CSIR pilots 'Ngiyaqonda! App' to help children read for meaning

John Perlman speaks with Dr Laurette Marais, Senior Researcher at the CSIR

Listen below.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is taking on South Africa’s literacy crisis with its new app.

The Ngiyaqonda! literacy app is designed to help children read for meaning in their home language or a language they are learning.

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Marais says this is specifically targeted towards Grade 3 children but it can be adjusted for even younger students.

It works by playing audio phrases for the child, and they will have to recreate the sentence using words that pop up on the screen.

“This helps them connect what they are hearing with what they are seeing.”

- Dr Laurette Marais, Senior Researcher at the CSIR 

Another activity on the app is ‘pronunciation scoring’ where a child will read a sentence aloud and the app will score them and give them feedback.

Marais says they have received positive feedback from teachers who find this app valuable in helping their students.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.