Browsing by Author "Mncwango, E.M"

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    A Grounded Theory study of English as Second Language (ESL) students’ experiences with literary texts, with reference to the University of Zululand
    (University of Zululand, 2017) Gazu, Khulekani Amegius; Moyo, C.T; Mncwango, E.M
    The study of ESL students’ experiences with literary texts generated a theoretical model accounting for the intricate relationships among some interwoven phenomena. The model was informed by the precepts of the systematic procedures of Strauss and Corbin (1990) and the attendant central phenomenon, causal conditions, contextual and intervening conditions, interactional strategies as well as the consequences. The central phenomenon that emerged focused on how ESL students interact with textual features such as language difficulty, lexical difficulty, and length of the text by employing strategies to bring about better text comprehensibility. The causal condition for the phenomenon is that some ESL students face lexical and general language difficulty when studying literary texts because of their relative lexical impoverishment. When students consult dictionaries to mediate lexical difficulty, reading fluency is adversely affected; and the condition is exacerbated by the length of the text which brings about loss of plot navigation whereby some readers forget parts of the plot due prolonged engagement in the context of available reading time. The context under which the phenomenon obtains is conspicuous in poetry in the form of authority of interpretation – a phenomenon which grapples with the quandary of orthodox interpretation as postulated either by the student or the assumed more knowledgeable other, the lecturer. The attendant property is that interpretation resonates as a positive higher level cognitive appeal to the more competent reader and a challenge or difficulty to the less competent reader. In the novel (as well as other genres) the manifestation of the phenomenon comes about during assessment where there is a lack shared outcomes or criterion referencing, which leads to unsatisfactory student performance. Students have to adopt interactional strategies to mediate the situation by relying on internet summaries and analyses. Other interactional strategies include relying on the lecturer’s decoding of the text, thereby expecting a banking pedagogy from the more knowledgeable other; relying on the peers’ decoding of a literary text; and shared or collaborative reading which leads to a convergence of different viewpoints and interpretations. These strategies are facilitated by the intervening conditions like the relevance of themes; the ability of the reader to relate to the text; the novel’s being laden with exploratory ideas; and the drama’s interactive nature. Conversely, they are constrained by such conditions as the effect of the heavy workload; drama’s barren exposition; internet summaries only treating peripheral content; and the discrepancy between lecturing and assessment styles. The interactional strategies have a positive and a negative bearing on the ESL readers’ engagement with literary texts. The positive consequences of relying on the internet summaries and analysis include the provision of an entry point to the text; creation of expectation and activation of the schemata; it also results in active reading for some readers, and it facilitates the reading of the long texts. Conversely, the practice is also considered to result in passive reading as it is no longer necessary for some readers to make conjectures; the discovery element is taken away hence the aesthetic value of the text dwindles; and it adversely affects the student-lecturer didactic relationship for ethical reasons. The strategy of relying on the lecturer and peers leads to dependency when they do not read texts on their own
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    Language and the current challenges in the South African school system
    (University of Zululand, 2009-01) Mncwango, E.M
    The paper discusses the current challenges facing the school system in South Africa with regard to language, and the role schools can play to achieve the government’s objective of multilingualism. Schools are viewed as the most fertile ground for the promotion of multilingualism, as they are attended by learners from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. What obtains in many schools, especially former Model C schools, is that most of them have not included indigenous African languages in their school curricula. The few that have, offer them at second or third language level – just ‘isiZulu for communication’, etc. In this way, only the language for communication purposes is taught, which does not mean full literacy in the language, or cultural integration. The argument is that with a willing heart on the part of the School Governing Body (SGB), as well as the School Management Team (SMT), language could be used as a tool to integrate learners. This, it is argued, does not obtain in the majority of urban schools. The paper is part of a study which was conducted in 2007. It is, therefore, underpinned by empirical evidence which was solicited from urban (English and Afrikaans medium), and rural (English and isiZulu medium) schools.