The write approach: Can R2L help at tertiary level?

Abstract

This article discusses a one-year intervention that was implemented using the Read to Learn (R2L) approach with 46 isiZulu-speaking students at a South African University in 2011.  All the students were in the BCom4 Access Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and originated from Quintile 1-4 schools.  Participating students were taught to understand and read selected texts.  They were then assisted through a process of ‘scaffolding’, in which they ultimately learnt how to independently write a text of the same genre, using the six stages of the R2L teaching cycle.  Of the original 46 students, 10 were closely tracked.  Various data were collected and analysed during the study period.  Findings revealed that there was a marked improvement in both reading (an increase of at least two levels) and writing abilities at both the micro and the macro levels of text.  These results suggest that the R2L approach, as a reading intervention, can contribute towards the improvement of the academic literacy levels of disadvantaged students at tertiary level.