Why the English Home Language Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement will not improve learners’ reading comprehension

Christine Winberg,Hanlie Dippenaar,Maryna M De Lange

doi:10.4102/rw.v11i1.260

Christine Winberg, Hanlie Dippenaar + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v11i1.260

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Abstract

Background: The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), and similar international assessments, have consistently shown South African intermediate phase learners’ performance to be among the lowest worldwide. Of particular concern is the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Home Language in the Intermediate Phase and, specifically, the document’s treatment of the assessment of reading comprehension.Objectives: In this study, the CAPS requirements for assessing reading comprehension were examined, with the aim of laying the groundwork for an improved policy framework.Method: The research design of the study involved evaluating the assessment of reading comprehension in the CAPS document, using a social realist approach to uncover its underlying structures and mechanisms.Results: The study found that a principled approach to the assessment of reading comprehension was lacking, which had a cumulative effect across the CAPS document, resulting in random, yet highly prescriptive, requirements.Conclusion: The study concluded that CAPS does not provide adequate guidance for improving reading comprehension and, moreover, that the prescribed programme of assessment is not supported by the research literature on reading comprehension. The study recommends that better, more evidence-informed and consultative policies and guidelines be introduced to support teachers in the assessment – and, ultimately, the improvement – of intermediate phase learners’ reading comprehension.

Highlights

Basic education in South Africa has undergone significant change since the country’s transition to democracy in 1994
We start with an overview of reading comprehension in Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), and focus on the assessment of reading comprehension and on the requirements for the assessment of comprehension (CAPS 2011)
In this article we studied the CAPS requirements for assessing reading comprehension, with the aim of laying the groundwork for an improved policy framework for the assessment of reading comprehension

Summary

Introduction

Basic education in South Africa has undergone significant change since the country’s transition to democracy in 1994. The South African Department of Basic Education’s Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) continue a similar focus on assessment in its underpinning logic (Govender & Hugo 2018). While this focus places a considerable burden on teachers, it has not improved South Africa’s basic education system (Spaull 2015). International studies have shown that the explicit teaching of comprehension strategies is key to improving reading levels among intermediate phase learners (National Reading Panel 2000). The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), and similar international assessments, have consistently shown South African intermediate phase learners’ performance to be among the lowest worldwide. Of particular concern is the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Home Language in the Intermediate Phase and, the document’s treatment of the assessment of reading comprehension

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion