematically discussed. The findings showed that pre-reading activities motivate and sustain pupils’ interest in the actual reading activity. They also activate the building of related information in such a way that new information is easily assimilated into learners’ existing fields of knowledge. Though pre-reading activities play a critical role in the reading comprehension classroom, the study revealed that a significant number of teachers do not use them. The few who do, neither use a variety of them nor use them regularly. The study recommends that curriculum developers and implementors should incorporate appropriate and regular pre-reading activities for assigned texts in the reading comprehension classroom.