INFLUENCE OF READING READINESS SKILLS ON PERFORMANCE OF ENGLISH READING IN STANDARD ONE: A CASE OF KEIYO SUB COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Reading Readiness is a point at which a learner is ready to learn to read and the time during which a learner transits from being a non-reader into a reader. This is made possible by acquisition of pre reading skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of Reading Readiness skills on performance of English reading in Standard one. The objectives were to establish the relationship between a learner’s ability to recognize letters of the alphabet and performance of English Reading in Standard one, to determine if a learner’s ability to correspond letters with their correct sound enhances performance of English Reading in Standard one, to find out whether a learners’ ability to recognize a familiar word enhances performance of English Reading in Standard one and to find out if a learner’s ability to read a text in left right, top bottom progression facilitates performance of English Reading in Standard one. The theoretical framework was based on Lev Vygotsky’s theory which postulates a concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which is the difference between what the child can accomplish on his or her own and what the child can accomplish with the help of adults and other competent peers. The study adopted a mixed approach research methodology. The geographical locale of the study was Keiyo Sub County. Stratified and random sampling techniques were used to select the 26 schools and 78 teachers. Fifty two (52) pupils of Standard one were selected (a boy and a girl) using simple random sampling and assessed. The instruments used were questionnaire for ECDE and Standard one teachers and an EGRA checklist for Standard one learners. A pilot study was conducted in three schools in Keiyo South Sub County and test re-retest was used to establish reliability and validity of the research instruments. The quantitative data was analyzed in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program by use of both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics used were frequencies, percentages and means. Multiple regression analysis technique was used to determine the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The results indicated that there was a significant relationship (p = 0.000) between the learner’s ability to correspond letters of the alphabet with their sounds and performance of English reading in Standard one and a significant relationship (p = 0.000) between a learner’s ability to recognize a familiar word and performance of English reading in Standard one. The study recommended that teachers should emphasize letter sound correspondence and familiar word recognition in Preschool to prepare learners for English reading. Finally the introduction of alphabetical letters should start with letter sounds before letter names. The alphabetic instruction should involve pairing up the uppercase and lowercase letters as they have same sounds.