Teaching Adults to Read Better and Faster : Results from an Experiment in Burkina Faso

Teaching Adults to Read Better and Faster : Results from an Experiment in Burkina Faso

Two cognitively oriented methods were tested in Burkina Faso to help illiterates learn to read more efficiently. These were (a) speeded reading of increasingly larger word units and (b) phonological awareness training to help connect letters to spe...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Abadzi, Helen
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:
ACHIEVEMENT
ACHIEVEMENT TESTS
ADDITION
ADULT LITERACY
ADULT LITERACY INSTRUCTION
ADULT LITERACY TRAINING
BILINGUAL EDUCATION
CLASSROOMS
COMPLEXITY
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
EXPERIMENTAL CLASSES
FORMAL EDUCATION
ILLITERACY
ILLITERATES
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS
INSTRUCTORS
INTERVENTIONS
LANGUAGES
LEARNING
LEARNING PROCESS
LINGUISTICS
LISTENING
LITERACY
LITERACY ACTIVITIES
LITERACY CENTERS
LITERACY CLASSES
LITERACY INSTRUCTION
LITERACY INTERVENTIONS
LITERACY PROGRAMS
LITERACY TEACHERS
LITERACY TESTS
LITERACY TRAINING
LITERACY TRAINING PROGRAMS
NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
ORPHANS
PAPERS
PRIMARY SCHOOL
PRIMARY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
PROFICIENCY
READING
READING ACTIVITIES
READING COMPREHENSION
READING INSTRUCTION
READING METHODS
READING SKILLS
READING TRAINING
RESEARCH DESIGN
RURAL AREAS
SCHOOLING
SCHOOLS
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
SHOW HOW
SPEAKING
STATISTICAL ANALYSES
TEACHER
TEACHER TRAINING
TEACHERS
TEACHING
TRAINING PROGRAMS
TRAINING TEACHERS
WORD LISTS TEACHING
TRAINING
CLASSROOM MATERIALS
QUESTIONNAIRES
RESEARCH
WORD LISTS
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/05/2378822/teaching-adults-read-better-faster-results-experiment-burkina-faso
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18181
Description
Summary:Two cognitively oriented methods were tested in Burkina Faso to help illiterates learn to read more efficiently. These were (a) speeded reading of increasingly larger word units and (b) phonological awareness training to help connect letters to speech. Learners were given reading tests and a computerized reaction time test. Although the literacy courses were shortened by the arrival of rains and government delays, the piloted methods helped adults read better than those in the standard "control" classes. Learners enrolled in the experimental classes performed better on the outcome tests than did learners enrolled in control classes. Ninety percent of the possible comparisons between treatment classes and control classes favored classes receiving treatments, and 72 percent of the measurements in favor of treatments were statistically significant. The evidence suggests that phonological awareness training is particularly effective in situations where the training period was short, and that rapid reading was more advantageous in longer training situations. Overall, the results are indicative of the potential that scientifically backed methods have in making adult literacy instruction more effective. However, due to the short duration of the classes (3-4 months) learners apparently did not receive sufficient practice to consolidate skills. Literacy skills may still be prone to being forgotten if readers do not learn to read automatically and if opportunities to read are few.

Similar Items