Approaches to teaching English composition writing at junior secondary schools in Botswana

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the approaches to the teaching of English composition writing in Botswana junior secondary classrooms and to produce models that might enhance the effective teaching of composition writing at the junior secondary school level. The aims of the study triggered the objectives of identifying the challenges posed by the use of such approaches to teachers; determining if the approaches used by teachers inhibit students' performance in composition writing; and proposing possible solutions or models to the challenges in the teaching and learning of English composition writing in the classroom context.

Relevant theoretical and practical literature germane to the study was reviewed and descriptions of the conceptual framework/ the research design, and methodology provided. The study utilized the qualitative technique through interviews, observations, reviews, examination of documents and students' artifacts. Based on the aforementioned methodologies, the major findings were that:

* Teachers utilized mainly the product oriented approach to the teaching of English composition writing. * Teachers were confronted with challenges emanating from the use of the product oriented approach to writing such as surface level errors, wrong grammar/tense, lack of vocabulary and organization skills, and inability of students to compose and communicate effectively in writing. * The teachers' use of the product oriented approach is believed to have among other things, contributed greatly to the students' poor development of writing skills such as wrong spelling and punctuation, lack of organization, lack of ideas and vocabulary, and inability to compose and communicate effectively in writing. * A model to improve the teaching of English composition writing was developed based on the major findings above. Finally, on the basis of the findings and the conclusions made, pertinent recommendations were made to enhance the effective teaching of English composition writing at the junior secondary schools in Botswana.