An analysis of the treatment of writing pedagogy in three ELT textbooks for grade 4 learners in Rwandan primary schools
Date
2014-11-03
Authors
Amini Ngabonziza, Jean de Dieu
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Abstract
This study focuses on the analysis of approaches to teaching writing embedded in three English language teaching (ELT) textbooks designed for grade 4 learners in Rwandan primary schools. In 2008, Rwanda switched from French to English as a medium of instruction from Grade 4 onwards. Given the limited knowledge of English by many people in Rwanda, teachers and learners are obliged to rely on English textbooks produced in the United Kingdom to learn and teach English. Thus, the quality of the textbooks is one of the main factors affecting the quality of teaching and learning. My research aims are three-fold: to analyse the approaches to teaching writing embedded in three ELT textbooks used in grade 4 classes in Rwanda; to explore how the designers of the textbooks attempt to assist grade 4 learners in their development as writers; and to investigate the implications for Rwandan primary school teachers and learners of the approaches to writing pedagogy in the three textbooks designed and produced by UK publishing houses.
The study employs the qualitative content analysis method for data collection. The analysis of the grade 4 pupils’ ELT textbooks tasks was based on a three level framework proposed by Littlejohn (1998). The first level concerns the description of the pupils’ textbooks, design, number of pages, and organisation principle. The second level involves the analysis of tasks and activities to find out the approaches to teaching writing contained in the textbooks. The third level consists of drawing on the first two analyses to explore the implication of the approaches found in the three ELT textbooks for Rwandan primary education. This framework is informed by English foreign language (EFL) writing pedagogy literature which helped to respond to the research questions.
The findings confirm, on the one hand, that the form focused approach is assumed to be appropriate method for teaching and learning writing in the EFL context. This is supported by the results indicating that the product approach to writing is a common approach embedded in the three ELT textbooks. The findings have shown also the implication of the focus on grammar at the expense of meaning and the study has argued that form focused/ controlled production practice need to be springboards for communicative tasks where learners are given opportunities
to develop writing in a range of contexts for a range of purposes. On the other hand, the findings challenge the assumption that textbooks produced by developed countries are Eurocentric. Publishers of the three analyzed textbooks are clearly aware of the issue and as a result they have included local environments in the ELT textbooks. This study further identifies gaps between the monolingual pedagogy used in the textbooks and the local reality of a multilingual context and the implications of this for Rwandan primary education.
Description
A Research report submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Applied English Language Studies.
Johannesburg, June 2014