Factors Affecting Grade 3 Students’ Literacy in Soukhuma District, Champasak Province

Abstract

This research is a study of the factors affecting Grade 3 students’ literacy in Soukhuma District, Champasak Province. The purposes of this research were 1) to study the reading and writing performance of Grade 3 primary school students in Soukhuma District, Champasak Province; 2) to examine the factors that affect their reading and writing skills, and 3) to identify approaches for developing students’ reading and writing skills. Cluster random sampling was used to select the sample group, which consisted of 193 participants, including 56 teachers and 137 students. The research instruments included a reading and writing test for students and a questionnaire for teachers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with SPSS. The results showed that students’ reading and writing performance was generally low: 64.15% of students demonstrated poor results, 20.93% performed below good, 14.48% performed at a very good level, and only 0.60% achieved the lowest level, which was classified as moderate overall. Regarding teachers’ opinions on Grade 3 students’ reading and writing, the findings revealed that each factor was rated at a high level with a mean value of (  X= 3.67 S.D = 0.27) Among these, the factor related to teachers was rated highest (  X= 3.87 S.D = 0.32) followed by factors related to learners (  X= 3.58 S.D = 0.41) and factors related to administration (  X= 3.57 S.D = 0.33).