A Literacy Project with community members: Designing translanguaging storybooks for a multilingual community
- Authors: Senekal, Ischke
- Date: 2023-04
- Subjects: Literacy programs , Translanguaging (Linguistics) -- children's book , Multilingual -– society
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , Thesis
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/60916 , vital:69225
- Description: The purpose of this study was to establish a community-based literacy project that would design translingual storybooks accessible to all children and community members in terms of language, contextual relevance, and age appropriateness for a rural community in the Eastern Cape. Although multiple studies have been done worldwide, more research was needed on the impact community members thought it could have in South African society. This study's theoretical framework was drawn from Cen Williams's (1980) translanguaging. Williams (1980) viewed translanguaging as receiving information in one language (input) and relaying it in another language (output) to expand the competency of the two languages as well as ensure that deeper learning takes place (Wright & Baker, 2017). Translanguaging has evolved throughout the centuries. García and Wei (2014) describe it as a single repertoire that is being used since students integrate their languages and create a new language that they use to function in the world. A qualitative approach was used to answer the research question: "How can a translingual pedagogy enhance communicative repertories in designing community translingual storybooks?" A CPAR design was used to answer the research questions. Through workshops, focus groups, storyboards, and draw-and-talk, the researcher aimed to discover how a translingual pedagogy could enhance communicative repertoires by designing translingual storybooks. Lincoln and Guba's (1985) model of trustworthiness was used to guarantee trustworthiness by concentrating on credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability, and reflexivity. Three main themes materialised from the data: using the mother tongue, isiXhosa, foundation to improve additional languages, interactive and structure-based strategies, and assets and drawbacks while creating resources with community members. The findings of this study indicated that multiple community members sometimes used their mother tongue to aid in the development of understanding additional languages, English and Afrikaans. They needed to learn the crucial roles they played in students' language development since they were the ones that could make those vital connections. The research participants needed an idea of the methods that could be used to design their translingual storybooks. They indicated that they wanted to work with other community members and wanted steps to follow to design these storybooks. The researcher had to present them with ideas of methods that fit their needs. The researcher knew that every study has assets and drawbacks depending on their view, the study's iii aims and goals, and the research question. It was found that the assets outweighed the drawbacks since the participants were an eager group of individuals. The research participants in this study come with a wide variety of knowledge about the needs of their community based on their experiences. They all have different job descriptions, but what brings them together is their desire to improve the community reading resources to improve their linguistic knowledge. The research participants designed the translingual storybooks at home and shared the data via WhatsApp. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, School for initial Teacher Education, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-04
The benefits of an extra-curricular 'reading for enjoyment' programme for primary school learners
- Authors: Trytsman, Jaclyn Wendy
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Literacy programs , Student activities , Holistic education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7213 , vital:21303
- Description: Changing perceptions of literacy over the past few decades have produced new approaches to the problem of how best to improve the literacy competence of primary school learners. Literacy remains a continuous problem in South Africa, as learners lack motivation to read or are struggling to read, write, and learn in a language that is unfamiliar to them. Researchers such as Street (2005) believe that literacy should not be viewed only as a set of skills to be mastered, but rather as something which must be understood in its broader social context. In accordance with this theory, the South African organisation PRAESA uses their Nal'ibali campaign to promote 'reading for enjoyment' and the formation of 'reading clubs' in order to improve learners' motivation to read and thus their literacy competence by increasing their exposure to pleasurable reading experiences. In this study it is argued that reading for enjoyment is beneficial to primary school learners' literacy competence as well as their personal and social development. In this study, Grade 5, 6, and 7 learners belonging to the reading club at a primary school in Port Elizabeth were observed over a six-month period. Data was collected through ethnographic observation of the reading club sessions and compiled into a detailed expository and sequential report. This narrative was then analysed in order to determine to what extent the learners had benefited in terms of their development from their participation in the reading club's activities. The analysis of the narrative demonstrated that learners' literacy competence, as well as personal and social skills such as self-confidence and tolerance, had been enhanced by the learners' voluntary participation in enjoyment-centred experiences with literacy. The findings of this study demonstrate that, in under-resourced schools and communities lacking a strong reading culture, an extra-curricular 'reading club' with a focus on reading for enjoyment was able to improve learners' literacy skills and provide opportunities for holistic growth by increasing learners' motivation to read.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Using a classroom library to promote extensive reading in a Grade 8 class in a Fort Beaufort District School, Eastern Cape : an action research case study.
- Authors: Bushula, Bruce Simphiwe
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Classroom libraries -- South africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , Reading (Secondary) , Literacy -- Study and teaching (Secondary) , Literacy programs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2022 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017333
- Description: This thesis reports on a collaborative action research case study with Grade 8 learners in a rural high school in Fort Beaufort District, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The goals of the case study were firstly, to understand best practices for promoting extensive reading using a classroom library, and secondly, to use these insights to put an extensive reading programme in place with a view to improving my practice as a language teacher and to gain better understanding of ways of enhancing my Grade 8 learners’ literacy skills. The following qualitative methods were used to collect data: observation, semi-structured interviews, class discussion, questionnaires, journal reflections and document analysis. Analysis of data involved identification of emerging themes and patterns. The findings suggest that the strategies used in the extensive reading intervention improved my learners’ levels of engagement with reading. Putting these strategies into practice, and reflecting critically on how to refine them helped enrich my own professional insight and development in relation to the implementation of extensive reading programmes. Since action research is usually designed in spirals of action, this research serves as a first spiral and a foundation upon which to build second and subsequent spirals (which do not form part of this research). The study highlighted the fact that certain challenges that emerged (for example, shortage of books at the learners’ level, and a lack of parental cooperation) need to be addressed in a second spiral of intervention. The study further suggested that the implementation of effective extensive reading programmes by teachers in the middle and upper phases of secondary schooling requires further investigation.
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- Date Issued: 2015