TEACHING NON-INDIGENOUS SPEAKERS OF ISIXHOSA: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF OWN PRACTICE

  • Phumla Kese
Keywords: critical evaluation, third language learning, additional language (AL), student feedback

Abstract

In this article, the author reports on a mid-year critical evaluation of her teaching practice at a multilingual university with students who are non-indigenous speakers of isiXhosa. Data is gleaned from participatory observations, critical-incident journal entries, students’ assessments, views of an outside observer, and student feedback. The conclusion is drawn that to achieve communicative competence in the Xhosa language, the following are vital towards meeting the challenges of students’ anxieties about the course: increasing student motivation, confronting the differences between students’ home languages and isiXhosa, using tutors who are proficient in the students’ mother tongue, as well as encouraging creativity together by keeping a balance between oral and written tasks.

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Author Biography

Phumla Kese
Phumla Kese facilitates learning of different isiXhosa modules at the Department of Curriculum Studies in Stellenbosch University.  She also served at other universities specialising in Teaching Literacy, English Second Language Teaching and Teaching Practice. Her research interests are teaching in multicultural classrooms, academic literacy, parent support regarding helping their kids with literacy tasks, curriculum design and development for language teaching and acknowledgement of slang as a language variety.E-mail address: phumla@sun.ac.za
Published
2012-08-31
Section
Articles