ETD Collection

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Analysis of the constraints to the realization of the aims of the language in-Education policy of South Africa
    (2018) Chitapi, Itai
    The South African Language in Education Policy (LiEP) of 1997 was created to contribute to the transformation of the education sector and of South Africa as a whole, through its promotion of the recognition and use of African languages that were marginalised during the apartheid era. The mechanism of additive bilingualism was identified as the key to achieving the goals of quality education and equitable treatment within a pragmatic framework. However, two decades on, LiEP has not been effectively implemented, nor does its implementation appear imminent. Spolsky’s (2004) framework posits that language policy functions at three levels: ideology, management and practice. Applying this framework, and using a combination of novel documentary analysis of the LiEP itself and eight in-depth expert interviews, this study examines the constraints that have limited implementation of the LiEP. The constraints within the LiEP policy text itself include the ideological separation of education from Black Economic Empowerment; and the policy management decisions within the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to ignore curriculum planning, and to postpone the completion of the LiEP document and regulations. The constraints arising out of the “public” expression of language policy within and beyond the education sector occur at all three levels. At ideological level, constraints include the lack of a unified ideological position within the DBE, and the side-lining of the LiEP by the DBE. At management level, public attitudes against the extended use of African languages are a critical constraint. Inadequate resourcing of the ‘multilingual project’, in terms of teacher and materials development, is a further constraint limiting LiEP implementation. At practice levels, the ongoing hegemony of English and the related collusive practice of elite closure continue to thwart LiEP implementation. The completion of the LiEP, its integration into the DBE’s main programmes and its overt promotion within and beyond education are the key recommendations. These policy management steps should be aligned explicitly and directly with economic empowerment initiatives and imperatives.
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    Resourcing learner errors and misconceptions in the teaching and learning of statistics at grade 11 level
    (2018) Jonhera, Phaison
    Access to mathematical concepts has for long been a major talking point, not only in South Africa, but throughout the world. Sadly, debate on ways of assisting learners to improve their understanding of mathematical concepts appear not to be yielding desirable results. One of the major barriers to effective and meaningful mathematics learning is errors which usually arise from misconceptions. To my knowledge and experience, learners hold a lot of misconceptions in the area of variability of data. In spite of this, little ground has been covered in misconception research around the study of statistics. In this regard, the study aimed at establishing the nature of errors which arise from misconceptions which learners hold particularly in representing and interpreting variability of data on ogives, frequency polygons and box plots. In addition, the study sought to establish the extent to which teaching intervention could assist towards error minimisation. Using ideas of constructivism and sociocultural theory, the study involved a group of eighteen Grade 11 learners and the researcher. It was conducted at a township high school in Gauteng, South Africa. The researcher was involved in the delivery of ten lessons on statistics. Upon completion of the topic, two tasks were assigned to learners prior to as well as after conducting a constructivist-based intervention lesson. The rationale for conducting the lesson was to determine the extent to which remediation could assist in minimising incidences of these errors. In order to capture as much data as possible, particularly on the thinking behind the errors, an interview was conducted on a sample of four learners. The study found that most errors made by learners emanated from application of irrelevant prior knowledge (conceptual errors) which led to the use of unsuitable methods (procedural errors). Through interviews, it emerged that misconceptions in the study of statistics arise from poor language proficiency. Learners struggled to express themselves in giving verbal responses to questions posed to them by the interviewer. The study recommends that teachers should always use the language of teaching and learning all the time so as to enable learners to improve their communication skills as well as enhance understanding of statistical concepts. Moreover, this study recommends that future studies be carried out on the statistical content knowledge of teachers as this could be yet another source of misconceptions held by learners in statistics.
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    Lecturers’ perceptions of their role in addressing academic literacy challenges faced by first year students at a Johannesburg Institute of Higher Education
    (2018) Pinnoy, Jane
    This report presents an investigation carried out to determine lecturers’ perceptions of their role in addressing academic literacy challenges faced by first year students at a Johannesburg Institute of Higher Education. A phenomenographic qualitative framework was used to collect data at the Institute of Higher Education from five lecturers to elicit their perspective of the role they play in addressing academic literacy challenges. Due to the qualitative nature of the study the unstructured interview was used as the instrument for the collection of rich narrative data from the lecturers. Furthermore, this study used Lea and Street’s Academic Literacies approach as the conceptual framework, in order to gain insights into the lecturer’s thoughts, observations and experiences that influence and explain their perceptions of the role they play to address the academic literacy challenges of the students. While academic literacy has been well researched it is most often studied with the student or the academic literacy interventions as the object of study. There appears to be a dearth of research that considers the academic literacy of students from the lecturer’s perspective. This study aims to gain insights into the perceptions lecturers have of their role in the academic literacy in students and hopes to serve as a catalyst for other similar research. The results of this study confirm that lecturers mostly perceive the academic literacy challenges of their students as being limited to the surface characteristics of language such as grammar, vocabulary and syntax without recognising students’ sociocultural identities in specific contexts. Lecturers therefore perceived themselves as playing a limited role in the academic literacy challenges of their students, most often referring students to the traditional, generic or decontextualised academic literacy interventions offered by the institution.
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    Assessing challenges faced by school governing bodies in formulating a language policy in a rural primary school in Butterworth
    (2011) Ntlangano, T E
    The promulgation of the South African Schools Act in 1996 led to the decentralisation of the governance of schools in South Africa through the establishment of School Governing Bodies (SGB). The SGB represents all the stakeholders namely parents, teachers, students and the state,and is expected to craft the vision, mission and policies of a school among its key responsibilities. Among the key policies they need to craft is the language policy of a school which is critical for academic achievement by the students. The study aims to assess the challenges faced by SGB parent governors in formulating a language policy in a rural primary school in Butterworth Education District in the Eastern Cape. A qualitative research approach was pursued in the study through a constructivist paradigm. A rural primary school was chosen as a case study and data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The South African Schools’ Act empowers the parent component of the SGB to have a final say in governance and policy matters of the school due to its majority membership however the study has confirmed what the literature says that the parental participation in SGB activities tends to be limited. The study has found that this poor parental participation in SGB activities is due to low level of education, poor training by the Department of Basic Education and lack of support from stakeholders. According to the Departmental officials the scarcity of financial resources has led to very few training workshops being organised SGB members.