There has been limited attention towards the affective aspect in literacy development; yet, reading attitude, an affective component, is a significant element within literacy instruction. This makes a compelling case for investigating Grade 3 learners’ attitudes towards reading. In this study, a situational analysis was conducted as Phase 1 of the research process before implementing a responsive reading programme at a primary school in Grahamstown, South Africa. In an effort to explore Grade 3 learners’ attitudes, experiences and perspectives about reading, the study adopted the use of drawings, which is a child-centred approach. Learners were required to draw their perspectives or experiences about reading. In analysing the drawings, a range of semiotic theorists were integrated. Findings of the study indicate that by using drawings as a methodological tool, learners were able to provide detailed insights about their daily experiences with reading, attitudes towards reading and their varied individual views about reading. Such information gathered was vital for future consideration when implementing a responsive and extensive reading programme.
Much focus has been placed on areas of measurable reading achievement, such as fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. This has resulted in reduced attention towards the affective component in relation to literacy development; yet, attitude as an affective component is a significant element within literacy instruction owing to its relationship with reading success. This article presents a subset of the results collected during Phase 1 of a larger study that was undertaken for my doctoral thesis. The main objective of the study was to investigate the nature of Grade 3 learners’ attitudes towards reading.
The main study consisted of three different phases. Phase 1 of the study was the situational analysis or pre-intervention phase, which was then followed by Phase 2, the actual implementation phase of the extensive reading programme (ERP) and finally Phase 3, which was the evaluation of the ERP. In Phase 1 of the study, drawings were used alongside other data collection instruments such as focus group discussions. The drawings and the focus group discussions were used as methods of gathering learners’ current attitudes and perceptions about reading. According to Freire (
The results of Phase 1 of the research reported on in this article show how learners effectively used drawings to represent their experiences and attitudes towards reading. The analysis of these drawings guided by a range of semiotic theories further indicates that learners have varied perceptions and experiences about reading, which might cause them to approach or avoid reading. Findings of this study have important implications for nurturing reading in the foundation phase (FP), which should be taken into account by teachers and other stakeholders interested in literacy development, so as to effectively cater for diverse learners and improve literacy levels. In addition, the information gathered through the drawings was used to help in designing and implementing a responsive reading programme.
This study on learners’ attitude towards reading stems from a concern that much emphasis placed on reading proficiency and other reading skills has often led teachers to ignore the importance of children’s attitudes in the process of becoming literate. Yet, Cosgrove (
Sainsbury and Schagen (
As stated in the PIRLS 2011 Assessment Framework, learners’ attitudes towards reading are a central factor affecting reading performance. A learner’s reading attitude plays a key role in whether or not he or she becomes a competent reader (Mullis et al.
The big challenge for teachers and other stakeholders interested in education and literacy development is not only about getting learners to read but also about getting them to enjoy reading (Clark & Rumbold
Learners’ attitudes towards reading have been found to have an effect on both engagement and achievement in reading (Mullis et al.
Gillespie (
A number of researchers (Ajzen
This discussion reveals the challenge of investigating attitudes. To provide a solution to the challenges in measuring attitudes, the present study explored the use of children’s drawings to determine their attitudes towards reading. Christensen and James (
A limited number of educational studies have used visual images such as drawings to investigate a variety of issues in the classroom context. For example, in South Africa, Murris and Thompson (
Malchiodi (
The use of drawings in this study acknowledges that all modes of meaning-making are equally significant; thus, the study recognises that there are multiple literacies. As a result, the study adopts a broad definition of literacy that goes beyond being just able to read and write or decode but incorporates the child’s ability to communicate using a variety of means of representation, including drawings.
The study adopts Vygotsky’s (
Drawings are a way of knowing, a particular kind of speech and mediating tool within and across cultures in children’s learning.
Young children are situated as learners by the societies in which they are nurtured and educated.
The child is a co-constructor of meaning and an active player in his or her own world.
The relationship between the child and the environment enables us to understand the social and cultural setting into which the child is born.
The role of the ‘more knowledgeable other’ (MKO) and collaboration is significant in children learning to read.
In addition, the study integrated a range of semiotic theorists in analysing the learners’ drawings. Furth (
This is a qualitative, interpretative study which made use of learners’ drawings for a situational analysis phase. According to Cohen et al. (
The prompt for the drawings was ‘Draw a picture of reading and write about your drawing (caption the drawing). It can be a drawing of your feelings about reading or your experiences with reading’. This was followed by follow-up focus group discussions with a subset of the sample to explain and discuss in detail their drawing. Based on my experience as a researcher, the majority of Grade 3 learners in township schools struggle to communicate in English, and a number of them also struggled with reading in their HL; therefore, the discussions were conducted in isiXhosa.
In addressing the ethical issues of the study, a condition was laid out that only those learners with signed consent forms from their guardians would be allowed to be part of the study and that participation was voluntary. All Grade 3 learners in the selected school were invited to participate in the study. All the 37 learners that were given consent forms brought them back all signed. The participants were made aware of their right to anonymity and to withdraw from the study at any point in time. In the data presentation, 10 selected learners’ drawings were used. These were presented with pseudonyms to protect their identity.
The main research question of the study was:
This article presents part of a larger study that was conducted with two Grade 3 classes from two primary schools that were accessible, convenient and located in close proximity to Grahamstown. The research Site A, reported in this article, is a township school in Grahamstown, which is historically disadvantaged and a no-fee paying public school. The state bears all the costs with no contribution from the learners’ parents. At this particular school, from Grade R to Grade 3, isiXhosa, which is the learners’ HL, is used as a medium of instruction, and learners in Grade 4 switch to using English, which is a language of teaching and learning, and for most learners in this context, it is their second language.
The article presents findings from 10 learners’ drawings (5 boys and 5 girls) out of a sample of 37 Grade 3 learners (17 girls and 20 boys) aged between 9 and 11 years. A number of the learners struggle with reading and writing in the English language and are from underprivileged and impoverished backgrounds. Therefore, the use of drawings was appropriate, as it did not require high literacy skills. It was considered inclusive as
The drawings were administered to all the participating learners on the same afternoon in the learners’ classroom. The prompt question was read out to the participants in both languages, which is isiXhosa their HL and English, which is an additional language. Learners were given enough time to process the question, draw, caption and even colour their drawings using the crayons that were provided. Following the drawing process, the researcher met with the learners in focus groups to explain their drawings. The focus group discussions were organised in such a manner that each group consisted of four members. The length of the focus group discussion varied between 30 min and 1 h. In instances where the discussions took a shorter duration, it was because the group lacked involvement and some learners’ responses were very short, in most cases one word answers. With their drawings in front of them, learners were free to explain and discuss their drawings in a language they were comfortable in. Talking about their drawings allowed the participants to voice their perspectives about their drawings and to improve their communication skills. Malchiodi (
The unit of analysis was the literacy event portrayed in the drawing. In the process of analysing these drawings, a range of semiotic theories were integrated. The first step in the process of analysis was writing down the first impression, that is, viewing the drawing as ‘mysterious’ (Malchiodi
The following section presents and discusses the findings of the study, with examples of different drawings about reading portrayed by the selected participants.
The analysis of the learners’ drawings resulted in five categories of reader experiences as will be discussed in detail in the following sub-sections. The first category consisted of learners who perceived reading as an activity which happens in a formal setting with the assistance of a teacher. In the second category, the learners viewed reading as a social activity while in the third category learners viewed reading as an isolated activity. In the fourth category, the learners were aware of the positives associated with reading which in turn motivated them to read more. Finally, there were learners who indicated that the setting or reading environment hindered them from enjoying reading. Hence, they had mixed attitudes towards reading (i.e. love–hate relationship with reading).
The context, in other words, the environment in which reading is presented, has the potential to influence the learner to either engage in or avoid the reading task as represented in
Reading in formal settings and domains: (a) I like to read my book and (b) I like to read in English. My teachers taught me how to read.
For example, based on my initial interpretation of the drawing (Step 1 of the analysis), Phila’s unique drawing of reading (
‘it happens at school, in the presence of a teacher to help or guide one’s reading’. [Phila, male]
The teacher is assumed by the learner to be the MKO (Vygotsky
In our focus group discussion (Step 4 of the analysis), the learner confirmed the researcher’s initial interpretation of the drawing:
‘This is me in my black trousers and school blazer, I go to the teacher each time I don’t understand anything or when I need help with difficult words’. [Phila, male]
The other three members of this particular focus group were in agreement with the fact that in their classroom they considered their teacher as a role model who supports their reading activities. According to Rimensberger (
Traditionally, reading has been viewed as a purely individualistic skill. However, two learners in this article presented reading from a completely different perspective. They presented reading as a social activity. The sociocultural theory of learning regards reading as a social skill and emphasises active participation and interaction of the learners involved.
In a social learning context, learners have the power to choose what to read, when to read and how to read. They view reading as a pleasurable, fun activity rather than a chore. This is indicated in the drawings (
Reading as a social practice: (a) Mandla’s picture (b) Thandi’s picture.
These drawings reflect learners’ knowledge and acceptance that reading is a social activity and that it can maintain friendship or family relationships. For example, in the focus group discussion, one mentioned (
‘I always find time to read with my sister, she is doing Grade 8 and can read well in English’. [Mandla, male]
Thandi’s caption of her drawing (
Generally, reading has been seen as a necessity for one to succeed at school and to be able to get a job and not as an enjoyable activity (Rimensberger
While some learners presented reading as a social activity (
‘I like to sit alone and read quietly without any disturbance’ [Thandi, female]
Reading as an isolated activity: (a) I feel very happy reading this book and (b) reading.
Another (
‘You see ma’am, some children read out aloud, at the end you focus on them and not your reading. I prefer reading alone in a quiet place’. [Siya, male]
Considering the background in the drawings and the facial expressions of the people in the drawings, one can infer that it is a quiet, formal environment, and learners are content with what they are doing.
In the selected sample of learners, two learners highlighted the purpose of engaging in reading. Having an awareness about the positive gains of reading and the purpose of reading (i.e. excitement, contentment and improving one’s reading skills) might be a motivation for learners to read. Learners have to feel the need for reading before they engage in the activity and enjoy what they are doing. In
Imagined identies as readers: (a) I feel content when I read an isiXhosa book and (b) I feel so good and I like to read English.
In the follow-up discussion, the two learners mentioned how they loved reading in their preferred languages, including isiXhosa, the mother tongue of the learners in the studied group. They also highlighted the need to learn to read proficiently in English as they were aware of the status of the language and the importance of being bilingual. The explanations of these drawings provide insight into how these learners see themselves as readers in the current context as emergent bilinguals.
Drawings of four learners provided an insight into the learners’ reading experiences and how the love or hate relationship they have towards reading is manifested. In
Love–hate relationship towards reading: (a) I do not want to read folktales and (b) reading is enjoyable, but I am angry because my father shouts at me.
In
‘I love reading, but my father shouts at me when I make mistakes’.
From my experience and observation, typically this is what untrained and impatient parents do in our society. Reading time for many children is not a pleasurable activity as there is no room for mistakes. Such actions instil fear and affect learners’ confidence and motivation in reading. For learners to read and be lifelong readers, reading has to be presented as an activity that is enjoyable, fun (social activity) and not accompanied with pain and frustration (Whittingham & Huffman
Through different individual experiences with reading, learners have conceptualised and presented reading in varying ways as discussed, thus responding to the following research question:
The findings from the data allowed me to reflect on areas that needed attention so as to be able to develop an appropriate reading programme that would cater for all the learners by addressing the tensions and contradictions that surfaced as hindering effective reading. Some important insights that emerged during this phase are listed below:
Implement a bilingual programme, as this was expressed by the learners. In explaining their drawings, they had varying language preferences (
Scaffold reading in both English and isiXhosa, as these were emergent bilingual learners. Also, some learners expressed the need to learn to read in both languages during our focus group discussions.
Expose learners, as part of scaffolding reading, to different exciting reading activities before, during and after reading so as to nurture positive reading attitudes.
Give learners opportunities to choose what they want to read, when to read and how to read so as to allow them to enjoy reading and take charge of their development.
Provide a variety of reading material across different languages (isiXhosa and English) so as to cater to every learner’s needs. It was shown that not all learners like reading folktales, a popular genre in the FP (see
Establish a reading environment guided by a sociocultural perspective which presented reading as a fun activity not a chore, and allowed for collaborative learning and interaction. In this setting, there was room for mistakes and learners were not scolded or laughed at but instead were motivated to read.
Teach various reading strategies. The Extensive Reading Programme afforded learners an opportunity to be read to, to read on their own and to read with or for each other. As shown in the drawings, some learners preferred reading with their peers, some preferred to read individually while others saw their teachers as role models when they read aloud. These insights informed the implementation of the actual ERP which was carried out in Phase 2 of the research.
This study shows the importance of first conducting a situational analysis in a literacy intervention. The first phase of situational analysis reported on in this article provides crucial information about learners’ attitudes, reading experiences and their perspectives about reading so as to be able to implement a reading programme that will cater to the needs of all the learners. The study also challenges other researchers to see the importance of using drawings to obtain a better understanding of learners’ literacy experience.
In addition, the use of drawings with young learners afforded learners an opportunity to express themselves; even the weakest learners in the classroom expressed themselves without any verbal language limitations. Therefore, the inclusion of a drawing activity in this study opened possibilities for inclusion and active participation of the majority of the participants. Vygotsky (
The author would like to thank the Grade 3 learners from the two research sites for their participation in this study and their permission to use data collected throughout the research process.
The author declares that there are no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced the writing of this article.