Background: The teaching of writing in English First Additional Language (EFAL) classrooms remains less explored in the Further Education and Training Phase (FET) in South Africa. This is so despite research showing a decline in the writing skills of second language learners, especially at the FET phase, calling attention to how writing is taught. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate writing approaches and teaching strategies used by teachers in teaching writing in selected EFAL FET classrooms in the Pinetown district. Method: A qualitative approach was adopted to observe five writing lessons across five schools using a video camera. Discourse analysis was used to analyse data. Results: The findings indicate that teachers mostly used a process approach to writing, which is in line with their curriculum. The study also found that teachers generally used a question and answer method to teach writing, which entails teachers controlling the interactions in the classrooms through a nomination-response cycle. Analyses of lessons also suggest that teachers creatively employed code-switching to explain writing concepts better. Conclusion: The study concludes that the effectiveness of any pedagogy depends on the teachers’ knowledge and understanding of writing and approaches to writing. For effective development of learners’ writing, the study recommends instruction methods that embrace collaborative writing activities in the learners’ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and the recognition of learners’ home languages.
{"title":"Writing approaches and strategies used by teachers in selected South African English First Additional Language classrooms","authors":"N. Ngubane, B. Ntombela, S. Govender","doi":"10.4102/rw.v11i1.261","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v11i1.261","url":null,"abstract":"Background: The teaching of writing in English First Additional Language (EFAL) classrooms remains less explored in the Further Education and Training Phase (FET) in South Africa. This is so despite research showing a decline in the writing skills of second language learners, especially at the FET phase, calling attention to how writing is taught. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate writing approaches and teaching strategies used by teachers in teaching writing in selected EFAL FET classrooms in the Pinetown district. Method: A qualitative approach was adopted to observe five writing lessons across five schools using a video camera. Discourse analysis was used to analyse data. Results: The findings indicate that teachers mostly used a process approach to writing, which is in line with their curriculum. The study also found that teachers generally used a question and answer method to teach writing, which entails teachers controlling the interactions in the classrooms through a nomination-response cycle. Analyses of lessons also suggest that teachers creatively employed code-switching to explain writing concepts better. Conclusion: The study concludes that the effectiveness of any pedagogy depends on the teachers’ knowledge and understanding of writing and approaches to writing. For effective development of learners’ writing, the study recommends instruction methods that embrace collaborative writing activities in the learners’ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and the recognition of learners’ home languages.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/rw.v11i1.261","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42431929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Casey J. Eslick, M. le Roux, Salome Geertsema, Lidia Pottas
Background: Literacy achievement of learners is a concern in many developing countries, particularly for English second language (EL2) learners with inadequate language development. It is important to investigate foundational phonological awareness (PA), as well as speech perception skills to guide the development of effective intervention for EL2 learners to facilitate optimal literacy acquisition. Objectives: The study aimed to describe the PA and speech perception in noise skills of South African Grade 1, EL2 participants, learning in an English first language (EL1) context, to inform evidence-based support during literacy acquisition for EL2 learners. Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive design was employed. Twenty-five EL1 participants provided normative results for the Phonological Awareness Test – 2 and South African English Digits-in-Noise Test , enabling between-group comparisons with 25 matched EL2 participants for quantitative data analysis. Demographic and background information was obtained using parental questionnaires. Results: The EL2 learners presented with PA skills below those of EL1 learners in all subtests. Though the speech perception in noise skills of EL2 learners were within the normative range for their age, their skills are also lower in comparison to EL1 learners. Conclusion: The findings support the inclusion of explicit PA instruction for rhyming, segmentation, isolation, deletion, substitution, and blending for EL2 literacy acquisition. Developing speech perception in noise skills is necessary to facilitate PA and phoneme-grapheme knowledge. This can enable decoding for early EL2 literacy acquisition.
{"title":"Phonological awareness and speech perception: Skills of Grade 1 English second language learners","authors":"Casey J. Eslick, M. le Roux, Salome Geertsema, Lidia Pottas","doi":"10.4102/rw.v11i1.263","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v11i1.263","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Literacy achievement of learners is a concern in many developing countries, particularly for English second language (EL2) learners with inadequate language development. It is important to investigate foundational phonological awareness (PA), as well as speech perception skills to guide the development of effective intervention for EL2 learners to facilitate optimal literacy acquisition. Objectives: The study aimed to describe the PA and speech perception in noise skills of South African Grade 1, EL2 participants, learning in an English first language (EL1) context, to inform evidence-based support during literacy acquisition for EL2 learners. Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive design was employed. Twenty-five EL1 participants provided normative results for the Phonological Awareness Test – 2 and South African English Digits-in-Noise Test , enabling between-group comparisons with 25 matched EL2 participants for quantitative data analysis. Demographic and background information was obtained using parental questionnaires. Results: The EL2 learners presented with PA skills below those of EL1 learners in all subtests. Though the speech perception in noise skills of EL2 learners were within the normative range for their age, their skills are also lower in comparison to EL1 learners. Conclusion: The findings support the inclusion of explicit PA instruction for rhyming, segmentation, isolation, deletion, substitution, and blending for EL2 literacy acquisition. Developing speech perception in noise skills is necessary to facilitate PA and phoneme-grapheme knowledge. This can enable decoding for early EL2 literacy acquisition.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/rw.v11i1.263","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70234955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: Owing to the dearth of reading practices within the South African literacy landscape, many learners neither engage in productive reading habits, nor exhibit a positive attitude towards English First Additional Language (EFAL) reading. Consequently, many learners experience reading challenges, which negatively impact on their academic performance. Objective: This study investigated the reading habits, attitudes and motivation of Grades 8–10 EFAL learners through the perceptive lens of EFAL teachers. Method: This qualitative study employed a case study design and a thematic data analysis process. The purposively selected sample for the semi-structured interviews consisted of six Grade 8–10 EFAL teachers from two high schools in the Tshwane South district. Results: Teachers believe that learners experience academic challenges because they do not habitually engage with texts, have a negative attitude towards printed text and read only to progress academically. The results further indicated that all these teachers concurred that there is a corresponding relationship between productive reading habits, a positive attitude towards reading and the academic performance of learners. Regrettably, the data analysis reported that the teachers have a pessimistic perception of the EFAL learners’ reading habits, attitudes and motivation to read. More disturbingly, most of the teachers lacked the responsibility for their contribution towards the ongoing demise of productive reading practices among learners in their classrooms. Conclusion: The findings revealed grave implications about learners’ reading habits, attitudes and motivation to read. Alarmingly, one of the most remarkable findings produced by this study is that the teachers themselves harbour negative perceptions about the reading practices of the learners in their classrooms.
{"title":"Teachers’ perceptions of Grades 8–10 English First Additional Language learners’ reading habits, attitudes and motivation","authors":"Tilla Olifant, M. Cekiso, E. Rautenbach","doi":"10.4102/rw.v10i1.254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v10i1.254","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Owing to the dearth of reading practices within the South African literacy landscape, many learners neither engage in productive reading habits, nor exhibit a positive attitude towards English First Additional Language (EFAL) reading. Consequently, many learners experience reading challenges, which negatively impact on their academic performance. Objective: This study investigated the reading habits, attitudes and motivation of Grades 8–10 EFAL learners through the perceptive lens of EFAL teachers. Method: This qualitative study employed a case study design and a thematic data analysis process. The purposively selected sample for the semi-structured interviews consisted of six Grade 8–10 EFAL teachers from two high schools in the Tshwane South district. Results: Teachers believe that learners experience academic challenges because they do not habitually engage with texts, have a negative attitude towards printed text and read only to progress academically. The results further indicated that all these teachers concurred that there is a corresponding relationship between productive reading habits, a positive attitude towards reading and the academic performance of learners. Regrettably, the data analysis reported that the teachers have a pessimistic perception of the EFAL learners’ reading habits, attitudes and motivation to read. More disturbingly, most of the teachers lacked the responsibility for their contribution towards the ongoing demise of productive reading practices among learners in their classrooms. Conclusion: The findings revealed grave implications about learners’ reading habits, attitudes and motivation to read. Alarmingly, one of the most remarkable findings produced by this study is that the teachers themselves harbour negative perceptions about the reading practices of the learners in their classrooms.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/rw.v10i1.254","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41955425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: Exposure to a blended experience has the potential to heighten students’ online critical literacy skills, and prepare them to participate in the new online communities that emerge within a networked society. Objectives: This article considered the perceptions of a cohort of third-year undergraduates of the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, on the relationship between exposure to blended learning (BL) and the development of online critical literacy skills. Method: A BL mode, which took the form of a face-to-face approach and the use of a virtual learning environment, was employed in teaching Critical Literacy, a component of the Developmental Reading Skills course designed for undergraduates of English as a second language. For 4 weeks, 80 students were trained to read web-based information critically and evaluate web pages in the Developmental Reading course, after which their perception of the relationship between exposure to BL and the development of online critical literacy skills was investigated. This work, for which data were obtained through focus group discussion and administration of a structured questionnaire, is grounded in both critical literacy (Janks 2013) and social constructivist theories (McInerney & McInerney 2002). Frequency distribution and Pearson correlation coefficient were employed in analysing the data collected. Results: The results revealed that the students perceived a positive relationship between exposure to BL and the development of online critical literacy skills. Conclusion: Many of the respondents showed a preference for the BL mode, and the benefits they derived from it include: the improvement of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills, the acquisition of more knowledge after the class, convenient time to work and ease with self-expression.
{"title":"Perceptions of undergraduates on the relationship between exposure to blended learning and online critical literacy skills","authors":"T. Fola-Adebayo","doi":"10.4102/rw.v10i1.200","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v10i1.200","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Exposure to a blended experience has the potential to heighten students’ online critical literacy skills, and prepare them to participate in the new online communities that emerge within a networked society. Objectives: This article considered the perceptions of a cohort of third-year undergraduates of the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, on the relationship between exposure to blended learning (BL) and the development of online critical literacy skills. Method: A BL mode, which took the form of a face-to-face approach and the use of a virtual learning environment, was employed in teaching Critical Literacy, a component of the Developmental Reading Skills course designed for undergraduates of English as a second language. For 4 weeks, 80 students were trained to read web-based information critically and evaluate web pages in the Developmental Reading course, after which their perception of the relationship between exposure to BL and the development of online critical literacy skills was investigated. This work, for which data were obtained through focus group discussion and administration of a structured questionnaire, is grounded in both critical literacy (Janks 2013) and social constructivist theories (McInerney & McInerney 2002). Frequency distribution and Pearson correlation coefficient were employed in analysing the data collected. Results: The results revealed that the students perceived a positive relationship between exposure to BL and the development of online critical literacy skills. Conclusion: Many of the respondents showed a preference for the BL mode, and the benefits they derived from it include: the improvement of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills, the acquisition of more knowledge after the class, convenient time to work and ease with self-expression.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/rw.v10i1.200","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42414566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: Literacy education in the foundation phase is a global concern. Studies have shown that mastering literacy in the first three years of school ensured academic success and lack of it had negative effects academically, socially and economically. This research study sought to explore teachers’ instructional practices for literacy in English in Grade 1 in the Shiselweni region of Eswatini. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to establish what instructional practices teachers used in their literacy classrooms, why they used those instructional practices, and how they experienced the teaching of literacy in English in Grade 1. Method: A qualitative case study design was followed where three teachers from two urban schools were purposively sampled and participated in semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. Focus group discussions with teachers who had experience teaching literacy in English in Grade 1 in each school were conducted, and document analysis was done. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory was used as a lens to understand teachers’ instructional practices in literacy. Results: Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings of the study showed that teachers’ instructional practices reflected their lack of pedagogical knowledge for teaching literacy in English in the foundation phase. The study also found that the teachers’ experiences were their rationale for their instructional practices. Conclusion: The study showed that teacher resilience was important for teachers to thrive under trying school conditions; developing a positive attitude towards literacy teaching enabled teachers to develop strategies to improve literacy teaching and learning.
{"title":"Exploring teachers’ instructional practices for literacy in English in Grade 1: A case study of two urban primary schools in the Shiselweni region of Eswatini (Swaziland)","authors":"Patience Dlamini, Ayub Sheik","doi":"10.4102/rw.v10i1.229","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v10i1.229","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Literacy education in the foundation phase is a global concern. Studies have shown that mastering literacy in the first three years of school ensured academic success and lack of it had negative effects academically, socially and economically. This research study sought to explore teachers’ instructional practices for literacy in English in Grade 1 in the Shiselweni region of Eswatini. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to establish what instructional practices teachers used in their literacy classrooms, why they used those instructional practices, and how they experienced the teaching of literacy in English in Grade 1. Method: A qualitative case study design was followed where three teachers from two urban schools were purposively sampled and participated in semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. Focus group discussions with teachers who had experience teaching literacy in English in Grade 1 in each school were conducted, and document analysis was done. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory was used as a lens to understand teachers’ instructional practices in literacy. Results: Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings of the study showed that teachers’ instructional practices reflected their lack of pedagogical knowledge for teaching literacy in English in the foundation phase. The study also found that the teachers’ experiences were their rationale for their instructional practices. Conclusion: The study showed that teacher resilience was important for teachers to thrive under trying school conditions; developing a positive attitude towards literacy teaching enabled teachers to develop strategies to improve literacy teaching and learning.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/rw.v10i1.229","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46175303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: Reading is a functional academic literacy ability needed by students in higher education. In the South African context, inadequate reading ability is one of the reasons for high undergraduate attrition rates. It seems that role players within this sector are of the opinion that students have reading ‘problems’ that need to be ‘fixed’, often by generic reading courses. This article differs from the perception of reading ‘problems’, as reading is viewed from a lifespan developmental perspective. According to this perspective undergraduate students do not have reading ‘problems’ but experience reading barriers hindering their reading development and in effect their academic literacy. Objectives: This study aimed to uncover some of these barriers by means of an empirical study conducted at the North-West University (NWU). Method: The setting of this study was the Potchefstroom campus of the NWU. A qualitative methodology was chosen whereby 14 individual interviews and 7 focus group interviews were used. The purpose of these interviews was to better understand lecturers’ and students’ perceptions about the variables of the reading process, namely the reading ability of the reader, the text to be read, the task, and the socio-cultural context. Results: Lecturers and students perceived a number of reading barriers within each variable, namely students’ non-compliance and lack of abilities, elements of the textbook and availability of lecturer notes, the format of the task, throughput pressures, and lecturers’ assumptions. Conclusion: Knowledge of these barriers and knowledge of the interconnectedness of the reading process could enable role players to collaboratively rethink undergraduate reading support, in which the lecturer has a crucial role to play.
{"title":"Barriers to reading in higher education: Rethinking reading support","authors":"Kristien Andrianatos","doi":"10.4102/rw.v10i1.241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v10i1.241","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Reading is a functional academic literacy ability needed by students in higher education. In the South African context, inadequate reading ability is one of the reasons for high undergraduate attrition rates. It seems that role players within this sector are of the opinion that students have reading ‘problems’ that need to be ‘fixed’, often by generic reading courses. This article differs from the perception of reading ‘problems’, as reading is viewed from a lifespan developmental perspective. According to this perspective undergraduate students do not have reading ‘problems’ but experience reading barriers hindering their reading development and in effect their academic literacy. Objectives: This study aimed to uncover some of these barriers by means of an empirical study conducted at the North-West University (NWU). Method: The setting of this study was the Potchefstroom campus of the NWU. A qualitative methodology was chosen whereby 14 individual interviews and 7 focus group interviews were used. The purpose of these interviews was to better understand lecturers’ and students’ perceptions about the variables of the reading process, namely the reading ability of the reader, the text to be read, the task, and the socio-cultural context. Results: Lecturers and students perceived a number of reading barriers within each variable, namely students’ non-compliance and lack of abilities, elements of the textbook and availability of lecturer notes, the format of the task, throughput pressures, and lecturers’ assumptions. Conclusion: Knowledge of these barriers and knowledge of the interconnectedness of the reading process could enable role players to collaboratively rethink undergraduate reading support, in which the lecturer has a crucial role to play.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/rw.v10i1.241","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43687134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: From 2020, the Law faculty has decided to discontinue the five-year Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) stream within the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree for a variety of reasons, including students’ perceptions of stigma, the poor throughput rate of this stream and the identified need to extend academic support to more students in the mainstream class. Objectives: This article argues that we need to gain insight into the struggles experienced by novice writers on the ECP to inform the nature of support that will need to be provided to LLB students going forward. We thus sought to explore the nature of the challenges experienced by two sets of first-year LLB ECP students with acquiring legal writing practices, namely students from high school and postgraduate students with degrees from other faculties. Method: Two semi-structured interviews on students’ perceptions of their challenges experienced with legal writing were conducted with 12 participants. Results: Students’ struggles with legal writing could be traced to difficulties with engaging appropriately with legal concepts and sources, reading effectively and accommodating the discipline’s valuing of conciseness in presenting arguments. We also show how students’ English additional language status and prior degrees inform these struggles. Conclusion: The article shows the value of looking to ECP students’ challenges with literacy practices (legal writing) in their first year to inform support for all first-year LLB students.
{"title":"Bachelor of Laws (LLB) students’ views of their literacy practices: Implications for support in a time of change","authors":"Bongi Bangeni, L. Greenbaum","doi":"10.4102/rw.v10i1.248","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v10i1.248","url":null,"abstract":"Background: From 2020, the Law faculty has decided to discontinue the five-year Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) stream within the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree for a variety of reasons, including students’ perceptions of stigma, the poor throughput rate of this stream and the identified need to extend academic support to more students in the mainstream class. Objectives: This article argues that we need to gain insight into the struggles experienced by novice writers on the ECP to inform the nature of support that will need to be provided to LLB students going forward. We thus sought to explore the nature of the challenges experienced by two sets of first-year LLB ECP students with acquiring legal writing practices, namely students from high school and postgraduate students with degrees from other faculties. Method: Two semi-structured interviews on students’ perceptions of their challenges experienced with legal writing were conducted with 12 participants. Results: Students’ struggles with legal writing could be traced to difficulties with engaging appropriately with legal concepts and sources, reading effectively and accommodating the discipline’s valuing of conciseness in presenting arguments. We also show how students’ English additional language status and prior degrees inform these struggles. Conclusion: The article shows the value of looking to ECP students’ challenges with literacy practices (legal writing) in their first year to inform support for all first-year LLB students.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/rw.v10i1.248","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49554319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: Mother-tongue education in South African primary schools remains a challenge to policymakers. The situation is problematic in multilingual lok’shin (township) schools where the lok’shin lingua is not recognised as ‘standard’ language. This article raises the controversial possibility of positioning of lok’shin lingua in a formal education langscape. Objectives: The article’s first purpose is to highlight recent international and local research which depicts controversies surrounding mother tongue instruction in primary schools. The second purpose is to conceptualise lok’shin lingua as a dialect present in children’s everyday vocabulary. Method: Data was gathered through a qualitative approach using interviews. The interviews were conducted with parents and educators at a township in South Africa. Results: Findings show notable differences in school language of instruction and the languages children speak outside school. Conclusion: Mother tongue teaching is problematic as it is incongruent with learners’ language repertoires. Therefore, a call is made for the recognition of lok’shin lingua in educational contexts as a way to promote more research into mother-tongue education.
{"title":"Mother-tongue education in a multilingual township: Possibilities for recognising lok’shin lingua in South Africa","authors":"Rockie Sibanda","doi":"10.4102/rw.v10i1.225","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v10i1.225","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Mother-tongue education in South African primary schools remains a challenge to policymakers. The situation is problematic in multilingual lok’shin (township) schools where the lok’shin lingua is not recognised as ‘standard’ language. This article raises the controversial possibility of positioning of lok’shin lingua in a formal education langscape. Objectives: The article’s first purpose is to highlight recent international and local research which depicts controversies surrounding mother tongue instruction in primary schools. The second purpose is to conceptualise lok’shin lingua as a dialect present in children’s everyday vocabulary. Method: Data was gathered through a qualitative approach using interviews. The interviews were conducted with parents and educators at a township in South Africa. Results: Findings show notable differences in school language of instruction and the languages children speak outside school. Conclusion: Mother tongue teaching is problematic as it is incongruent with learners’ language repertoires. Therefore, a call is made for the recognition of lok’shin lingua in educational contexts as a way to promote more research into mother-tongue education.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/rw.v10i1.225","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47806716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: The Eastern Cape province in South Africa is a multilingual province where isiXhosa is the most widely spoken indigenous language. Learners seldom use English at home, and it remains, largely, the language of learning and teaching used at school. With the advent of dynamic technology, learners are widely exposed to social media, and those who use the language of social media networks tend to include it in their academic activities at school. Objectives: The purpose of this article is to report on the orthographic errors in English Second Language Grade 10 essay writing caused by the use of social media, particularly WhatsApp. Method: The study was carried out at three randomly selected high schools in one district in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. The study used a quantitative approach to data analysis, but with a survey research design. Random sampling techniques were used to select 180 learners from three schools. The data collection instrument consisted of learners’ narrative essays. The data were analysed quantitatively and are presented using tables and graphs. The orthographic errors in the essays were identified and quantified. Results: The findings of this investigation shed light on the influence of social media on learners’ writing. Some of the findings included use of abbreviations, unnecessarily shortened words, and use of numbers instead of the complete word form. Conclusion: Recommendations are made on how teachers can help learners avoid this erroneous use of language in their writing. Suggestions are also made on how textbook writers and the Department of Basic Education can assist and support teachers in this process.
{"title":"The effect of social media on English second language essay writing with special reference to WhatsApp","authors":"Sister L. Songxaba, Limkani Sincuba","doi":"10.4102/RW.V10I1.179","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/RW.V10I1.179","url":null,"abstract":"Background: The Eastern Cape province in South Africa is a multilingual province where isiXhosa is the most widely spoken indigenous language. Learners seldom use English at home, and it remains, largely, the language of learning and teaching used at school. With the advent of dynamic technology, learners are widely exposed to social media, and those who use the language of social media networks tend to include it in their academic activities at school. Objectives: The purpose of this article is to report on the orthographic errors in English Second Language Grade 10 essay writing caused by the use of social media, particularly WhatsApp. Method: The study was carried out at three randomly selected high schools in one district in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. The study used a quantitative approach to data analysis, but with a survey research design. Random sampling techniques were used to select 180 learners from three schools. The data collection instrument consisted of learners’ narrative essays. The data were analysed quantitatively and are presented using tables and graphs. The orthographic errors in the essays were identified and quantified. Results: The findings of this investigation shed light on the influence of social media on learners’ writing. Some of the findings included use of abbreviations, unnecessarily shortened words, and use of numbers instead of the complete word form. Conclusion: Recommendations are made on how teachers can help learners avoid this erroneous use of language in their writing. Suggestions are also made on how textbook writers and the Department of Basic Education can assist and support teachers in this process.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/RW.V10I1.179","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48710736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background: The teaching of reading strategies that enhance comprehension is a priority for many practising lecturers involved in academic literacy programmes. However, due to the unprepared nature of a large section of students entering the Higher Education system, a number of students have been found to lack basic literacy skills such as reading for comprehension. A plethora of studies has been conducted locally and internationally with the aim of finding solutions to help students who struggle with text comprehension, especially at university level.Objectives: The purpose of this research is to show how paraphrasing as a strategy can be combined with a translingual approach to instruct students explicitly on how to read and comprehend textsMethod: Using a group of first-year multilingual medical students, this research included translanguaging as an additional component to the use of paraphrasing as a reading comprehension strategy.Results: The paper provides insight into how translanguaging can be used to assist multilingual students to understand texts through paraphrasing. Drawing empirical data from classroom activities, this paper shows how lecturers can help students to use translanguaging and paraphrasing as metacognitive strategies to help improve their comprehension of texts.Conclusion: Finally, the importance of allowing students to utilise their multilingual repertoires is emphasised and reiterated, through translanguaging, in order to enhance learning.
{"title":"Using a translanguaging approach in teaching paraphrasing to enhance reading comprehension in first-year students","authors":"Vimbai Hungwe","doi":"10.4102/RW.V10I1.216","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/RW.V10I1.216","url":null,"abstract":"Background: The teaching of reading strategies that enhance comprehension is a priority for many practising lecturers involved in academic literacy programmes. However, due to the unprepared nature of a large section of students entering the Higher Education system, a number of students have been found to lack basic literacy skills such as reading for comprehension. A plethora of studies has been conducted locally and internationally with the aim of finding solutions to help students who struggle with text comprehension, especially at university level.Objectives: The purpose of this research is to show how paraphrasing as a strategy can be combined with a translingual approach to instruct students explicitly on how to read and comprehend textsMethod: Using a group of first-year multilingual medical students, this research included translanguaging as an additional component to the use of paraphrasing as a reading comprehension strategy.Results: The paper provides insight into how translanguaging can be used to assist multilingual students to understand texts through paraphrasing. Drawing empirical data from classroom activities, this paper shows how lecturers can help students to use translanguaging and paraphrasing as metacognitive strategies to help improve their comprehension of texts.Conclusion: Finally, the importance of allowing students to utilise their multilingual repertoires is emphasised and reiterated, through translanguaging, in order to enhance learning.","PeriodicalId":42041,"journal":{"name":"Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4102/RW.V10I1.216","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46755059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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