Teaching of Reading in Primary Schools: Implications for the Nigerian Primary School Teacher

Abstract:

The need for improvement in students’ reading abilities and subsequent achievement in English language has always been the concern of many stakeholders (policy makers, parents and educators). Following the concerns about the decline in reading abilities of students and the quality of education, the need for a solid foundation in the skills of reading is very expedient. The paper therefore, x-rays the nature of reading, the basic skills of reading, reading readiness amongst learners and finally the various methods/approaches suitable for teaching\learning reading in primary schools. After in depth review of literature, the paper concluded that reading readiness is very essential for effective teaching of reading skills and secondly, as observed from the literature reviewed, no method or approach is completely perfect. The onus is on the teacher to use or select the method or approach which is suitable or appropriate to the skill and situation of the class. However, no teacher should adopt a particular method as a combination of two or more methods is ideal for effective teaching of reading skills at the primary school level. Based on the conclusion, recommendations were made amongst which is that the government should ensure that only qualified teachers are employed to teach English language at the primary school level.