Browsing by Author "Ntombela, Berrington Xolani Siphosakhe"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Communicative competence in English among rural African high school learners in the Eshowe Circuit
    (2008) Ntombela, Berrington Xolani Siphosakhe; Mpepo, M.V.
    This study investigates communicative competence in English among rural African high school learners in the Eshowe circuit. Poor student performance especially in higher institutions has generally been linked to incompetence in English Second Language, which motivated an investigation into communicative competence among high school learners from a rural background. The study was conducted in five high schools in the Eshowe circuit The design of the study necessitated the adoption of qualitative approach in order to probe the multifaceted phenomenon of communicative approach in its natural setting (the classroom situation). The theoretical underpinnings on which this study relied on were extracted from the field of discourse analysis and text linguistics. Also, due to the nature of the study i.e. being concerned with communicative competence and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), much of the literature reviewed surveyed the concept of communicative competence from scholars and researchers such as Chomsky (1969); Hymes (1982); Widdowson (1985), and Saville-Troike (1997). Moreover, the linguistic context on which the study was based necessitated that we explore the definitions of bilingualism and multilingualism. Classroom discourse was used in analysing the lessons in a Second Language classroom setting. Lessons seemed to display a unique classroom interaction pattern, typical of teacher-pupil interaction in a Second Language classroom. In addition, the study looked at the extent to which the lessons complied with the expectations of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) with particular attention to \earner roles and teacher roles in CLT. Moreover, the analysis of lessons is subjected to seven standards of textuality discussed by Beaugrande and Dressier (1981), which helped determine the textuality of lesson texts, as these standards are activated during communicative events. The study further considered possible remedy to the errors found in English lesson transcripts. Though the National Curriculum Statement offered viable solutions to learners' errors, a challenge lied with errors committed by teachers, who according to the study, fell below the assumed competence and fell short of being subject specialists. Nevertheless, teachers' utterances were characterised by occurrences of code-switching, which according to the study played a positive role in regulating classroom behaviour. From the analysis of lessons it emerged that in most lessons, though a communicative approach was followed, there was little or no linguistic input from the teachers, which raised doubts about the implementation of the communicative approach to language teaching. Indeed, data indicated shortfalls in the implementation of CLT as expected in NCS. The problem of communicative incompetence loomed heavily not only over the learners, but also over the teachers as well, which is a cause for concern in the teaching of English as a Second Language.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Language in education : a sociolinguistic aspect in Black African high schools in Eshowe District
    (2002) Ntombela, Berrington Xolani Siphosakhe; Mpepo, M.V
    Before the emergence of democracy in South Africa, the apartheid regime had brought linguistic imbalance. In 1994 the new government of South Africa set out to address the imbalances created by the apartheid government. Prior to 1994, English and Afrikaans were the only official languages in South Africa. In order to address this situation the new government elevated nine of the South African languages to the same status with English and Afrikaans. The government then introduced the new languages in education policy, which aims at promoting multilingualism in education. Therefore the main focus of this research is on the implementation of the new language in education policy taking into consideration the sociolinguistic situation of the country. The empirical study was conducted in 1999 and 2000. Questionnaires were distributed to respondents. Non-scheduled interview and observation data was collected from five black African high schools in Eshowe district. In addition data was collected from one Superintendent of Education Management in Eshowe district. The main findings indicated that Afrikaans had been phased out in most schools that were studied. Hence, English and Isizulu were the remaining languages that were taught and learned. Moreover, the sociolinguistic situation indicated that IsiZulu was the predominant languages spoken largely in schools and in communities where schools are situated. Having considered the main findings it was evident that there is still a tremendous challenge on the actual implementation of the new language in education policy, which emphasises promotion of multilingualism. However, the sociolinguistic situation suggested that bilingualism involving IsiZulu would be more appropriate. The research looked at the theoretical understanding of the concepts of bilingualism and multilingualism. The concepts are defined in the research to bring more understanding on individual multilingualism and societal multilingualism or bilingualism. This research further concentrates on literature review which discusses the new language in education policy, kinds of bilingualism or multilingualism, the current debate on the language in education policy and the language policy implementation plans. Furthermore, it was important in the literature review to look at the theories of second language acquisition. The theories that were reviewed and evaluated are; Krashen's monitor model, interlanguage theory, linguistic universals, acculturation / pidginisation theory and cognitive theory. After reviewing these theories language teaching theories or approaches are also discussed. The language teaching theories that were reviewed and evaluated are; the structural approach, the functional approach and the interactional approach. In addition, the research discussed the research methodology after which the data that was collected was presented. The findings were then interpreted followed by the conclusion and recommendations.