Teachers’ perspectives of the reading comprehension challenges and instructional strategies they use for Grade 8 EFAL learners

Background: Reading comprehension instruction remains a cause of concern worldwide. Many studies have been conducted on the issue to provide possible strategies to assist readers with reading comprehension challenges. Objective: The study sought to investigate teachers’ perspectives on learners’ comprehension challenges and instructional strategies used for Grade 8 English First Additional Language (EFAL) learners. Method: This qualitative study employed a case study design and thematic data analysis to organise and analyse the data. The purposively selected sample for the semi-structured individual interviews comprised four Grade 8 EFAL teachers from four secondary schools chosen as a research site in the Capricorn North District, Koloti circuit. Results: Teachers believed that learners experience challenges because of overcrowding, limited vocabulary, and pronunciation. Most importantly, learners’ native language makes it a challenge because they speak Sepedi in class. The results further indicate that all four teachers concurred in their responses about the reading strategies and engagement strategies they used. More disturbingly, teachers relied on traditional teaching methods. Conclusion: The study found that the strategies employed by at least two of the four teachers in the sample were inadequate for effectively supporting Grade 8 EFAL learners’ reading comprehension. Contribution: The findings indicated that teachers rely on traditional teaching methods such as questioning and summarising and therefore should be exposed to current methods of teaching reading. The study calls for teachers to be exposed to different teaching methods for reading, such as shared reading, guided reading, inferencing, and other comprehension strategies that engage learners effectively in meaning-making.