Bangla Reading of Grade Three Students: An Explanatory Study at Government Primary Schools in Bangladesh

Reading is a fundamental skill for overall academic success which positively affects life outcomes. Reading fluency is important for bridging the word recognition and comprehension. The main objective of this study is to measure the present status of Bangla reading fluency with understanding of grade III students at the Government Primary Schools (GPS) in Bangladesh. To meet these research objectives, we used explanatory sequential mixed methods design with multistage cluster sampling strategies. Through quantitative analysis, it is found that students scored on an average 2.34 (out of 4) in reading seen text and 1.29 (out of 3) in reading unseen text. In addition, students can read 48 words per minute with 80% comprehension. It is also found that the major causes of gaps in achieving reading skills are- students’ inability to identify the alphabet, break joint letters, make words and make sentences. To overcome this situation teachers can conduct a baseline survey at the beginning of the academic year and support students continuously to reach the mark. Besides, teachers can follow the teachers’ guide (TG) of NCTB in Bangla language teaching

Setting Reading Fluency Benchmark in Bangla for the Students of Grade III and Grade V

Reading is one of the most significant media of learning. Reading with comprehension mostly depends on reading fluency. It is necessary to measure students fluency through the reading rate of words per minute to know the level of comprehension. There was no benchmark in Bangla reading fluency at the primary level, which is necessary to check students\u27 reading performances regarding the targeted level. This study aims to set a reading fluency benchmark for grade III and grade V in Bangla. This study followed quantitative approaches with a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 1536 students from both grades were selected through a multistage cluster sampling procedure. Two types of texts for each grade were developed and finalized alter piloting to administer. The median method was used for setting the fluency benchmark as many countries already had used it for the same purpose. This study recommended setting the reading fluency benchmark for grade III in Bangla at 46 CWPM and 54 CWPM for grade V. It also recommended that policymakers need to take the necessary teaching-learning interventions to achieve this benchmark