PST131J/501/3/2013

Tutorial letter 501/3/2013

First Additional Language Teaching

PST131J
Semesters 1 & 2
Department of Language Education Arts and Culture
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This tutorial letter contains important information about your module.

Dear Student A warm word of welcome to you! We trust that this course in Home Language Teaching will be an enjoyable and informative experience! We will try our best to guide you through your course material and use tutorial letters as a means of communication as well as to provide additional information, so you should keep them to refer back to throughout the year. We have divided this course up into various units. You will also find that some material in the home language module is repeated in the second language module. This cannot be helped because one cannot study the techniques of teaching a first language without understanding a little about how an additional language is taught. In the same way, it is impossible to learn how to teach an additional language without knowing something about how to teach a first language. Another reason why we had to design the modules in this way is that some students might not enroll for both modules. We hope that you will gain sufficient insight into how languages are learnt and how to teach a language effectively. Certain activities will help you think critically, while others will require that you apply your new knowledge or experience. You are required to do a fair amount of reading, but you will find that it is worth it, because you do need a theoretical foundation to this topic if you wish to design effective learning opportunities. Once you have worked through each study unit, go back to the outcomes specified at the beginning of the study unit and mark off those that you have attained. If there is any that you are unsure of, go back to the relevant sections and revise the work. Best wishes for the academic year!

Dr Taole

PST131J/501

STUDY UNIT 1: OVERVIEW

1.1 AIM OF UNIT Learning outcomes After you have studied this unit, you should be able to list themes that this course deals with understand how this tutorial letter can help you as an effective tool for (interactive) learning

1.2

PURPOSE, NATURE AND SCOPE OF THIS COURSE The main aim of this course is for you to learn about teaching a language, in this case a home language, as well as how to apply this knowledge in the profession you have chosen. Do not think that all you have to do is simply reproduce the facts in the exams. You are expected to understand the subject thoroughly and be able to show how to apply this knowledge in your teaching. This course is not designed as a model of what home language teaching should be. That would be difficult to do because each teaching situation differs vastly from the others and each teacher has a unique style. This course is designed to equip you with the basic knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that you will need when you have to teach a home language as a subject. This course has to do with the teaching of a home language in the senior primary phase. We shall give a conceptual analysis of relevant concepts and principles and shall also discuss the place of language teaching in the curriculum.

1.3

LEARNING OUTCOMES Each unit starts with a list of learning outcomes. These outcomes describe the results or achievements of learning and not the means/methods we use to achieve the results. After having worked through each unit carefully, you should then return to the outcomes and measure yourself against them to find out if you have achieved each one. If you have not achieved one of the outcomes, this means that you need to go over that section of the work again.

1.4

SELF-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES Activities in the course notes and self-evaluation questions at the end of each unit will contribute to an outcomes-based kind of learning and have been included to help you assess your progress. They focus on matters such as factual knowledge, insight and the ability to analyse or synthesis/link facts.

1.5

ASSIGNMENTS Tutorial Letter 101 contains the dates for the assignments that you need to submit for this course. You must hand in TWO such assignments; each designed to add to your knowledge and development of skills and values/attitudes in this course. They also serve as an evaluation tool for gaining entrance to the exams. Make sure that you understand the work and do not think that a verbatim (word-for-word) reproduction of the sections that contain the answers will earn you good marks.

1.6

ADDITIONAL SOURCE Kilfoil, WR & Van der Walt, C. 2009. Learn 2 teach. English language teaching in a multilingual context. 3rd edition. Pretoria: Van Schaik. We also advise you to invest in a good, monolingual and learners dictionary. This is another vital resource, which will be extremely useful both during your studies and when you prepare your lessons later on.

1.7

THEMES AND COURSE OUTLINE This course consists of seven units. The first unit will give you a general overview of this course while the remaining six focus on various themes related to home language teaching and learning. These themes are not isolated topics in their own right but are interrelated and form a whole with regard to home language teaching. Let us take a look at the themes you will be dealing with this year: Home language acquisition, home language teaching and planning Communicative skills development Teaching reading and listening (receptive skills) Teaching speaking and writing (productive skills) Literacy instruction Assessment Languages (Outcomes-based education)

1.8

REFERENCE TECHNIQUES When you use any source of reference, you have to acknowledge it at the end of each sentence or paragraph in which you referred to that source, as well as in the bibliography. If you do not do so, you will be guilty of intellectual theft (plagiarism) which is a serious academic crime. We use the internationally accepted Harvard method for writing bibliographical information. This is the most commonly accepted academic convention of acknowledging any information used that comes from another source. You will notice that, in the bibliography, we list all the authors of a particular source. For references in the text (known as in-text referencing) we use the first author's name and et al instead of listing all the names when a source has more than one author. However, in the bibliography we have to acknowledge/write all the authors' names. We also use italics when typing the source's title. If you write the bibliography yourself, obviously you cannot use italics. Here you will underline the source.

PST131J/501 Each assignment must have a bibliography, because you need to acknowledge the author/s whose books you consulted. A bibliography must be as concise (yet complete) as possible. Entries in your bibliography are arranged in alphabetical order. The additional source will be listed as follows: Kilfoil, WR & Van der Walt, C. 2009. Learn 2 teach: English language teaching in a multilingual context. 3rd edition. Pretoria: Van Schaik. In the next unit, we shall take a look at how humans acquire language. This complex phenomenon has intrigued and baffled researchers for generations. Teaching a language should seem easier when we have investigated the ways in which we, as human beings, learn to express ourselves using this complicated system of communication called language.

STUDY UNIT 2: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Learning outcomes After completing this unit, you should have a better understanding of how a home language is acquired be able to discuss the various acquisition theories adequately explain the "label debate" be able to decide on an acquisition theory and teaching approach you support and explain how it would probably influence your teaching style know the language skills a young child learns

2.1

LEARNING A LANGUAGE The acquisition of language "is doubtless the greatest intellectual feat any one of us is ever required to perform". The American linguist, Bloomfield, stated that normal human beings do not need to be taught to speak! Many human beings function very well in their society without ever learning to read or write. Very soon, they are able to interact with their social environment using an intricate system of oral communication. They ask for things, express their dissatisfaction or fears and eventually, as adults, they are able to discuss complex and abstract ideas without having acquired the skills of literacy/reading and writing. The successful exchange of knowledge through language is crucial to every person's wellbeing. As pupils, family members, employees and individual citizens, we need to communicate effectively. Teaching language is an attempt to expand children's language ability and their ability to express their thoughts effectively. The home and family are instrumental in the early acquisition of language. The home provides the initial stimulation for the development of language, but the role of the school is crucial in a country such as ours where there are many illiterate parents who cannot provide the necessary stimulation at home.

Over the generations, many interesting studies and experiments have been done on how human beings learn or acquire a language and the following are some interesting observations: Words are stored in a jumbled fashion but are strung together coherently in sentences. Children learn to construct and produce unique utterances each time they speak. Children learn to understand sentences they have never heard before. Language rules are never taught. Children seem to be equipped with a perfect theory of language. Children learn the social use of language appropriate to their culture such as taboo words, greetings and polite forms. Linguistic knowledge is developed over a period of time. Human language is creative and not just appropriate responses to particular stimuli. It is virtually impossible for those who are unable to hear (deaf children), to learn to speak naturally. Being able to speak one language seems to provide the foundation for learning additional languages. The way in which additional languages are learnt differs significantly from the way that a first language is acquired.

2.2

LABELLING THE LANGUAGE In this course, we have chosen to use the label "home language", suggesting the order in which language is learnt. A "home language" implies the language to which a child was exposed most frequently during the first two years of its life. (We are aware that many young children are exposed to more than one language at a time, one parent/caretaker using a particular language and the other parent using another language. This course does not cover the interesting phenomenon of bilingualism from an early age.)

2.3

HOW IS LANGUAGE ACQUIRED? Have you ever wondered how children learn to speak the language they are first exposed to? Think about children you know who have recently begun to speak. How old was the child when it began to understand what you said to it? How children acquire language is a question that has interested many people. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle wondered how children, early in life, could actually possess knowledge of language in spite of limited experience. This has also been a central question for everyone who has done research on the matter. Language and language acquisition are phenomena that have intrigued philosophers, theorists, linguists, psychologists and many others for centuries. The theories concerning how language is acquired are complex and controversial. Language acquisition is one of the most important domains among the sciences of the mind. Each aspect of language (such as reading, writing, speaking and listening) can be distinguished from the others, but in use, they are interrelated. Those processes that allow children to acquire the meanings of words, for instance, differ almost entirely from those that are needed to form and understand questions, or that are used in the narrative structure in story-telling.

PST131J/501 Language acquisition is a complicated process if you try to analyse it. Let us take a closer look at a theory that claims that language development takes place in stages. According to Bloom, a 20th century educationist, language acquisition begins at birth, if not in the womb, and children only a few days old can recognise the sounds of their parent language, distinguishing them from sounds of another language. At 12 months, a child is able to distinguish the speech sounds of the language to which he or she is exposed. Children hear and get used to sounds of their own language. Children first begin to talk at about 10 or 11 months but can actually understand words much earlier than this. By about 18 months, there seems to be a rapid increase in the child's vocabulary and children begin to combine words in two-word phrases. By two and a half years of age, the two-word stage ends and children's vocabulary actually increases steadily. This is a critical period in language development; because if exposed to a language before the age of seven, a child can become totally fluent in that language. After the age of seven, however, language acquisition becomes more difficult for various reasons, one of which is increased selfawareness.

ACTIVITY (1) Observe children of various ages. See whether you can distinguish what sounds or words children use at different stages of their development. Comment on the possible meaning that these may have to the child, and the person he or she is talking to. If the principal of a school asked you to evaluate the pupils' language ability at present, how would you do so? If you consider it poor, give some indication of how you plan to improve this ability in the future.

(2)

All normal children master the grammatical system of their home language before they go to school, which means that they are able to communicate and understand what is being said to them. They can respond to requests and are also able to communicate their needs and desires as well as take part in conversation. This gradual development of language ability suggests that children acquire language in stages. The first is the babbling stage (the first stage of language acquisition at about six months). At about one year children start to use sounds in a functional manner showing their developing social and emotional awareness. This is called the holophrastic stage. The two-word or telegraphic stage begins between 18 months and two years. At this stage, it is quite clear that children use language, which though not grammatically correct, is no longer a random string of sound. These utterances mean something. At first children use nouns, verbs and adjectives. After the two-word phase children begin to use sentences of varying lengths. They use the language creatively, in sentence constructions of their own, and gradually their use of grammar develops to resemble that of an adult. (See point 2.8 as well.)

2.4

OTHER LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORIES Do children learn to speak by imitating the sounds they hear? Or do they acquire the language because they hear the same sounds so often? Theories of language acquisition include the following ideas: language acquisition results from repetition and rote learning; children learn language because adults encourage them; humans have an innate ability to acquire language. In addition to their home language, children may also acquire another language and in our multicultural society, it is probable that children will acquire more than one language.

ACTIVITY Select a few simple words. Ask some young learners to see if they can translate them into different languages. How many different languages can they use? More recent theories of language acquisition include the behaviourist theory, the nativist theory and the cognitivist theory. We shall take a brief look at these as well. The behaviorist theory claims that each newborn infant has a potential for learning in general but no specific capacity for language learning. According to this theory the development is a result of the environment. Therefore, Japanese children learn Japanese and American children learn (American) English. More specifically, children learn a dialect, the language spoken in their immediate environment. According to the behaviourist theory all learning, including learning a language, results from positive reinforcement of desirable behaviour and non-reinforcement of what is not wanted. Thus, the babbling infant is reinforced or rewarded for making certain sounds rather than others. The environment also controls a baby's language efforts in that the people around the child respond positively when he or she produces an utterance close to something recognisable in the home language. The behaviourist theory treats language learning as essentially imitation and repetition guided by external events. The stimuli and reinforcement provided, encourage children to make the effort and to experiment, until they master the system necessary to function successfully in their environment. The nativist theory basically holds that humans are endowed with a specific ability for learning language. This inborn ability is called the language acquisition device (LAD) and needs only to be triggered by the language environment of the infant for the expression of language to occur rapidly. Many nativists also currently emphasise the interaction between the child and adults. Adults do everything possible to help the learner to see how the sounds relate to meanings and to recognise the underlying language organisation. The nature of this interaction is not only verbal because facial expressions and touching are also involved.

PST131J/501 The cognitivist theory is yet another theory that relates language acquisition to the cognitive processes or thinking. It accepts the uniqueness of humans in language learning and emphasises the development of basic thought structures before corresponding linguistic structures develop, implying that thought is at least initially independent of language. The following section is adapted from The practice of English language teaching by Jeremy Harmer (1988) in which he explains what it is that native speakers know that enables them to use their language effectively. 2.5 WHAT A NATIVE SPEAKER KNOWS A native speaker of a particular language is someone who learnt that language from birth. Our model of the native speaker is somewhat idealised, but most speakers of native languages share most of the characteristics we will be concerned with. The native speaker's knowledge is usually subconscious - or at least is not something that he or she consciously "thinks about" and has to do not only with his or her actual language (e.g. grammar, etc) but also with what he or she knows about the world and the society he or she lives in. We shall look at the following areas of native speaker knowledge: sounds, grammar, and appropriateness, interaction with context and language skills. 2.5.1 Sounds Think about the spoken language. Obviously it is made up of sounds. The baby crying is making sounds just like the politician making a speech, although hopefully the politician's sounds will be somewhat more sophisticated! But how do the sounds work? On their own, sounds may well be meaningless. If you say /t/ (the lines show that this is phonetic script) a few times, for example "tu, tu, tu" it will not mean very much in English. The same will be true of the sound /k/ or the sound /a/ or /s/. On their own they are meaningless, but rearrange those sounds in a different order and you will come up with the words "cats", which is instantly recognisable to any speaker of English. There are two other types of sound that the native speaker knows about: they are stress and intonation. Stress Stress is very important in sentences. For example if I say "I can RUN" I am probably only telling you about my ability to run. But if I say "I CAN run" I am probably stressing the word can because someone has suggested that I am not able to run and I am vehemently denying it. If somebody said to you "Is this your PENcil?" it would probably be a simple question with no deep meaning, but if the same person said "Is this YOUR pencil?" he or she might be showing, by stressing the word "your" that there was something very surprising about your possession of the pencil. The native speaker unconsciously knows about stress and how it works. He knows which parts of individual words should be stressed and he knows how to put special meaning into sentences by making different words more important or less important.

Intonation Closely connected with stress is intonation, which means the tune you use when you are speaking, the music of speech. More everyday examples will make the idea even clearer. If I say "You're from Australia, aren't you?" and my voice drops down on the words "aren't you? this will indicate to the native speaker that I am simply stating a fact about which I have no doubt. If I say the same sentence but make my voice rise on the last two words the native speaker will understand that something has made me doubt the listener's nationality and I am asking the question to try and confirm what I originally thought. If someone tells me a story and I say "How interesting" I can show by my intonation whether I really thought the story was interesting, whether I was indifferent to it, or whether it bored me completely. For example, if the pitch of my voice is high on the word "how" and either rises or falls only very slightly on the "int" of "interesting" then I am indicating that the story was not interesting for me. The greater the difference between the high pitch of "how" and the low falling tone of "int" is, the more obvious my lack of interest becomes. Clearly, then, intonation is vitally important in spoken language, and the native speaker knows how the intonation in his or her own language works and therefore knows how to use it to create the desired effect.

2.5.2

Grammar If you ask the average English speaker about his or her knowledge you will probably find that he or she cannot tell you what the rules of grammar are, or rather, how English works grammatically. The same person, however, can say a sentence like "If I had known I'd have come earlier". How is this possible? The realisation of this rule is not important for our purposes, but what is interesting is that if we slot bits of vocabulary into this tree, or frame, we get a sentence. By changing the bits of vocabulary we get completely different sentences, for example, "The girl loved the man", "The American ate the hamburger", "The artist painted the nude" and so on. In other words the rule has not changed, but the sentence has. By using the rule as a base we can select the vocabulary to mean the things we want. Chomsky's contention is that there are a finite number of such rules that all native speakers know: the native speaker knows all the rules. With these rules it is possible to create an infinite number of sentences. Our example above showed that with one rule we could make many thousands of sentences and if we use all the rules at our disposal the possibilities are literally endless. Chomsky made a difference between this knowledge and the sentence it produced. He calls the grammatical knowledge competence and the realisation of these rules as sentences, such as "The boy kicked the dog", performance. The person, then, who says he or she does not know any grammar, is both right and wrong. A native speaker could not formulate a grammar rule in the way we have seen above or perhaps in any other way. But native speakers have language competence, or in other words a subconscious knowledge of the grammar rules of their language, which allows them to make sentences in that language.

2.5.3

Appropriateness Although the type of rules explained by Chomsky may account for a native speaker's knowledge of grammar, it may not be sufficient to explain everything a native speaker knows about his or her own language. One researcher in particular thought that Chomsky had missed out some very important information. Dell Hymes wrote, "There are rules of use without which the rules of syntax are meaningless".

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PST131J/501 In other words, the competence that Chomsky talked about knowledge of grammar rules) was no good to a native speaker if he or she did not know how to use the language those rules produced. It is not much help to know that "Would you like to" takes the infinitive unless you know that "Would you like to come to the cinema?" is performing an inviting function. Hymes, then, said that competence by itself was not enough to explain a native speaker's knowledge, and he replaced it with his own concept of communicative competence. Communicative competence Hymes separated the native speaker's knowledge about language into four categories. (a) Systematic potential The native speaker possesses a system that has potential for creating a lot of language. This is much like Chomsky's original competence. (b) Appropriacy The native speaker knows what language is appropriate/suitable in a given situation. It is possible to suggest that if you wish to invite the managing director of your company to dinner, and you are considerably junior to him, it may not be a good idea to say, "Hey, d you fancy a bite to eat this evening?" since this might be inappropriate when talking to a superior whereas the question "I was wondering if you'd like to come to dinner this evening" might not. Appropriacy, then, accounts for many of the rules of use mentioned in 2.5.3 and we will look at the concept in greater detail below (see 3.5.3.2). (c) Occurrence Native speakers know how often something is said in the language. In other words they know how common a piece of language is. The more common a piece of language is, the more likely it is that it will be clearly understood. (d) Feasibility Native speakers know whether something is possible in the language or not. Systematic potential (see (a) above) might possibly allow for a construction like "He has been being beaten", but a native speaker knows that this is not feasible or possible in real life. Again, there are no rules to say how many adjectives you may have before a noun, but at some point the native speaker will say that there are too many to make sense. It is no longer feasible. Obviously Hymes has included categories that are very different from Chomsky's original idea of competence, and his ideas are considerably more complex in their original form than we have represented here. But it seems clear that native speakers do in some way "know" the rules of use Hymes talks about and that these make it possible not only for them to "get the grammar right" but also to say "the right thing". We shall now examine that idea in more detail with particular reference to the idea of appropriacy.

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Appropriacy We have said that the idea of appropriacy is that native speakers know how to choose the suitable thing to say in a given situation. How is that choice made? Hymes says that when we speak we base our choice on the following variables (among others).

(a)

Setting Where are we when we speak; in what situation are we?

(b)

Participants Who is taking part in the conversation?

(c)

Purpose What is the purpose of the speaker? What is he or she trying to say with the words he or she is using? Is the speaker trying to complain or apologise, explain or demand?

(d)

Channel Are the words said face-to-face or over the telephone, in a telegram or in a letter?

(e)

Topic What are the words about? A wedding or nuclear physics, cigarettes or films? All these factors (Hymes also mentions some others) influence speakers in their choice of words. For example, if the setting is a church and you are trying to talk to someone three seats away without attracting too much attention you may use as few words as possible but which are nevertheless completely clear, for example, "Your father?" (said in a whisper) instead of "How's your father these days?" which you might say if you met the same person in the street. We have already said that you will choose what you say on the basis of who you are talking to. You might say to a friend "I think you're talking a lot of old rubbish", but you would probably not say the same thing to someone you have invited to your house for the first time! When you say something you have decided what you want to do: in other words the native English speaker who says "I'm terribly sorry for being late" says this because he or she has decided to apologise. If the native English speaker says "Yesterday I went to the cinema" he or she has decided to tell you about a past experience. Most people say things, because they have a purpose such as apologising, greeting, talking about the past, denying, making statements or probability etc. Yet another deciding factor will be what you are talking about, and this is obvious since if you are talking about guitar playing the vocabulary you use (apart from anything else) will be different from that of a conversation about newborn babies. These variables and the way they affect the native speaker's choice, are what Hymes means when he talks about the rules of use (see 2.5.3). However, the problem remains, that no-one has arrived at a way of stating such rules satisfactorily!

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PST131J/501 Situation and context Nevertheless, the fact that rules of use have never been clearly stated need not cause too much alarm. In a general way the discussion of appropriacy is suggesting that language is not an abstract system. In other words people use language in context, in a real-life situation, and it is one of the jobs of the linguist to identify these contexts. 2.5.4 Interaction with context Any use of language, of course, is not static. You do not decide on an appropriate piece of language, say it, and then walk away (except in extremely dramatic situations). In conversation with another person you constantly have to interpret what is being said as the conversation continues. The listener in a conversation uses what has already been said to help him or her understand the message that is being conveyed. Based on what has gone before in the conversation the listener will also predict what is coming next, thus preparing himself or herself to understand it (although of course this prediction may be wrong). What good listeners are able to do, then, is to process what they hear on the basis of the context it occurs in. And this does not just mean the context variables that govern appropriacy (see 5.3.2): it also involves the verbal and informational context that is created by the sentences before and after the language the listeners are processing. In other words you will probably not understand an isolated sentence from a lecture unless you can relate it to what the speaker has already said. The listener in a conversation is in a similar position to a reader of written text. The latter must also process what he reads on the basis of what comes before and after it. Both the reader and listener, then, are constantly interacting with the language they see or hear, analysing the context in which it occurs. 2.5.5 Language skills In 2.5.3.2 (d) we mentioned the concept of channel as being important in determining a native speaker's choice of language. If we examine this concept more closely we can identify certain language skills that native speakers possess. Anyone who uses language well has a number of different abilities. He or she may read books, write letters, speak on the telephone, listen to the radio, and so on. In the most general way we can identify four major skills: listening and understanding, speaking, reading and understanding, and writing. Speaking and writing are obviously skills and involve some kind of production on the part of the language user. Listening and reading are receptive skills in that the language user is receiving written or spoken language. But they are, of course, skills that involve language use because of the interaction with the context that we have just considered in 2.5.4. Very often the language user is involved in using a combination of skills so that a participant in a conversation, for example, is involved with both the speaker and the listening skill. Language skills are often divided into four sections as shown in Figure 1.1 below. Although this model is an oversimplication and one should keep in mind that language skills cannot be divided into four watertight components, it is a good point of departure for a discussion on integrated language instruction.

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If you have studied Figure 1.1 thoroughly, you will note that there is a vertical as well as a horizontal division. In the two upper quadrants we have the receptive skills relating to the receiving of messages, in other words the understanding (decoding) of communication. In the two lower quadrants, in other words below the horizontal line, we find the skills necessary to convey (encode) the message. To the left of the vertical line are the oral skills which consist of two aspects, namely listening and speaking. Listening is both receptive (receiving) and part of oral communication. To the right of the vertical line are the written skills, namely reading and writing. Reading is therefore receptive in written communication, while writing is productive. In an education context, this means that each of these skills should receive attention in the language classroom. In real-life communication situations two or more of these skills are usually involved. The implications of this for teaching are as follows: Although it is therefore true that one could concentrate on one of the four skills in a classroom situation, one should also try to create classroom activities that reflect real-life communication situations. This will mean that two or even more of the so-called four skills are utilised, sometimes simultaneously. 2.6 HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU AS A TEACHER? As primary school teachers and teachers of a home language, you need to know at least the basic principles of how language is acquired. This is essential background knowledge if you are to understand the process of language learning as young children experience it. Enough evidence exists to prove any of the theories discussed, yet in spite of this extensive research no single theory is conclusive. As a language teacher you need to know that even among language scientists there are diverse views on how language is acquired. The relevance for primary school teachers lies in the fact that teaching a language may seem a daunting task. Language can be acquired in many ways, therefore the teaching of language will vary. There is no single correct way of teaching language so the research findings on language acquisition are useful because they help teachers understand what to keep in mind when planning activities in the classroom.

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PST131J/501 2.7 THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT ON LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Language acquisition cannot take place in isolation. Language is about communication and the richer the input from the environment in which young children interact, the greater will be the potential for communicative competence. Children learn from adults, their peers and, finally, from the school context. As they become literate in all respects, the media in its broadest sense also plays a vital role in shaping a learner's knowledge of and skill in effectively using language. Babies begin to speak in an environment where one or more languages are being used they hear the people around them talking to each other people speak directly to them as well the contexts (situations) in which they hear and try to speak are meaningful and make sense for them. Babies and young children learn how to talk when they are highly motivated observe and listen closely to people around them come to understand over time that language is powerful and is useful have fun and enjoy themselves as they play practice what they have learned are rewarded. Parents and family members are excellent teachers because they never doubt that their babies can and will become speakers. They help when they are needed, sometimes initiating or responding to their child (For example: they may speak to the child while feeding it, or changing nappies.) extend what the child is trying to say (For example, the child may point and say: "da da," which will prompt the parent to say: "Do you want something to drink?") accept and understand that mistakes are necessary for development do not punish their babies when they say something wrong encourage them to keep on trying give support to their babies' efforts

Teachers should keep the following in mind when they plan and prepare language activities: People are the most important resource for spoken language development. Because of this, teachers should provide many opportunities for conversations in the classroom. Children become skilled language users when they speak with each other and with more experienced users of language - older children and adults. Children's oral language skills and confidence develop when There is a partnership between adults and children Adults and children work together to "make meaning" Teachers have to find out what the children know and use this when planning activity. When teachers share information with parents about what happens at school, this will help to promote conversations between parents and their children. Children should be encouraged to reflect on (think about) their experiences. Children organise their thoughts, solve problems, and extend their own understanding of activities and situations when they have chances to think out loud. Teachers learn from the mistakes that young children make as they talk. These mistakes give teachers insights into children's thinking and strategies for learning and provide clues for helping to correct the mistakes.
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2.8

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE AND THINKING Language cannot develop without thinking. While people debate about what comes first, everybody agrees that language and thinking are linked. That is the reason for presenting language in a meaningful context. One of our important responsibilities as teachers is to help children think for themselves. We use language to do this. We ask children questions like: "Would you like some more cold drink?" or "What colour is this?" This process of asking questions and talking to children starts long before the children can answer us. Children listen to language and respond, even if only through actions at first. Language develops through interaction with adults, and through the relationships that children have with things and people around them. All these activities will help children to use language. Language consists of two components: understanding and speaking. Language requires that children should reason to come to an understanding.

2.9

STAGES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Teachers should be aware of the stages of language development that children go through in their mastery of a language. The following is a brief description of the six main stages of language development: Babies react to speech, different sounds and intonation. Babies need to hear speech as often as possible to develop the basis of language. When babies are three to four months old, they start making sounds. This making of sounds is called vocalisation and continues until the baby is about one year old. Babies start forming words from sounds. Children have by this time developed physically and are able to make the right sounds. Children know the meaning of words before they can voice them. Children begin making sentences consisting of two to three words at a time. Children listen to examples of persons speaking and then imitate speech patterns. Children then expand their vocabulary at an astonishing rate. They start using longer sentences and start to speak to other children and adults. Grammar is learnt by generalising what they hear. When children reach the age of five to six, they become aware that language also includes reading and writing and that they can make their ideas and feelings known by making marks on paper.

Remember Children first acquire receptive language before they start using expressive language. First they listen, then they start speaking and then they start drawing and writing. Teachers have to be careful not to separate the different aspects of language, which are talking listening reading writing These four facets of language allow us to communicate and express what we mean in different ways. Young children come to school knowing a lot about their worlds.

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PST131J/501 They also know a lot about using at least one language and, in many cases, more than one. In their very short lives they have discovered that speech is powerful, and have begun to make speech work for them, so that they can communicate with the people they know and care about, and get things done. They can already use language in different ways. They can, for example: tell and retell stories give instructions, make jokes recite rhyme sing songs, and so on. Depending on their experiences, some children will also have developed some important understandings about written language. Teachers should thus develop language activities to suit the development and requirements of the children. 2.10 COMMUNICATION SKILLS Young children are encouraged to communicate and develop their language skills from a very early age. Communication entails more than the mere use of language; it includes gestures, eye movements, and behaviour. Communication means expressing and sharing feelings and ideas with other people. Communication develops from where the infant tries to tell its mother something by crying, to where an adult conveys meaning by explaining and gesturing. All forms of communication are important; however, the use of language to communicate is the most important. Without language people find it difficult to communicate effectively. Communication means that: children can receive a message children are able to interpret what they receive correctly children can reply with an adequate response Communication is a very important aspect of the multilingual classroom of South Africa. Social development also has a part to play in communication between two children who do not have the same mother tongue, but are in the same class. Their ability (or inability) to communicate will hamper their social development. Teachers should be aware of potential problems and act accordingly. All children are born with the urge and the will to communicate. Teachers should read the signs and encourage communication and the children will reward them by improving their communication and language skills. Teachers can improve communication skills in the following ways: Provide materials and situations conducive to communication. Teachers can ask questions that will prompt the child to answer. For example: "It is a flower." "What colour is the flower?" "What kind of flower is it?" Teachers can make use of puppets, balls, or anything else that will encourage communication. Material can be used in dramatic play to help children to communicate. Help children to develop listening and speaking skills by telling stories, singing, songs and playing various games. Tape stores (or buy taped stories) for the children to listen to. Ask questions based on these stories. For example allow the children to say how they felt when something has happened. Ask children to say what they think will happen next. Speak to the children and encourage them to speak and communicate their feelings and thoughts.

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Teachers have many opportunities to either create situations for talking to the children, or to make use of situations that present themselves. When observing children's communication skills, teachers should look for certain factors that will indicate whether children are developing and improving. These factors are the following: Confidence: Children are confident when speaking. They may not be fluent or speak without mistakes, but they get their message across. Articulation: Children's speech is clear enough to be reasonably well understood. Language production: Children speak in sentences and can link words well enough to be understood. Vocabulary: Children have many words in their vocabulary, which they use when speaking to others. Communication: Children are able to make known what they want, their wishes, likes and dislikes. Understanding language: Children understand what they hear and see. They respond to instructions, questions and requests. Playing with words: Children enjoy songs, word games and rhymes. Listening skills: Children listen and react correctly to questions and instructions. They are able to identify words and sounds. The use of language is crucial to cognitive development. Learning depends on a child's evergrowing ability to understand words and eventually to read and write them. Social development, too, depends on language. Children who have difficulty expressing themselves well are often less able to develop friendships. Language is an important factor in emotional development. Children's self-esteem is enhanced by their growing ability to put into words how they feel - to communicate their feelings accurately to others. The development of language is one of a child's major accomplishments during early childhood. In a few years children move from being non-verbal and unable to communicate their needs through speech, to developing the ability to speak and understand language. Children learn thousands of words, their meanings and the rules for using them simply by being around caring adults who talk to them and respond to their efforts to communicate. They are born with the urge to communicate. If we respond to their signals and show encouragement, their interest in expanding their communication skills is almost limitless. 2.11 ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE Often we think of language skills as consisting only of listening, speaking, reading and writing, but underlying all of these is the ability to think. The ability to think is an important aspect of language. With the development of information technology, the use of electronic media should also be considered and included in the teaching of language. (a) Thinking Experience teaches us that pupils will improve their ability to think if they have a school programme that is rich in challenging and authentic language experiences. A good teacher will focus on the intimate connection between thinking and language. (b) Listening Listening and speaking are closely related in conversation. We learn to listen for different purposes and to integrate new with existing information. Note taking and the electronic media can be used effectively to record the important facts in any speech we have listened to.

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PST131J/501 (c) Speaking Speaking implies saying what has been thought. Talking and thinking are so closely connected that the one implies the other and we often do not really know what we think about a topic until we talk about it. Speaking also depends on vocabulary, using one's voice and the ability to produce a variety of types of sentences. Knowledge and alternative ways of organising what we want to say are important in the speaking experience.

ACTIVITY Discuss with some learners what constitutes appropriate talk for the following settings: (1) the dinner table at home/the dinner table when visiting people; (2) the living room when their parents have guests; (3) the school bus. Take note of details that they mention. What factors do they consider important? Are children allowed to talk at the dinner table? Where do they sit for their meals? What are the topics discussed during meals? (d) Writing Writing and speaking are both ways of expressing thoughts. Some of our writing is only for personal use (diaries or shopping lists) or for communicating informally with others as in letters, but another kind of writing involves thinking about and expressing complicated ideas. Learners thus need to learn to use appropriate word and language forms for chosen purposes. Writing with care involves a rather complex process in which we revise our written products several times until it communicates in the way we want it to. In rewriting, we thoroughly examine our choice of words, spelling and punctuation. ACTIVITY By writing short notes and letters to one another, learners come to realise that writing is a form of communication. At first these notes can consist of just one or two sentences: that is a good preparation for later attempts at letter-writing. Initially you could give instructions about the content of the notes: for instance, ask your friends to do something, or pass on some instructions. (e) Reading Reading is very important in daily life. Think about how much reading we do in a single day from reading advertisements to newspapers, books, magazines and non-fiction. We also seek enjoyment, as when we read stories, poems, articles and jokes. Learning to read begins when we are taught the alphabet and how single letters can be put together to make words. These words are put together in the right order to make sentences. This process continues in our adult life as we learn how to deal with different kinds of text, their content and thousands of words in print. Reading is usually taken a step further when we think effectively about what we have read and can incorporate it in our communication to others, thus talking and giving account of what we have read. ACTIVITY Collect some examples of the written word for example, an advert, notices, and a page from a magazine. Compare these texts and note how the information is conveyed to the reader.
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2.12

APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING To date, approaches to teaching language vary from keeping the subject almost entirely apart to including it in almost all of the content areas of the curriculum. Let us look at some of the possibilities.

Separate subjects In this approach, periods are scheduled during the week for the different areas of the curriculum. Most subjects are taught from a textbook and without much connection with others. The "separate subject" organisation is based on the assumption that learners will study the text materials in a sequential fashion and then be able to use the skills and content they have learned when these are needed. It is expected that what was learnt in the language class can be used more or less automatically when needed in any other subject.

Integrated language teaching This approach treats language as a field where handwriting, spelling, composition, grammar, punctuation, speaking and reading are all included. Such teaching emphasises the relationship between these components, encouraging learners to see, for instance, that good handwriting and knowledge of spelling are both involved in producing words that can be read easily. In an Integrated Arts approach, attention is given both to the systematic teaching of the necessary skills and to the actual use of what has been learnt.

Whole language This approach differs from the approach where classroom activities are neatly separated into subjects. Little use is made of textbooks in a "whole language" approach; instead, learning activities focus on children's own, often self-selected, experiences. Larger blocks of time are scheduled for projects such as publishing a classroom newspaper. Library books, both fiction and non-fiction, replace most conventional reading materials. In this approach, it is expected that pupils will improve their performance through actual use of language in meaningful situations. Conventional school textbooks are used as resource materials, if at all.

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THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT GRADES R-9 (SCHOOLS)

INTRODUCING THE LANGUAGES DEFINITION The Languages Learning Area includes: all eleven official languages: Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga; and languages approved by the Pan South African Languages Board (PANSALB) and the South African Certification Authority (SAFCERT) such as Braille and South African Sign Language.

The Learning Area for each official language is presented in three parts, each with its own volume: Home Language, First Additional Language, and Second Additional Language. In a multilingual country like South Africa it is important that learners reach high levels of proficiency in at least two languages, and that they are able to communicate in other languages. THE ADDITIVE APPROACH TO MULTILINGUALISM The Languages Learning Area is in line with the Department of Educations language-in-education policy. This policy gives School Governing Bodies the responsibility of selecting school language policies that are appropriate for their circumstances and in line with the policy of additive multilingualism. The Languages Learning Area Statement provides a curriculum that is supportive of whatever decision a school makes. It follows an additive approach to multilingualism: All learners learn their home language and at least one additional official language. Learners become competent in their additional language, while their home language is maintained and developed. All learners learn an African language for a minimum of three years by the end of the General Education and Training Band. In some circumstances, it may be learned as a second additional language.

The home, first additional and second additional languages are approached in different ways: The home language Assessment Standards assumes that learners come to school able to understand and speak the language. They support the development of this competence, especially with regard to various types of literacy (reading, writing, visual and critical literacies). They provide a strong curriculum to support the language of learning and teaching. The first additional language assumes that learners do not necessarily have any knowledge of the language when they arrive at school. The curriculum starts by developing learners ability to understand and speak the language. On this foundation, it builds literacy. Learners are able to transfer the literacies they have acquired in their home language to their first additional language. The curriculum provides strong support for those learners who will use their first additional language as a language of learning and teaching. By the end of Grade 9, these learners should be able to use their home language and first additional language effectively and with confidence for a variety of purposes including learning.

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The second additional language is intended for learners who wish to learn three languages. The third language may be an official or a foreign language. The Assessment Standards ensure that learners are able to use the language for general communicative purposes. It assumes that less time will be allocated to learning the second additional language than to the home language for first additional language.

The Languages Learning Area covers all 11 official languages as: Home languages; First additional languages; and Second additional languages. LANGUAGE OF LEARNING AND TEACHING It is recommended that the learners home language should be used for learning and teaching wherever possible. This is particularly important in the Foundation Phase where children learn to read and write. Where learners have to make a transition from their home language to an additional language as the language of learning and teaching, this should be carefully planned: The additional language should be introduced as a subject in Grade 1. The home language should continue to be used alongside the additional language for as long as possible.

When learners enter a school where the language of learning and teaching is an additional language for the learner, teachers and other educators should make provision for special assistance and supplementary learning of the additional language, until such time as the learner is able to learn effectively in the language of learning and teaching. PURPOSE Languages are central to our lives. We communicate and understand our world through language. Language thus shapes our identity and knowledge. Languages serve a variety of purposes, which are reflected in the Languages Learning Area Statement. These are: Personal - to sustain, develop and transform identities; to sustain relationships in family and community; and for personal growth and pleasure. Communicative - to communicate appropriately and effectively in a variety of social contexts. Educational - to develop tools for thinking and reasoning, and to provide access to information. Aesthetic - to create, interpret and play imaginatively with oral, visual and written texts. Cultural - to understand and appreciate languages and cultures, and the heritage they carry. Political - to assert oneself and challenge others; to persuade others of a particular point of view; to position oneself and others; and to sustain, develop and transform identities. Critical - to understand the relationships between language, power and identity, and to challenge uses of these where necessary; to understand the dynamic nature of culture; and to resist persuasion and positioning where necessary.

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PST131J/501 UNIQUE FEATURES AND SCOPE How does the Languages Learning Area contribute to the curriculum? It develops reading and writing, the foundation for other important literacies. It is the medium for much of the other learning in the curriculum, such as Mathematics and the Social Sciences. It encourages intercultural understanding, access to other views, and a critical understanding of the concept of culture. It stimulates imaginative and creative activity, and thus promotes the goals of arts and culture. It provides a way of communicating information, and promotes many of the goals of science, technology and environmental education. It develops the critical tools necessary to become responsible citizens.

LANGUAGES: COMBINING KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND VALUES There are six main Learning Outcomes: The first four outcomes cover five different language skills - listening, speaking, reading, viewing and writing. Outcome 5 deals with the use of languages for thinking and reasoning, which is especially important for the language of learning and teaching. This outcome is not included in the curriculum for second additional languages, since its aim is not to prepare learners to use this language as a language of learning and teaching. The Mathematics curriculum also covers the skills in this outcome to some extent. Outcome 6 deals with the core of language knowledge - sounds, words and grammar - in texts. This knowledge is put into action through the language skills described in the other outcomes.

These outcomes have been written to give specific focus to particular kinds of knowledge and skills, and to make them clear and understandable. When we use language, however, we integrate knowledge, skills and values to express ourselves. A central principle of the Languages Learning Area Statement is therefore the integration of these aspects of language through the creation and interpretation of texts. LANGUAGES LEARNING OUTCOMES Learning Outcome 1: Listening The learner will be able to listen for information and enjoyment, and respond appropriately and critically in wide range of situations. Learning Outcome 2: Speaking The learner will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in spoken language in a wide range of situations. Learning Outcome 3: Reading and Viewing The learner will be able to read and view for information and enjoyment, and respond critically to aesthetic, cultural and emotional values in texts. Learning Outcome 4: Writing The learner will be able to write different kinds of factual and imaginative texts for a wide range of purposes.
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Learning Outcome 5: Thinking and Reasoning The learner will be able to use language to think and reason, as well as to access, process and use information for learning. Learning Outcome 6: Language Structure and Use The learner will know and be able to use the sounds, words and grammar of the language to create and interpret texts. INTEGRATION OF OUTCOMES Listening and speaking, reading and viewing, writing, thinking and reasoning, and knowledge of sounds, words and grammar - although presented as separate outcomes - should be integrated when taught and assessed. For example, learners: listen to a particular kind of text (for example, a description of a process such as gold mining or paper making); read and analyse key features of another text of the same type (for example, use of simple present tense, passive voice, linking words such as first, next, then); and design and create a new text of the same type, including visual material in the form of a flow diagram.

In Study Unit 3, we shall explore the communicative approach. Currently this is the favoured approach to language teaching. Its underlying theory is that language is used as communication means.

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STUDY UNIT 3: THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

Learning outcomes After studying this unit, you should be able to argue in favour of why a home language needs to be taught name which aspects of a first language can still be taught/learn define communicative competence and specify its key areas recognise the main characteristics of the communicative approach explain how the basic communicative skills are integrated in language teaching and how this relates to the concept of literacy

3.1

WHY A HOME LANGUAGE NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT In the previous unit, we looked at various theories about how a child acquires a home language. We now take a closer look at what aspects of a home language need to be taught. Perhaps you have heard or even used the following argument yourself: "Why must a learner study his or her home language at school? Surely, if one has learnt to speak it, there is no need to spend 12 years at school studying it?" Well, what do you think? Write down some of the reasons why you think a home language should or should not be taught at school: ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... Currently the main difference between learning a home and an additional language at school, particularly in the senior classes is the greater emphasis placed on studying the formal aspects of grammar and a sharper focus on literary studies. In the junior classes, learners are able to be more creative with language but, unfortunately, often the activities designed do not impart new knowledge or skills but merely keep the learners occupied for a 30 minute period. Studying a language for its grammatical aspects only would be very limiting and on the other hand, in order to fully appreciate the richness of its text or discourse one would have to learn the skills that would equip one to analyse and discuss the intricacies of language in its variety of forms and nuances. Thus learning a language needs to be more than learning grammar only. The communicative approach (CA) acknowledges that a language is a system of rules for usage (grammar) and that it is exemplified in use in the various modes of listening, reading, writing and speaking. Learning structures and new vocabulary is important, however, preparation for effective communication will be inadequate if only this is taught.

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There is little point in teaching learners the rules of language usage if they cannot use the language appropriately. When we communicate, we use language to accomplish some function, such as arguing, persuading, or promising. Moreover, we carry out these functions within a social context. A speaker will choose a particular way to express his or her argument based not only upon his or her intention and level of emotion, but also upon whom he or she is addressing and what his or her relationship with that person is. For example, you may be more direct when arguing with a friend than when you disagree with your employer. Furthermore, since communication is a process, it is not enough for learners to have knowledge of target language forms, meanings and functions only. Learners must be able to apply this knowledge in negotiating meaning. Because language is a process, there are several implications. A process is a state of change and development. We cannot expect perfect, complete products from pupils who are still in the process of learning a language. Children acquire the language they need to know in order to be communicatively competent in their first-language speech community. In other words, children remember word patterns they need in everyday life. The best way for them to do this is in a language-rich environment where they have opportunities to hear and speak their first language in a supportive environment. While some language that they hear and read is adapted to suit their level, most of it is authentic adult language. The child's use of language at a given stage and the communication of meaning take precedence over grammatical accuracy. However, by school-going age children already know whether their communication in their first language is formally possible (which indicates grammatical competence), appropriate in context and feasible. Children aged six or seven, already know how their language relates to reality. Children use language to get things, to control the behaviour of others, to create interaction with others, to express personal meanings and feelings, to learn and discover, to create a world of the imagination, and to communicate information. They use language for effective communication and have strategies to compensate for any lack of linguistic knowledge. It is through the interaction between speaker and listener (or between writer and reader) that meaning becomes clear. The listener gives the speaker feedback on whether or not he or she understands what the speaker has said. In this way the speaker can revise what he or she has said and try to communicate the original intended meaning again, if necessary. Therefore the communicative approach supports the idea that language teaching should not merely involve providing a set of language results. It supports the view that language teaching takes into account effective use of language by the learner. 3.2 DEFINING THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH (CA) This approach to language teaching aims to improve a learner's competence and proficiency in that particular language. According to the Oxford advanced learner's dictionary (1995), the word competent means "having the necessary ability, authority, skill knowledge", while proficiency means "being able to do something in a skilled or expert way because of training or practice". These terms are at times used interchangeably. A first language speaker may be competent yet, as a teacher, you would be aiming to improve his or her proficiency as well. The communicative approach refers to a specific approach which is followed when teaching a language. Please note that no specific method can be prescribed. Various methods and techniques have to be integrated to achieve success. The communicative approach is derived from the concept of communication because communication (discussion) is at the core of this approach.

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PST131J/501 In short, communicative competence implies being able to use the target language appropriately in any given social context in order to communicate effectively. 3.3 PRINCIPLES OF THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH The goal of this approach is to develop learners competence and proficiency in their home language. This involves the ability to use language appropriately in any given social context. Learners need knowledge of linguistic forms, meanings and functions but they also need to know that many different forms can be used to perform a function and that a single form can perform a variety of functions. Write down some of the many ways (forms) in which you can greet (function) someone in your home language: ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................... Certain principles underlie the development of communicative competence: (1) Language is a system for expressing meaning. And its chief purpose is interaction. The primary units of language are not its grammatical or structural features but categories of functional and communicative meaning as found in written and spoken discourse. All four basic communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) need to be integrated and developed simultaneously. Communicative competence implies grammatical, sociolinguistic, and strategic and discourse competence. Language could be used for basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) or cognitive academic language proficiency (CALPS) could be developed. The degree of accuracy and fluency would vary according to the focus of the activity. Error tolerance is greater in this approach. Learners need to be exposed to authentic language and situations. They must also take responsibility for their own progress. In order to expose them to as many opportunities for using the language as possible, much pair work or group work should be designed.

(2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

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3.4

THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TEACHER IN THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH As a teacher, you will need to have a thorough knowledge of how the home language that you teach works and changes so that you can help your learners to develop their communicative competence fully. If you are teaching groups of mixed culture and race, you will also have to bear in mind that many of the learners in your class may not be home language speakers of the language used for instruction (most likely English). This further complicates your task, because you cannot take for granted that all learners are operating from the same frame of reference or level of ability. This means that you will have to grade or use different activities and levels of explanation to meet individual needs. The traditional role of the teacher as unique source of all knowledge has changed. You will now act as an organiser of knowledge, initiator of activities, guiding and advising rather than prescribing or drilling a specific aspect of language. You will facilitate the communication process between learners and monitor their interaction with a variety of language texts or discourse. You will have to establish situations that are likely to promote communication in both formal and informal settings. Sometimes, you will be a co-communicator, such as when you encourage learners to share their ideas and opinions. You should also note that, ultimately, the more proficient you are in using the home language as a teacher, the better the learners level of competence will be. Communicative competence is a long-term goal and each activity should equip the learner to face the real world with more confidence. They should also understand why it is important to communicate well in their home language and should be motivated to improve their proficiency. You should also strive to create an environment that is conducive to learning and experimentation with language. Where possible, have an attractive, comfortable venue that is well ventilated and well lit. Regardless of whether or not you are fortunate enough to have a class to yourself, you need to ensure that a low anxiety level exists by establishing a good relationship with your learners. Probably the greatest contribution of the CA is that it forces you to look closely at what is involved in communicating effectively.

3.5

GUIDELINES FOR PLANNING COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES Ideally, activities are planned that create opportunities for acquiring particular language skills and learning about the language. The accent is on language usage, not language study. Formal grammar explanations should be short and simple as well as kept to the minimum in favour of activities, which allow the natural use of a language structure. Activities should be learner-centred. This allows learners to take responsibility for and manage their own language learning progress. There can be no one-way traffic! Learners should make a personal input daily to improve their competence. A focused interaction between learner and materials or learner and peers builds confidence because learners see that they are able to influence their circumstances by using language effectively. True communicative activities include an information gap (see Kilfoil & Van der Walt, pp118120) that is; one learner in an exchange knows something that the other does not. Each speaker has a choice of what he or she will say and how they will reply. Communication is purposeful, thus feedback will be necessary to find out if the communication has been effective, in other words, if the message has been understood.

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PST131J/501 Communication must be authentic. This means that it should be natural language used by first language speakers in real-life situations. For example, it would be considered unusual for schoolchildren to greet each other by formally saying: "Good morning". Most simply yell: "Hi!" or Howzit?" in passing. Not only must the actual forms of communication be authentic but also the materials and texts used. These include newspapers, flyer adverts, notices, text on boxes, bottles and any form of packaging, labels, magazines, menus and any other form of written text. Verbal means of communication include radio interviews, television broadcasts, messages on an answering machine, conversations. Pair work and group work should be used often so that learners can use the language in activities like games, role-playing and problem-solving tasks. Small groups appear to give learners the most practice in communicating daily. Choose situations that match the learners background and interest level. At first, fluency is more essential than accuracy. Do not correct errors, whether they be spoken or written, that do not interfere with communication. What is being communicated is more important than how it is said. Error tolerance is high because making mistakes is considered to be the natural outcome of skills development. Learners may have limited linguistic knowledge but may be successful communicators, yet strong guidance is given with the view to achieving greater proficiency. Basic communication skills are integrated into each lesson and learners are expected to perform efficiently in these skills. Learners work on all skills simultaneously and negotiate meaning as they would in real-life situations. The core syllabus and outcomes for each grade determine the sub skills that are taught. Learners should be made aware of the appropriate socio-cultural language forms such as polite forms of address, changes in inflection or other paralinguistic features when speaking to adults, and taboo forms. Since home language speakers come from diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds, it is possible that few share a standard accent when speaking the language. As the target language is only a vehicle for communication, an accent is acceptable if it does not make it difficult for a listener to understand what the speaker is saying. With regard to English as a home language in South Africa, we have traditionally accepted the British spelling and pronunciation as the norm. The other 10 languages would, no doubt, have their own point of reference for what is acceptable expression, both in writing or speech. The CA is a vital means of teaching learners tolerance and respect for each others ways of expression. Assessment is done in terms of outcomes (skills) but aspects of knowledge and attitudes are also measured. 3.6 RELATING THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TO BASIC LITERACY In the other study units we shall be dealing with the four basic communicative skills in greater detail, focusing on them as receptive and productive skills. We shall also be looking closely at how a learner encodes and decodes information in order to understand it. As an introduction to these matters, we now look at how the integration of these skills forms the basis of literacy, the sought-after ability to read and write. There are many communities that function very successfully using only two of the literacy skills: listening and speaking. So, is it really necessary to learn how to read and write your home language as well? If so why? Let us take a closer look at the traditional definition of literacy: Usually, to be literate means being able to read and write the language that you can speak. In its broader sense it means
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having a basic knowledge of or ability in a specified discipline, for example, being computer literate means you are able to use a computer as a basic tool for your occupation. We can thus say that being literate in your home language means being able to communicate effectively in order to function at an appropriate and expected level in a particular society. Literacy can be defined as the ability to listen, speak, read and write in order to function effectively at an appropriate level. This means that children's speaking, listening, reading and writing abilities are closely interrelated. These skills work in conjunction with each other. The first purpose of literacy is communication. Other purposes are expressing needs, enjoyment and developing social skills. Children use their emerging literacy to understand the world and culture around them and to learn rituals. They learn about work and play, birthdays and what happens when someone dies. Young children learn most things through listening and speaking, but most of the skills transfer to reading and writing. Children soon learn that there is a link between oral and written language. They try to write and draw, first in scribbles and indecipherable drawings, but later progress to proper writing and drawing. The integration of the language arts of listening, speaking, reading and writing in classrooms makes sense because each of the four derives meaning from the others. Consider what happens when children go on a shopping trip. They hear people speaking; they ask questions and read advertisements. Traditionally language instruction was divided into four areas: listening speaking reading writing Such a division permits an in-depth analysis of each area and helps assure that each will receive a fair and balanced amount of consideration. However, when we work with children, listening, speaking, reading and writing are inextricably related. Language processes are visual symbols - those that a child sees, writes and reads, and verbal symbols - those that a child speaks and hears. Each child manipulates these visual and verbal symbols in different ways. This is a cognitive process in which the child will have to listen, speak, write and read effectively. The following principles should apply in an integrated approach to language instruction: Focus on the language in which the child is learning. Emphasise the social uses of language. Arrange activities that are appropriate to the child's development. Help children think. Respect cultural and language difference. Integrate speaking, listening, reading and writing. Traditionally, the acquisition of listening, speaking, reading and writing competence was thought to occur in that order, which, perhaps explains the practice of teaching discrete skills sequentially. However, recent research suggests that the four language arts develop concurrently and reinforce each other as they grow. For instance, research in writing indicates that a child does not need to have a large reading vocabulary before a writing vocabulary begins to develop. In fact, some children learn to write words first and then learn to read what they write (Chomsky 1971). Oral language research shows that facility with the spoken word does not always precede and is not always necessary to learn to read (Myers 1987). Children with no oral language, for example, the deaf, do learn to read. We also know, however, that facility with spoken language does contribute to the development of reading and writing competencies.

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PST131J/501 Although the four language skills will be integrated during language instruction, for academic reasons we are going to separate each skill to indicate which competencies children should be able to demonstrate in the phase. Here are some suggested competencies: Listening Children should be able to experience situations that will help them interpret non-verbal messages actively participate in experiences that will improve their listening skills listen, look at the speaker, wait their turn to speak, react to instructions or requests, and answer questions increase their vocabulary improve their auditory memory by trying to repeat what they have heard retell stories or give messages react to questions by answering what is asked. Speaking Children's speech will improve as they practise. Children should experiment with language sounds, rhythm, volume, pitch and words describe events or sequences of events ask clear questions and react to the answers they receive describe what they see on posters or pictures and tell stories about them give messages to other persons participate in conversation with other children and adults take part in group discussions with other children take part in creative dramatic activities such as role-play and concerts Reading Children should be able to use the school and public library to obtain reading matter move from "pretend" reading to actual reading by acquiring reading skills react to written signs around them (stop, train, labels, and chemist) predict what is going to happen next in a story read and discuss a story (sequence, characters, setting) develop a comprehensive sight vocabulary by reading well-known text form positive reading habits to enjoy the written word identify beginning letters identify rhyming words realise their ability to read well Writing Children will become more proficient in writing skills as they progress. They should be able to enjoy writing down their ideas on paper write different types of written exercises such as lists, stories and descriptions write down their thoughts in their own inventive writing forms (scribble, own spelling, drawings and so on) find more topics to write about and expand their writing accordingly learn to organise their thoughts and material for others to understand learn to use the correct format of writing for different purposes (letter, story and notice)
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So how do children develop these literacy skills? Did you learn to ride a bicycle just to show your friends you could do it? NO! Surely, you wanted to use the bicycle as a means of transport. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that generally we do not use the skills of speaking, reading, or writing just for the sake of demonstrating our ability alone. We use these different aspects of language because we have something to achieve through them. At school, however, children are often expected to do very repetitive exercises, which have little or no real meaning for them. This ought not to be the case. Research into oral language acquisition in particular, has thrown interesting light on how very young learners become good readers and writers. The environment When young children grow up or spend time in an environment where people around them regularly engage in reading and writing (be it at home or at school) reading and writing becomes part of their lives. In the same way as they have already realised that speech is powerful and useful for them, they come to realise that reading and writing are useful and meaningful. Once this happens, they try to discover how and in which ways they can use written language. They then need the same enabling environment, support and encouragement that babies and young children get, as they become speakers. The roots of literacy Young children's early explorations into literacy have been described as the "roots" of literacy. These are crucial understandings that show how young children develop before formal education, when reading and writing form part of their daily environment. Some of the roots are the following: They become aware that print is part of the environment, for example, knowing street names (North Street), signs, advertisements (COKE), shop signs (Pick 'n Pay). They learn that written language is also to be found on its own, for example, in books, newspapers and magazines. They talk about written language, for example when a boy sees a "C" on a Coke advert or on the side of a can, he says, "That says Carol (his sister's name), because there is a "C". They discover that written language has different uses and forms, for example, notes, lists, stories, poems, money orders and signs. They learn how to analyse and explain written language, for example "My name begins with an 'N', and you've got an 'N' at the end of your name. How do you say 'Miranda' when you take away the 'da'?"

Understandings about reading and writing begin to develop together. Young children's scribbles develop into drawings, and often the beginnings of writing can be seen developing in relation to the drawings, as children become aware of writing. It is necessary to choose between introducing reading and writing first in class, because when children make discoveries about written language in a context that makes sense for them, they write and read together. In the different homes and communities where children live, reading and writing are used in different ways and for different purposes, which form part of the social and cultural needs of particular communities.

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PST131J/501 Children from rural communities, where the spoken word is used far more than the written word, may not yet have been introduced to stories in books, though they often have had many stories told to them. They may also have noticed and asked about the print on some food packaging, and the sign above the farm shop. Their experience may be of written language in a language different from their own. If the adults around them do not read or write they will not yet understand that reading and writing can be useful and often enjoyable activities. Children from urban environments will have seen people read and write for different reasons. As with rural children, some may not yet have had stories read to them, or looked at books regularly. However, they will have had other experiences with literacy that are equally valuable, which will have given them ideas about why people read and write. For instance, families may use a Bible, read newspapers, write letters, notes, shopping lists, read train timetables, leaflets, street signs, recipes and other "environmental print". Children may have experienced some print in one language, and some in another. Because of children's different personalities and interests, and because of their different experiences with print, the ways they try to make sense of written language will vary from child to child. As with learning oral language, it is important that the learning takes place in a context that makes sense for each child.

SELF-EVALUATION 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Explain in your own words how a home language is acquired. Explain Hymess concept of communicative competence. Briefly describe the six main stages of language development. Why do you think a home language should be taught? Give your own definition of the communicative approach. Relate the communicative approach to basic literacy.

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STUDY UNIT 4: TEACHING THE SKILLS OF LISTENING AND SPEAKING

LEARNING OUTCOMES What you need to know and understand: the importance of purposeful listening and speaking. the process by which learners listen or speak. the natural integration of the four major communicative skills. What you need to be able to do is to: teach learners to become attentive listeners who are also able to identify a speakers attitudes and values. teach learners to verbalize their ideas effectively to express their thoughts, opinions, feelings and emotions. design appropriate listening and speaking tasks, at times integrating these formally with other communicative skills (reading and writing). initiate impromptu listening and speaking opportunities. stimulate responses from learners and build their confidence to speak in front of others. Identify formal and informal language usage. assess the development of your learners in each skill and apply remedial strategies, where necessary. What you need to reflect on: the practical value of language and how to express appreciation for its creative component. why effective listeners and speakers are esteemed in society.

4.1 4.1.1

TEACHING PURPOSEFUL LISTENING The significance of listening Exposure to a variety of media has reduced our ability to listen. Although we do hear a great deal, communication has become more visual and pictures or action shots expound far more in the papers and adverts than even a clever radio clip does. Think about the music todays younger generation listens to for a moment. Or do they actually just watch music videos??! What is certain is that the young learner of today lacks aural concentration. Cosey (1979) points out that sound broadcasting tends to be a presence rather than appreciated. Speak to any teacher who taught before the introduction of television to our country and he or she will admit to the change in class behaviour where learners nowadays do not find it impolite to conduct lengthy conversations regardless of the teacher endeavour to teach.

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PST131J/501 I believe this is a direct result of uninterrupted domestic conversations taking place while the television presenter manages to complete the news broadcast without complaint!! One could possibly even argue that television has killed the art of conversation and so people no longer engage in true verbal exchange thus losing the ability to listen and speak effectively. It is not so much the ability to listen that needs teaching but rather the ability to concentrate especially as words are seldom repeated and because thinking is a much quicker process than speaking. When teaching a home language, the expectations of what learners can accomplish will be higher while the texts they listen to will be more demanding and the listening tasks more intricate. 4.1.2 Can listening skills be taught in isolation? Although in real life, listening is very dependent on speaking and seldom takes place without some form of interaction, it is possible to teach certain micro skills in isolation in the classroom. It remains difficult to clearly separate the four macro (basic) communicative skills as we constantly use them in an integrated fashion. We could, however, group them into two different categories. We could either say that, listening and speaking are the skills necessary for face-toface spoken interaction while reading and writing relate to the written communication. On the other hand, in linguistic terms, reading and listening are often grouped together as they are classed as receptive skills while speaking and writing form the class of expressive or productive skills. However we may choose to group them, I shall for the purpose of this tutorial letter discuss each macro skill separately and in the order in which we naturally develop them. 4.1.3 What is meant by meaningful listening? What can you hear right now as you read this page? Write down at least 5 sounds. What kind of listening would you do during an average week? What makes understanding the spoken word difficult? Does visual stimulus assist comprehension?

It has been said that listening is the cornerstone of oral communication and although at school it is probably the skill which is used the most often we cannot take for granted that learners know HOW to listen. They need to be taught. When we refer to listening skills, we mean the ability to interpret any aural input with specific reference to meaningful sounds (communication) in any language that is understood by us. All sounds convey meaning and affect our emotions in some way so learners need to be taught to listen when people speak, not only in order to get information but also to establish a basis for sharing their concerns or trying to understand the way they view events or situations. to consider their own thinking process as they listen so that they can improve their learning ability in all school subjects.

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that meaningful listening is not a passive experience and listening well is their responsibility. In life outside the classroom, listening and speaking generally happen together as part of the communication process so as teachers we must aim to improve a learners ability to understand the spoken word i.e. continuous speech of a native speaker at normal speed in unstructured situations. to select the relevant information and focus on key ideas. Effective listening leads to improved communication. that we do not only listen in order to communicate but that listening for aesthetic reasons helps us appreciate music, movies and other audio-visual material as well as interact with our spiritual environment. Whether you listen to early morning bird song, a dramatic oral recital round the fire or the rhythmic beat of a gumboot dance, you will listen best when what is being heard matters to you. In other words when you have a reason or purpose for listening.

Lets reflect for a moment on the four basic elements of any communication: the sender the receiver the message feedback (reaction) In terms of communicative language teaching, listening thus refers to the ability to receive (hear) spoken messages and interpret (understand) them. This has to do with the ability to relate what came before and what is to follow a particular utterance. It also includes the ability to select what is relevant and to reject what is unnecessary in order to respond to the speakers message. (Geddes: 1982) It is on this pattern of predicting, listening, confirming and responding that listening tasks should be designed. It is vital that all listening tasks have a clear purpose. A listening task can only be effective if learners have a specific task to complete which can demonstrate their understanding. Knowing the purpose of listening helps them focus and concentrate better. It is also necessary that you contextualise the text the learners are going to listen to. This means explaining who is talking (participants), where the conversation takes place (setting) and what they talking about (topic) Providing a simple context also helps the learners know what to expect and which words, and grammatical structures to listen out for. Exercises done in class should be realistic and approximate the type of listening a learner is expected to do in real life. The purpose of a listening task also determines the choice of material used e.g. the decision to use a video excerpt or rather do a dictation is made after the reason for listening has been determined. Here are some possible reasons for listening. Comprehension: understanding the gist of a conversation, following an argument Giving instructions or directions (asking the way, explaining how to do something, telling someone what to do) Short-term memory testing: answering questions (immediate/delayed fact recall) about a short, simple passage that learners have heard Identification and discrimination of sounds (exercises which focus on minimal pair distinction ship/sheep, skirt/shirt, paper/pepper, here the recognition of repetition or refrain is useful when teaching poetry or visual literacy (recognition/interpretation of background noises/ music)

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PST131J/501 Identification and selection of tone, intonation, mood, atmosphere and the recognition of their effect on social meaning (emotion/intention). Also understanding a variety of accents and dialects Selecting and rejecting: note taking, jigsaw listening, telephone conversations, close exercises, True/False exercises, forming mental pictures, locating, drawing, constructing, making a list, matching, checklists, deciding which picture is being described, multiple choice, spotting the mistake, looking for specific items of information Role play: Any performance, mime or impromptu task requires that the correct register be chosen and a response be given, appropriate to the situation Transferring information: filling in tables, grids, charts, forms or diagrams, sequencing pictures with a story line and labelling Evaluating and reformulating: discussions, continuing stories, making suggestions, inferencing, judging, making decisions, expressing opinions, (dis)agreeing, problemsolving, predicting, anticipating, drawing conclusions and summarising Listening for pleasure: The task you choose will depend on how much time is available, what type of material is available, the ability of the learners, their interests, the place where the listening takes place, as well as the content and nature of the task e.g. playing a song or a short story being recounted on the last day of school

4.1.4

Factors which facilitate or hinder effective listening Think back to a time when you engaged in a conversation with the expectation that your listener would be all ears. Perhaps you were trying to negotiate something with your principal or spouse? Perhaps you were very upset and sought comfort from a friend or neighbour. How did you expect that person to react to your words? What did you notice that made you feel they were really listening? How then can you describe a good listener? Tick off the characteristics which you think makes someone a good listener: Is a casual listener Leans forward and pays close attention Has a definite purpose for listening Changes topic in mid-conversation Looks around while the other person is speaking Nods or makes encouraging comments Thinks while listening Is not distracted easily Controls his/her emotions Prepares to react to what is said Does not interrupt Listens attentively Takes notes Does other things like paging through a book while listening Looks at the speaker Asks for clarification Repeats/ rephrases what the speaker has just said

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Most of the characteristics you have chosen serve as a starting point for teaching effective listening to your learners. Lets now look at other factors which make listening easier or more difficult. Can you think of some? Factors which hinder effective listening Factors which help a listener understand the spoken word more easily

Now select from this list and add to your table: Speaker speaks too fast Too much white noise (any disturbance which interferes with the transmission of the message e.g. traffic noise, crackles on the radio or telephone line) Speaker speaks too softly Facial expressions Stuttering/lisping Gestures and body language Being in the speakers presence Fatigue on the part of the listener Poor ventilation/lighting Large number of people in room Strong motivation to listen e.g. announcement of lottery winner Distance Room is very crowded Words not pronounced clearly Physical disabilities Length of time that listener must concentrate Use of colloquial (informal) language Weather conditions Boredom i.e. topic does not interest the listener Eye contact Personal/emotional problems which concern the listener Language level to advanced e.g. formal speech Good pace and volume Context in which speech is taking place Poor grammar and pronunciation Visual material like pictures, graphs, charts Foreign accent

It is important that you bear these factors in mind when preparing a listening task for the classroom and try to eliminate as many negative factors as you possibly can while ensuring that any factors which you can control will help optimise the listening experience.

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PST131J/501 4.1.5 Selecting suitable material If we are to prepare our learners for coping in communicative situations outside the classroom, we will have to expose them to a variety of listening situations they are likely to encounter at their age. They will also have to know how to respond appropriately to the kind of language they will most often hear. Spontaneous speech is preferable as it forces the learner to focus on what is relevant and to reject redundancy. The listening text ought to include variables like: Number of speakers Gender Register Speed Mid-utterance change of direction Ungrammatical language usage Stress and intonation patterns Incomplete sentences Age Dialect and accent Volume Hesitations False starts Subject matter Degree of formality Background sounds/noises

The choice of material, as already pointed out earlier, depends chiefly on what the listening purpose is. It will also be influenced by what your learners needs and interests are as well as how advanced their language ability is. Material should preferably be authentic spoken texts, not written passages that are just read out loud. The content and level should be digestible yet challenging. Try not to be tempted into simplifying a text or speaking unnaturally slowly. Authentic natural speech in informal or formal context is best. Perhaps you could even tape record some of the conversations and interaction that takes place in your own classes. Radio and TV adverts, answering machine messages, rhymes/poems or songs etc are suitable for the junior learner. Visual material may assist comprehension and heighten motivation. The actual exercise should be short, lasting only about 30 seconds to two minutes at the most and should be done regularly with as much immediate feedback as is possible. 4.1.6 More listening activities There are numerous ways to improve the listening ability of children. A popular idea nowadays is to have a listening centre where students may use earphones to listen to various kinds of recordings. A table is usually set up with tape-recording machines and several earphones. In most cases four or five children can listen to a single recording. Tape-recording machines are usually good to have as a wide variety of music, poetry and books is available on audiotape, giving learners the opportunity to listen to different topics, stories and music.

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Activities that improve the listening of children include: word play, which refines learners pronunciation, increases vocabulary and learners become aware of how words relate to one another and are put together in sentences. Experiences may include asking learners to: think of pairs of words that rhyme (cake x bake, cold x told) to identify rhyming word in poems to think of substitutions (Little Bo-Beep lost her sheep x Little Bo Bog lost her dog) to make rhymes by providing learners with a sentence and telling them to supply a word which rhymes with the final word of the previous line (supplied by children taking turns) for example: I bake a cake For a snake Before he slithered into the lake Saying: For goodness sake! give a snake a break ... sentence completion, which involves paying attention in order to complete sentences when the beginnings have been given. These sentences can be completed by adding two words or more, For example: Puppies are... Puppies are wiggly and funny or Puppies are warm and gentle when they sleep listening to directions, which is frequently required from learners but occasionally they can be put into the position of being the one giving directions, for example, how to colour in a picture, how to fold a paper hat or how to get onto the freeway. listening to a story, tell or read a story to the learners. Ask specific questions. Responses will indicate how well learners have listened. give oral instructions/directions, observation of performance indicates whether learners have understood/listened closely. identifying sounds, several cassettes are available from places like the Education Library in Pretoria but you can make your own. Record sounds like a phone ringing, doors slamming, crockery, alarm clock etc. and have learners identify them. Combining two or more sounds to use in a short paragraph serves as a start for written work. listening for appreciation/enjoyment, invite speakers to address your learners perhaps with a motivational speech or an informative talk. Poetry can be recited/ dramatised. Music can also enhance learners listening skills. Music that can be listened to includes popular music, jazz, old ballads and symphonic selections. This activity can be combined with writing about the feelings evoked by selected pieces, or discussion of the content of songs and their tunes. Use music brought by the learners from their own collections for discussion as well as pieces you love.

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PST131J/501 4.1.7 Assessing listening In many cases, the responses of a learner to a listening task are very easy to mark since the learner has merely encircled or ticked off options. Even single word responses can be marked by the learners themselves. Should longer responses be required, it is important to credit the appropriate response and not evaluate spelling and grammar. Learners generally fare well in listening tests and it is not uncommon for several learners to score full marks with a class average close on 70%. In terms of OBE, the aim would be for all learners to score top marks in a particular sub-skill proving that it has been mastered. When assessing childrens listening skills it is easy to record the information on a checklist. This is an example of a LISTENING CHECKLIST. Make a when the child has mastered the skill. Does the child: Listen to others attentively? Listen to an entire presentation and not just part? Show understanding of what is heard? Remember important details? Remember important details in sequence? Listen attentively for a long time? Listen respectfully? Know how to listen? Setting guidelines for specific types of listening situations is helpful because learners need to develop listening standards. The following types of questions may give an indication to a learner if his/her listening experience has been productive or not: Do I keep in mind the main idea of what Im listening to? Do I wait until the whole presentation is finished until I judge it? Do I try to understand how the presentation is organized? Do I keep in mind what it is that I am listening for?

These and other questions can be discussed with your learners and given to them on an evaluation card. Each one can then evaluate his/her own listening experience. The teacher will probably find that each learner will need more than one such card per term, as evaluation of listening take place on a regular basis. Learners can also be asked to write a report based on what they have heard. Audio and taperecordings can be made of childrens responses to listening performances with written reports placed in the childs portfolio along with the teachers rating of their responses. Although listening has been discussed here to a large degree in isolation from the other macro skills, it should be looked upon not as an appendage, but as an integral part of both communication and learning, sometimes leading to and sometimes emerging from other work. We now turn our attention to developing oral skills.

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4.2 4.2.1

TEACHING ORAL SKILLS The importance of speaking well Although listening can still be taught in isolation it is not possible to separate speaking from listening. The act of expressing oneself in speech is closely related to thought processes and it can thus be argued that well developed oral skills enhance academic progress as well as social and emotional growth. Spoken language can be regarded as exclusive to humankind and therefore separates man from other creatures. We use our voices to express our thoughts and feelings. We are recognised by our voices. We use our voices in conjunction with language, to communicate with our fellow humans. As a teacher you use your voice daily to communicate with the children in your class. You also listen daily to your learners and the expression of their thoughts. Childrens oral language competence should progress steadily as they move through primary school. To help children to accomplish this goal teachers should focus substantial attention on each learners production of speech, his/her ability to converse with others and the ability to communicate successfully in a group situation. Thus combining the effective use of oral language, the ability to listen, and the relationship of these skills with the other uses of language. Consider how often you use your voice every day. Think about the many different ways you use your voice, for example, talking, shouting, whispering, communicating ideas and thoughts, expressing feelings such as anger, love and frustration. Does your tone of voice depend on whom youre talking to?

Learning to use spoken language effectively and to listen intelligently are the most important skills that anyone can learn. When a baby begins to use words, those first utterances are enthusiastically heard by its parents. However, after a while, adult excitement over the childs language development wanes and the childs verbal progress is taken for granted. By the time a child goes to school there is little reward for using a new word or explaining a complex idea. To a certain extent the teacher takes over from the parents when it comes to encouraging and guiding the childs command of language. Spoken language enables people to talk about social and emotional issues. For the developing child social and emotional issues are most likely to involve bullying, theft and name calling. We need to acknowledge the emotional element in childrens talking and, especially, to teach them to deal with their emotions by talking about them. People try out new ideas, attitudes, opinions and values by talking about them first. Therefore, speaking about new ideas is a powerful way of introducing children to them and helping them develop their own opinions. Whether they agree with them or not, it is still important for children to express their points of view verbally. Perhaps the most important language skill children can develop is how to participate in small group discussions and to express their ideas clearly in such a group. This skill includes having to listen to others ideas and to respond appropriately. School is essentially the place where children learn to use these skills. They should be given the opportunity to develop these skills in this safe and accepting learning environment.

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PST131J/501 Speaking and listening skills are important in the appreciation of theatre and music. Listening includes listening to poetry, opera, the radio and television. To develop each childs full potential, children should be introduced to these creative art forms and taught to appreciate them. ACTIVITY As a skill speaking is taken for granted. It seems to be a skill learnt naturally. Why is it important to teach children to communicate effectively and listen carefully to what is said? In other words, what value does a child get from using listening and speaking skills? .............................................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................................. 4.2.2 Aspects of oral work as essential elements of classroom activity Natural situations, for example, the class discussing a trip, a small group working on a project, two or three children conversing, should be the basis for much of the instruction in oral expression. Genuine and meaningful activities that are truly concerned with communication provide the basis for developing speech skills and related polite behaviour. Knowing how to listen is just as important as knowing when and how to speak. Conversation is usually informal. Oral expression in daily life includes conversation. Conversation is an essential element of classroom activity. A responsible teacher shows interest in by being available to talk with them throughout the day. Since conversations are to be expected and encouraged, the teacher should find opportunities to talk with learners. For a conversational situation to be productive an opportunity should be given to every learner to take part in the conversation. A shy child who finds it difficult to speak in front of the whole class may find it easier to talk in a small group situation, where he/she can talk quietly and where the feeling of security exists. There should be progression from conversations with a friend to participation in a small group, to more responsiveness in class, to making a brief oral report, leading eventually to greater success in public speaking situations. Discussion differs from conversation in that it is focussed and has an identifiable outcome as a goal. If you have given your pupils guidance in developing their conversational abilities, of what you have done with them will transfer to discussion situations. Through a discussion children learn to stick to a topic, and gain practice in expressing their thoughts. With the teachers input, pupils may also develop their reasoning abilities as well as their ability to think critically, to solve problems and to express ideas orally in an organised manner. These are considered to be significant for pupils to organise their thoughts in preparation for writing. Discussions may include book discussions and panel discussions.

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Telephoning is an important oral activity that provides its own motivation and opens the way to numerous language activities. Realistic situations involving the use of the telephone should be focussed on. A learning activity on using the telephone stimulates interest and provides an excellent opportunity to learn telephone skills. Activities could include telephoning a classmates mother in order to inform her that her child is ill, telephoning to make arrangements for an interview, using the telephone to ask somebody to come and speak to the class, or calling to get details for a film. Reporting an emergency or calling the police in an emergency are two activities that should be practised as real-life situations, because children might become involved in situations where they urgently need this skill. Giving announcements and asking for directions are two more examples of oral skills. Announcements should be given in a clear, brief and friendly manner. Information such as the who, what, when and why of the announced matter should be stressed. Skills in giving directions should be practised. Accuracy, sequence and delivery should be stressed. Children may give directions for playing games, performing a science experiment, preparing a certain dish, or the way to a learners home. The language used must be organised and presented in terms that everybody understands. Conciseness and clarity of the message are required. Debating is usually considered for the senior grades, but can be successfully employed in the junior grades as well. Debating calls for the preparation of a solid argument. Usually two learners present one side of a problem and two others present another side to the problem. A debate is a good listening experience for the audience too, as members judge for themselves which argument they agree with and which speaker is most convincing. Holding formal meetings presents another kind of opportunity for students to practise their oral skills. It is important, though, to teach them the correct procedure and to stress that if a meeting is to run smoothly, certain rules and regulations should be adhered to. Children should not only listen to stories being told, but they should also tell them. Storytelling is an activity children in all grades enjoy, both as listeners and as narrators. Stories told may later be written as a class project or as the start of a book by individuals. Children love riddles and jokes. Setting a riddle to be solved or telling an appropriate joke is an especially inventive way to win over a class at the beginning of the year and can be successfully used to win over learners with a negative attitude to school. This activity can develop these learners interest and can persuade them that school can be fun. Jokes and riddles can also lead to and encourage reading as children turn to books to find new jokes and riddles. For children to remember a joke it is important that they understand and remember what is said. Telling jokes also helps children to memorize and understand the sequence of events. Remembering the punch line of a joke calls for a good memory and a sense of drama!

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PST131J/501 Oral work should entail some of the following activities: asking relevant questions telling and listening to stories (between teacher and learners but also between learners themselves) sharing ideas persuading/encouraging others negotiating thinking aloud making decisions summarizing ideas reflecting on the effectiveness of their own speaking and listening talking (using appropriate speech) to suite audience and purpose ACTIVITY Talk to a few colleagues and try to identify those occasions during the past week when any of you enabled children to do any of the activities involving talking mentioned in this study unit. Describe any other speech activity not mentioned in the given list. .............................................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................................. If you are teaching, from the list of oral activities given, make a checklist for the next fortnight. See how many of these activities you can involve. The idea here is to try to get the pupils to do as many as possible of these activities during the next two weeks. 4.2.3 Oral licence: realistic expectations of learners oral ability What kind of talking should take place in the classroom? Talking needs to be natural and its purpose must be clear. Children must feel free to take risks and be confident that any contribution they make is valued. The role of the teacher in this activity cannot be underestimated. After all, it is the teacher who should encourage responses from the learners and then have enough confidence in the childrens capabilities to keep a low profile through much of the subsequent discussion. The teachers contribution to classroom conversation must be to guide the conversation and prevent digression from the topic, but he/she should also have realistic expectations of his/her learners which spring from objectivity towards their abilities.

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ACTIVITY (1) (2) As a teacher ask yourself the following questions about getting learners to talk freely in the class. Are the questions I have asked conductive to conversation? Do I use what the learners offer - in other words make conversation truly interactive? Are children encouraged to share ideas? Can both sexes contribute on an equal footing in discussing a chosen topic? Am I a model listener? Do I listen to what the children are saying? Meaningful oral exchange depends on the teacher sharing some of the learners interests. It might mean that you will have to watch a few childrens programmes on television, probably go to a sports event at school or get involved in some other childrens activities in order to be able to elicit responses from the children. Make it an objective for yourself to: watch a childrens programme on television or a family movie on circuit go to a rugby, netball, soccer or other sports event that interests your pupils visit a shop to see what toys, games and books children are currently enjoying.

(3 ) Discuss any of the above with the children in class in order to start a purposeful discussion and to give them time to express their opinions. Oral work in the classroom does not get the recognition it deserves probably because of the perception that when children are talking they are not working. Many teachers also define oral work only as prepared speech and reading. The study of English takes into account all sorts of ideas, and oral work is the expression of all these ideas. The teacher is responsible not only for the childrens intellectual development, but also for their ability to interact verbally in all sorts of situations. Learners should be taught by participation in discussions how to express themselves clearly. Each one should be given a chance to talk. The learner in front of the class situation must be avoided at all costs and a more informal context (a less formal setting) created in which children can talk. A timer that rings, say, after two minutes, adds excitement to taking turns.

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PST131J/501

ACTIVITY Evaluate your approach to oral work previously and up to this point as a learner or a teacher. Briefly describe how you used to do oral work in class as a learner or a teacher. ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ What criteria would you apply (choose ones you think appropriate) in assessing oral work? Name at least 3. ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ How can a teacher give each child an equal opportunity to talk? ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ How will you approach an oral lesson in future? In other words, what spoken activities or exercises in self-expression will you promote in your teaching. ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................

4.3

DEVELOPING CHILDRENS ABILITY TO CONVERSE

4.3.1 Informal oral work Informal work is not merely idle chatter but can be a meaningful and productive activity. Informal oral work is a legitimate part of teaching the correct use of language by allowing children the freedom to express themselves. Informal talk often arises from shared experiences. In the course of such activities the teacher should try to encourage students to talk about anything that concerns them. Once a in a while you should feel free to allow digression, but never allow chaos to develop. There is a difference between undirected talk and directed talk in the classroom. Undirected talk, (such as casual conversation) even in an informal lesson, is not necessarily constructive and should be avoided, but undirected talk can often be changed into directed conversation that is more formally structured. The skilful help of the teacher can make the exchange of ideas meaningful.

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The teacher should not feel guilty or feel as though discipline has broken down if directed; purposeful talk goes on in the classroom. Talking to others stimulates thinking and possibly leads to innovative ideas. Informal directed talk may include any of the following: talking about events that occurred during the past twenty-four-hours, such as news events, sports events, movies, theatre, plays talking about books children have read or are presently reading telling of events that took place at home - such as grandparents visiting, an unusual dinner discussing an event such as the Academy Awards, the Bafana Bafana match, or international book day You should have no difficulty in adding to the list. Since conversations are to be expected and encouraged, you should find opportunities to discuss aspects of them with your students. It should be pointed out that for any conversational situation to be productive the participants should be responsive; on the other hand a conversationalist should listen, too, so that he/she can react to what has been said. A good conversationalist is enthusiastic about what he/she has to say and cares about what others are saying. ACTIVITY Describe a recent occasion where informal talk occurred in your classroom, or if you are not yet teaching, describe a recent conversation you had with a friend. ........................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................... How could you have turned this into a more purposeful/directed talk? ........................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................... Monitor yourself for a week and see how many occasions you turned undirected talk into a purposeful exchange. What was your contribution to the conversation? ........................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................... ...........................................................................................................................................

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PST131J/501 4.3.2 Formal oral work This is the kind of oral work that we all know and recognise This kind of work is often considered to be valuable because it gives the child the opportunity to prepare what he/she would like to say and how to say it. However, there is the danger that the parents may have prepared the childs input for him/her which may mean that the result is not a true account of the childs ability to use the language. Another problem with formal oral work is that it is an unnatural approach where children are talking to obtain a mark; consequently they present the teacher with what they think the teacher would like to hear, rather than enjoying speaking the language. The following distinction between formal or practical use of language and the creative use of language may be of help when planning oral activities for learners: Practical use of language:

Here language is used as a means to an end i.e. giving instructions, conveying information. The practical use of language applies to a wide variety of controlled, exact and factual speaking and writing situations which compel adherence to specific sets of conditions, requirements and conventions. These activities fulfill a functional purpose and are of great practical value to the learner. The teacher plays an important part in directing, structuring and controlling this work of the learners and influencing their choice of vocabulary and style. Creative use of language: This term applies to imaginative classroom practices which encourage learners to give reign to their feelings, emotions, thoughts and responses specifically to give aesthetic pleasure. In as many ways as possible learners should be stimulated to speak and write freely. The teacher endeavors to unlock the imaginative talent and creative potential of her learners. Learners should be brought to an awareness of the possibilities of language as a means of personal expression. The creative use of language can be of value especially in an informal oral lesson where creativity takes high priority. Formal language activities include the following: The practicing of social courtesies in conversation and discussion, for example meeting people, introducing people to each other, interviewing people about their work or interests, telephone answering and conversation. Examples of practical speech activities for many occasions are: announcements, messages, descriptions, explanations and action chains (describing activities in a logical sequence). Children love to tell a story started by one learner and added by each class member. They can later write this story.

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ACTIVITY Prepared oral work does not necessarily have to include speeches. What other kind of prepared talk can you think of for learners to do (dialogues, a short play, debates, group discussions) and how would you go about presenting such a lesson? Give a very brief description. ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ If a speech is required, what topics can you think of in order to make a prepared oral lesson interesting? (Think of being a guest speaker at some occasion, giving a brief lecture on a topic where the class can actually learn something new. Now think of other possibilities). Remember that children have great imaginations! ............................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................ Pointers that you give your class when preparing a formal talk may include the following: define the topic give information on the topic add some appropriate humour to the information make comparisons conclude by summarising the information or restating your own point of view.

4.3.3

Impromptu oral work Impromptu work means oral work done without preparation or rehearsal. The possibilities are unlimited here and children really enjoy this kind of oral work as it gives them the opportunity to express their natural creativity. Impromptu oral work may include the following: talks dialogues, role play reading aloud without preparation (only rarely!) class discussions (allow opportunities for translation into mother tongues if necessary) group discussions stories describing an article by touching it while being blindfolded, or a covered articles, or one in a bag describing something without using the name of the article or other words chosen by the group discussing poems word games, guessing games using tape recorders for various activities

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PST131J/501

ACTIVITIES YOU CAN ORGANISE FOR ORAL WORK INVOLVING THE WHOLE SCHOOL Introduce a public-speaking competition at your school in which learners are given the opportunity to speak in front of an audience. Organise a language evening where learners can read some of the poetry or stories they have written and where a play could be performed.

4.4

ORAL LANGUAGE: GROUP EXPERIENCES Although individual activity is emphasised in the oral language programme group work is also extremely important. There are several activities that pupils can perform in groups. A short summary of such activities follow. But before we go further, have a look at these ideas. TALKING TIPS
TALKING IN GROUPS A lot of work you do in English involves talking. Talking about things your English teacher asks you to talk about. They can help you be a much better talker. STARTING OFF Talking has to start somewhere, to get going be prepared to join in, ask questions and if no one is saying anything, be prepared to say something, this keeps the talk going. LISTENING AND ENCOURAGING If someone is talking, look at them and encourage them to feel at ease by listening carefully. You will often nod and smile at the talker without knowing it when you are listening. This makes the talker feel safe when talking because the talker knows that you are really listening. If you do this, you will be listened to when you start talking. SILENCES Not everyone finds talking in groups easy and people accept that others may be quiet, but if you say nothing in a group this will be unhelpful and this will bother people in the group who are talking. Even if you are shy (and many are) its best to join in a little. If you have listened carefully to others, they will listen to you. Also, if someone is saying very little, you can help them by asking them what they think. JOINING IN The best talk happens when everyone in a group listens as well as joins in. When everyone joins in what you talk about and what might be decided is everyones work and not just work of a few. by the group. If, however, you completely change FINALLY Now try them out - see if these tips do work. Dont be surprised if they do!

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Choral speech includes prose, chants and raps as well as songs and poetry. As far as prose is concerned text of various kinds may be used for recital and choral reading. The first prose that children memorise may be in the form of a pledge or prayers. After they have learnt to read well children can do some group reading. Speeches and important documents may be read and in unison. Chants and raps are activities that children especially enjoy doing with games such as skipping. Chanting also includes activities such as sports cheers. Children are quite eager to write their own version of chants and raps and to perform them. Songs and poetry help to create a positive group atmosphere and provide opportunities for creative involvement from students who can write their own songs to be performed by their own, small chosen group. Poetry should have a prominent place in the classroom programme and should be seen as a way to encourage group recitations of appropriate selections. As they move through the primary grades children can do choral reading of short poems and then, as they grow older, longer and more complex ones. Performing a drama involves group-work and can be regarded as storytelling by people who perform for their own enjoyment or for an audience. Most children enjoy being part of a dramatic production. As it enhances oral competency skills group-work should be encouraged from time to time. Some of the benefits of drama include the use of imagination and creative thinking to explore ideas and feelings and gain better understanding of others by pretending to be someone else. A readers theatre involves oral reading of poems and other texts. Members of a group collaborate to read a play or any other material requiring several participants. The readers theatre has several important features. Participants do not need to memorise lines and may only practice reading to satisfactory levels of proficiency. Imagination and listening both receive attention as students consider making revisions to the text being used and their manner of presenting it. Readers theatre activities may be selected according to what is appropriate for a specific grade. Reading may be done in the classroom, with or without audio recording. The production may be enhanced with sound effects. These activities may be repeated with different casts to give more students the opportunity to read any part. Although miming is not an oral activity, much discussion is done both before a pantomime can be performed and afterwards. In pantomime the entire body is involved, often in conjunction with music. Here children can pretend to be a monster, a rag doll, a tree blowing in the wind. Mime activities provide good opportunities for thinking and talking as children suggest possibilities and then discuss what might be done and how problems could be dealt with. A fulllength mirror is useful as well as a videotape to show sequence and possible outcomes. Children can watch mime and describe what they see or guess what the story is about. The use of puppets can also be regarded as a group activity. Most children are quite familiar with puppets on television but have not used them much themselves. Making puppets and actually producing a show is a wonderful creative experience which involves childrens creativity as well as their oral language ability and skill. Making things by following a set of instructions teaches children to follow directions. Different kinds of puppets can be made such as stick puppets and empty-bag puppets. Advanced puppet-making that involves material and more decoration could probably be attempted during an art lesson (to be used in producing puppetshows written and performed by the group).

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PST131J/501 4.5 4.5.1 ASSESSING ORAL WORK Self-assessment by learners Electronic recordings can be used with success. Children can analyse their own progress by listening to recordings of their own speech. A learners willingness to participate in selfevaluation will largely determine how much progress he/she makes. Checklists, evaluations, audio- and videotape recordings should also be collected and accumulated in a learners language portfolio. Such for a specific student. Through these methods learners can analyse their own progress and plan for further development. 4.5.2 Teachers assessment of learners oral competency The most recent trend in assessment is to keep a portfolio of each childs progress. Teachers are encouraged to design a continuous assessment form to use for each individual during the course of a term or the entire year. Decide on criteria and symbols, marks or grades for each aspect of oral work presented in this study unit. Make your assessment regularly and as unobtrusively as possible. Examples of criteria are: participation frequency, fluency, shyness, tentativeness, stuttering, enthusiasm, politeness, courage, self-confidence, clarity, creativeness, sense of humour, sense of drama, level of abstract ideas used, and a childs favourite topics chosen to talk about. 4.6 IN CONCLUSION Talking and listening activities do not require expensive resources. The creative teacher will use resources from the environment or make simple materials. What is vital, however, is that the classroom atmosphere should be sympathetic and encouraging so that learners will be able to express themselves freely. Listening and speaking are central to learning and are important to the individual in all areas of life. Mastering the complex art of communication in a second language opens up further opportunities for personal growth. As the maxim says: The limits of my language are the limits of my world. Providing learners with opportunities to listen and to speak in their second language will not only help them, grow in creative expression but also to think more deeply and communicate more effectively. SELF-EVALUATION In order to establish whether you have internalised the knowledge presented in this unit answer the following questions and try to incorporate the following activities in your lessons: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Summarise the principles of competent listening and speaking. Discuss any four aspects of oral work that can be regarded as essential elements of classroom activity. Describe how you will go about incorporating these into a specific lesson. How do you regard informal oral work and in what way would you encourage your learner to attempt spontaneous oral activity? Name five ways in which you can make oral language a group experience? Why is it necessary to promote listening skills in language teaching? How would you assess both listening and oral work? Can you think of innovative ways to evaluate your learners progress in the acquisition of these skills?
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STUDY UNIT 5: TEACHING THE SKILLS OF READING AND WRITING

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND: writing as a process, not a product various types of functional and creative writing why effective reading is a vital part of language development and learning in general WHAT YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO: distinguish between functional and creative writing identify factors relevant to the assessment of reading and writing design your own strategies for an appropriate reading and writing programme WHAT YOU NEED TO REFLECT ON: ways of encouraging learners to write ways of developing learners enjoyment of reading According to an existing core syllabus, the aims of writing in the first language are to: develop the skills of expressing thoughts, feelings and impressions in a clear, correct and orderly manner develop the skills of communication and description (e.g. describing events) encourage original thinking improve the quality of language and expression train the learner to gradually master accepted writing conventions heighten perception and increase awareness of writing conventions encourage self-expression and experimentation with language These aims require that the learner focuses on the following: punctuation; phonics and word building; spelling; dictation; phrase, sentence and paragraph construction; language enrichment and language across the curriculum

5.1

TEACHING WRITING SKILLS As with any skill, writing cannot be developed in isolation or without a specific context. If we want learners to express themselves in writing effectively, correctly, appropriately, meaningfully and clearly, then the teaching of writing must be integrated with other language skills. This will enable learners to understand how all aspects of language are interlinked. It is not enough to teach written communication --- written communication is a skill that needs practice. Learners should be given frequent opportunities to write --- for various purposes and for different audiences. Key factors in motivating learners to write are encouragement, enthusiasm and praise. Teaching writing should be a planned exercise. It is a good idea to get learners to write after an oral lesson in which certain specific topics were introduced and discussed, views heard and opinions formed. Writing should continually flow from, and support, learners' oral work, and should also support their reading and language studies.

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PST131J/501 Stimuli for writing should preferably come from real life, from situations outside school, from other subjects in the curriculum, and from the learners' ideas of their future (possible job situations). The teacher should demonstrate the importance of written communication in daily life. Learners should be willing to express themselves with imagination and enthusiasm. Teachers should extend and develop learners' skills by providing them with extensive opportunities for writing short pieces which can easily be edited, proofread, evaluated and responded to. Teachers provide the greatest encouragement for learners to communicate in writing when they (i.e. teachers) respond to the content of what is written rather than to errors, and when they share a learner's writing with other learners. The principle of differentiating between learners that is, giving different learners different tasks (taking into account individual aptitudes and abilities), makes the writing programme more relevant. The learner who develops a real understanding of the writing process learns about procedures that can be applied to many tasks. Techniques and terminology associated with the writing process also become familiar. As a result, learners and teachers talk with one another about matters such as drafting and editing. In the senior primary phase learners' writing sensitivity is intensified when the elementary teacher helps learners think of themselves as recorders, illustrators and writers of classroom and school affairs (Donoghue 1971:211). Writing can be divided into two categories: formal writing and creative writing. 5.1.1 Formal writing As a teacher you should organise an effective, structured writing programme which will reinforce, develop and improve learners' ability to write in their first language within the context of their present and (envisaged) future needs and interests. Composition writing has been part of the school programme for many years. Results have seldom been encouraging, though, possibly because instruction so often emphasised everything but the writing itself. Teachers' expectations usually focused on neat handwriting, accurate spelling and starting sentences with a capital letter. Stereotyped topics such as "My summer vacation" or "The sports day" were typical of such compositions. Very often the finished products fell short of expectations and the teacher had to "correct" these attempts by rewriting them in approved form. Quite understandably, not many learners enjoyed writing. Writing should be taught as a process, so that learners are encouraged to feel confident about their writing. There are several advantages to emphasising the process of writing in your teaching. One of the more important benefits is that attention is directed away from the finished product to the actual act of writing itself. You may wish to use the following suggestions when planning a writing programme: To write well learners must master sentence structure, spelling, punctuation and a fairly large vocabulary. They need to express their thoughts in clear, logical, well-constructed sentences, but first they should write down their thoughts as they come. Learners' ability to write can be reinforced developed and improved by frequent, purposeful practice. Written work should be seen by learners as having a purpose. It could be a word, sentence or paragraph. Written work should be followed by editing and proofreading, by evaluation, constructive guidance and feedback from the teacher or from a peer (or peer group), and by presenting it to an audience,where possible. This means that learner's written work can be read aloud, displayed in the classroom on a notice board, or published in the school magazine or newspaper. Learners should be given the opportunity to do written work every day. Writing should flow from oral activities in which learners are given the opportunity to practice organising their thoughts and expressing them clearly.

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In a number of ways formal writing is quite different from creative writing: each requires a different teaching approach and technique and, of course, a different set of topics. Formal writing consists mainly of writing paragraphs, essays and letters. 5.1.1.1 Paragraphs It is difficult to lay down rules for writing paragraphs, but one must consider a paragraph as being a coherent unit centred upon one idea. The first sentence is usually a topic sentence; this sentence provides the theme of the paragraph. The next few sentences should centre on this theme. Each paragraph centres on a theme or an idea. In an essay a paragraph should form a unit with other paragraphs. Learners in junior primary grades are not required to write paragraphs, but they should nevertheless gradually be taught how to write and construct a paragraph. ACTIVITY For grades 4 and 5, provide the learners with key words, pictures or illustrations and first let them discuss what they have been given. Write down all ideas on the blackboard - as many as possible. Now ask each learner to write a paragraph of not more than five sentences. Evaluate by letting them read aloud what they have written to their group or to the class. For the senior grades, you could provide a topic or show them a picture and then let them write a paragraph of not more than ten lines on the topic or picture. Hint: Look for a series of pictures or cartoons that tell a story. Show these pictures one by one to the class, or divide your class into groups and ask each group to write a paragraph about one picture. Then put all the paragraphs together and see what story emerges. This exercise can also be used to show learners how an essay is constructed. 5.1.1.2 Essays The most important kinds of formal essays are: the descriptive essay, the essay describing many subjects (i.e. the discursive essay), the reflective essay, and the narrative essay. (The narrative essay is more creative because it centres on a story, but it may be a factual essay describing something that happened to the writer.) The descriptive essay usually describes scenes, such as nature, places where learners have been, or a room or setting they liked or remember. In a discursive essay the learners need to state their point of view; in other words, they are required to have opinions on certain subjects or argue or discuss a given topic. The reflective essay implies that the writer has thought about the topic and that he/she is now recording his/her thoughts on the topic. The topic is usually very general, for instance, a topic such as "My street", or "Taxis".

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PST131J/501

ACTIVITY Make three copies of this table (one each for grade 5, 6 & 7). For each grade write down ten topics that you consider suitable for each of these types of essay:

Diskursiewe opstel:

Beskrywende opstel

Reflektiewe opstel:

Formal or practical writing is a process initiated by listening and speaking activities. The major writing stages are prewriting, writing and post writing (Petty & Salzer 1994:242-243). For example, a learner may draw a picture (prewriting), write a related text (writing), and then read it to the teacher or a friend (post writing). Before writing the learner decides on a topic, thinks of some ideas related to it, and begins to develop some enthusiasm for writing. As the writing process takes shape, the first draft should be edited, and the text modified. This draft may be reread, discussed with others, and revised during the post writing stage. The final step includes sharing what has been written by reading it to others or getting learners to read it to themselves. Self-expression should also be encouraged in this kind of writing. This can be done by getting learners to write about experiences and situations which extend learners' spoken and written vocabularies, develop their awareness and the use of sensory images, and by getting learners to use formats that require various styles and types of writing. Writing activities include all of the following: writing friendly notes and letters, reports, records, summaries, surveys, giving directions and instructions, note-making, writing the minutes of a meeting, book, film or television reviews, writing an item for the school newspaper, elementary summarising, menus, recipes, invitation cards, notices, posters, reports, advertisements, titles, headlines and captions.

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5.1.1.3 Letters There are formal letters and informal letters. Since we are dealing with formal writing skills, we shall be discussing the formal letter, but you should also consult the creative writing section (where we discuss informal letters). A formal letter is usually an official letter. Examples are letters to people we do not know, such as business managers or the town clerk. The language used in formal letters is itself formal; in this type of letter we either state a problem or deal with a specific issue. This type of letter is direct and the reader should immediately be able to grasp what the issue is. ACTIVITY Read examples of formal letters to your learners. Get your class to write a formal letter in which they complain about poor street Point out that a formal letter is official and to the point. 5.1.2 Creative writing Creative writing differs from formal writing in the sense that learners are expected to create and make something out of words, using their feelings and imagination. Creative writing may be prose, poetry or drama. The imaginative ability is at work here. Creative writing requires a more informal approach all round. Learners should be encouraged to write creatively through reading and speaking activities. When they write creatively, many learners make the mistake of thinking that they should write to please the teacher. It is also important for them to realise that they could be asked to read their work out loud to the rest of the class. Creative writing may include writing books, stories, poetry, plays, dialogues, and diaries. In fact, anything! Learners can be inspired to write creatively by telling them part of a story and then leaving them to complete the story. You can discuss a topic on which they have to write rhymes, or poems or perhaps a play. They can then be asked to read the play or perform it in class. The teacher should try to encourage the learner's self-expression in creative writing by using experiences and situations which extend the learner's spoken and written vocabularies. Develop an awareness of sensory images in learners and stimulate their imagination and originality by choosing examples from the best literature to show them what can be done with words. Paintings, art objects and music should be chosen carefully. The purpose of creative stories is to select and organise material to suit the expectations of a particular audience (not just the teacher), and to recognise the story structure such as the beginning, the development of the story, its climax and ending (plot and denouement or unraveling of the plot). This can begin as early as grade 4. There are different kinds of stories and, as an author, each learner may have a personal approach. Kinds of stories include thoughtful, funny, sad, mysterious, exciting, long, short and biographical stories. Learners can be encouraged to write diaries in which they record personal events, reactions, feelings and emotions. Letters provide a useful way of practicing a variety of literary forms such as story, verse and dialogue.

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PST131J/501 As early as grade 4 learners should be encouraged to write short play thus giving them practice in writing dialogue. Elementary verse forms also provide a language medium through which learners can express themselves. These verses or rhymes are usually popular, because learners are quite eager to write short verses about their everyday experiences and stories. ACTIVITY What is the difference between formal and creative writing?

Formal: ..................................................................................................................................... Creative .................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................. Try to incorporate one piece of formal writing in your lesson based on one of the following topics: a letter complaining to a store manager or the town council on a matter of your own choice writing a message to another person writing directions writing instructions The following letters or postcards will be informal writing: informal letter or postcard to a friend or relative; a thank you letter for a gift to a friend or relative a holiday postcard to someone at home Try to do one piece of creative work with your class by using the following suggestion: writing a story writing a poem making a card for: birthday a special day of celebration an invitation describing/organizing a trip or a holiday describing a dream 5.1.3 Ways of encouraging writing Some learners find writing very difficult. They may be afraid of being judged or assessed, but writing should not be associated with drudgery and punishment. The art in "teaching writing" is to make it so appealing to learners that they immediately feel confident that they can write effectively and that they are perfectly capable of expressing their feelings, wishes and ideas on paper.

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The following hints are taken from Dougill (1993:42-43). He mentions twenty-one ways to encourage learners to write. I have selected only a few. Try out new starting points for writing. Encourage discussion during the writing process. Encourage journal writing. Encourage a wide range of writing activities. Involve learners in self-assessment. Beware of too much writing. Display the work. Publish or make a book written and illustrated by the class (a story, short stories, poems, anecdotes).

5.1.4 Assessment of writing The purpose of evaluation should be clear to the teacher. It should be considered as part of the teaching process. The teacher should therefore have a clear idea of what, why and how she/he intends to evaluate. Difficulty in assessing written work arises only when the teacher needs to make a subjective assessment of a learner's writing. Among the factors to be considered are: content sentence length types of sentences used spelling vocabulary effectiveness of communication punctuation correctness of language sequence of ideas paragraphing The following suggestions may help you to assess creative and formal writing. Try, however, to work out your own criteria. Decide whether you will give specific marks for each section or whether you will provide written comments instead. SENTENCE STRUCTURE minor or no grammatical errors few grammatical errors repeated grammatical errors wrong word order - difficult to comprehend many mistakes - incomprehensible VOCABULARY AND SPELLING excellent words sometimes not appropriate vocabulary insufficient vocabulary needs serious attention incomprehensible EFFECTIVE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION fluent and easy control over language, expresses thoughts clearly good insight and command of language fairly good knowledge and understanding of the theme no knowledge of theme, not easy to follow thought patterns of writer almost no understanding

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PST131J/501 PUNCTUATION AND CORRECTNESS OF LANGUAGE A global mark can be given for punctuation. PARAGRAPHING An indication of what constitutes a correct paragraph must be given and explained to the learners. In evaluating written communication you should take an overall view of developing language competence. You should take into account the progress a learner makes from one writing assignment to the next --- this makes assessment more holistic. Continuously assessing a learner's writing will give you a better indication of a learner's ability than you will obtain from a single examination. Where possible, the examination mark at the end of the year should include an assessment of some of the learner's written work during the course of the year. Teachers must assess their learners' progress, but should bear in mind that the more important function of writing, that is, its potential contribution to the writer's mental, emotional and social development, should not be neglected. Teachers should regard their responses to learners' writing as part of an ongoing dialogue in which teacher and learner have opportunities to discuss the learner's writing strengths and those weak areas that the learner needs to improve. 5.2 TEACHING READING SKILLS Reading is vital to learners' language development, to their ability to learn across the curriculum and to their ability to function as individuals in society and in the world of adult occupations. Reading extends and enriches a learner's experience of language and of people. Teachers are urged to do all they can to encourage their learners to read regularly and independently at home, thus broadening their knowledge of literature generally. Reading can develop learners' imagination and introduce learners to human relationships, the responsibilities of life, and to what constitutes worthwhile values. 5.2.1 Reading in the classroom Learners progress in reading if they are in classrooms that emphasise meaningful experience and total literacy. If your reading programme supports learners as they learn about and enjoy language, listen to good literature, study words, and do writing of all kinds, then your learners will have an excellent opportunity to read well and use reading in varied circumstances and for different purposes. In such a setting developmental, information processing and embedded aspects of reading instruction make important contributions to educating the individual learner. Developmental reading involves providing experiences that help learners recognise and identify words, see how various kinds of reading tasks are performed and become proficient in reading many kinds of reading material. Information processing in reading refers to what happens in areas such as literature, social studies, mathematics and science. Embedded lessons are brief lessons taught to learners in conjunction with actual reading situations. How to deal with an unknown word in the newspaper, what is meant by a phrase in a cartoon, and how to use an index in an encyclopedia, are all opportunities to teach. Reading materials include literature such as stories, poems, and plays. When you make literature of this sort available to learners, you are introducing them to important aspects of their cultural heritage. Magazines and newspapers contain a rich variety of reading content, although you may have to exercise your discretion when you select material from some magazines.

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Sources of information such as reference materials include dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, telephone directories, almanacs, books about sports and so on. Non-fiction books about animals, cities, art, oceans and other topics likely to be of interest to the learners should also be available in the classroom. Basal reading series include a collection of reading selections with detailed guides for teaching skills in sequence. These readers are usually supplemented by series of readers or short novels of which eight to ten copies are available in each classroom for learners to read when they finish their basal readers. Computer-based reading obviously requires a classroom computer. This type of reading may help improve students' ability to read --- software programs have been designed that will improve learners' reading performance. These may include practice in areas such as phonics and word identification, and comprehension. Miscellaneous reading aids include audio-taped book kits, collections of sequentially arranged reading exercises, word-matching games. The teacher should devise a structured reading programme based on the learners' reading levels. This will develop and extend their competence and ability in all aspects of reading. Recommended reading lists should be compiled and discussed with the teachers and the learners. Reading reports and reading records should be used to encourage learners to read widely. Individual reading programmes should be devised to challenge more competent readers. In the lower grades there is usually a reader that is read by the class and the classroom may only have three or four books. Plays can be dealt with during the year. Interesting passages should be selected for closer analysis and learners should be shown how to read these in the context of the book; they should also be taught how to appreciate and analyse paragraphs of value, and thus acquire the ability to read thoughtfully and critically. The teacher should select good language passages --- poor style, structure and content will only reinforce learners' own linguistic and conceptual weaknesses. Poems and verses should also be read as forms of expression. Poetry is closely linked to oral work and can be read aloud to the class, thus demonstrating, once again, that the different aspects of language are interlinked. Learners can respond to poetry by writing their own poetry, thus revealing their awareness of rhyme, imagery and emotions. Reading laboratories and developmental programmes provide a useful boost to reading and language development in general. The teacher's task is to introduce learners to books, encourage them to read, and guide them in their choice of books. In view of the "competition" from television, learners' voluntary reading may not satisfy "good reading criteria. However, what is important here is learners' response to the books which they are reading, because this response usually forms the basis of their responses to reading in later life. Teachers in primary and secondary schools should make an effort to keep in touch with each other in order to establish a link between the primary and the secondary school. Teachers should be aware of the aims and methods used in the secondary school curriculum. Whether at primary school (where learners learn to read) or secondary school (where learners read to learn) reading remains the most important skill and teachers should never lose sight of this.

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PST131J/501 5.2.2 Directed reading experiences Directed reading experiences are activities commonly provided in basal reading series. These experiences are almost always presented daily as lessons to a group of learners of similar reading ability. The classroom consists of a total of four groups, a top group of the best readers and groups composed of successively weaker readers. Groups meet for more or less twenty minutes and most of the content read comes from books in a reading series. The teacher's manual provides detailed directions for conducting the lesson. Directed reading may be done occasionally and need not be a daily occurrence (such as silent reading). Several steps make up the conventional reading experience: Preparation: where learners are introduced to the reading material. Survey reading: where selected material is read silently to answer questions identified by the teacher. Rereading: learners reread portions of the text silently or aloud after discussing answers with the teacher. Practice: learners practise certain skills and how to understand the text; answers are checked during the next lesson. Extensions: follow-up or extension activities consist of additional skill practice that encourages learners to creatively interpret selected passages. 5.2.3 Reading logs When learners are using a variety of reading materials in different situations during the day, it may be a good idea for individual learners to keep a reading log-book in which they can write up their own reading experiences over a period of time. This log-book serves as a diary of reading experiences and should be a separate notebook with an index page in front (where the learner can make a list of all the books or extra reading material he or she has read). Beginning and completion dates should be recorded. Entries may vary from storybooks to magazine articles and non-fiction books. 5.2.4 Reading conferences You should hold regular reading conferences (Petty & Salzer 1994:306) with your learners. Conferences consist mainly of the following: checking and discussing learners' logs, discussing what has been read or found to be especially interesting reading silently so that learner and teacher can discuss what was read, checking comprehension reading orally from familiar material giving the teacher the opportunity to listen as the learner interprets the text with voice tones, inflections and so forth reading orally from unfamiliar material where the learners are confronted with unknown words, deviations from the text, rereading, and so on undertaking tasks that the teacher identifies as being of particular interest to the learner writing at the teacher's request or voluntarily in response to a text that has been read and which the learner wishes to share with the teacher

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5.2.5 The reading period Reading periods may vary in time and do not always have to be organised in the same way. The following is merely a suggestion in a literature-emphasis programme: Reading aloud (15 minutes) The teacher reads aloud to the class for approximately fifteen minutes. This accomplishes several important goals: learners gain appreciation of good books; they expand their vocabulary; they are exposed to many sentences and develop a sense of what a sentence is. The learners acquire a good attitude towards reading. Class lesson (15 minutes) For approximately fifteen minutes, attention should be given to skills, strategies, or concepts that you have decided to present to the class. What you choose to work on may depend on your observations of special needs as expressed, or revealed, by the learners. Lessons will cover a variety of topics. Sometimes the focus may fall on root words, prefixes or suffixes, or the focus may be on teaching learners to distinguish between legends and fairy tales. Reading time (25 minutes) Learner reading may take up to twenty-five minutes. This includes sustained silent reading, when everyone reads without interruptions. Non-silent activities that can be done during this time include conferences with the teacher, meetings of literature response groups, or practicing readers' presentations. Sharing time (10 minutes) At the end of the reading period some time should be reserved for learners to share what they have been reading with the class or with a partner.

5.2.6 Components of reading performance In this section I shall discuss procedures and activities for helping learners learn how to read. These activities include word recognition, reading comprehension and oral reading. 5.2.6.1 Word recognition The ability to recognise, recall or decode a word is basic to reading. Several interrelated skills are involved in word recognition. Several types of activities help learners to gain such skills. Only two such activities will be discussed here. Sight recall Adults generally recognise at sight most of the words they encounter in reading. They have gained this ability through their experiences. By the time someone reaches adulthood, he or she has heard many words and seen them often in various print forms. Furthermore, an adult has probably used these words themselves when writing. One of the principal goals in the junior primary grades will include the development of a beginning sight vocabulary. These known words are used for reading and as a basis for learning unknown words. In the higher grades learners have very large sight vocabularies. However, learners with problems can be helped to develop their sight vocabulary by extensively reading easy, but interesting, material.

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PST131J/501 Context clues An important strategy for identifying words not immediately recognised involves the use of context, the sentence in which the word appears, and the larger context provided by the reading material. If there are pictures, they will also be regarded as context clues. Thus the reader draws on many clues in order to guess the word. The skilled use of contexts depends to a great extent on a learner's knowing many words, synonyms for words, figures of speech and other aspects of language. Activities such as the following may help to develop a learner's ability to use the context to derive the meaning of the word: Write a paragraph on a chart and cover several words - at first nouns only, later verbs only. Get students to use context to determine the meaning of hidden words. Present homonyms (i.e. words that sound the same but have different meanings) and illustrate their meanings with sentences. Leave blank spaces for the homonyms: I cannot ................ to see you suffer. (bear/bare) The ............. suddenly appeared in the forest. (bear/bare) Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard was ............... (bear/bare) Write numerous sentences showing different meanings of common words such as "run", "walk", "back", and "step". List synonyms for words in a story. Discuss which words would be more acceptable than others.

5.2.6.2 Reading comprehension Learners need good sight vocabularies and well-developed strategies for dealing with unknown words, but all this will be of little consequence if they do not understand enough of what is read. The teacher is expected to monitor their comprehension of a text and to make sure what is read to and by the learners makes sense to them. Several different meanings may result. Individual meanings. The reader comes to the reading material with a background of general knowledge, beliefs and a level of language comprehension. What the learner constructs when faced with text is individualistic, perhaps unique to that person. As adults we have to choose between accepting the learner's construction of meaning as appropriate to him/her and deciding whether this interpretation needs immediate correction. Literal meaning. When a text is read, the more mature reader may construct personal meaning as well as literal meaning, by taking into account the author's intention. This direct type of understanding is what people mean by reading for understanding --- this type of understanding is what is generally expected and valued in class and in achievement tests. Multiple or competing meanings. Educated adults often see several meanings in a text. Thinking skills are evident. Different perspectives should be considered. In the junior grades learners construct their own meanings as they read and they can begin to realise that other meanings are possible too. Since they have further opportunities for discussions involving stories and other kinds of texts, their ability to think about what they have read will expand rapidly. Comprehension is relative to readers and situations.

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5.2.6.3 Oral reading (also called mechanical reading) Reading aloud is an integral part of classroom functioning. Reading aloud is done as an oral reading activity. It includes choral reading. As part of the writing process, the writer reads something he/she has written to a group or a friend, asking their questions and suggestions. In literature response groups of learners read selections aloud to make a discussion point. During a conference with a learner, you will occasionally want him or her to read aloud for you to check particular skills or do an informal reading assessment. 5.2.7 Attitudes toward reading A successful reading programme aims to help learners choose reading as an important life activity. Establishing and encouraging learners' interest in reading begins at a very young age, but should be a continual process. The following steps may encourage reading activities: Show personal delight in reading activities and tell learners enthusiastically about your own reading experiences. Emphasise the uses of reading. Encourage your learners to join their local library. Collaborate with your local library on programmes to encourage reading. Make the classroom reading area as attractive as possible. If funds are available, decorate it with rugs and cushions and lots of books. Books on block loan from the school library can be kept there. Make a list of books that will interest your learners. Ask your librarian to help you with this. Encourage parents to spend money on books as gifts for children. 5.2.8 The relationship between reading and writing As learners read they learn more about writing. Writing experiences influence the development of reading strategies. Some examples (Petty et al: 320) are: When learners start to write, encourage them to invent spelling or try spelling approximations as they write a first draft; they can check for accuracy later on. Learning phonics is an aid to spelling. Since maturing writers will think about finding just the right word to convey a particular meaning, learners will be more likely to notice when an author has made a good choice. Young writers who are attempting to construct good sentences, paragraphs and texts should be guided to examine those features in the materials they are reading.

5.2.9 Assessment of reading One must remember that learners' abilities to speak their first language also depend on the standard of the language spoken at home. Remember that learners develop at different rates. Their proficiency varies. Active language development will depend on the actual, relevant and authentic language situations provided by the teacher. Actual texts (newspapers, magazines) and actual daily events (such as a visit to the doctor, dentist or shopping mall) bring real-life situations to the classroom, and enhance learners' life skills. Make language teaching as practical as possible. Whenever you can, try to simulate real-life experiences to make language acquisition as practical as possible.

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PST131J/501 The following possibilities should be taken into account when you evaluate reading: intonation, reading speed, fluency, volume and accent. These elements may vary widely and a mark can be awarded accordingly. In the evaluation process, take into account mechanical skills such as eye span, phrasing and diction. All of these indicate reading fluency and the ability to decipher words correctly. The learner's ability to recognise words and sentences, as well as his or her comprehension of texts and ability to interpret the writer's intentions should also be evaluated. Make sure that the learners who read for an evaluation mark understand what they are reading. A fairly common problem among second-language readers is where they try to read aloud fluently in the second language at the expense of understanding the text. This can also be a problem for the firstlanguage readers. SELF-EVALUATION In order to establish whether you have understood this study unit, please answer the following questions. Try to incorporate the activities when planning your lessons: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Explain the term "formal writing". programme. Give some suggestions for organising a writing own

How would you teach learners to write paragraphs, essays and letters? From your experience as a teacher or learner, what advice could you give to a colleague?

How would you define creative writing? How would you improve your learners' creative Name a few activities which you would use to encourage your learners to write. What factors are to be considered in the assessment of writing? Why is reading important in learner's language development? "Developmental reading involves providing experiences that help learners to recognise and identify words and become proficient in reading many kinds of reading material." Do you agree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer. Make a list of different reading materials that should be available in your classroom. In your own words, explain what directed reading experiences are and describe the steps In your own words, explain briefly what a "reading log" is. How would you encourage your Describe how you would plan a reading period. What are the components of reading performance? Elaborate on these - in other words, give a brief definition of each component. How can you encourage your learners to have a positive attitude to reading? How would you assess your learners' reading abilities objectively?

(8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14)

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STUDY UNIT 6: LITERARY INSTRUCTION

OUTCOMES After completing this study unit, you should be able to prove your familiarity with certain knowledge, skills and attitudes related to the teaching of poetry and prose in the senior primary phase. You should be familiar with the difference between experiencing and studying a text understand the clear connection between writing instruction and the study of literature be able to develop all four language skills by means of reading be familiar with Combrink's model for the teaching of literature be able to apply this model to both prose and poetry

6.1

AIMS OF LITERARY INSTRUCTION

Note that prose and poetry are a part of the reading programme. We can distinguish between the reading of nonliterary texts (such as articles and newspaper reports) and the reading of literary texts (such as poetry).

Pause here, lay aside this study guide and consult the National Curriculum Statement on languages. Take a fresh look at everything that concerns reading instruction. Note which material should be used during reading instruction and what the aims are. The aim of your reading programme should be to instruct your classes in such a way that they will develop general reading skills, so as to enjoy, understand and appreciate the contribution of reading to their general development be able to verbalise their own reaction to the content of literary and other texts understand the difference between illustration and text be able to explain their personal responses develop a growing awareness that persons/characters are usually the main theme in a story, verse or play, and that the reading of literary texts will help to broaden and deepen their knowledge of human experience, relationships, ideals and aspirations develop an ability to indicate how texts are connected to the era, place and culture from which they arose

Van Tonder (1994:59-60) states it in a somewhat simpler way. The aims, according to him, are that learners should be able to experience and empathise with all forms of literature, so that they can develop their own taste and opinions and be able to discern the actual quality of a text be able to identify with characters and events, thus helping to prepare themselves for adult life acquire knowledge of the basic structure of literary forms have a basic literary metalanguage (terminology) that enables them to express opinions on literary works be helped to develop their language skills, emotional and intellectual experience, and awareness of the normative

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PST131J/501 The chief aim of literary instruction, in our view, is that learners should enjoy it and develop a love of reading. Such a love will certainly not be fostered by having to answer questions, period after period, about a book or poem! 6.2 A LOVE FOR AND INTEREST IN READING The crucial question is how present-day learners (with the fascinating and exciting world of TV, videos, films and other entertainment at their disposal) can be taught to love reading? Write down a few ideas on how to develop your class's interest in and love for reading. Reflect on your own experience. How did you become an active reader? Here are a few of our own ideas. You probably included these and many others in the list you have just made. Take time regularly to read to the class in an interpretive way. Be sure to choose a book that falls within their field of interest. Sometimes you could read an absorbing passage from a book, collection of short stories, or magazine, and stop at a point where the tension is high, so that learners cannot wait to take out the book and find out what happened. Display attractive dust covers of good youth literature in your classroom, keeping up with new publications. Read book reviews to the class. Use Book club catalogues, for instance, to introduce your learners to interesting books. Let them page through a catalogue for themselves and then tell the class (giving reasons) why they would like to buy a particular book. Make sure that the school library contains books that fall within your class's sphere of interest. Ask parents, learners and the wider community for donations of books and magazines, and use these to start a classroom library. Compile a list of books and require learners to read at least four books from the list. Invite the local librarian to come and talk to the children, bringing a few interesting books from the public library to show to them.

6.3

EXPERIENCING AND STUDYING TEXTS AS APPROACHES TO LITERARY INSTRUCTION

As we have seen, the approach must always be learner centred. This is particularly true of the literature class. Learners (readers) and their interaction with the text, how they experience it, what they draw from it and what they bring to it - these are the focal points. Text-experiencing teaching strategies recognise the vital role of the reader (increasingly the focus of modern theories of literature). Clearly this relates directly to learner-centred procedures in literary instruction. Text study, on the other hand, focuses on an analysis of particular texts. It complements an experience of the text. The aims of text experience as a teaching approach are as follows: Developing the emotional element. The affective development of learners is improved when they identify themselves with the situations, emotions, ideas or actions of literary characters. Verbalising learners' attitudes to the text. The reactions and emotions of learners as readers are very important. It is as readers that they are involved in discussion of the text.

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Enlarging the experiential world of learners. They are helped to see connections between the text and their own life world, or between the text and other works with which they are familiar. Promoting a positive attitude. Learners should end up being able to read independently and to imbibe, process and assess information from the text. (Khn 1989:89-91) The aims of text study, on the other hand, are these: Acquiring essential knowledge. Learners are helped to acquire a minimum level of factual knowledge and essential study material with regard to literature. Expanding their expectations. Learners are initiated into the nature of literature, so that their use of literary terminology and the level at which they are able to interpret will show a constant increase. Applying newly acquired insights. Learners are enabled to apply new insights, acquired during literary instruction, in other situations such as the writing of their own compositions. Broadening their literary tastes and aesthetic appreciation. (Khn 1989:91-92)

6.4

ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT Active involvement is essential to the effective teaching of literary texts. This cannot be overemphasised. Unless learners are given an opportunity to respond to texts and to put their responses into words, their intellectual activity remains narrow. Someone who simply has to answer a lot of questions is generally preoccupied with the answers and has no opportunity to read creatively or to get involved in the reading experience. We shall not teach our classes to love reading if we lose sight of this. Learners must feel involved in what they are reading, and such involvement is only possible if they experience reading as something personal - and are given a chance to express their own experience of what they have read. Remember that every learner brings a set of attitudes and a certain scheme of knowledge to the reading of a text. Previous experiences and background will determine how the text is experienced. A child who has never seen or experienced the sea will find it difficult to enjoy a book such as, while learners who live close to the sea will have no difficulty in identifying with the characters. This requirement - that learners should get actively involved in what they are reading, and at the same time gain insight into works of literature - has an important implication for the teaching of literary works: Text experience comes before text study.

6.5

CHOICE OF READING MATTER Schools generally have a stock of books from which you can make your choice. Books are expensive, and unfortunately the books in a school's storeroom tend to be old-fashioned, out of touch with the modern child's frame of reference. Remember, you are not restricted to the books in the storeroom! Watch the periodicals. You can use any suitable short story you find there. You could also let learners work in pairs on a book borrowed from the school library or the local municipal library. In the latter case you can give them a questionnaire which they first complete individually and then compare their answers.

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PST131J/501 You could draw up your own questionnaire. For example, incorporate practice-oriented language instruction by asking learners to write down examples of verbs, compounds, adjectives and so forth from the book. If the questionnaire is a general one, learners don't all need copies of the same book. The choice of reading matter is crucial. It has to be a natural development of the learner's own unfolding reading skills. Le Roux (1995:4) finds most South African reading lists to be unimaginative, stereotyped and repetitive, and their illustrations and typography are no better. Bettelheim and Zelan (1982:263) do not hesitate to ascribe reading failures very largely to uninspired reading lists for beginners:

Description of story Title: ..................................................................................................................................... Author: ................................................................................................................................. Type of story (e.g. detective, adventure, animal story): ....................................................... Concise summary of story: ................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... Main characters: .................................................................................................................. Which character did you like best?: ..................................................................................... Why?: ................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... Which character did you like least?: .................................................................................... Why?: ................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... Where and when do the events take place?: ....................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... Is there conflict between the characters? If so, explain why. Say whether you took sides ............................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... Describe one incident which you found very funny/striking/absorbing: ................................ ............................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... Write down four new words or standard expressions you found in the book. Explain what they mean: ........................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................................................

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Planning is important, but it should not overshadow everything else. According to Petty et al (1994:398), it is unwise to prescribe specific books for certain standards: there should be a wide selection that includes the following: short stories, poems, plays, stories of conflict and family relationships, emotive stories expressing happiness, sadness or humour, and particular types of stories such as adventure stories or folk tales. An important aspect is the applicability of literary events on the lives of the children. Literature can help children to develop their personalities. For instance, a child who lacks a realistic and balanced idea of the duality of the real world (good/evil; hope/despair) will also be unable to communicate with that world. When a character has been portrayed unrealistically, teacher and class together should try to find out why it has been depicted in this way. When selecting books, pay attention to the following literary study: Shows children that the feelings they themselves experience are experienced by other children as well and are therefore normal and natural. Investigates the various facets of emotion, which can promote a positive self-image in children. Can teach children to handle emotions by reading about how other people handle them. Indicates that a single person experiences various emotions, even conflicting ones. (Lewis 1989:25-28) 6.6 THE INTEGRATED APPROACH TO LITERARY INSTRUCTION In an approach where the focus is on the various components of the literary communication process, text-centred and learner-centred instruction techniques are appropriate. The instruction framework should provide for interaction, both affective and cognitive, between text and reader. The literary experience does not consist of a totally emotional or alternatively a totally intellectual response: every literary text activates both. It involves both the heart and the mind. Literature exists and functions in a communicative context. Within this context, all the different aspects should receive attention. Readers are no longer seen as passive recipients of preformulated meanings. The active role of the reader (learner) in the assignment of meaning has been recognised. The literary communication situation - the interaction between reader and text - should always be respected and utilised in the classroom. The concept integration is often interpreted quite narrowly as an incorporation of other technical material. The integrated approach, which is in question here, uses it in the widest possible sense. It presupposes integration of a literary text with various language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), other literary approaches, various teaching strategies, other subject matter, various cognitive skills at different intellectual levels, various brain functions, and so forth.

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PST131J/501 A number of different approaches may be integrated in a single instruction programme. The text always remains the point of departure: it must never become an excuse for the study of specific problem areas. The integration model provides a guideline for teachers during the planning and teaching phases. You are not meant to use the entire framework, with all its subsections, with each and every literary text. It represents a process, indicates the various phases of that process and describes techniques and activities that can be used to achieve the various aims while developing essential skills. Teachers use the process determined by the integrative approach, and they select or create activities that flow naturally from the text that is being dealt with at the time. The model is designed to help learners systematically in their attempts to verbalise and explain reading experiences. Planned activities guide them in the verbalisation of emotions and ideas. There are no formal lectures about literary matters. The full spectrum of language instruction is continuously involved in the development of affective and cognitive responses to a literary text. The model's components are semantic, cognitive, communicative, interactive and creative at one and the same time and the reader is fully engaged in this holistic approach. The selection or development of meaningful activities, by which a particular group of readers are introduced to a literary text, are determined by: the nature of the text, the developmental level of the learners, and the teaching aims. All the relevant factors have to be taken into account, such as the need to promote involvement, perception, insight, interpretation and appreciation the fact that teaching methods, classroom atmosphere and the teacher/learner relationship all have their effect on learner response the highly individual nature of response, the fact that it is active rather than passive and that it should be developed and enhanced the possibility of guiding learners towards greater insight, a critical approach and a deeper involvement in books by means of various activities the deepening and broadening effect that classroom opportunities can have on a child's perception of life

Certain risks are involved in a teaching model that uses a variety of activities to achieve aims and develop skills. For example, teachers and learners can get so carried away by activities that the text itself, and the aims that have been set, are forgotten. Always remember the goals you have set, so that the activities will form an integral part of the total reading experience. The focus must always be on the interaction between reader and text. You need to keep on checking whether the activity supports the text, and the reader's response to it, in order to develop a higher level of understanding and appreciation.

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6.6.1 Integration model What follows is the integration model according to Combrink. It consists of a teaching component and a learning component. Under the heading How to teach we explain, in each instance, the task of the teacher and the aims to be achieved during a particular step. Under the heading How to facilitate we explain what learners should be doing and achieving. PHASE 1: PREPARATION FOR THE READING OF A TEXT How to teach / Teaching activity Create an atmosphere that fosters optimal receptiveness and involvement. Provide essential background information. For example: if a story is set in a particular period, the necessary historical data should be provided during this phase Explain new or unfamiliar terms. How to facilitate / Learner involvement Relax and prepare themselves to interact with the text. Acquire essential background information for a better understanding of the text. Acquire essential vocabulary. A possibility now would be a group discussion about a text-related subject, or the reading of a relevant text. PHASE 2: FIRST READING OF THE TEXT How to teach / Teacher activity Design the first introduction of learners to the text. This will naturally depend on the text. Read aloud or ask the class to read silently. If possible, use readings (by teacher, record, cassette). If the text is a long one, divide text into reading units according to the time available. If the text is read aloud, get learners to listen and respond. How to facilitate / Learner involvement Let them familiarise themselves with text and develop expectations. Develop their listening and/or reading skills. Start getting involved in the narrative.

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PHASE 3: OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE How to teach / Teacher activity Give learners an opportunity to verbalise their response to the text. Watch learner reactions so that you can take them into account in further teaching procedures. Give guidance if necessary. This might take the form of hints such as Write down what bothered you or what you didn't enjoy at all. If the first chapter of a book is being read, you might ask: Are you looking forward to the rest of the book? or How do you think the story is going to develop? Research has shown that learners become more involved with a story if they predict what will happen and then read on to see how accurate their predictions were. Check vehement reactions to texts in individual learners. How to facilitate / Learner involvement At teacher's request, verbalise (in writing) their first reaction to the text. If they do not like it, they should have the confidence to say so (with the sole proviso that they must be able to give reasons). Indicate problem areas (e.g. parts they do not understand). Develop the ability to visualise and to use their imagination to create alternative worlds. Get involved with the text by means of their evolving imagination. Give projections (at the beginning) and reviews (in the course of the story, or at the end). Become aware of identification with characters or events. Become aware of a mobile reader focus that precedes events or reinterprets them in retrospect. Get creatively involved with the text.

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PHASE 4: OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHARING RESPONSES How to teach / Teacher activity Divide the class into groups, asking learners to discuss the responses they identified in phase 3. Discuss problem areas in terms of common problems experienced by the class. Share your own response with the class. Give a brief rsum of the story. Give an ongoing appreciation and assessment of the text. How to facilitate / Learner involvement Realise, by sharing their responses, that other learners respond as they do; alternatively, that they have a different response. Become aware that people react differently and are entitled to do so - no reaction or opinion is automatically right or wrong. Working in groups, they identify important aspects for discussion. Admit interpretation and comprehension problems; seek solutions by discussion or textual analysis.* Formulate response; become willing to discuss it. Develop the ability to reproduce the story: learn to distinguish between story (fable) and plot. Appreciate and assess in an objective way. PHASE 5: DEVELOPING AND STRUCTURING RESPONSES How to teach / Teacher activity Discuss the poem or prose passage in greater detail. The text-experience phase is over and must be followed by text study or analysis. Remember - this phase must never consist of answering strings of questions! The syllabus is not very clear about the literary aspects learners are expected to master. The only instruction is this We therefore recommend keeping all references to the type of narrator, milieu, conflict and so forth casual, and design class activities in such a way that they do come across these aspects. For instance, get the class to draw a picture of the place where the story is enacted; ask questions about the background and period. This will familiarise them with the concept milieu. Do not spend too much time on a single story, and don't do it to death. The nature of the story will determine what you should deal with and what you should leave alone. Discuss various viewpoints and interpretations (those of readers, and that of the narrator in the (text). Make learners aware of the fact that someone - not necessarily the author - is telling this story. Distinguish the causes for the varying viewpoints of the characters. Analyse the text throughout to find and explain different interpretations. Examine the structural elements: note the development of tension and the associated reader involvement.

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PST131J/501 Identify cause and effect. Identify tension-building techniques. Identify such techniques as flashbacks, predictions, projections and foreshadowing. Spot character traits and describe them in a straightforward way. Recognise stereotyped characters (flat characters). Deduce character traits from the dialogue and action. Identify techniques used by the narrator to portray character: dialogue action describing thoughts and words reactions to other characters, events and points of view Seek reasons for the way characters behave. Recognise conflict. Compare the dialogue of different characters. Distinguish between literal and figurative language. Identify the functions of various kinds of repetition. Recognise language usage indicating different moods.

PHASE 6: OVERARCHING, SUMMARISING ACTIVITIES How to teach / Teacher activity This step allows globalising, inclusive activities. Everything that was fragmented during the previous phase must now be put together again. Point out the theme of the story. Deliberately plan oral and written activities aimed at developing response, insight and specific skills. Use various media (e.g. painting, drawing, pasting, music, didactic drama, tableau vivant) to develop insight and response and articulate them creatively and imaginatively. Compare the text with others of the same genre (prose, poetry, plays, advertising, journalism). Process the text or parts of it for alternative presentation such as puppet theatre or a radio interview with one of the characters. Do research about the author and about the period when the text was written. Differentiate throughout, purposefully and effectively, to make sure that your approach remains learner oriented.

How to facilitate / Learner involvement Develop speaking and writing skills. Develop a variety of original and imaginative responses to the text. Develop comprehension and insight by approaching the story from various angles. Recognise similarities and differences in various versions of the same story.

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PHASE 7: ASSESSING INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES How to teach / Teacher activity Give opportunities of going back to their very first reaction to the text, comparing it with what they think of it now. Find out whether learners' ideas about the text have changed after studying it. How to facilitate / Learner involvement Express their views on the text once again, compare these with their first responses and say whether their attitudes and perceptions have changed. Give reasons for changes in perception. Develop insight and perspective by relating the text to their own lives. PHASE 8: APPRECIATION AND ASSESSMENT OF TEXT This is a very advanced step. Primary school learners cannot be expected to assess a text, only to appreciate it. Appreciation can be gauged by, for instance, asking them whether they like the story or not, and to give reasons for their response. (Model adapted from Combrink 1992:9-14 and 1993:4-5)

6.7

TEACHING POETRY
In the previous section we explained in detail how poetry can be taught by means of Combrink's integration model. Here are a few general thoughts about the teaching of poetry. One of the most glorious tasks a teacher can undertake is to introduce a class into the world of verbal artistry. It is also - especially in the case of poetry - an extremely responsible task: it largely depends on the teacher whether individual learners develop a lifelong taste and love for poetry (Combrink 1989:102) Never underestimate the power of poetry. The expression of ideas in the form of feelings is important: it stimulates the imaginations and provides an outlet for the feelings. Poetry can inspire learners to verbalise their own thoughts, and this in turn makes them aware of the expressive powers of language (Petty et al 1994:403). Swart (1986:56-57) regards poetry as intellectual play that determines the characteristic structure of poetry. The comparison with play implies that learners are supposed to enjoy poetry. In addition to the pleasure of good interpretation, the purpose may also be to make elementary discoveries about elements of form and structure. This should be in the nature of an exploration or adventure.

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PST131J/501 Learners should be helped to discover the following elements: good choice of words a sense of pattern: division into strophes, rhyme pattern, aspects of rhythm and their functionality play on words, and their meanings the pleasurable play of sound (association, alliteration) - but do not use the technical terms. Everything happens at an elementary level in a way that will awaken the interest of the growing mind. (Combrink 1989:110) 6.8 LEARNER INTEREST AND THE INTEREST OF POETRY We have seen that much depends on the teacher's enthusiasm. You might also bear in mind the following: Make the poem real to your class. Make them aware that poetry deals with everyday matters - not necessarily with exalted things. It could have to do with flowers, birds and animals. Cut up the poem and let the class arrange the strophes in the correct sequence. Omit words from the poem and let learners pick the words they would like to see there. Replace words with others that are inappropriate in the context of the poem. Learners have to identify these and suggest other (more appropriate) possibilities. Omit the title and let the class supply an appropriate one. Set the class to write their own poetry. These efforts can be displayed, bound into a volume, and so forth. Ask learners to portray a poem visually by means of a drawing or readymade picture. They could even make a collage: which means that the whole class pastes pictures that relate to the poem on a large sheet of cardboard in such a way as to portray the sense of the poem. They can recite the poem in unison - a group activity. Use teaching media: pictures, drawings, photographs, videos, television, overhead projector the overhead projector: use it, for instance, to explain the various stages in the poem tape recorder: many poems have been set to music. Play this to the class; make your own recordings; perhaps you could set some of the poems to music and play it to the class on the guitar for them to sing along dramatisation: let the class enact the poem using masks and costumes to create the illusion of characters, situations and events. Never forget, though, that the primary consideration is the poem itself, which must remain the focus of interest. (Combrink et al 1989:118)

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6.9

CONCLUDING REMARKS ON LITERARY INSTRUCTION

Bear in mind that literary instruction cannot be compartmentalised, even if we do present it under separate headings. Here are a few concluding remarks based on Van Tonder (1994:5766). Literary instruction is really reading instruction. It means reading with a particular purpose. The purpose being, inter alia, acquiring insight and developing a love for books. Readers should be actively involved in their own experience of reading. This means they should be given the opportunity of personally experiencing a literary work and expressing their reactions and feelings in connection with it. Learners should also be made aware of the way others experience and interpret a story and must compare this with their own. In other words, textual experience must precede textual study. Literary study is a means of expanding the learners' knowledge of human nature. They learn to appreciate and understand the viewpoints of others and to compare their own actions with those of the characters in books. Thus we think in terms of moving from a text-centred to a reader-oriented approach. Readers, and their experience of the text, not the text itself, are the main consideration. The teaching of literary study should primarily offer an opportunity for dialogue between text and learners, learners and teachers, learners and their classmates. Group work is therefore very important. There is no question here of in-depth study. The implication is that the maximum number of literary texts should be dealt with. It should never be seen as the topic of an examination. Light reading such as magazine stories, even comics, are equally useful for the inculcation of literary concepts, helping learners experience the fictional world and nurturing a love of reading.

SELF-EVALUATION
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 What are the aims of teaching prose and poetry? Find a suitable magazine story you would like to study with your class. Explain how you would set about it. Select a poem and deal with it in terms of Combrink's model. Which poems would you prefer to discuss with your class? Would you use teaching media in teaching (say) poetry? Explain which media you would use, and how you would use them. How would you set about fostering a love of reading in learners? Read a few youth stories to familiarise yourself with what is being written for this age group. Pick a poem, or a prose text, and explain how you would dramatise it. Pick a poem and make a transparency that would serve as a teaching aid. How would you foster an enthusiasm for reading? Consult some authorities about the latest trends in youth prose (for instance, at the children's section of a library).

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STUDY UNIT 7: OTHER ASPECTS RELATED TO TEACHING A HOME LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY

SPECIFIC OUTCOMES What you need to know and understand: The content of this unit focuses on: the new teaching philosophy: outcomes-based education a brief introduction to multilingualism/culturalism the importance of using a dictionary as an information tool value of group work lesson planning effective questioning techniques a general introduction to assessment What you need to be able to do: apply the strategies related to group work implement dictionary work as part of daily lessons formulate effective questions analyse your own classroom circumstances and apply some of the suggested strategies assess the various aspects related to teaching a home language effectively design your own strategies for coping with multicultural classes What you need to reflect on: the strengths and weaknesses of the OBE philosophy and Curriculum 2005 your own attitude towards multicultural groups how to improve your own questioning techniques how to minimise your subjectivity when assessing learners 7.1 7.1.1 OUTCOMES-BASED EDUCATION Historic overview Outcomes-based education (OBE) is not a new philosophy, but has its origins in a meeting held as long as ago as 1948 in Boston, America, where a group of behavioural scientists decided to embark on a project of classifying the goals or outcomes of the education process. The results of their discussions have become known as Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, which to a certain extent does away with traditional subject matter and teaching methods. Today, the person most commonly associated with OBE is another American: William Spady. OBE has been widely used in countries such as USA, Canada, Scotland, Holland, Finland and Sweden and even New Zealand. In RSA, it has been packaged as Curriculum 2005. This change in the education system is an attempt at addressing the crisis that has developed in our schools over the past decades. In order to realise the vision of South Africa as a fully democratic and productive people, we need to provide education that is relevant and of a high quality for all learners, regardless of their race, colour, gender, age religion or language.

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It is hoped that the new curriculum will not only help empower learners to participate fully in all processes related to a democratic society, but also to realise their full potential. Other keywords relating to RSAs vision of establishing a culture of learning and teaching are: access non-discriminative relevance quality

It was not only South Africa's history of inequity and disadvantage that necessitated this change; rapid changes in global economy, technology and education have impacted on the local environment. Educators are now questioning whether learners are adequately prepared to face the job market and fulfil their role as mature, informed citizens. Industry also demanded that the education system adapt to meet the new demands of the workplace. Many school leavers have to be retrained and lacking in even basic skills such as being able to write a report or make a simple decision based on information that needed to be interpreted. The broad, simplified tenants of OBE are that it is learning content only; learners should also be taught skills and values or attitudes. Furthermore OBE makes the following claims: All learners can master a desired outcome if the teaching time and methods are varied Learners do not attain the outcomes through a set of prescribed learning experiences in one programme or grade. Learners progress needs to be assessed continuously. Prior learning is recognised and the teacher is no longer the only source of knowledge. Learners are required to take more responsibility for their own learning and academic progress. Assessment is enabling rather than punitive. Learners are assessed on what they know, can do and how they relate to their world rather than being judged for what they do not know or cannot do. Peer and self-assessment form part of the strategy. Group projects, interviews, presentations, portfolios, and practical demonstrations supplement pen-andpaper tests. The learners progress is monitored and he or she is given ample opportunity to try again, adapt, or improve. Those who do not achieve a specific outcome are reassessed when they are ready.

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PST131J/501 7.1.2 Comparing OBE with the previous philosophy Contents-based Education Outcomes-based Education

Principles
teachers transmit information teacher-centred knowledge of syllabus and contents syllabus and content is independent of the learner/students experience focus on facts and information does not give credit for knowledge or skills acquired outside the formal education situation rigid, compartmentalised subjects with an expected corpus of knowledge in each educators are facilitators of learning learner-centred a wide variety of expected outcomes ensure acquisition of knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes and values learning is relevant to real life situations and learner's experience focus on application of knowledge builds on skills and knowledge already acquired cross-curricular integration of knowledge and skills to prepare learners for real life

METHODOLOGY Teaching Style

rote learning (parrot fashion) without necessarily understanding teachers often lecture to impart information learners/students are passive learners and teachers are responsible for delivering information and knowledge students/learners all work at the same pace dictated by the teacher without taking into account different levels of ability critical thinking, reasoning, research, reflection and action learners engage in group/team/pair work, debate, role play, experiments learners are active and take responsibility for their learning by being actively involved in research, debate and experiments

Contents-based Education

Outcomes-based Education METHODOLOGY

students/learners do not have learning expectations explained to them a single style of teaching is used which does not take into account different styles of learning

learners are able to work at their own pace learners know what outcomes they are expected to achieve a variety of approaches are used in the learning process, allowing all learning styles to be accommodated

Use of learning materials

textbooks concentrate content of the syllabus on delivering the new learning materials encourage an eclectic approach, taking into account a wide range of resources

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Assessment
assessment of knowledge of syllabus content via tests and end of year exams assessment focuses on retention of knowledge assessment is by teachers and external examiners who mark work and calculate a final result in numerical terms continuous assessment throughout a phase to give an overall picture of an individual learners progress assessment is broad, covering a number of assessment criteria which include skills, knowledge, understanding, attitudes and values assessment include teachers assessment, selfassessment, peer assessment, resulting in a descriptive statement of what a learner has achieved

RESULT
learners taught not to question anything they learn which prevents them from thinking for themselves because they have relied on a teacher to conduct their learning, students stop learning once they leave formal education unable to apply knowledge and understanding, on leaving formal education, the student lacks the ability to take his/her place in society effectively at the outset learners learn to question and to have a personal response to what they learn - this encourages critical thinking because learners have acquired the skills for learning, they will be encouraged to continue to learn for life ability to understand and apply skills enables learners to take their place in society and workplace as responsible citizens

7.1.3 Definitions (1) LEARNING AREA The subject (first language) you will be teaching falls under the learning area of Languages, and its focus is to improve communication among everybody. People interact with their world using various forms of communication (written/spoken/ signs/symbols etc). The better we can communicate, the better we can understand one another. This should lead to a country free of intolerance, misunderstanding, and prejudice. Here, we are dealing with the concept of multilingualism and its advantages and disadvantages. All learning is related to some form of communication and this learning area is already addressed in the Foundation phase in Grade 1. (2) LEARNING PROGRAMME Subjects traditionally taught at both primary and secondary schools have been grouped into eight learning areas. These, in turn, have been divided into learning programmes. A learning programme is a document according to which the new curriculum is implemented at the various schools. It includes sets of learning activities in which the learner will be involved who is working towards achieving one or more of the outcomes.

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PST131J/501 (3) LEARNING OUTCOMES An outcome is something that a learner can demonstrate he or she has gained from the learning processes; an outcome occurs at the end of varied learning experiences. An outcome is not a score or a grade, but the product of a clearly defined process, which must manifest itself in more than knowledge and understanding. The ability to do things (skills) must be demonstrable and dispositional attitudes must be evident. (4) ASSESSMENT CRITERIA These are the means of establishing whether an outcome has been achieved. 7.2 MULTILINGUALISM South Africa is a country rich in cultural diversity, with many groups speaking different languages. Some of these languages are indigenous and belong to the same family(because they have similar language systems). On the other hand, some originated in Europe, India and in the Middle East and were brought to South Africa over the centuries by immigrant settlers. Then, in addition to the eleven official languages, we still have minority groups using their mother tongue (Greek, Portuguese, German, Chinese, and French speakers from other parts of Africa). Several foreign languages are spoken on our mines and in the bigger industrial centres. These have helped create a society that is both multilingual and multicultural. The most recent census figures (1999) indicate that only 8.6% of the entire population speaks English as a first language, while IsiZulu accounts for 22.9% speakers followed by IsiXhosa (17.9%), Afrikaans (14.4%), Sepedi (9.2%), Tswana(8.2%) and Sesotho (7.7%); the other languages account for less than 4.4% of the population. The reality of current first language teaching is that few learners are actually taught in their mother tongue. In many city schools, the medium of instruction is generally exclusively English or Afrikaans. Parents also seem to be opting to have their children schooled in English medium schools in the belief that this will better equip them to cope with education the job market. Where schools are fortunate to have homogenous language groupings, it is far easier to focus on specific first language skills and refine or develop the learners language sensitivity to a greater degree. Even at primary school level, it is possible to expose learners to literature and the intricacies and creative elements of their mother tongue. Where the communicative function of language enjoys priority in the second language classroom, the cultural function of a first language ought to be exploited. This includes the following: the wonder of the written word the amazing sounds of the spoken word the ingenuity of rhetorical devices and sophisticated language techniques and structures witticism humour the manipulation and creation of language the subtleties of register, tone and apt vocabulary

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Film study and the analysis of cartoons/comics can be used to develop learners' visual literacy. The so-called first language classroom has impacted on first language teaching and, in actual fact; the teacher has had to adopt a second language approach in order to accommodate all levels of linguistic competence. In the process, true first language speakers have probably been disadvantaged, because the teacher cannot exploit their more advanced abilities to communicate their experiences. Whatever your teaching environment, as a language teacher you will need to teach respect for other languages and their associated cultures. Language is an essential expression of a learners life. The value of languages in a learners life ought to be reflected in all learning experiences. These experiences, in turn, ought to increase the appreciation for the learner's own language, but also an understanding of and tolerance for other languages and other language users. This can best be summarised in the maxim that all languages enjoy parity of esteem, although not necessarily parity of use. 7.3 USING A DICTIONARY A good dictionary has a wealth of useful information and contains far more than merely spelling and the meaning of words. Think about the way in which you use a dictionary. What type of dictionary do you have? Why should you teach your learners to use a dictionary? What are the main uses of a dictionary? What information can be found in a good dictionary? How does one decide on the suitability of a dictionary?

Being able to use a dictionary properly is probably one of the most useful skills you can help your learners acquire. Improving vocabulary, building other parts of speech from a given word, checking spelling, pronunciation, looking up the correct idiom a good dictionary makes all these learning experiences possible. Some even contain general information about weights and measures, capitals and major cities of the world, gemstones, history of countries and grammar guidelines. When you empower your learners to use a dictionary quickly and effectively, you enable them to become independent readers and language users. When dealing with a first language, learners will probably buy a monolingual dictionary. But their academic career progresses, one would hope that so too, their range of resource material extends to include bilingual dictionaries and even a thesaurus. (A thesaurus is a book that gives you lists of synonyms or related meanings for a word. It does not provide definitions and explanations, but is useful when looking for another word or one to fit the exact register or context of your communication.) However, do not forget the advantages of owning a small, inexpensive dictionary. There are several school dictionaries on the market some tailor-made for each phase. Many are attractively illustrated while others seem big and more academic. So how does one go about choosing a suitable dictionary? The following pointers are taken from Barbara Hollingworths Teach English Well (1984:174). Are the cover and the dictionary pages reasonably durable? Will the book fit the average pocket or school satchel? Is the print large enough? Are the word definitions suitable? They must not be too complicated or over-simplified. Are the definitions comprehensive?

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PST131J/501 Will learners understand the phonetic system of pronunciation? The International Phonetic Alphabet (PA), or a modified form, is the most common system (although not necessarily the most suitable). Are stress marks given? Are there a reasonable number of small illustrations? Is the relevant part of speech shown after the headword? Are the principal parts shown after irregular verbs? Are there any other features that make one dictionary more useful than another? For instance, some dictionaries include useful lists of common abbreviations, irregular verbs and idiomatic expressions. Others distinguish between British and American spelling.

7.4

GROUPWORK While researching other sources, you will also find useful information under the keywords: cooperative learning or collaborative learning. The official documentation available at schools should also offer useful guidelines about group work, because as working in groups is very much part of OBE philosophy. Working in groups requires very careful classroom management and detailed planning. Learners need to be taught how to work in groups. For example: Group work (whether in small or larger groups) can lead to a lot of child-to-child conversation. The interaction with other children offers learners opportunities to progress in their speaking ability. Group work can also solve many problems for the teacher. If children (i.e. learners) speak to each other in a small group, it means that they all get a chance to practise speaking the second language during a lesson. It also means that they are more actively involved in the lessons. Teachers nevertheless often dislike group work because it can be noisy, the room may be too crowded and they feel the learners are not working. Lets deal with some of these problems: Organisation. It may be difficult to organise groups at first, but learners soon get used to the idea and will know what to do when you say When I clap my hands, get into your groups. Noise. Remind the children of the courtesy of listening to each other and waiting their turn to speak. The group leaders could help in this. Children must also learn to accept the idea that it is unfair for one person to speak very loudly. Space. Let some groups go outside to do their work or train children to quickly rearrange the furniture. Tell the principal that what you are trying to do, so he or she doesnt think that the children are walking around the school unsupervised. Work. Give each group a definite task to complete, with questions to answer. Group work may seem difficult to organise at first, but it is worth the effort. Once you and the class are used to it, it gets easier and more successful every time. If you are still feeling hesitant about trying it, begin PAIR WORK. You could then try putting two pairs together to form a group of four, and give the new group something else to do. Pair work will only be successful if learners are completely clear what they have to do. You will need to explain each activity very carefully. It is also a good idea to get a pair of learners to perform the activity in front of the whole class in order to demonstrate to everybody what is to be done.

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In order to make your task easier, discussion should centre on a topic and have a purpose. The learners should also be taught to listen to each other take turns stick to a topic use appropriate vocabulary think before they speak talk in normal voice interrupt politely Remember DO NOT WORRY IF THERE IS A BIT OF NOISE WHEN THE CHILDREN ARE TALKING. THIS IS A SIGN THAT THE PAIR WORK IS GOING WELL. 7.5 QUESTIONING SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES A teachers questions should make learners think. Questions can also help them see details they would otherwise have missed. Questions can sometimes achieve the following: help learners to form relationships between objects and ideas prompt learners to speak about their thoughts and feelings lead learners into becoming interested in new things

The teacher uses questions to encourage learners to express their ideas through speech. Questioning is a skill that must be practised and used often. Sometimes a question can be answered with a question. When a learner says, What does a rabbit eat? the teacher might say How can we find out? The teacher knows that a real experience is better than a quick answer. In this way, teachers try to help each learner succeed in activities while at the same time offering a challenge. Questions work best when every learner answers them mentally. With directed questions, you pose the question, pause for everyone 1 to formulate a mental answer and then name a pupil. No hands up or snapping of fingers, or calling out should be permitted. Once this pattern is established, every learner formulates and answers every question. Make sure everyone has a turn to answer so that no-one gives up. Sometimes it is wise to have learners write down an answer or share it with a classmate. You can add to the learners feeling of responsibility for the answers if you get them to confirm an answer instead of doing so yourself. This also doubles their active involvement with each question. For example: Teacher: I have five apples. I give one to Thandi and two to Skosana. How many do I have left?..Helen? Helen: Three, Maam. Teacher: Helen says I have three left. Do you agree?..Thabo? Thabo: No. Maam. Its two. Teacher: Helen says three, Thabo says two. (Repeat the question) What do you think?.. Mary? Mary: Its two.

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PST131J/501 Teacher: Who agrees with Mary? (Revise the problem) Real questions are asked in order to get new information. Three sources of real questions for the teacher are: the learners life outside the class what a learners partner has just said or done in a pair work activity how the learner has arrived at the answer to a problem Things to avoid when asking questions: Questions asking for YES or NO encourage guessing, not thinking. Questions with answers which do not interest the asker because everyone knows the asker knows the answer already. Do not encourage a forest of hands and then select an eager volunteer. Reserved or unmotivated learners dont take part and fall further behind. Do not name a learner and then ask the question. The rest of the class will make no mental effort to answer it. 7.6 TYPES OF QUESTIONS Teachers questions can be classified into seven main types (questioning techniques): (1) Recall. Ask the learners to remember information, names of words, for example: The teacher can put one picture on the board. The teacher says: Look at the picture. This is a ...................... The teacher then turns the picture over. The teacher says What is this?

After hearing a story the learners could be asked to retell the story or part of the story. (2) Convergent thinking technique. Ask the learners to compare similarities or contrast differences and seek relationships. Questions that help a learner compare or connect ideas may begin with: (3) Which one is longer? How are these two alike? What happened next?

Divergent thinking technique. Ask the learners to predict. What would happen if .....? The following are examples of questions that encourage problem solving or stimulate creative thought: If you had a handful of money, what would you buy? Tell me what you are going to do when youre big like your dad? Can you think of a way to open this box?

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(4)

Evaluation. Ask the learners for a personal opinion or judgment, or ask them to explore their feelings. These are questions where there are no right or wrong answers, because you are asking the learners to express their own feelings and opinions. After discussing a story or a topic, the following questions could be asked: What would you do if you were .......? How does .......... make you feel when you see him/her?

(5)

Observation. Ask the learners to watch or describe what they see. The teacher can boil water in a pot and ask the following questions: What happens to the water? What is the effect of heat on water? What happens when the water is boiling?

(6)

Explanation. Ask learners to state cause and effect, reasons, and/or descriptions. In a lesson where a teacher uses a picture the following questions can be asked: What happened ...............? Why did it happen?

(7)

Action. Ask the learners to move their bodies or perform a physical task. In a lesson where these questions are asked, the teacher can say the commands while demonstrating the actions (egg. Walk to the chair, Brush your hair). The teacher asks: Can you do it, John? Show me and tell me what I did. The learner can do the actions and describe them.

Remember The way questions are phrased may produce short or longer answers. Questions using what or where usually receive one-word or word-phrase answers. Do you? Did you? Can you? Will you? Have you? Would you? Are questions that can be answered by yes or no. Both the teacher and the learners ask questions. Here is a checklist to gauge how effective your questioning techniques are: Do most of your questions require a one word or YES/NO response? Do you usually answer your own question? Do you give learners time to think about the question before calling on one of them to answer? Do the answers to your questions depend primarily on a good memory or on good understanding? Do you ask questions primarily to promote understanding or as a disciplinary measure to keep learners in line? Do you accept learner language or do you insist on answers being given in your language? Do you usually repeat answers given by the learners or do you encourage learners to listen to each other? Do you usually tell the learner that the answer to your question is right or wrong or do you give the answer back to the class for their evaluation? Does a learner know whether the answer is right or wrong by your facial expression? Are you the only person asking questions?

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PST131J/501 Are you the only person in the class answering questions? Do you spend as much time on preparing questions to ask the class as you do on preparing the lesson material? Do your questions usually give too much information, so that it is almost impossible for the learner to be wrong? Do you call upon the person before you ask the question, or do you direct your questions to all your learners to think about before calling on one particular individual? Are your questions usually directed at only a certain portion of the class (action zone centre or front)? Are your questions real questions or are they simply statements with question marks at the end of them which dont really need answers? How often do you have to rephrase a question in order to get the answer you want? Have you begun a permanent file on good questions for each concept that you teach during the year? ASSESSMENT This aspect of teaching a first language is very specific to the teaching environment that you will be working in. You ought to be given strong guidance by your peers or senior teacher and you must consult the official documentation provided by the provincial Education Department too. You also need to study chapter 9 of your prescribed book carefully, because this chapter explains the theory behind assessment in detail. Assessment is central to outcomes-based education. Learners are assessed on how well they achieve the specific outcomes (assessment criteria, range statements and performance indicators). The key word in outcomes-based assessment is demonstration. The learner will demonstrate knowledge, ability and competence. The teacher will judge the quality according to the assessment criteria, range statements and performance indicators. Teachers must make note of the criteria that they intend using during the assessment process. This means that the criteria should be written out simply, clearly and understandably. 7.7.1 What assessment means for the learner (1) Learners will be assessed in a continuous way by themselves, their peers and by their teachers. Learners are assessed in a variety of ways. They are required to demonstrate their learning achievements in different ways. Learners are required to show that they can understand and apply knowledge. Assessment is based on criteria. This means that learners are assessed according to how well they can meet certain clearly stated criteria. Learners are assessed as individuals and for their contribution to group work. Learners are told exactly how they will be assessed and why they are being assessed. Learners are encouraged to take responsibility and an interest in each others progress. This helps them to learn from the process. Learners can be assessed in different ways, namely: observation, self-assessment, peer assessment and portfolio. Observation. Observation is when a teacher observes a learner during activities. The teacher can use the questioning skill, observation sheets or checklists to collect and write down information. Observation sheets are standardised forms that can be completed by the teacher and/or the learners themselves. They contain questions and have spaces for written observation.
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Self-assessment. Learners assess how well they have performed in terms of the outcomes they are expected to achieve. They also give reasons for their performance. This helps learners to understand the assessment process and take responsibility for their work. Introduce peer and self-assessment gradually. Peer assessment. Learners assess one another. Teachers should provide clear guidance to prevent unnecessary criticism and to encourage a focus on positive comments. Portfolio. A portfolio is a folder or file that contains samples of a learner's work over a period of time. It should contain many different samples of work. The portfolio should also contain a collection of the learners work that demonstrates that learning has occurred. Teacher, peer and self-assessment comments should be included. Parents should also see and comment on these portfolios.

(3)

(4)

The following are examples of samples of work that could be found in a portfolio. (a) (b) (c) (d) Written assignments. These could be essays, lists, comments, reports and work cards. They can demonstrate the learners writing and thinking skills. Interviews and oral presentations. These can assess the learners understanding of issues, the amount of research that has been done and the learner's communication skills. Projects. Learners can work on projects in pairs or in groups. They can then be assessed not only on the content of their work, but also on their ability to work cooperatively in teams. Practical assignments. Learners can do experiments, draw and construct models to demonstrate their understanding and show how they have applied their knowledge.

7.8

LESSON PLANNING You will be acting more as a guide and a facilitator of learning than the provider of knowledge; this requires careful planning and rigorous classroom management. As a teacher, you may even become the focus of the school curriculum as cross-curriculum teaching increases. This holistic approach to learning means that all aspects of language are integrated in the various programmes. You will need to select activities that integrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. All tasks should be aimed at achieving one or more of the specific outcomes, outcomes which will eventually promote communication and literacy. BEFORE YOU CAN START TO DESIGN SUCCESSFUL (realistic) LESSONS, YOU NEED TO HAVE A SOUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS: (1) It is vital that you fully understand the demands of your profession as a first language teacher How much do you know about the subject that you intend teaching? How good is your spoken and written command of the language? Do you have insight into the grammar rules that govern the form and use of the language? Do you have the necessary skills you intend your learners acquiring? For example, can you write a poem/essay/report et cetera?

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PST131J/501 Are you familiar with the teaching tools available? Wall charts? Flash cards? Video/tapes?? Do you know how all the technology works? Can you recognise the various techniques/stages in language teaching/learning? Do you have a basic understanding of the principles of language teaching/learning? Have you started to build up a repertoire of activities and teaching material? How good are your classroom management skills? Can you maintain firm but fair discipline? (2) Knowledge of the Education Department and immediate school environment you intend teaching in is crucial: What is the overruling policy the authorities expect to be implemented in the classroom? What does the official documentation (syllabus, study guides, circulars etc) expect of you? How often and for how long do you have lessons? What are the physical conditions you teach in? Any advantages? Any limitations?

How will learners be assessed? When? How regularly? What are the restrictions? Drawbacks? (3) You need to know a considerable amount about your learners so that you can select activities suited to their frame of reference and interests. Who are your learners? What do they bring to class? What are their needs? How old are they? Are they all more or less the same age? Are they all the same sex? Are there more boys than girls? What is their social background? What kind of behaviour are they accustomed to? How much do they know about world issues? What socioeconomic group do they belong to? What do their caretakers/parents do for a living? Who takes prime responsibility for the family/household? What kind of emotional environment is the learner exposed to? Stable? Abusive? Disrupted? Is the family dysfunctional? What languages do the learners speak? What religion/cultural/political group do they represent? How do your learners feel about learning a first language? Are they motivated to learn or hostile about the subject? Why do they have negative attitudes? What other educational experiences have they had? What do they know about their first language? Which skills are better developed than others? How much do they know in general? Do they have large gaps in their general knowledge? What do they know about current affairs? Do not assume too much, but do not make the mistake of thinking your learners will be ignorant either! How well does the learner perform in his/her mother tongue?5 What is this age groups chief interest? What are your learners particular interests? What are your learners' needs in terms of their first language? Do they need it more for general communication? Do they need to be able to cope with it as a medium of instruction either now? or later in their academic career?

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7.9

PLANNING OF A LESSON Above all else, you need to have a purpose for every activity you organise during a lesson. At the outset of planning a lesson, you need to ask yourself: What is it my learners will feel, know or be able to do at the end of the lesson that they did not feel (VALUES/ATTITUDES), or know (KNOWLEDGE) or were not able to do (SKILLS) at the start? This purpose would be linked to a specific outcome, but refined in a lesson objective. The importance of knowing what the learner must accomplish is best illustrated using an example for Lewis Carols Alice in Wonderland: Alice has lost her way and asks the Cheshire Cat for directions Would you tell me please which way to go from here? That depends a good deal on where you would want to get to Oh, I dont much care where said Alice Then it doesnt matter which way you go! is the Cheshire Cats apt remark Two overriding principles of successful lesson planning are variety and flexibility. Variety implies involving the learners in a number of different types of activity and, where possible, introducing a wide range of materials. Flexibility means the ability to use any number of different techniques and not just one methodology (Harmer: 1983). Good lesson planning is the art of integrating your knowledge of all the above areas with appropriate techniques, activities, and materials in such a way that the best possible learning can take place. You would also need to indicate how much time would be spent on each activity as well as how you intend organising the activities. List any teaching material/tools that you would also need to prepare or arrange.

7.9.1

Lesson plan Grade Learning area Programme organiser / theme Learning outcomes Introduction (actualisation of existing knowledge/recent work covered/problem statement) Presenting the learning content introduction of new content/skills) Teaching aids Conclusion Application Assessment

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PST131J/501 7.9.2 The course of the lesson The next step is to plan the course of the lesson. The lesson phases we discuss here indicate the course of a lesson. Although it is not always possible or best to slavishly follow these lesson phases, there is usually a basic structure to be observed in a lesson, namely an introductory phase, a middle phase (central phase) and a concluding phase. (1) The introductory phase The way in which a teacher starts a lesson will determine whether the learners will pay attention or lose interest. It is therefore important that you capture the learners interest in the first few minutes of the lesson and explain what you expect of them. You should think of ways to start the lesson as interesting as possible. You should also keep in mind the knowledge that the learners have already acquired. If a lesson links up with a previous lesson, you should establish what the learners remember from the previous lesson. You should try to link the new contents to the learners existing knowledge or experience. For this reason it is best to choose themes from the learners existing knowledge or experience. For this reason it is best to choose themes from the learners everyday life world. When marking homework that you gave the previous day, you should check what the learners know of the previous days work and where there may be deficiencies. If you find that there are deficiencies, you can briefly review the previous days lesson. When planning the introductory phase, the teacher should therefore ask herself the following questions: How can I find out during the introduction what the learners already know about the new lesson content? How can I start the lesson by finding a link with the learners field of experience? How can I use the introduction to build a bridge between what the learners already know and the new content that needs to be taught? How can I obtain the learners interest and how can I motivate them? (2) The middle phase (presenting the learning content) This phase comprises the greater part of the lesson. The lesson contents are presented systematically and in a logical sequence. During your planning, you should determine what you are going to do and what the learners are going to do. You should ensure that your planning allows all the learners to participate in the lesson and that they will all be kept actively busy. Your approach should be learner- centred and not teacher-centred. During the lesson, you should regularly monitor whether the learners are following you and if they are on their way to achieving the objectives. This should be incorporated in your planning. If you realise that the learners do not understand, it is no use continuing as you had planned. You should immediately do something about it. Your should always have a plan B on hand. Make sure that you plan for this. The teacher should know exactly what she wants to say and do, how much time to spend on activities, what the learners should do and how she can motivate the learners, otherwise the class could easily erupt into chaos. The learners should always be actively busy and any new knowledge should immediately be reinforced through exercises. For example, if the teacher is explaining the meaning of a new word, she should let the learners use the word in meaningful sentences.
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The concluding phase The conclusion of the lesson should be planned just as carefully as the introductory and middle part. It has to consist of more than a few hasty words rattled off as soon as the lesson is over. The last phase of a lesson is for summarising or revision. The learners should have an opportunity to apply what they have learned. You should also evaluate whether the learners have achieved the objectives. The value of evaluation is as follows: It gives the teacher the necessary feedback on what the learners have learned and what should be done next. Evaluation helps the teacher establish whether she has reached her objectives or not. It gives the learners the feedback they need to establish whether they have succeeded or failed. It helps the teacher to understand the learners, their abilities and their needs. It serves as motivation and encouragement for learners. They can be tested orally to determine Whether they have followed the general trend of the lesson. The teacher can determine if Anything was unclear during the lesson and she could try to rectify it immediately.

You can give the learners a homework assignment that you should mark the next day. Homework assignments should be considered carefully. They are usually divided into three categories, namely preparatory activities, extension of classroom activities and practising and drilling activities. When the teacher wishes the learners to perform preparatory activities (e.g. practise a role play or prepare a reading lesson) she should give clear instructions. Explain to the learners why it is important to perform preparatory activities. 7.9.3 Review After planning and presenting the lesson, you should review it. Ask yourself the following questions: How do I feel about the class satisfied or dissatisfied? What contributed to the success or failure of the lesson? If I had to present this lesson again, what would I change? Have I achieved my main objectives? Was the class atmosphere tense, relaxed, supportive, restrictive? Were there signs of tension or misbehaviour? Why? How much learner participation was there? Was it enough? Which learners fared well and which did not? Were there learners who did not learn anything? What can I do to help them? Did I motivate the learners enough? Were there opportunities for the learners to apply the new vocabulary, sentence structures and language functions that they learned?

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PST131J/501 SELF-EVALUATION (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) What would you regard as the strengths and weaknesses of the OBE philosophy? Explain your attitude to multicultural groups in the language classroom. Explain what assessment entails. Name the ways in which learners can be assessed. Select a theme and prepare the lesson. Design all the teaching media that you will need to present the lesson.

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