Exploring educators’ views on the pedagogy of writing skills in English First Additional Language of the intermediate phase at Hlabisa Circuit

Writing skill is an integral part of teaching and learning. A significant concern in Education is developing good writers, yet in several studies, learners seem to have writing challenges. This study sought to explore teacher's views on the teaching of English First Additional Language writing skills of Grade 4 learners at the Hlabisa circuit. The study was conducted in rural area schools where exposure to the English language is limited because most people primarily communicate with isiZulu. The social-cultural theory provides the theoretical framework for this study. A qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews and classroom observation was adopted in this study to explore the teachers' views on the teaching and learning of writing skills. Purposive sampling was employed; ten teachers teaching EFAL Grade 4 were selected from ten schools to participate in the study. In this study, Interpretivism paradigm was used to explore educators view in teaching and learning of writing skills. The thematic analysis was used to assemble a detailed description of the data collected. The findings revealed that teachers use various teaching strategies depending on the type of writing genre; the strategies include code-switching, modelling writing, remedial work, colour coding, writing process and writing frame. Moreover, data indicated that teachers receive support from the SMT and their subject advisors in writing skills. However, teachers feel that there is still more that needs to be done by parents to support their children in writing. The data further revealed that learners have a negative attitude towards writing as they are lazy to write, show a lack of motivation, lack of confidence and fear to make mistakes. Furthermore, the findings indicated that teachers face challenges when teaching writing in Grade 4. Based on the research findings mentioned above, this study recommends that technology be included as a teaching strategy for writing, buoyant and open communication between Educators, SMT and Subject Advisors. Also, schools must increase their partnership with parents; more fun writing activities should be developed in schools. Writing should be given more time as reading. There should be adequate training and workshops for educators in teaching writing skills. Moreover, teachers should undergo continuous professional development

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Zululand

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Hlabisa, Samkelisiwe Ncane

• Writing skills, Pedagogy, First Additional Language

Licence

• https://devspace.unizulu.ac.za/bitstreams/9b5410a6-619e-4e9d-982d-7f5c34540710/download