Another issue highlighted by the teachers is the lack of contextualised vernacular texts or reading resources to assist them in teaching vernacular and English. Finding resources to assist them in teaching vernacular lessons and English is an issue. In addition, there is no vernacular phonics teachers’ guide or resource to assist them in teaching vernacular phonics. Therefore, the teachers compiled a vernacular phonics teaching aide to assist themselves as well as the new teachers who are transferred to the school. To address the lack of vernacular text issue, the school librarian is organising a fundraising campaign where funds collected will go towards the purchase of new vernacular reading materials. Inadequate learning and reading resources are some of the factors contributing to low literacy as highlighted by Literacy Foundation (2016); Cree et.al; (2012); Nayak (2014) and Bidwell (2011). This school’s school- based curriculum innovation has contributed to the development of relevant resources that teachers can use to improve students’ literacy and their academic performance as well.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, it is found that the main literacy problems in this school are phonics and spelling, and in order to address these problems, the school has adopted a school-based curriculum whereby infant classes are first taught vernacular phonics before teaching them the English phonics. In doing this, it is found that students read and speak English well, which contributes to their overall academic performance. Therefore, it can be seen that it is vital that students learn their vernacular phonics first before they are taught any second language phonics, or in the case of Fiji, the English phonics. If the vernacular phonics is taught first, it is found that students acquire the English language phonics well and comprehend and perform well academically. Additionally, more vernacular books should be published, and primary school libraries should be furnished with these in order to assist the teachers in preparing their lessons and so that students are exposed to vernacular reading resources. Hence, it can be recommended that the teaching of vernacular phonics be incorporated into the Fiji National curriculum so that schools in Fiji can be given the option to implement this method of learning literacy, thereby assisting in developing students’ literacy level. Furthermore, more vernacular books should be published. Primary school libraries should be furnished with these in order to assist the teachers in preparing their lessons and for students to be exposed to vernacular reading resources. Finally, the curriculum development unit should conduct more workshops on the different literacy assessment and evaluation methods to assist teachers in assessing students’ literacy skills effectively. In taking these steps, students’ academic achievement will improve. and assessment methods implemented will be inclusive and valid.
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