Improving Literacy Instructional Practices in Primary Schools in Nigeria: Strategies that Work

Abstract

Poor teaching methods are blamed for a large number of Nigerian pupils in government schools becoming either non-readers or struggling readers [20]. This study investigated the effects of a Reading Intervention that trained primary school teachers in specific strategies of teaching reading skills in order to enhance instructional practices. In a quasiexperimental design with 15 teachers and 140 primary pupils, teachers were trained for four weeks using activities derived from the whole language or literature–based approach. The teachers then trained pupils for eight weeks in reading skills in an after– school programme. The reading assessment measured pupils’ skills in oral language, print awareness, sight word recognition, phonemic awareness, and listening comprehension. Results of post-test showed progress in pupils’ ability to express themselves in English; recognize a large number of sight words; generate language experience stories and read simple story books. Another outcome included production of storybooks from children’s language experiences stories.