Bibliography: leaves 99-105. / This investigation provides a learner perspective of the factors that affected the way in which they made meaning of science texts in Grade Eight where the medium of instruction was English. The investigation outlines the origins and objectives of the new curriculum within which the learner is located as this informs the extent to which learners have to engage independently with texts. It also describes the role of the textbook in society and education, the readability of texts and reading as factors that affect and therefore have an impact on the way learners make meaning from texts. While the aim of study was to gain a learner perspective of the factors shaping learners' engagement with texts, it also includes responses from teachers and textbook writers as these two groups have a direct influence on the way learners make meaning. The study highlights the contextual realities of where learners are at and provides strong evidence to suggest that learners' engagement with texts are affected by their low reading levels and the choices made by teachers and textbook writers in their selection and writing of texts, and points conclusively to the role of the teacher in mediating between learner and text.

Bibliography: leaves 128-134. / Soos die titel aandui, beoog die studie in hoofsaak om te bepaal wat die posisie van "swart" Afrikaanse digters is met betrekking tot 'n inklusiewe Suid-Afrikaanse digkuns, en meer spesifiek ten opsigte van taal, ras en geslag.

Bibliography: leaves 93-102. / The study examines sexism in siSwati school prescribed books. The study takes the view that textbooks as cultural artifacts are important in the transmission of cultural attitudes, values and ideology, and therefore influence the gendering of identities. The selected prescribed books for SecondarylHigh School level in Swaziland are investigated for discrepancies in the treatment of male and female characters.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-88). / This study arises out of an awareness of the history of Malawi' s language in education policy from the era of British colonialism to the present multilingual era. English is given a high status in schools despite the fact that many more teachers and pupils speak local languages. Malawi's new language in education model stipulates that "English should be offered as a subject from Standards 1 to 3; English should be offered as medium of instruction from Standards 4 to 8" (MOE. 1996). The Malawi in education bilingual model is thus subtractive, which impacts negatively on second language learning. I discuss various theories that underpin the teaching of literacy in a second language. namely bilingualism and cognition, social learning, and theories with an educational or classroom orientation to establish a framework for my empirical investigation.

Writing centre consultations are described as one-on-one, tutor-guided interactions driven by institutional and disciplinary objectives and individual students' needs. An important component in these writing centre interactions is tutors’ use of questions as part of tutoring strategies. Tutors use questions to direct students towards a better understanding or towards an appropriate answer and to encourage students to ask questions in order to motivate learning and sustain their participation in the consultation. Previous research predominantly focused on what questions disclose about the role of tutors and how they are used to control dialogue throughout the consultation. A lack of research exists regarding the specific types and functions of questioning strategies used in writing consultations. This study examines the functions of the different questioning strategies used by tutors in writing consultations and how these strategies promote students’ engagement and learning. The naturally occurring conversations of participants in writing centre consultations were recorded and transcribed. Two cycles of coding organised the data according to predetermined coding schemes, based on theories in pragmatics (specifically that of micro- and macropragmatics), for a grammatical (textual) analysis and pragmatic analyses in order to examine interrelationships between the different coding types and functions and the tutors’ illocutionary intents. The grammatical analysis examined the declarative and interrogative grammatical structures of tutor questions. Interrogative questions were coded as either yes/no or wh-questions. Consultants primarily used yes/no questions to elicit yes/no responses from students when discussing specific ideas in students’ writing and used wh-questions to elicit specific information concerning an aspect or concept of a student’s writing. The pragmatic analyses included micro- and macropragmatic analyses to establish consultants’ illocutionary intents when asking questions. The questions were identified as Directive, Presumptive, Politeness, Information-gap, Leading and Scaffolding questions. The macropragmatic analysis examined the conversational, physical and psychological acts (emotions, e.g., laughter) guiding tutor questions to determine the extra-linguistic context guiding tutor questions. / Dissertation (MA (Applied Language Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Afrikaans / MA (Applied Language Studies) / Unrestricted

Bibliography: leaves 59-62. / Literature is an important source of cultural knowledge for young readers. It helps shape their perceptions of reality and teaches them what to expect from the world and the people around them. Therefore, it is important to do a communicative analysis of the literature that is prescribed for schools, in order to determine how identities are ascribed and negotiated, and how this can bear on intergroup and interpersonal relations. The conclusions can then serve to guide the selection of new books and the teaching of existing selections. In this study, the eleven novels that were prescribed in 2000 for Afrikaans First Language in Grade 12 in the nine provinces of South Africa are analysed thematically with respect to ethnicity, gender, and religion. Theories of Intercultural Communication are used to examine these thematic analyses. I conclude that the lists were indeed compiled for the purpose of transformation, and that ethnicity in particular gets awarded prominent treatment. The voices that are heard, however, belong overwhelmingly to one group, so that theirs is central to all reality, and the reality of others is seen only in relation to their reality. More or less the same applies to the aspects of gender and religion. There is also little awareness of gender issues, and gender roles are stereotypical.

This study reports on a balanced reading approach (BRA) designed for a multi-cultural classroom, including both Ll ( first language) and EAL ( English additional language ) Foundation phase learners. The purpose of this study is to explore how interactive reading approaches develop literacy skills for six African learners. The teacher as researcher developed a theoretical model, which informed her pedagogic practices in the balanced reading programme. She also engaged in action research to gain an insight into what teaching approaches, methodologies and resources make EAL learners learn more effectively. This information was disseminated to other educator colleagues. This study also examines parents' views on the BRA and their perceptions of the reading process. Data was drawn from the following sources: teacher observations and interactions with learners, semi-structured interviews with parents of learners, analysis of learner assessment and parental questionnaires. It was concluded that a balanced reading approach which values mother tongue instruction in a supportive learning environment enhances the self concepts and cognitive growth of EAL learners. This study has also demonstrated that collaborative active learning, extensive independent reading, language experience approach, home support , community support, high levels of intrinsic learner motivation and high teacher expectations of learners can positively impact on the EAL learners' academic progress and social growth at school. Keywords: Foundation phase English Additional Language Balanced Reading Approach III Additive Bilingualism Communicative Language Teaching Whole Language / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

This study is an ethnographic investigation into the teaching of writing in an African secondary school in the Pietermaritzburg area. It arose out of my awareness that schooling distributes literacy unequally and negatively affects learners' abilities to participate effectively in society. This inequality of access is prevalent in South African schools in the aftermath of apartheid education policy. The purpose of the research is to explore these issues of access and to gain an understanding of the factors that shape learners' knowledge, skills and attitudes around writing. The need to gain a rich understanding of these factors indicated that a long-term, indepth ethnographic study was appropriate. Accordingly I taught grade eleven classes at a school for two and a half years to understand the context in which teachers and learners operated. The core of the data came from Literate Life Histories that I collected by means of interviews with six learners. This was triangulated with data from interviews with teachers, classroom observation, analysis ofsyllabuses, teacher guides and examinations, participant observation of matriculation examinations, and analysis of student work. The data shows that inappropriate teaching, assessment and texts deprives learners ofaccess to effective literacy. Systemic constraints of syllabuses, teacher guides and large classes shape teachers' practices. As a result, learners experience a narrow range of genres, no explicit teaching or assessment around genre conventions, and inaccessible texts. Learners thus view writing as a grammar exercise, have little confidence in their ability to communicate via writing, do not see writing as a process of refinement, and have little knowledge of how genre, tenor, field and mode shape written texts . These findings point to the need for the rehabilitation of writing in the schools and teacher training. This will require attention to syllabuses, assessment practices and the adequate supply of appropriate textbooks. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermatizburg, 2000.

Bibliography: pages 111-118. / This study examines some elements of the language environment, language learning processes, and language inter-actions between child and teacher, and child and child in the changing South African education system. As more classrooms become non-racial, new dimensions are arising in language use and in learning: classrooms are perforce multilingual as different language groups come together to receive instruction through the medium of English. What dynamic do these multilingual elements bring to the standard classroom? I focus on part of the Standard Six population of 5 Western Cape English medium schools. The schools are different in many respects and similar in others; some have more Black pupils than others. By using a variety of research methods, including questionnaires, worksheets, personal observation, interviews and essays, I explore the experiences and attitudes of pupils, teachers and principals. My object is to try to identify trends: to look for positive features arising out of present classrooms and to look for possible points of tension as well, in order to extract central features to analyse. These are highlighted, and cross-referenced with relevant international studies, as matters of interest for practitioners in the classroom and for education planners. The field is immense: the study essentially provides a broad-based platform for further research. I tried not to have any preconceptions about what I would find, so made it a comprehensive and far-ranging study. It uncovers important elements which teachers and schools may attend to, relatively easily, indicates the importance of development of one's Mother Tongue and exposes deeply-felt emotions about Language and identity. It asks questions about Bridging Programmes and about the language of the teacher in the classroom and in testing. I also ask about the future of English in this country, about feelings about learning Afrikaans and about learning Xhosa. The main target in the recommendations is the teacher, as the generator of learning opportunities in the classroom. I call for more specific communication between teacher and pupil and the evolution of child-specific language learning processes. It is every teacher in every classroom who needs to adjust consciously to the new classroom profiles. Differing patterns clearly emerge from the schools with different intake profiles. This suggests the need for further studies to examine these findings for generalisability. The situation in schools is both volatile and exciting, calling for concrete and imaginative attention to aspects emerging from the personal, perceptive and wide-ranging input of the sample studied in this research project.

Bibliography: leaves 107-141. / Using the English language textbook as its focal point, this study attempts to determine the extent to which educational publishers are in a position, through their practices, to assist in the transformation of South Africa. The centrality of language to both the creation of individual consciousness and to the shaping of society inform this investigation. Regarded as integral to these processes is the premise that education is the primary terrain into which language, and its fundamentally moulding potential, is locked. Furthermore, the impact of not only the transition in south Africa, but also of the fluidity of the wider global backdrop on both language and education are acknowledged as crucial influences on all spheres of private as well as public life. In this context, the study endeavours to locate and define those elements which comprise and inform the practices of educational publishing. It attempts to demonstrate that the broader socioeconomic, political, educational and cultural processes, from which educational publishing takes its signals, severely restrain its capacity for participation in social transformation. The study concludes with some recommendations for the publishing of English language textbooks in a post-apartheid terrain, and suggests a few areas of research pertinent to such an undertaking.