An investigation into how teachers interpret and implement the curriculum in the further education and training phase in the English first additional language classroom
type: CreativeWork
description: The focus of this research is to examine how teachers interpret and implement the curriculum in an English First Additional classroom. The three sub-questions are (1) what are the theories and aims behind the two prescribed theoretical approaches (the communicative language approach and the text-based approach) as set out in the National Curriculum Statement? (2) how do teachers understand, interpret and use these two approaches? (3) do teachers assist students to develop the appropriate abstract cognitive academic language that is specific for the discipline? This is an interpretive, qualitative study. The data were collected from 27th of July to the 17th of August 2009 in a township school in the Western Cape. To develop thick description and explanations on the findings, the research techniques used were classroom observation, discourse analysis and interviews. In order to avoid any natural bias, and to contribute to the credibility of the study, 'triangulation' was used. The three components were: an examination of the English First Additional Language National Curriculum Statement; classroom observation and interviews. Forty-four lessons of three teachers were observed and recorded, supplemented with detailed field-notes. (In the final analysis, only two teachers' lessons were closely examined as the limited space in this minor dissertation was not sufficient for the detail the analyses presented.) To broaden the perspective, the teachers were interviewed in order to understand their views, theories and experiences. The main tool used to investigate teachers' interpretation and implementation of the curriculum was classroom discourse analysis. This study describes how teachers in one township school interpret and implement the curriculum. The classroom observations showed how the practical realities of teaching were often at odds with what the teachers claimed they were doing when discussing the curriculum on a theoretical level. The tools of discourse analysis…
abstract: The focus of this research is to examine how teachers interpret and implement the curriculum in an English First Additional classroom. The three sub-questions are (1) what are the theories and aims behind the two prescribed theoretical approaches (the communicative language approach and the text-based approach) as set out in the National Curriculum Statement? (2) how do teachers understand, interpret and use these two approaches? (3) do teachers assist students to develop the appropriate abstract cognitive academic language that is specific for the discipline? This is an interpretive, qualitative study. The data were collected from 27th of July to the 17th of August 2009 in a township school in the Western Cape. To develop thick description and explanations on the findings, the research techniques used were classroom observation, discourse analysis and interviews. In order to avoid any natural bias, and to contribute to the credibility of the study, 'triangulation' was used. The three components were: an examination of the English First Additional Language National Curriculum Statement; classroom observation and interviews. Forty-four lessons of three teachers were observed and recorded, supplemented with detailed field-notes. (In the final analysis, only two teachers' lessons were closely examined as the limited space in this minor dissertation was not sufficient for the detail the analyses presented.) To broaden the perspective, the teachers were interviewed in order to understand their views, theories and experiences. The main tool used to investigate teachers' interpretation and implementation of the curriculum was classroom discourse analysis. This study describes how teachers in one township school interpret and implement the curriculum. The classroom observations showed how the practical realities of teaching were often at odds with what the teachers claimed they were doing when discussing the curriculum on a theoretical level. The tools of discourse analysis…
author: Sacks, Judith
language: eng
date published: 2010
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:22:43Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: School of Education

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14753