Journal for Language Teaching = Ijenali Yekufundzisa Lulwimi = Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig - latest Issue

In this edition of the Journal for Language Teaching we were again privileged to receive a large number of submissions. Three of these were from international scholars – one from Japan, one from the United Arab Emirates and another one from Namibia. Only one of these were found to be publishable though. We again have a retention rate of approximately 50% and we are satisfied with the level of engagement from our reviewers. Not only do they provide general feedback and typical “yes” or “no” responses on our review sheet, but also comments and criticism that provide guidance and encourage authors. I recently received a letter from an author expressing her appreciation for the thorough feedback, even though her article was not accepted for publication. She indicated that the feedback guided her in discovering aspects she never thought of when initially writing the article and that she will most definitely rework her text and resubmit at a later stage. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to our reviewers here.

Prof. Hans du Plessis (NWU) – met enkele aanpassings word hierdie huldeblyk wat reeds op Litnet verskyn het weer hier gepubliseer met die toestemming van die outeur. ʼn Woord is uit die Afrikaanse woordeskat weg, ʼn groot woord! Die bekende taalkundige, prof. Christo van Rensburg se stem is stil. Hy is vroegaand op 13 Augustus by sy huis in Klerksdorp aan natuurlike oorsake oorlede. Ten tyde van sy afsterwe was hy op tagtig nog aktiewe navorsingsgenoot in die Navorsingseenheid vir Taal en Literatuur in die Suid-Afrikaanse Konteks van die NWU se Potchefstroomkampus. Die Afrikaanse taalkunde was sy hele lewe, in die eerste plek as dosent aan Tukkies sedert die beginjare sestig. Daarna word hy professor in Afrikaanse taalkunde aan die UOVS waar hy ook as departementshoof dien. Van sy oudstudente speel tot vandag toe nog ʼn leidende rol in die Afrikaanse akademiese wêreld.

This paper reports on a study in which students self-graded an assessment task with the aid of an assessment rubric. On comparing student selfgrades with those of the tutor it was found that majority (72.6%) of the students failed to demonstrate good self-assessment skills with student grades ranging from 25 less than the tutor grade to an overestimation of 36 above the tutor grade. Consistent with other research studies the results further show that weaker students graded themselves higher than the better performing students. However, there was a tendency for male students to grade themselves higher than female students. Analysis of the qualitative data reveals that students’ feelings about self-grading may play a role in the grades they assign themselves. The author therefore recommends that affective factors need to considered and addressed prior to the self-grading task. Furthermore, it is evident that rubrics alone may not necessarily improve selfgrading and that internalisation of the rubric criteria and standards, as well as practice is crucial. Finally, in order to produce graduates who are able to appraise their performance, selfassessment should be embedded early in the students degree programme and be sustained throughout the degree.

This paper presents a systematic review of selected studies’ findings on some amaXhosa stakeholders’ perspectives, attitudes and beliefs towards their mother tongue and its involvement in education in the Eastern Cape. The studies’ methodologies were also briefly interrogated to determine the extent of participants’ prior knowledge of and insight into, language related constitutional mandates, the languagein- education policy (LiEP) and mother tongue supported bilingual education and its benefits. The results of the reviews are combined with language related findings from Mini’s (2016) dissertation study to demonstrate the presence of adequate positivity towards isiXhosa-in-education, along with English. Data collection for the said dissertation (Mini, 2016) was by means of individual and focus group interviews, as well as limited classroom observations. Data analysis was by the qualitative thematic analysis method as expatiated by Braun & Clarke (2006).

This article examines English Second Language (ESL) students’ access to knowledge through early literacy textbased readings in an under graduate classroom. A basic qualitative research design was selected to understand how students perceive and sustain learning through text-based readings while using a whole language approach toward teaching. Twenty-nine students were engaged in a survey to determine their Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP). Fourteen students responded to focus group interviews. This article argues particularly for the adoption of textbased readings as a teaching strategy for English Language Learning (ELL) in early childhood teacher training. The results of this TORP survey indicate that much work needs to be done in order to support under graduate students’ exposure to skills and strategies for effective ESL education. The narratives of students’ revealed reading gains as a result of their increased interaction with reading texts, the English Second Language (ESL) challenges, and changing perceptions in terms of reading and the understanding of English reading texts in meaningful ways. The results also highlight students’ ELL challenges in terms of low self-efficacy and lack of confidence to speak English. The study recommends further research on ESL teaching to carefully document the outcomes of English Language Learning within Namibian multilingual teacher training contexts.

Learners are required to cope with increasingly complex texts at school, as they need to be able to cope effectively with the demands of progressively more advanced academic discourse types. This article reports on a small-scale case study that was conducted to establish the academic literacy levels of five Grade 10 learner cohorts. We stress the importance of the development of academic literacy at school level, and then discuss the results of an academic literacy test. The test results provided useful diagnostic information and pointed out that learners were severely lacking in their inferencemaking skills. We discuss inference types and suggest a number of practical strategies that can be followed to develop learners’ inference skills at secondary school level.

In-service teacher development continues to be a challenge of curriculum reform in South Africa. In spite of previous interventions that have been used, visual literacy continues to challenge many inservice teachers. Visual literacy involves the development of competencies that a person needs in order to understand a combination of linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial design elements. This paper proposes that change laboratory workshop methodology can transform in-service teacher development of visual literacy. Change laboratory workshop methodology develops from Cultural Historical Activity Theory’s principles of contradictions and expansive learning, and is used to implement change. This paper uses an illustrative example of a cartoon in English First Additional Language in Grade 11. Data were collected from a change laboratory workshop of nine participants who met for four sessions of two hours each. Lesson video clips and transcript and a cartoon were used for double stimulation and reflexivity. Insights from Cultural Historical Activity Theory and the Newfield Framework were used to analyse this data. The main finding of this intervention is opening of a dialogical space in which participants took initiatives to develop their visual literacy and reconfigure the multi-layers of interpreting cartoons.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) comes recommended as an ideal teaching method in Zimbabwe because of its ability to assist learners to become communicatively competent. Most studies on CLT in Zimbabwe focus on secondary schools, neglecting the primary school where all learning begins. This article describes the activities used by teachers when implementing CLT and ascertains the difference between the ideal and actual in CLT. The study was framed within the interpretivist paradigm, using a qualitative single case study. A conceptual framework based on Socio-cultural Theory (SCT), Experiential Learning or Teaching Theory, Instructional Communication, Communicative Competence Theory and the Seven Areas of Policy Development for Language-in-Education Policy Implementation, was used. Vygotsky’s SCT was used to guarantee interaction with the More Knowledgeable Others (teachers or peers) and mediation tools (teaching methods). Instructional Communication and Communicative Competence were utilised to explore language in the classroom. The Seven Areas of Policy Development for Languagein- Education Policy Implementation and the Experiential Learning or Teaching Theory were used to ensure the use of CLT methods, and whether teachers reflect to improve on them. Non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to collect data, which were analysed using inductive and thematic analysis. Findings show that teachers still use traditional methods of teaching and also affirm that activities indicated in participants’ scheme-cum-plans were not implemented. Findings suggest the theorisation of CLT only. The study recommends teacher educators to equip student teachers with adequate skills to deal with CLT classes beginning in the formative stages of the education system.

MOODLE, a free open source software, is the official Learning Management System (LMS) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). The institution’s mandate to all academics to integrate Moodle into their respective disciplines for teaching and learning, created a space for the researchers to experiment with the Quiz tool as an alternate assessment method, as part of routine formative and summative assessments. Whilst there are many research studies that endorse e-assessments at tertiary institutions, this is an uncharted area of research within the field of teaching and learning of isiZulu in South Africa. As a result, there is a lack of empirical evidence to assist with curriculum integration and implementation thereof. The purpose of this study was to explore students’ perceptions and experiences on such integration and implementation of e-assessments. A questionnaire was administered to sixty first year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) students enrolled for isiZulu. Permission to conduct the research was sought from all relevant gatekeepers. This study is set against the behaviourist, cognitive and constructivist learning frameworks. Findings from this study affirmed the numerous benefits of including e-assessments as part of the assessment method. However, further improvements to the design of the isiZulu quiz e-test were suggested.

Validity is probably the most crucial of all concepts that govern all kinds of measurement. This is more so the case in educational and psychological testing where high stakes decisions often need to be taken about individuals and institutions. From the time it saw the light of day, however, the concept of validity has been a source of inconclusive contestation. Two schools of thought have arisen from this debate. In the main, the first of these, also known as the traditional view, regards validity as a property of a test while the second, also known as the unitary view, locates it in the way test scores are interpreted and used. This creates a challenge for test developers with regard to exactly what the object of test validation should be. The aim of this article was to determine which of these views is defensible particularly for language testing. Using two studies focusing on the validity of two tests of language ability as the basis, the article demonstrates that the unitary view of validity is problematic for these tests as it leaves them susceptible to the possibility of being used for what they are not designed for.

The category Language Structures and Conventions in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for language teaching includes what teachers often refer to as ‘grammar’. This aspect of language teaching is approached from the perspective of the Communicative Approach to Language Teaching, where the distinction between ‘meaning’ and ‘form’ (or structure) is blurred so that the communicative function of language structures are emphasized. Since the CAPS for English First Additional Language in the FET phase emphasizes communicative language teaching, the implication is that the teaching of language structure occurs in the context of communication events. The questions that this article asks are (i) how language structures and conventions are organised in the CAPS document and (ii) how this organisation is aligned with the language teaching approach espoused by the CAPS document. Arguing from the language teaching approach espoused by the curriculum document, the CAPS for English First Additional Language in the FET phase is analysed from two requirements that have been derived from the Communicative Approach: firstly, the idea that language form is expressed in a context that shows its socially appropriate use and secondly, a whole-to-part orientation that implies understanding the way in which language form can function in a text. Some suggestions are made for a possible revision of this aspect of the curriculum.