Original Research

A comparison of the effects of text-based instruction versus standards-based instruction in the early years

Bonnie Grossen, Nithi Muthukrishna, Jaqueline T. Naidoo
South African Journal of Childhood Education | Vol 6, No 2 | a459 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v6i2.459 | © 2016 Bonnie Grossen, Nithi Muthukrishna, Jaqueline T. Naidoo | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 20 May 2016 | Published: 29 November 2016

About the author(s)

Bonnie Grossen, Centre for Applied Research in Education, Portland, United States
Nithi Muthukrishna, School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Jaqueline T. Naidoo, School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a text-based (TB) English structured language development programme and a teacher-designed standards-based (SB) English instructional model. The sample of this study comprised of 500 Samoan children, in Kindergarten (K) and Grade 1 (G1), on the island of American Samoa attending eight different schools. All the children enter school with no English competence. Six schools implemented the TB Language for Learning scripted programme and the Read Well. Two schools implemented the SB instructional model for English language development (SB), and only one of these schools implemented the SB instruction in reading. The results of this study support the efficacy of TB structured language programme as compared to the teacher-designed SB instructional model in all language and reading skills assessed.

Keywords

Structured immersion model; English language learning; direct, explicit instruction; American Samoa

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