Teaching English at a college of education: a case study in transformation

Abstract

South Africa's decade of democracy inevitably gave rise to a transformed South Africa. She enjoys international status in the world and is one of the foremost countries in Africa. This status requires communication to engender good relations.

Language is one of the key issues facing South Africa. There are eleven official languages in South Africa alone and a host of other languages in the world. English plays a very important role. It has become the lingua franca for South Africans.

This qualitative case study investigated how English how English was taught to primary school pupils. Five teacher-trainees were observed and the lessons they delivered were captured on video camera. The trainees and the pupils have as their mother tongue, Xhosa.

The researcher used purposeful sampling when selecting the teacher-trainees. The schools chosen were in close proximity to the college where the trainees lodged. This was convenient and economical.

The purpose of the study was to establish how orientated the trainees were towards the communicative approach, the recommended approach by the Collegiate of Education, an arm of the University of Transkei. All colleges of education in the former Transkei fell under the jurisdiction of that Collegiate.

Another factor was the transformation and its impact in the classroom. This study addressed the following issues.

* Colleges of Education in transition

* General educational transformation

* State of feeder schools

* Culture of learning and teaching

The literature study included current changes in education that appeared in newspapers of the day. The paradigm shift from the apartheid system to present day was examined in this qualitative research.

The focus of this empirical study was on the method of teaching English adopted by the teacher-trainees. Left to their own resources, the trainees delivered lessons. The data obtained from these lessons were analysed and interpreted using an evaluation sheet.

There was clear indication that the lessons generally were teacher-centred. There was a lack of healthy communication in the classrooms. The passive pupils responded to questions posed by the trainees. The pupils were not given much chance to talk freely to the trainees or even among themselves, though they were seated in groups and groupwork was indicated..

Emerging out of these findings are implications for all concerned : the prospective and present teachers ; tertiary teacher training institutions ; and the Department of Education.

In conclusion, there is recommendation for INSET and PRESET training for teachers, not only for English language teaching but also other subjects across-the-curriculum as the medium of instruction in a majority of schools in South Africa is in English.