Jako Olivier

THE INFLUENCE OF AFFECTIVE VARIABLES ON THE ACQUISITION OF ACADEMIC LITERACY

The teaching of academic literacy at university level, internationally and at universities in South Africa, is quite common. Despite a great deal of research on various facets of academic literacy, little research has been done in terms of the influence of attitudes, emotions and motivation as affective variables at the start of an academic literacy module. It is clear that societal and contextual factors have an influence on the emotions, motivation and attitudes of students. This article reports on open-ended questionnaires and a focus group interview conducted with students enrolled in an academic literacy module at the start of the module, as well as an open-ended questionnaire after the completion of the module. The initial phases of the research show students’ negativity towards the module; however, after the completion of the module, students realise the value thereof. It is clear that within the context of the research populations in this study, more transparency is needed regarding the academic literacy test written prior to the start of the module, and students need to be better informed about the module so as not to only rely on peers’ perceptions of the module. Furthermore, modules should be subject-specific rather than generic and relevant to the needs of the students.

Compulsory African languages in tertiary education: prejudices from news website commentary

Abstract Commentary posted by visitors to online news articles shows evidence of their attitudes and prejudices. A qualitative study was undertaken on commentary made by anonymous users on articles relating to Minister Blade Nzimandes statements on the introduction of African language courses in higher education and the introduction of a compulsory isiZulu course at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The tertiary language context in South Africa shows a distinct move from bilingual instruction to monolingual, English-based instruction. Despite the fact that sufficient policy frameworks and infrastructure exist in terms of multilingualism and the promotion of African languages, in reality more has to be done if policy provisions are to be realised. The news article commentaries show contradicting views regarding the teaching and use of African languages and languages more generally at tertiary level. The importance of English was also clear from the commentaries. Furthermore, negative and even erroneous perceptions apparently exist regarding African languages as learning targets. These perceptions lead to negativity, anger and even outright rejection of African languages. It is clear that a lot has to be done to counter ignorance of the social and educational value of these languages. A number of possible practical problems were identified that have to be taken into account by universities. In conclusion, it is clear that negative attitudes have to be addressed by means of language attitude planning and that existing resources at universities should be developed.

Sesotho Online : Establishing an internet-based language knowledge community

Online knowledge communities can affect the status of languages within the internet linguistic landscape. Despite the prominence of English in the online environment, multilingualism is increasingly being promoted in these environments. It is against this background that the status, presentation and representation of African languages are being investigated. This article reports on the contribution of the website Sesotho Online to the establishment of an internet-based language knowledge community for the Sesotho language. In its literature review the article considers the concept of language knowledge communities and the internet language landscape with particular reference to Sesotho. Furthermore, an overview of website usage statistics and qualitative research by means of a descriptive study (borrowing from methodologies of autoethnographical enquiry of the author’s experiences) is provided. Online trends over the past twenty years are mirrored in the development of the researched website. From reflections on this website, some recommendations are made towards future developments in other African languages, for example. In conclusion, through Sesotho Online, clear lessons are learnt for the development of other internet-based language knowledge communities within the South African and other minority language contexts.

A journey towards self-directed writing: a longitudinal study of undergraduate language students’ writing

Writing is key to assessment in university contexts and hence students need to be empowered to effectively function in subject-specific writing environments. In this regard, it is important that students take charge of their own writing development. Hence, the concept of self-direct writing is relevant in this context. The aim of this article is to explore students’ perceptions and practice of self-directed writing and to thereby also evaluate the use of an open-ended questionnaire, an existing self-directed learning questionnaire and student essays as sources of self-directedness in terms of writing. Through these surveys and document analysis diverse, but complementing, results could be drawn. The responses in this study reflect the importance of scaffolding and support provided externally (through lecturers, writing laboratories, facilitators and peers) as well as internally (through reading and continuous writing). Although self-directedness was not very prominently mentioned by the students in the open-ended questionnaire, evidence of a move towards self-directedness in writing was observed. Furthermore, the results of the self-rating scale of self-directed learning showed that most of these respondents regarded themselves as self-directed learners. The document analysis of the essays showed improvement from the first year to the third year. It is also clear that self-directed writing can only be achieved through the facilitation of writing about topics of students’ choosing, promotion of metacognitive strategies around writing as well as adequate peer and lecturer support, feedback and assessment.

Tell-tale signs: reflection towards the acquisition of academic discourses as second languages

Parallels can be drawn between the acquisition of academic discourses and second languages. After enrolling in a sign language course, we – lecturers teaching academic discourses – decided to explore this phenomenon and determine the implications for pedagogical practice. Themes and codes were identified through qualitative analysis of reflection journals compiled during the course. It is suggested that pedagogical practice could be improved by adapting pace and lesson structure to students’ needs. It is clear that motivation is important for skills acquisition and can be facilitated by the creation of learning communities and accommodating different learning styles through differentiation. A safe learning environment is essential where a learning community is supported by effective use of technology. Additionally, an adequate balance of suitable content, opportunities for learning by example, having sufficient tools to reach measureable outcomes as well as creating opportunities for reinforcement of skills could all benefit the teaching of academic discourses.

A blended learning approach to teaching sociolinguistic research methods

This article reports on the use of Wiktionary, an open source online dictionary, as well as generic wiki pages within a university’s e-learning environment as teaching and learning resources in an Afrikaans sociolinguistics module. In a communal constructivist manner students learnt, but also constructed learning content. From the qualitative research conducted with students it is clear that wikis provide for effective facilitation of a blended learning approach to sociolinguistic research. The use of this medium was positively received, however, some students did prefer handing in assignments in hard copy. The issues of computer literacy and access to the internet were also raised by the respondents. The use of wikis and Wiktionary prompted useful unplanned discussions around reliability and quality of public wikis. The use of a public wiki such as Wiktionary served as encouragement for students as they were able to contribute to the promotion of Afrikaans in this way.