Analyses of reading comprehension skills in primary schools of Malawi

抄録

Improving basic reading skills is a main educational initiative undertaken in many developing countries. This study presents analyses of student reading skills in rural Malawi by focusing on student weaknesses as well as their reading features and habits. Three research questions were answered: What test questions are difficult? What reading features did tested students demonstrate? How did reading features differ between achievement levels? Results suggest that tested students used context and simple sentence structure to match words, but they had difficulty using context and simple sentence structure to match information in short passages. Students demonstrated use of prior knowledge, imagination, and preconceived ideas based on their daily life; they chose answers based on terms used in the questions, and they struggled to combine information in the passages to answer the questions. Those with overall low scores showed these features when answering basic-level questions, and those with midrange and low scores demonstrated these features when addressing the intermediate-level questions. The majority of students demonstrated these reading features when handling advanced-level questions. The findings contribute to efforts for improving reading skills in Malawian primary students.