Different problems affect reading. The following factors will have adverse effects on the reading performance of a pupil. The absence of them in a pupil could make him a good reader and a fluent speaker.
- Ill Health
- Bad Eyesight
- Disturbed Mind
- Pupils interested in the reading matter or the teacher
- Bad initiation into reading
- Defect of the tongue
Ill Health
A healthy body is in a healthy mind. Ill health can prevent the reader from reading fluently. A feverish body will make the mind feverish and thus disturb the mind to read fluently.
The health of the reader matters as it does generally with other cases of academic involvement. The teacher should, therefore, make sure that his pupil’s health is taken care of during a reading lesson.
Bad eyesight
The eyes of a human being are the most important organ used in reading exercises. A bad eyesight will prevent the reader from seeing clearly and fluently.
It will cause the reader to have several reading problems. Pupils having problems with eyesight should be advised to see an eye specialist for attention and a cure or solution.
Disturbed mind
A troubled mind will not function well in any academic pursuit. If a pupil quarrels with anybody or is somehow unhappy, his mind will not be on the reading exercise.
The teacher should therefore secure the concentration of his pupils’ minds in a reading class by making his lesson interesting.
Pupils interested in the reading matter or the teacher
Generally, human beings perform well in what we have an interest in. The interest a pupil has in either the lesson or the reading matter matters.
So also is his interest in the teacher. The teacher therefore has the task of securing the interest of the pupils in the lesson or the matter. He must be a friend of the pupils. He should make the lesson simple for his pupils with adequate teaching aids.
Bad initiation into reading
The first taste of anything in life matters. A pupil who has been badly initiated into reading may not perform well in his reading exercise unless he is corrected.
Teacher in the lower primaries should therefore have it as their task to initiate their pupil into reading fluently.
Defect of the tongue
A stammerer a pupil who has some defect of the tongue will not be able to read clearly and fluently. Some casual infections on the tongue will also cause a person to read clearly and fluently.
As much as possible a pupil who is a stammerer must be helped to correct this defect at an early age.
The teacher must be very friendly with such a pupil. Any infection on the tongue must be attended to by a medical doctor to get a proper and prompt cure.
Reading problems and solution
The factors influencing reading performance mentioned above could lead to any of the following reading problems.
- Repetition
- Insertion
- Reversal
- Regression
- Omission
Repetition
Simply put repetition is doing something or making something again or saying something again.
In reading, repetition is reading again and again the same word or line of a passage.
This is usually caused by bad eyesight, disturbed mind or ill health. A pupil with bad eyesight should be advised to see an optician or a medical doctor if he has bad health.
Disturbance of the mind could be taken care of by the teacher by showing deep affection for his pupils.
Insertion
To insert is to put or set in or introduce something that was not originally there. It is to set in something in reading, insertion is a defect.
It is that problem of putting in either a letter that is not supposed to be there when one is reading or putting in a word that is not in the printed, written in the reading matter by the reader.
It could also be setting a sound that is not included in one’s reading matter into the reading matter. This problem is usually caused by disturbance of the mind or bad eyesight.
Together with the solution of bad eyesight mentioned above, affected pupils should be taught to take note of correct spelling of words and they should master the correct sound in the language involved.
Reversal or Regression
To reverse is to make a change to the opposite. It is to return or to go to opposite way. It is to go backwards. In reading, reversal is going backwards on the reading matter. You can read more similar posts on our reading and writing page of the site.
Editors
adminate
