Students in the Junior Secondary school face increasing reading demands in their subjects, as the level of content and complexity associated with key concepts continues to increase. Challenges associated with this become particularly prevalent for students who struggle to read and comprehend. One of the main causes of poor comprehension is associated with poor decoding, which hinders the students’ ability to convert the symbols to words, and results in the student being unable to understand the message being conveyed (Salvia et al, 2013). This, in turn, can cause the student to expel all of their energy trying to sound out words and decipher meaning and inevitably results in increased levels of frustration (Salvia et al, 2013). Konza (2011) identifies that students who read at this ‘frustration level’ often eventually lack the energy or motivation to continue to struggle and attempt the reading task.
Konza (2011) noted that good readers actively engage with the text, and develop a greater content knowledge and broader vocabulary, which in turn causes intellectual growth and has a positive impact on their academic success, vocational options and possible life outcomes. Students who do not have the capacity to readily and successfully engage with the text find these things harder to achieve (Konza, 2011). Furthermore, research suggests that students who struggle to read and comprehend often develop learned helplessness over time and tend to avoid activities they feel they may not succeed at, and eventually become disengaged with the reading process.
Konza (2011) noted that good readers actively engage with the text, and develop a greater content knowledge and broader vocabulary, which in turn causes intellectual growth and has a positive impact on their academic success, vocational options and possible life outcomes. Students who do not have the capacity to readily and successfully engage with the text find these things harder to achieve (Konza, 2011). Furthermore, research suggests that students who struggle to read and comprehend often develop learned helplessness over time and tend to avoid activities they feel they may not succeed at, and eventually become disengaged with the reading process.
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"Good readers are purposeful, are able to adjust their reading style, know why and how to read to achieve their purpose, can skim and scan to locate information quickly and efficiently, synthesise information from a range of sources, read critically, extract key information and interpret what it means on the basis of their existing knowledge" (Konza, 2011b).