Kaburise, P. K.Neeta, N.Molotja, Tsebe Wilfred2016-09-202016-09-202016-09-23Molotja, T.W. 2016. An investigation of academic reading skills of science foundation students at a rural university. . . http://hdl.handle.net/11602/651http://hdl.handle.net/11602/651PhD (English)Department of EnglishIt has been established, through research, that some first-entering science students display levels of under-preparedness for tertiary studies. One area in which this is seen is in students’ lack of academic reading ability. Although, some of these students read fluently they do not display competencies in other reading areas, such as to understand, interpret, infer or critique ideas expressed in science academic texts. This low academic reading proficiency has a negative effect on their studies. The aim of this study was to identify, through the National Benchmarking Tests (NBT), the reading competencies of all (100) students registered in the Science Foundation Programme (SFP) in the University of Venda. SFP caters for students who did not attain the required scores in Mathematics and Physical Science. These students’ overall scoring, including English competency, is less than the required (26) points, even though they obtained university entrance scores in their Matric Examination. A NBT was used to identify students’ reading competencies and based on these results, a reading profile of the students was drawn up and was used to design an intervention strategy to enhance existing competencies and to remedy any shortcomings. To achieve the study’s aim, a mixedmethod approach was used. The method was predominantly quantitative, because of the statistical aspects of the data from NBT, however, it had some elements of qualitative approach through the use of a case study and the designing of an intervention strategy in response to the profile. The results of the study indicated that the majority of students performed at the basic and lower-intermediate levels. This kind of reading profile means that students on SFP do not possess the academic reading skills needed for them to succeed with their required academic reading activities, without some kind of structured intervention. The design of such a tool (appendix 5) forms the second part of this study1 online resource (x, 256 leaves : some color illustrations)enUniversity of VendaReading abilitiesNational benchmarking testCompetenciesUnder-preparedAcademic readingIntervention strategy378.1702810968257Reading (Higher Education) --South Africa -- LimpopoReading --South Africa -- LimpopoStudents -- South Africa -- LimpopoThesisMolotja TW. An investigation of academic reading skills of science foundation students at a rural university. []. , 2016 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11602/651Molotja, T. W. (2016). <i>An investigation of academic reading skills of science foundation students at a rural university</i>. (). . Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11602/651Molotja, Tsebe Wilfred. <i>"An investigation of academic reading skills of science foundation students at a rural university."</i> ., , 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11602/651TY - Thesis AU - Molotja, Tsebe Wilfred AB - It has been established, through research, that some first-entering science students display levels of under-preparedness for tertiary studies. One area in which this is seen is in students’ lack of academic reading ability. Although, some of these students read fluently they do not display competencies in other reading areas, such as to understand, interpret, infer or critique ideas expressed in science academic texts. This low academic reading proficiency has a negative effect on their studies. The aim of this study was to identify, through the National Benchmarking Tests (NBT), the reading competencies of all (100) students registered in the Science Foundation Programme (SFP) in the University of Venda. SFP caters for students who did not attain the required scores in Mathematics and Physical Science. These students’ overall scoring, including English competency, is less than the required (26) points, even though they obtained university entrance scores in their Matric Examination. A NBT was used to identify students’ reading competencies and based on these results, a reading profile of the students was drawn up and was used to design an intervention strategy to enhance existing competencies and to remedy any shortcomings. To achieve the study’s aim, a mixedmethod approach was used. The method was predominantly quantitative, because of the statistical aspects of the data from NBT, however, it had some elements of qualitative approach through the use of a case study and the designing of an intervention strategy in response to the profile. The results of the study indicated that the majority of students performed at the basic and lower-intermediate levels. This kind of reading profile means that students on SFP do not possess the academic reading skills needed for them to succeed with their required academic reading activities, without some kind of structured intervention. The design of such a tool (appendix 5) forms the second part of this study DA - 2016-09-23 DB - ResearchSpace DP - Univen KW - Reading abilities KW - National benchmarking test KW - Competencies KW - Under-prepared KW - Academic reading KW - Intervention strategy LK - https://univendspace.univen.ac.za PY - 2016 T1 - An investigation of academic reading skills of science foundation students at a rural university TI - An investigation of academic reading skills of science foundation students at a rural university UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11602/651 ER -