Browsing by Author "Biesman-Simons, Claire"

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    Exploring a culture of reading: A case study in an under-resourced South African primary school
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Biesman-Simons, Claire; Dixon, Kerryn
    South Africa faces an undeniable literacy crisis. Since 2000, there have been increasing calls for the creation of a culture of reading to address this crisis. This has been on the part of the South African government, academia and civil society. However, this has occurred without clear consensus on the term’s meaning and with little explanation of how a poorly-defined concept with its origins in the Global North would achieve this outcome. How this term has achieved such national prominence and the ways it affects school practices motivated this research. The first phase of the study investigated how the term “culture of reading” functions in national government education discourse, and its impact on the country’s reading landscape. This was followed by an ethnographic-style case study exploring the factors that shaped a culture of reading at a no-fee primary school, situated on the Cape Flats in Cape Town. Drawing on a review of more than 400 South African, African and global texts that reference “culture of reading”, this study provides a definition of a culture of reading that is appropriate for the African context, and central to the analysis of this study. To investigate how the term “culture of reading” functions in government discourse, I performed a textual analysis of a corpus of 58 publicly available texts produced by the South African government from 2000 to 2019. The analysis reveals an uncritical faith in a culture of reading as fundamental to improved reading levels despite there being no clarity on the term’s meaning or evidence of tangible outcomes in learners’ reading achievement. Bourdieu’s notion of doxa is drawn on to demonstrate how the government’s consistent return to an ill-defined Global Northern ideal is indicative of a misunderstanding of what reading is and can achieve, and of a need to further grapple with the complexities of South Africa’s reading landscape. Approaching reading from a socio-cultural perspective, the ethnographic-style case study investigates how habitus, capital and field (Bourdieu, 1990b) interact to shape school reading practices, and how the resulting culture of reading is reflected in one school’s reading practices. The case study shows the contextual realities and conditions in the field that affect the promotion of a culture of reading. Data was generated from interviews with 51 participants, classroom and schoolwide observations, photo elicitation, and document reviews which were subjected to a thematic analysis. Findings indicate that despite the evident value that staff and most learners attribute to reading and their positive dispositions towards reading (i.e. their habitus), the school’s culture of reading is undermined by external and internal forces. This is most notably with regard to inappropriate curriculum demands, a multilingual learner body restricted to learning in English, the impact of a community fraught with violence, as well as a dysfunctional culture of teaching and learning that has resulted in a divided staff body and poor discipline. Bourdieu’s attention to how no field exists in isolation is demonstrated by educators’ battles to promote reading in an education field that does not account sufficiently for social, cultural and economic contextual realities. Data generated in the Grade 5 classroom evidenced that agentive educators, equipped with the necessary cultural capital, can construct a sub-field that supports a culture of reading in spite of these constraints. However, this is precarious, and findings from the Grade 1 classroom demonstrated how overlapping fields and a dysfunctional culture of teaching and learning constrained an experienced educator, impacting on her wellbeing. The study highlights that there are many ways in which schools and educators can navigate and overcome institutional constraints that threaten South African learners’ reading development. The research highlights the need for closer alignment between government’s expectations of schools and their contextual realities, with educators’ professional and emotional wellbeing needing to be prioritised. Recommendations for research include further investigation into learners’ home and community language and literacy practices and how these practices can be built on at school.
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    An investigation of student teachers' attitudes toward varieties of spoken English
    (2010-08-16) Biesman-Simons, Claire
    ABSTRACT As the lingua franca of South Africa, English is spoken by first language (L1) and additional language (AL) speakers, resulting in varieties of English being spoken. Internationally, research findings suggest that listeners form attitudes toward people according to their language (Cargile et al 1994 and Labov 1969a, b, 1972). In a country with much diversity in language, South Africans’ attitudes and their subsequent behaviour toward speakers are likely to be affected by a speaker’s language or variety thereof. This research aimed to establish the attitudes that student teachers of English, Mathematics and Science hold toward varieties of spoken English, with a specific focus on learners’ spoken English. Two AL varieties of English (Afrikaans South African English and Black South African English) and two L1 varieties (Indian South African English and White South African English) were investigated. 18 third and fourth year student teachers from the University of the Witwatersrand participated in focus groups interviews. Each focus group followed a two-part format. Firstly, participants responded, by means of a questionnaire, to four voice recordings, each representing one of the varieties of English being researched. Secondly, the student teachers discussed their attitudes toward varieties of English. These attitudes were then analysed within a qualitative framework. This analysis was informed by Labov (1969a, b, 1972) who demonstrated that one’s variety of English is not an indicator of one’s intellect and ability. Kachru’s Three Concentric Circles (1996) provided a model for the interpretation of the data. This model distinguishes between L1 and AL varieties of English and illustrates the equality that exists between varieties of English - both of which are key factors within a study of attitudes toward varieties of English in South Africa. The findings indicated that, despite the equality that both Labov (1969a, b, 1972) and Kachru (1996) outline, student teachers’ attitudes toward a speaker’s variety of English are affected by numerous factors. These factors include the student teachers’ racial background, language, education and teaching subjects. Participants voiced a range of attitudes toward varieties of spoken English with some believing that one variety of English, White South Africa English, holds more linguistic capital while other participants perceive English to be a means of communication and therefore do not stress a specific variety of English. A potential consequence of these attitudes is that the participants’ interaction with and treatment of speakers of other varieties of English might be influenced, either negatively or positively. Within the classroom this could affect the teaching and learning process if teachers’ treatment and assessment of their learners are modified according to a learner’s variety of spoken English.