LITTLE LEARNING; LESS GRAMMAR: OBSERVATIONS ON CURRICULUM FOR ENGLISH AS A FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE

Abstract

In this article it is argued that the theory underpinning the Department of Basic Education’s National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) on English as First Additional Language (Grades 10–12) might not be suitable for South African pupils.  This is because it is biased towards a communicative model and, while this approach usually produces relatively fluent speakers of English, it also often produces pupils whose written competence is poor. The reasons for this are partly because of the lack of grammar teaching and the unsuitability of a text-based approach that encourages incidental attention to grammatical structures. It is further argued that a form-focused approach might be a more successful one to adopt within the South African context.