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Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
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University of Pretoria
2021
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| _version_ | 1867613528730370048 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Van Staden, Surette |
| author_browse | Van Staden, Surette |
| author_facet | Van Staden, Surette |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/80509 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:35.225Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/80509 Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages Van Staden, Surette u26013364@tuks.co.za Pretorius, E.J. Roux, Karen UCTD Cultural Equivalence Differential Item Functioning Education Functional Equivalence Linguistic Equivalence Education theses SDG-04 Education theses SDG-10 Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is a large-scale reading comprehension assessment, which assesses Grade 4 learners’ reading literacy achievement. The findings from the last cycle of PIRLS 2016 indicated that South African Grade 4 and 5 learners performed poorly in reading comprehension. This finding confirms the previous cycles’ results where South African learners achieved the lowest results across the participating countries. Approximately eight out of ten Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning in any of the tested languages. Due to the poor results in PIRLS, the President of South Africa stated that every ten-year old child should be able to read for meaning, thus cementing reading literacy as a national aim. The aim of this mixed methods research was to determine whether the PIRLS Literacy 2016 and PIRLS 2016 limited release texts are equivalent across languages, specifically English, Afrikaans and isiZulu. Four research sub-questions were explored to assist in addressing the main research question posed by this study: To what extent are the PIRLS 2016 released texts in English, Afrikaans and isiZulu, in Grade 4 and Grade 5 equivalent? As this study took the form of a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, the first phase investigated the South African Grade 4 and 5 results by firstly looking at descriptive statistics, such as percentages and means. After the initial exploration of the data, I conducted Rasch analyses to determine whether the items from the limited release texts showed measurement invariance – in other words, whether the items behaved differently for different groups of learners. As part of the Rasch analyses, individual item-fit statistics and differential item functioning (DIF) were conducted using RUMM2030. In phase two, the limited release texts were analysed by experts who attended workshops and completed open-ended questionnaires regarding the equivalence of the identified texts. The qualitative phase was conducted in order to complement and extend on the quantitative findings of phase one. The findings revealed that the limited release texts, with their accompanying items, were not equivalent across the different languages. However, by looking at the items that displayed DIF, there is not a clear pattern as the items did not universally favour one language nor did the texts discriminate universally against a particular language. An in-depth look at the texts and items themselves revealed that the Flowers on the Roof text is considered the poorest translation into Afrikaans and isiZulu. Overall, all the texts were considered to be appropriate for South African learners as the texts made use of rich vocabulary and introduced the learners to new ideas and concepts. Thus, this study offers new insights into the equivalence of the PIRLS assessments as well as possible reasons for the non-equivalence for each of the limited release texts. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations and further research are provided. bs2026 Science, Mathematics and Technology Education PhD Unrestricted SDG-04: Quality education SDG-10: Reduced inequalities 2021-06-22T12:29:22Z 2021-06-22T12:29:22Z 2021/04/22 2020 Thesis Roux, K 2020, Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80509> A2021 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80509 en © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Cultural Equivalence Differential Item Functioning Education Functional Equivalence Linguistic Equivalence Education theses SDG-04 Education theses SDG-10 Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages |
| title | Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages |
| title_full | Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages |
| title_fullStr | Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages |
| title_full_unstemmed | Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages |
| title_short | Examining the equivalence of the PIRLS 2016 released texts in South Africa across three languages |
| title_sort | examining the equivalence of the pirls 2016 released texts in south africa across three languages |
| topic | UCTD Cultural Equivalence Differential Item Functioning Education Functional Equivalence Linguistic Equivalence Education theses SDG-04 Education theses SDG-10 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80509 |