Shortcomings of the written survey questionnaire for discovering language learner perceptions: reflections of a researcher

In this article I describe my reflections on using a written survey questionnaire to investigate, on a large-scale, students' perceptions of studying Xhosa as a first language in high schools. I describe the aims of the project, how the questionnaire was designed, and the problems I encountered with the analysis of the data. The problems can be categorised as follows: poor survey design; not doing enough with the responses; questions which only scratch the surface; and, respondents not knowing how to answer questions appropriately. Example questions from the questionnaire are given to illustrate these shortcomings. Recommendations for avoiding similar problems are given. The focus in this article is on the problem questions only; most of the questions on the 80-item questionnaire were successful in capturing the desired responses. The study as a whole, therefore, was a success. (Journal for Language Teaching: 2002 36(3-4): 259-272

So, what's it like to be a language teacher?: hearing our voices: inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes University

Inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes UniversityRhodes University Libraries (Digitisation

Pre-emigration reflections : Afrikaans speakers moving to New Zealand

This article reports on the pre-emigration reflections of 15 Afrikaans speakers, all of whom were in the final stages of preparing to emigrate to New Zealand. The study explores the linguistic histories of the participants, their attitudes to their mother tongue (Afrikaans) and to English, and their views on South Africa's language policy and how it has influenced their decisions to leave the country. The paper also offers a view on possible long-term linguistic outcomes for these families

English in the prison services: a case of breaking the law?

In this paper we report on an investigation into the use of English in a prison in the Eastern Cape Province, run by the Department of Correctional Services (CS) five years after the declaration of an official multilingual policy. The investigation consisted of a range of interviews and observations in this institution, aimed at establishing the extent to which the national language policy is actually being implemented on the ground. Findings suggest that the use of English predominates in the high, official domains, that there is a marked avoidance of Afrikaans, and that Xhosa, the main language of the Eastern Cape Province, increasingly occupies the lower, unofficial domains. Tensions between policy and practice are discussed, and it is argued that the CS has shown that pragmatism is a much stronger force than ideology. While the roles of Xhosa and Afrikaans appear to be in the process of reversing in the Grahamstown prison, English has emerged as stronger there than it has ever been before. And because it will continue to be a necessary prerequisite for the mobility and promotion of staff in the country as a whole, and the lingua franca for an increasingly mobile criminal population (which means the prisons are likely to become increasingly linguistically diverse, rather than settling into regional patterns), everyone will have to have some proficiency in English, which, ironically, will promote and strengthen it even more

Pre-emigration reflections : Afrikaans speakers moving to New Zealand

This article reports on the pre-emigration reflections of 15 Afrikaans speakers, all of whom were in the final stages of preparing to emigrate to New Zealand. The study explores the linguistic histories of the participants, their attitudes to their mother tongue (Afrikaans) and to English, and their views on South Africa's language policy and how it has influenced their decisions to leave the country. The paper also offers a view on possible long-term linguistic outcomes for these families

Two please? Speech differences between men and women in a simple service encounter

Social roles which have a profound effect on a range of behaviour such as occupational choice, relations between friends, participation in political life, and the like, obviously have potential for determining language behaviour. Males and females speak as they do because they feel a particular pattern of speech to be appropriate to their sex. On the basis of utterances produced in buying a cinema ticket, an investigation was made of whether there is a statistically significant difference between men and women in certain aspects of their language use. The typical sequencing of speech acts involved in this simple service encounter was examined. In addition to the independent variable of speaker sex, another variable was introduced: sex of seller/addressee. The results of the investigation indicate that, for the dependent variables selected, there are significant differences between the language used by men and that used by women in this particular situation. The study also shows that sex of addressee did not seem to affect any of the variables under consideration. It is confirmed, then, that sex-specific speech patterns do exist and that, as a result, speaker sex should beadopted as a separate, valid and important sociolinguistic variable

The QUEST for an approach to guided critical reading and writing

When students write about something which they have read (for example, a critical review of a text), they often encounter problems with the style, content and authority of their written responses. This article introduces an approach to critical reading and writing, the QUEST analysis, which provides students with guidance in the form of leading questions. ELT students in two different settings were asked their opinions of using the QUEST analysis approach when reviewing academic articles for assignment purposes. Their comments, together with my own observations, are used to consider its application in a range of different contexts.10 page(s

Using English only in the South African English classroom?

Decisions made about language choice in educational settings are not easy to make: teaching contexts throughout the country are very different, and massive changes in the national language and language-in-education policies have taken place. The inherent power of English and attitudes to all South African languages are also determining factors. This article examines the place of home languages other than English in the English classroom in South Africa. Contextual factors for considering the English only/home language issue are presented The attitudes of student English teachers with regard to the use of the home language in their foture English classes are then examined This exploratory study reveals a difforence in attitude towards the acceptability of home language use between teachers who are themselves English speakers and those who are not. Besluite oor taalkeuse in die onderwys is 'n moeilike saak weens die konteksverskille in die land Groat beleidsveranderinge op nasionale vlak en t. o. v. taal in die onderwys het plaasgevind. Die inherente mag van Engels en houdings teenoor a/le Suid-Afrikaanse tale is verdere bepalende faktore. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die plek van 'n ander huistaal as Engels in die Engels-klaskamer in Suid-Afrika. Kontekstuele faktore vir die oorweging van Engels as enigste taal!huistaal word gebied Die houdings van studente-Engelsonderwysers t.o.v. die gebruik van huistaal in hul toekomstige Engels-klasse word ondersoek. Hierdie verkennende studie toon 'n houdingsverskil teenoor die aanneemlikheid van huistaalgebruik tussen onderwysers wat self Engelssprekend is en die wat nie is nie

Language Teacher Educator Identity

Buku ini memberikan informasi mengenai penelitian terhadap guru bahasa di Columbia yang bekerja secara profesional maupun di lembaga tertentu. Penelitian merujuk pada kompetensi guru bahasa dalam pedagogi, penelitian maupun kepemimpinannya, oleh karena itu penulis berusaha untuk mengungkap aktivitas pengembangan yang dilakukan oleh Guru Bahasa sebagai bentuk pengembangan profesionalisme guru bahasa di masa mendatang

Narrative reflective writing : 'It got easier as I went along'

It has been argued that narrative is a natural way of making sense of experience and that it has a particular value in fostering teachers' reflective thinking. This paper looks at these arguments critically through a study of teachers' responses to narrative writing tasks in coursework. The study focuses on the teachers' perceptions of their enjoyment, anxieties, confidence and understanding in relation to narrative writing before and after the coursework. Findings tentatively indicate that narrative writing did come naturally to most of the teachers but that their responses became more positive as they developed experience in narrative writing within a supportive environment.18 page(s