The publication of the framework for the Malta’s education strategy 2014-2024 by the Education Ministry has brought to the fore a number of goals in line with European and world benchmarks. Among these is the need to “reduce the gaps in educational outcomes between boys and girls and between students attending different schools, decrease the number of low achievers and raise the bar in literacy”.
Both the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2009+, and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) 2011, found that much of the variation in reading performance between schools in Malta is associated with socio-economic factors. Pisa 2009+ found that only 11.6 per cent of 15-year-old students in boys’ area secondary schools scored above the baseline level (level 2) of reading proficiency, which enables a person to participate effectively in life.
Despite the fact that area secondary schools are being phased out, students with a low proficiency in English are still grouped together in the new secondary schools. Last scholastic year an action research project was implemented in a class of students who attend a State boys’ area secondary school. The project was driven by my conviction that even in this gloomy scenario, one positive reading experience can potentially create a reader.
The action research involved the design of several courses of action which were repeated and enhanced at a higher level from one reading cycle to another.
One positive reading experience can potentially create a reader
These were followed by a process of investigation, evaluation and reflection, whereby I tried to measure the level of engagement in reading for each student. The project also included the parents, since students were encouraged to continue reading at home, while most of the books were borrowed from the school library.
Students were individually guided to choose a book according to their interests and level of English. Since the aim was reading for pleasure, they were allowed to discontinue a book and choose another if they felt it did not appeal to them. The students were actively involved in the quantitative aspect of the research, since it is believed students can be radical agents of change. They carried out self-assessment, participated in peer interaction and prepared book reviews and posters.
The experience of a classroom book club, where conversations centred around books and on how to understand the main ideas, provided a new experience for the students, encouraging them to develop competence and self-confidence through group support.
Although this action research project indicated a relative increase in reading interest within the group, studies show that it is the “reading programmes that last longer than a year [that] are consistently effective” (Krashen S.D., 2004, p.3).
For this reason, the reading programme will now be extended to all students at the school, in the hope that that a love of reading will be nurtured in each student.
This action research project was submitted by the author to the University of York in part fulfilment for a Master of Arts degree and it was partially funded by a Malta Government Scholarship Scheme grant.