Assessment of the Impact of Reading Difficulties on Learners’ Academic Performance: A Case of Junior High Schools in the New Juaben North Municipal of Ghana

Abstract

The study assessed the impact of reading difficulties on learners’ academic performance in the New Juaben North Municipal of Ghana, following reports on the falling standards of students’ academic performance. Specifically, the study established the effect of the reading ability of Junior High School [JHS] students in the New Juaben North Municipal on their academic performance, and appraise d comprehension lessons in such schools. The study is a quantitative-oriented study which employed the cross-sectional survey design to sample 260 students and 24 teachers by the simple random sampling technique. The study found that word mispronunciation and word substitution were respectively the main and least reading errors identified among JHS students in the Municipality. The study established negative associations among all identified reading errors, which were found to distort the intended meanings of the text in students’ comprehension. This was inferred to trickle down to misconstrued interpretations of examination questions’ demands of students, and hence poor performance in the examination. The study found that the ignoring of punctuation is the main impedance to achieving the objectives of comprehension lessons. Further, the study found that English Language teachers in the Municipality use comprehension tests as the main assessment technique. The study finally established that 60 percent of English Language teachers schedule after-school lessons to improve the reading competencies of students. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service should prioritise and develop strategies to improve reading abilities.