The Possible Cultural Consequences for Children as They Learn to Read in English

Jones, S. A. (2010). The possible cultural consequences for children as they learn to read in English at Primary Three in Singapore. RELC Journal, 41(3), 229-251.

Background

The author highlighted that, although the English syllabi of 1991 and 2001 had emphasized the use of skills and strategies in reading pedagogy and of child-centred pedagogies involving child participation in class, there had been little research on classroom reading practices especially of the early years of primary school in Singapore.

Aims

This observation study aimed to establish whether there was a common pedagogy for teaching reading in English in the Primary 3 classroom in Singapore, and investigated what the cultural effects of this pedagogy might be for the children.

Sample

The participants comprised Primary 3 pupils in a Singapore primary school and nine teachers who taught them reading.

Method

Data collected included nine tape-recorded lesson observations, except for one where only field notes were taken, and interviews with the nine teachers. The reading lessons were transcribed and examined, using techniques from interaction and textual analysis.

Findings

The results showed that the preferred pedagogy of the class was that of teaching the skills and strategies of reading through teacher-pupil or pupil-pupil group interaction. The classes moved between the text as a resource for teaching and learning the skills of reading and children’s own cultural experience as a resource to facilitate interaction with the text. The results indicated that pupils had difficulty behaving according to this pedagogy. In their own culture, the pupils were expected to defer to figures of authority such as teachers and that adults would protect them. However, in the classroom, the pupils were expected to take charge of their own learning and participate actively. They were expected to listen to the answers to the questions on vocabulary, to provide acceptable responses and move on to the next stage. Therefore, there was a tension between the demands of the imported pedagogy and those of their own culture. However at times the pedagogic expectations and cultural expecta¬tions of children synchronized – when they came under the control of the teacher and group leaders.

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