Matching Textbooks to their Readership: A case study of Government-Approved English Textbook for Basic Five
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Date
2021-04-20
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Abstract
One of the necessary requirements of all educational structures is the adequate supply of relevant
reading and other supplementary materials for use by learners and teachers. The availability and
access to good textbooks is very crucial towards building a strong foundation for basic education
especially in developing countries like Ghana. However, for textbooks to perform their function
effectively as a primary tool for learning, they should be readable and easily understood by their
users. It is imperative to ensure that the language used in textbooks matches their readership
because if pupils are frustrated by the text in a particular textbook, they are less likely to be
motivated to continue reading that book, and this would adversely affect their academic
performance too. Despite the fact that both reading and academic achievements are interconnected
and dependent on each other, there has been a growing concern about the decline in reading among
Ghanaian school pupils; and also statistics on candidates’ performance in the Basic Education
Certificate Examination (BECE), has revealed a decline in the performance of students in English
Language. This fuels the need to investigate what pupils at the basic level read to find out whether
what have been recommended for them to read match them or not because what they read can
influence their academic achievements. To encourage reading and make it more exciting for young
readers in Ghana, and to also enhance the academic performance of pupils in English Language at
the basic level, it is important to be mindful of the materials they are given to read in school. Based
on this, the researcher sought to investigate the readability of government approved English
textbook used by primary schools in Ghana.
The researcher reviewed literature pertinent to the study. The mixed method design was used to
provide both qualitative and quantitative dimensions to the study. Under the qualitative aspect, the
researcher used the Flesch Reading Ease Formula to measure the readability level of the textbook
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purposively selected for the study (English Language for Primary Schools—Pupils Book 5, 2012
Edition); and the editor of the textbook was interviewed to investigate the major issues considered
in order to ensure the textbook is readable to its targeted users. From the quantitative dimension
too, a Cloze survey was used to ascertain how well the pupils who use the selected textbook
understood what they read. A population of 292 basic five pupils from five selected schools in the
Akuapem-South District was considered under the survey. The simple random sampling technique
was used to sample 150 pupils for the Cloze test (survey), 30 from each school.
The study revealed that the language used in the English textbook was above the grade level of
most of its users; thus, the predicted grade level for the textbook did not match the pupils using it.
The research also showed that though the editor of the selected textbook understood the need to
ensure the language used in the textbook matches their readership and also knew how to achieve
this, the textbook was difficult for the pupils to understand and most of them would have
difficulties in reading it even with the assistance from their teachers.
The researcher therefore, recommended that it is necessary to pay critical attention to what is
recommended for pupils to read in schools. Authors and Editors also need to ensure that language
used in textbooks matches their targeted readers; they could take advantage of new technologies
to help them determine the readability levels of their publications. Also it is imperative for
institutions in charge of the development of textbooks (Curriculum Research and Development
Division, the Procurement Division, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, and the
Ministry of Education) to be critical and have a particular interest in the readability levels of
textbooks produced or recommended for pupils at various stages, in schools.
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Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Publishing Studies, Faculty of Art, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Art Publishing Studies.
Keywords
Matching Textbooks to their Readership,, Government-Approved English Textbook,, Basic Five