Improving early grade reading for multilingual learners in English-medium classrooms: Evidence from the QondaRead programme in under-resourced schools in Makhanda, Eastern Cape
Reading & Writing
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Improving early grade reading for multilingual learners in English-medium classrooms: Evidence from the QondaRead programme in under-resourced schools in Makhanda, Eastern Cape | |
| Creator | Long, Kelly A. | |
| Description | Background: South Africa’s early grade reading challenges are well documented and deeply systemic. Despite curriculum expectations that learners read with understanding by Grade 3, most, particularly in no-fee schools, fall short of this benchmark. The challenge is particularly acute for multilingual learners who speak an African language at home but attend English-medium schools.Objectives: Although policy supports mother tongue instruction to Grade 3, many learners enter straight-for-English classrooms with limited language support. Addressing this intersection of language, literacy, and inequality requires scalable, curriculum-aligned solutions. This study evaluates QondaRead, a low-cost, classroom-embedded literacy intervention piloted in four under-resourced English-medium schools in the Eastern Cape.Method: The programme integrates explicit phonics instruction, scaffolded fluency practice, and graded reader use into daily teaching. A mixed-method, pre–post design was employed with over 700 Grades 1–3 learners, complemented by teacher focus groups. Learner progress was assessed using standardised letter–sound fluency (LSF) and oral reading fluency (ORF) tools.Results: Learners made statistically significant and educationally meaningful gains. Grade 1 LSF and Grade 2–3 ORF improved substantially, with effect sizes from moderate to large (Cohen’s d = 0.7–1.9). The weakest readers showed the largest relative gains. Teachers reported improved classroom structure, learner engagement, and confidence in structured routines.Conclusion: Low-cost, classroom-embedded interventions such as QondaRead can improve foundational reading outcomes in multilingual, English-medium classrooms. The findings suggest that structured decoding and fluency instruction can be effectively integrated into daily classroom practice in under-resourced school contexts.Contribution: This study contributes empirical evidence on the implementation and scalability of structured literacy interventions in multilingual South African classrooms and highlights the potential of embedded teacher-supported models to strengthen early grade reading outcomes. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2026-05-29 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/rw.v17i1.616 | |
| Source | Reading & Writing; Vol 17, No 1 (2026); 12 pages 2308-1422 2079-8245 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw/article/view/616/1654
https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw/article/view/616/1656
https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw/article/view/616/1657
https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw/article/view/616/1658
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
