Die voorspellingsgeldigheid van die ESSI lees- en speltoets vir niemoedertaalsprekers

The aim of the study was to determine the predictive validity of the English version of the ESSI Reading and Spelling Test for non-mother tongue primary school learners. Because the study was undertaken in the Free State Province, grade 5 to 7 learners from the three most important African language groups, namely Sesotho, isiXhosa and Setswana, were involved as non-mother tongue speakers. In total, the achievements of 812 learners in the reading and spelling tests of the ESSI were obtained. Predictive validity was investigated by correlating the learners' scores in the ESSI Reading and Spelling Test with their academic achievement (November examination index (average across all six core subjects). These correlations were done for the three African language groups separately, and in all instances, coefficients with medium to large effect sizes were found. Therefore, it can be accepted confidently that the English version of the ESSI indeed possesses the necessary predictive validity for non-mother tongue speaking learners (Sesotho, isiXhosa and Setswana) in grades 5 to 7. The results further indicated that the average achievement of learners of various language groups in a particular grade in the reading and spelling tests did not differ significantly from one another. In addition, it was found that the two genders were indeed inclined to perform differently in the tests. Where significant differences were found, the girls obtained significantly higher average scores than the boys did.