Investigating meaningful and critical teaching of poetry in English First Additional Language: a case of two Grade 11 classrooms in Lusikisiki District, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Dlamini, Sibongile Melody
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Poetry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , Second language acquisition , Critical discourse analysis , Literacy -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , Culturally relevant pedagogy -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/130636 , vital:36449
- Description: Poetry stands out among literary genres as a rich resource for language teaching and learning (Danesh & Shirkhani, 2015). However, according to some reports on Grade 12 English First Additional Language in the Eastern Cape, poetry is a particularly challenging genre to both teachers and learners. This background has given rise to this study, which aimed to investigate the critical and meaningful teaching of poetry in Grade 11, a class preparing learners for Grade 12. This interpretive qualitative case study drew on Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory of cognitive development, which states that learners’ best knowledge is produced when co-operative learning takes place, with the help of the teacher. Purposive sampling was used to select two high schools from Lusikisiki district in the Eastern Cape, and one Grade 11 class and one teacher from each school. Lesson observations, document analysis, semi-structured interviews with the teachers, and focus group discussions with the learners were used to collect data. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, Critical Discourse Analysis, Dutta’s (2001) model of poetry learning, as well as insights from Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory were used to analyse data. In addition, Four Reader Roles by Freebody and Luke (1990) were employed as a data analysis tool to find out the degree to which the poetry teaching developed learners into code breakers, text users, text participants and text analysts. The data revealed that both teachers and learners had a limited understanding of and negative attitudes towards poetry, and this affects the way teachers teach as well as how learners learn poetry. It also indicated that a teacher-centred approach constrains meaning and critical poetry teaching and learning. The findings suggested that in place of the traditional way of poetry teaching, teachers need to learn, develop and use innovative teaching strategies to strengthen poetry understanding in learners.
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- Authors: Dlamini, Sibongile Melody
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Poetry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , Second language acquisition , Critical discourse analysis , Literacy -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , Culturally relevant pedagogy -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/130636 , vital:36449
- Description: Poetry stands out among literary genres as a rich resource for language teaching and learning (Danesh & Shirkhani, 2015). However, according to some reports on Grade 12 English First Additional Language in the Eastern Cape, poetry is a particularly challenging genre to both teachers and learners. This background has given rise to this study, which aimed to investigate the critical and meaningful teaching of poetry in Grade 11, a class preparing learners for Grade 12. This interpretive qualitative case study drew on Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory of cognitive development, which states that learners’ best knowledge is produced when co-operative learning takes place, with the help of the teacher. Purposive sampling was used to select two high schools from Lusikisiki district in the Eastern Cape, and one Grade 11 class and one teacher from each school. Lesson observations, document analysis, semi-structured interviews with the teachers, and focus group discussions with the learners were used to collect data. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, Critical Discourse Analysis, Dutta’s (2001) model of poetry learning, as well as insights from Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory were used to analyse data. In addition, Four Reader Roles by Freebody and Luke (1990) were employed as a data analysis tool to find out the degree to which the poetry teaching developed learners into code breakers, text users, text participants and text analysts. The data revealed that both teachers and learners had a limited understanding of and negative attitudes towards poetry, and this affects the way teachers teach as well as how learners learn poetry. It also indicated that a teacher-centred approach constrains meaning and critical poetry teaching and learning. The findings suggested that in place of the traditional way of poetry teaching, teachers need to learn, develop and use innovative teaching strategies to strengthen poetry understanding in learners.
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“Savage” hair and mothers’ hearts: a corpus-based critical discourse analysis of intersectional identities in two South African school setworks
- Hubbard, Beatrice Elizabeth Anne
- Authors: Hubbard, Beatrice Elizabeth Anne
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Women in literature , Women, Black in literature , Critical discourse analysis , Magona, Sindiwe -- Mother to mother , Bulbring, Edyth -- The Mark
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141770 , vital:38003
- Description: This thesis reports on the discursive construal of intersectional physical identities, with particular reference to ‘black’ female characters, in two novels: Sindiwe Magona’s Mother to Mother, and Edyth Bulbring’s The Mark. These novels are prescribed for Grade 10 English Home Language learners in all South African public schools. Gendered identity construction in texts has been widely discussed in critical linguistics, with some research showing that the ways in which bodies are construed reveal the hegemonic and stereotypical gendering of men and women. However, these arguments have not adequately addressed the intersectional nature of identity construction. This thesis employs Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis to investigate the complex physical identities of, especially, ‘black’ female characters in these two novels. The inclusion of Corpus Linguistics is essential for uncovering hidden patterns of language choice, while the analytical techniques and theoretical notions from Critical Discourse Analysis provide the explanatory power that underpins the qualitative analysis. The uses to which nine key body parts are put reveal discourse prosodies showing different intersectional realisations for intimacy, power, violence, emotion, and racial marking. These discourse prosodies are most starkly realised in the two body parts, one from each novel, that are statistically most clearly linked to ‘black’ female characters. HAIR in The Mark is used variously as a racial marker, a target for racism, and a symbol for racial pride. HEART in Mother to Mother is used almost exclusively to symbolise the emotional pain of a mother’s love, and how empathy for another mother’s pain can bridge racial divides. Principal findings reveal that both novels provide very necessary lessons in cross-racial empathy, pride in ‘blackness,’ and interracial relationships. However, it is of concern that these novels also exhibit an over-valorisation of motherhood, largely stereotypical depictions of gender roles, and ableist language. In sum, both novels promote some of the transformative principles of the national curriculum, and are shown to have a bearing on nation building.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Hubbard, Beatrice Elizabeth Anne
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Women in literature , Women, Black in literature , Critical discourse analysis , Magona, Sindiwe -- Mother to mother , Bulbring, Edyth -- The Mark
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141770 , vital:38003
- Description: This thesis reports on the discursive construal of intersectional physical identities, with particular reference to ‘black’ female characters, in two novels: Sindiwe Magona’s Mother to Mother, and Edyth Bulbring’s The Mark. These novels are prescribed for Grade 10 English Home Language learners in all South African public schools. Gendered identity construction in texts has been widely discussed in critical linguistics, with some research showing that the ways in which bodies are construed reveal the hegemonic and stereotypical gendering of men and women. However, these arguments have not adequately addressed the intersectional nature of identity construction. This thesis employs Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis to investigate the complex physical identities of, especially, ‘black’ female characters in these two novels. The inclusion of Corpus Linguistics is essential for uncovering hidden patterns of language choice, while the analytical techniques and theoretical notions from Critical Discourse Analysis provide the explanatory power that underpins the qualitative analysis. The uses to which nine key body parts are put reveal discourse prosodies showing different intersectional realisations for intimacy, power, violence, emotion, and racial marking. These discourse prosodies are most starkly realised in the two body parts, one from each novel, that are statistically most clearly linked to ‘black’ female characters. HAIR in The Mark is used variously as a racial marker, a target for racism, and a symbol for racial pride. HEART in Mother to Mother is used almost exclusively to symbolise the emotional pain of a mother’s love, and how empathy for another mother’s pain can bridge racial divides. Principal findings reveal that both novels provide very necessary lessons in cross-racial empathy, pride in ‘blackness,’ and interracial relationships. However, it is of concern that these novels also exhibit an over-valorisation of motherhood, largely stereotypical depictions of gender roles, and ableist language. In sum, both novels promote some of the transformative principles of the national curriculum, and are shown to have a bearing on nation building.
- Full Text:
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