Jordanian early primary stage teachers' self-reported practices to develop their pupils reading in Arabic

Abstract

This study examines teachers’ practices for developing early primary stage (6-9 year-old) pupils’ reading in Arabic in the northern region of Jordan using a 25-item self-assessment checklist and a semi-structured interview. The subjects reported that their practices stem more from extrinsic motivation (e.g. responding to calls for enabling children to take part in literary competitions) than from intrinsic motivation (e.g. a personal interest in reading). The findings showed that 22 items of the Checklist scored moderate to little degrees of practice, which was further confirmed by the results of the interview. Besides, although there were no statistically significant differences among the subjects’ reports of their practices which may be attributed to the effect of gender and academic qualification, statistically significant differences were found due to teaching experience, having studied literacy-related coursework in pre-service preparation, and having a personal interest in reading. The study concludes with relevant implications for reading instruction and teacher education.