Abstract:

Reading comprehension is regarded as one of the imperative competencies learners can attain as they advance through their early school years. South African learners generally perform poorly in reading comprehension as confirmed by international comparative assessment studies such as Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and the Southern and Eastern African Consortium for the Monitoring of Educational Quality. The objective of the study was to investigate factors that affect the teaching of reading comprehension among Grade3 isiXhosa Home language in three primary schools in Buffalo City district. The study employed a mixed methods approach. Concurrent triangulation was adopted as a research design. The study used Brown’s theory of reading acquisition with one hundred and twelve Grade 3 teachers participated through filling in questionnaires in quantitative phase. Whilst, in the qualitative phase six (6) teachers were interviewed by the researchers. It emerged from the findings in both qualitative and quantitative that the teachers spend most of their time in teaching phonics, phonemic awareness and vocabulary, more than focusing on teaching reading comprehension. Hence, the study come up with recommendations to alleviate reading problems in Grade 3 isiXhosa Home Language.

Keywords:

Reading comprehension, Grade 3, IsiXhosa Home language.