THE TEACHING OF ZULU FIRST LANGUAGE: METHODOLOGY AND APPROACHES

by

ISAAC KHOLAS MNDAWE submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

D. Litt. et Phil.

in the

DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES

in the

FACULTY OF ARTS

at the

RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY

PROMOTER: PROF. L.C. POSTHUMUS

DECEMBER 1997 II

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the thesis The Teaching of Zulu First Language: Methodology and Approaches submitted for the D. Lift. et Phil. degree at the Rand Afrikaans University, apart from the help recognised, is my own work and has not been formerly submitted to another university for a degree.

c'6c(A441--ATURE III

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to:

The LORD God Almighty for it is His glory to conceal a matter, but to search out a matter, is the glory of kings. His divine power gave me everything I needed for life through my knowledge of Jesus Christ who called us by his own glory and excellence.

Prof. L.C. Posthumus, my promoter, for his guidance, incisive comments, invaluable suggestions, detailed and constructive feedback. More particularly, for his gentle and cheerful encouragement at times when progress was difficult.

My wife Dikeledi Irene, who shared all my difficulties. Without her love, prayers and encouragement this thesis would not have materialised.

My children Bongi, Thembi and Sibusiso, for their patience and understanding when I was needed most.

My parents who provided for my schooling, and my brothers and sisters who made a brother out of me.

The truly supportive colleagues in the Department of African languages at The South African College for Teacher Education. Their support served as a major motivating factor.

Mrs. G. H. Hennecke who proofread the first draft chapters and Dr. C. H.

MacKenzie who • spent a great deal of his valuable time editing the manuscipt. IV

SUMMARY

The aim of the study

The primary aim of this study is to:

assess the relevance of the Zulu first language syllabus in respect of its meeting the needs of pupils; investigate and discuss language teaching approaches that may be appropriate to Zulu first language teaching; establish if various types of language syllabuses can be integrated for the enhancement of effective language teaching; integrate teaching approaches.

Method of investigation

The main method of investigation used was the literature review. In this research the focus is on the theoretical treatises, the present syllabus as well as Zulu textbooks and methodology books used for language teaching. Only materials relevant to the study were selected, categorised and discussed systematically in detail under the topics such as: the role of linguistics in language teaching; language teaching syllabuses; learning styles and theories on language learning and teaching; methods of language teaching in the classroom.

The findings were compared with other investigations in the same field of study and were applied to Zulu first language teaching. V

Findings

In this thesis it is recognised that the methodology and approaches in the teaching of Zulu first language is inadequate, since it focuses primarily on theoretical intricacies of the subject. Grammar teaching is not utilised maximally because teachers are to adhere to the theoretical aspects of the subject at the cost of the development of communicative competence. In the teaching of languages such as English, the value of the teaching of grammar has been questioned in the course of time, but not so with Zulu first language. The focus in the traditional Zulu first language syllabus is on grammar teaching, it however, lacks proper application. In the light of the above it is clear that the traditional way of teaching Zulu first language is inadequate. The thesis will hopefully guide Zulu mother tongue teachers into acquiring adequate language teaching skills and techniques.

Recommendations

It is recommended that language teaching should break away from the methodology that does not apply to real-life situations and that language learning should be made useful to learners by applying it to develop their life-skills. Teachers should explain theoretical principles by using authentic or quasi-authentic texts or speech as the point of departure. In other words the theoretical principles should not be merely illustrated by isolated decontextualised examples.

Language teaching should reflect on all four language skills, namely, listening, speaking, reading and writing. An integrated approach to language teaching will enhance the standard of Zulu first language teaching. Therefore, language teaching should not be confined to only one syllabus type, but various syllabus types should be integrated depending on the language need to be addressed. VI

OPSOMMING

Die doel van die studie

Die primere doel van hierdie studie is om:

die relevansie van die huidige Zulu eerstetaal-sillabus te bepaal om sodoende vas te stel tot wafter mate die sillabus die leerbehoeftes van die leerders bevredig; die verskeidenheid taalonderrigbenaderings wat moontlik aangewend kan word by die onderrig van Zulu as eerstetaal te ondersoek en te bespreek; te bepaal of verskillende tipes taalsillabusse geintegreer kan word om sodoende die taalonderrigproses te verbeter; onderrigbenaderings te integreer.

Metode van ondersoek

Daar is hoofsaaklik gebruik gemaak van 'n literatuuroorsig. In hierdie studie word veral gefokus op die teoretiese grondslae van taalleer, die huidige sillabus, Zulu handboeke en handboeke wat handel oor die metodiek van taalonderrig. Slegs bronne wat relevant is tot die onderhawige onderwerp is geselekteer, en sistematies bespreek onder opskrifte soos: die rol van linguistiek in taalonderrig; taaltaalonderrigsillabusse; leerstyle en teoriee oor taalleer en taalonderrig; metodes van taalonderrig vir die klaskamer.

Die bevindinge is vergelyk met die van studies oor ander tale en die resultate is toegepas op die onderrig van Zulu as eerstetaal. VII

Bevindinge

In hierdie proefskrif is tot die slotsom geraak dat die benaderings en metodologiee wat vir die onderrig van Zulu as eerstetaal gebruik word, tekort skiet, aangesien daar te veel op taaluniekhede gekonsentreer word. Grammatika-onderrig word nie toepaslik gemaak nie, omdat die leerkragte te veel op die teoretiese aspekte konsentreer ten koste van kommunikatiewe kompetensie. Die waarde van 'n suiwer grammatika-benadering tot taalonderrig is in die geval van die onderrig van tale soos Engels met verloop van tyd bevraagteken, maar in die geval van die grammatika-onderrig van Zulu as eerste taal het hierdie ontwikkeling nie plaasgevind nie. Die klem in die tradisionele Zulu eerstetaal-sillabus word op grammatika- onderrig geplaas. Die noodsaaldike toepassingskomponent ontbreek egter in hierdie grammatika-gebaseerde benadering. In die hg van die voorafgaande bespreking is dit duidelik dat die tradisionele manier van Zulu eerstetaal-onderrig tekort skiet. Hierdie proefskrif sal hopelik 'n bydrae lewer om Zulu eerstetaal leerkragte te lei om die nodige taalonderrigvaardighede en -tegnieke te bemeester.

Aanbevelings

Daar word in hierdie studie aanbeveel dat weggedoen word met taalonderrig wat nie op werklike lewenssituasies fokus nie. Taalonderrig moet daarop afgestem wees om diensbaar te wees vir die taalleerder en moet ten doel he om sy/haar algemene lewensvaardighede te ontwikkel. Leerkragte behoort teoretiese grondslae te verduidelik aan die hand van spraak en outentieke, of minstens kwasi-outentieke tekste. In ander woorde, teoretiese beginsels behoort nie by wyse van geisoleerde, gedekontekstualiseerde voorbeelde geflustreer te word nie. VIII

Taalonderrig moet op al vier die taalvaardighede konsentreer, te wete luister, praat, lees en skryf. 'n Geintegreerde benadering tot taalonderrig sal die standaard van die onderrig van Zulu eerstetaal verhoog. Om hierdie rede behoort taalonderrig me tot slegs een tipe taalonderrigsillabus beperk te word Me, maar verskillende tipes sillabusse behoort geintegreer te word na aanleiding van die taalbehoefte wat aangespreek moet word. IX

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND ORIENTATION

1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Aims of the study 5 1.3 Hypothesis 13 1.4 Scope and method of investigation 14 1.5 Organisation of the study 14

CHAPTER TWO

LINGUISTICS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

2.1 Introduction 16 2.2 First language teaching in other countries of the world 16 2.2.1 The British context 17 2.2.2 The Australian context 20 2.2.3 The African context 21 2.3 General issues in mother tongue teaching 22 2.4 New trends in language teaching 28 2.5 The place of granunar in mother tongue teaching 32 2.6 Conclusion 36 x

CHAPTER THREE

FIRST LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SOUTH AFRICA: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ZULU

3.1 Introduction 37 3.2 Why a grammar-based syllabus for African languages first language teaching? 37 3.3 The grammar taught in Zulu first language 40 3.3.1 The selection of content 40 3.3.2 Aims regarding phonetics 41 3.3.3 Aims regarding phonology 41 3.3.4 Aims regarding morphology 42 3.3.5 Aims regarding word function 43 3.4 Criticisms against grammar teaching in schools 43 3.5 Assessment of grammar in Zulu first language 46 3.5.1 Mark allocation 47 3.5.2 Assessment of morphology and word function 47 3.6 Conclusion 48

CHAPTER FOUR

LANGUAGE TEACHING SYLLABUSES

4.1 Introduction 49 4.2 Syllabus: a definition 50 4.3 Assumption about language and learning 53 4.4 The structural syllabus 56 4.4.1 Characteristics of the structural syllabus 56 4.4.2 The content of the structural syllabus 56 X I

4.4.3 Goals of the structural syllabus 57 4.4.4 The structural syllabus and teaching methods 58 4.4.5 Selection of the content of the structural syllabus 59 4.4.6 Positive characteristics of the structural syllabus 59 4.4.7 Criticism of the structural syllabus 60 4.5 The communicative syllabuses 61 4.5.1 The notional-functional syllabus 64 4.5.1.1 The content of the notional-functional syllabus 65 4.5.1.2 Positive characteristics of the notional-functional syllabus 66 4.5.1.3 The concept "functionality" in some African language teaching materials 67 4.5.1.4 Criticism of the notional-functional approach 69 4.6 The situational syllabus 70 4.6.1 The content of the situational syllabus 70 4.6.2 Positive characteristics of the situational syllabus 72 4.6.3 Criticism of the situational syllabus 73 4.7 The skill-based syllabus 73 4.7.1 Positive characteristics of the skill-based syllabus 74 4.7.2 Criticism of the skill-based syllabus 75 4.8 The task-based syllabus 75 4.8.1 The positive characteristics of the task-based syllabus 77 4.8.2 Criticism of the task-based syllabus 77 4.9 The content-based syllabus 78 4.10 An integrated syllabus for language teaching/learning 79 4.11 Conclusion 83 XII

CHAPTER FIVE

AN OVERVIEW OF LEARNING STYLES, THEORIES ON LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING AND THE OBE MODEL

5.1 Introduction 84 5.2 Learning styles and strategies 84 5.3 The differences between Ll and classroom L2 learning 88 5.4 Linguistic theories on second language leaning 91 5.4.1 The cognitive anti-method 94 5.4.2 The cognitive code method 96 5.5 Linguistic theories on first language acquisition/learning 97 5.5.1 The behaviourist position 98 5.5.2 The mentalist (innatist) position 100 5.5.3 The interactionists' position 103 5.5.4 The procedural approach 104 5.5.4.1 The structure and function of the child's linguistic input 105 5.5.4.2 The child's cognitive organisation of language 107 5.6 A brief overview of language teaching approaches and methods 109 5.6.1 The Situational Language Teaching Approach 109 5.6.2 The Audiolingual Method 111 5.6.3 The Total Physical Response 114 5.6.4 The Silent Way 116 5.6.5 The Community Language Learning Method 118

5.6.6 The Natural Approach . 119 5.6.7 Suggestopedia 121 5.6.8 The Communicative Approach 124 5.7 The integration of approaches to language teaching 126 5.7.1 Phase one: concrete experience and reflective observation 126 XIII

5.7.2 Phase two: reflective observation and abstract conceptualisation 128 5.7.3 Phase three: abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation 129 5.7.4 Phase four: active experimentation and concrete experience 130 5.8 Outcomes-based Education (OBE) 132 5.8.1 What is Outcomes-based Education? 132 5.8.2 The origin of Outcomes-based Education 133 5.8.3 The fundamental beliefs of Outcomes-based Education 137 5.8.4 Approaches to Outcomes-based Education 137 5.8.5 Language learning in Outcomes-based Education 139 5.9 Assessment in Outcomes-based Education 141 5.10 Will the Outcomes-based Education work? 142

CHAPTER SIX

GRAMMAR TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM

6.1 Introduction 144 6.2 Methods of grammar teaching 144 6.2.1 The deductive method 145 6.2.2 The inductive method 146 6.2.3 The eclectic way 147 6.3 Approaches to grammar teaching 149 6.3.1 Teaching grammar as product 150 6.3.2 Teaching grammar as process 151 6.3.3 Teaching grammar as skill 152 6.3.3.1 Noticing in grammar teaching 152 6.3.3.2 Grammaticisation 153 6.3.3.3 Reflection 154 6.4 The interactive approach to grammar teaching 155 XIV

6.4.1 The qualities of good interactive activities 156 6.5 Teaching grammar in context 162 6.5.1 Social distance 163 6.5.2 Psychological distance 164 6.5.3 Hypothetical distance 165 6.6 Teaching grammar by explaining 167 6.6.1 Adequacy of grammar 167 6.6.1.1 Observational adequacy 168 6.6.1.2 Descriptive adequacy 168 6.6.1.3 Explanatory adequacy 169 6.6.2 Designing and explaining grammar rules 170 6.6.2.1 "Rules should be true" (truth) 171 6.6.2.2 "A pedagogic rule should show clearly what the limits on the use of a given form are" (demarcation) 171 6.6.2.3 "Rules should be clear" (clarity) 172 6.6.2.4 "A pedagogic rule should be simple" (simplicity) 172 6.6.2.5 "An explanation must make use of the conceptual framework available to the learner" (conceptual parsimony) 174 6.6.2.6 "A rule should answer the question (and only the question) that the student's ... (language) is 'asking' (relevance) 175 6.7 Conclusion 176

CHAPTER SEVEN

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

7.1 Introduction 178 7.2 Conclusions arising from a review of the literature 178 7.2.1 Conclusion regarding the place of linguistics in language teaching 178 XV

7.2.2 Conclusion regarding problems related to the prescribed grammar-based Zulu syllabus 179 7.2.3 Conclusion regarding language teaching syllabuses 180 7.2.4 Conclusion regarding theories and approaches on language teaching and learning 180 7.2.5 Conclusion regarding the teaching of grammar in the classroom 181 7.3 Recommendations 181 7.4 Concluding remarks 185

BIBLIOGRAPHY 186

APPENDICES: Core Syllabus for Zulu First Language Higher Grade. Stds 8, 9 and 10 211 Senior Phase (Grades 7-9) Policy Document 244 1

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND ORIENTATION

1.1 Introduction

This investigation was prompted by various problematic issues regarding the teaching of African languages, and Zulu in particular. It takes into consideration the fact that the first people to introduce the teaching of African languages in South Africa were missionaries who were neither teachers nor linguists, but merely preachers of the gospel. This resulted in an inappropriate approach to African language first language teaching in schools. Hence the Educamus (Editoria1:1987:3) says that African pupils and students were taught their mother tongue by way of a second language approach. The basic aim of the missionaries, as far as language learning and teaching was concerned, was to help the native speakers to read and understand the gospel presented in their language. This was no easy task for the missionaries since African languages have unique features which make them distinct from European languages.

The missionaries taught their fellow missionaries and the native speakers through the medium of German or English because they could not teach in the particular African languages concerned. This approach is still currently being used at most tertiary institutions. For instance, African languages in most South African universities are taught to mother tongue speakers through the medium of Afrikaans or English. This no doubt resulted in the approach currently followed in the teaching of African languages in South African schools. Masola (1994) in his discussion of the 2 teacher education syllabus came up strongly against such an approach. Masola (1994:2) points out that:

Most colleges of education teach the methods of English and Afrikaans jointly with that of African languages as though all are to be approached as second languages ... After the completion of the course, aspirant teachers feel that they have more status as academicians (sic.) to teach through the medium of English than of an African language.

This creates a problem for the student-teacher who receives tuition through an inappropriate medium because he then teaches his pupils, who are mother tongue speakers, in the medium through which he learned and studied the language. In this regard Rivers (1968:15) says that "the teacher who was himself taught by the method (for example, Grammar- translation method) and has not had adequate training in modem language teaching methodology continues this tradition". This will surely not promote communicative competence on the level expected from a mother tongue speaker. This can only create problems for both the learner and the teacher.

Another practical problem is that the syllabus for Zulu grammar demands from both the pupil and the teacher an extensive and at the same time intensive and technical linguistics description of the grammatical aspects of the language. On top of that the syllabus clearly states that "besides the many linguistic concepts which the pupil has to acquaint himself with, there are also numerous rules which naturally have to be understood and learnt". The syllabus states that the aim of these rules is that they will not only 3 extend the pupil's ability with language usage, but also provide him with insights into the structure of his language. Such an approach is being criticised by Zulu mother tongue teachers such as Kumalo (1992), who asks the question as to how it benefits the mother tongue pupils to describe their languages according to certain rules. Kumalo (1992:68) states that:

We need to increase the power of our students over language which deals with ideas, and to increase their power over language which expresses feelings. We need to change our methods of approach.

Obviously this type of a syllabus will produce pupils who are grammatically competent yet communicatively incompetent. This is well articulated by Ingram (1978:13), who shows that the approach to the teaching of some of the language components is inadequate for the development of language proficiency. Ingram explains that "one can 'know' a myriad of facts or 'discrete points' in the language and yet remain unable to communicate while someone with less factual knowledge may well communicate more effectively even if less accurately". However, the need to balance and reconcile the two approaches remains.

This problem stems from the tertiary institutions like universities where most lecturers of African languages in most cases specialise in disciplines such as literary theory or descriptive linguistics rather than applied linguistics. Duyvene de Wit and Ntuli (1994:10) make this observation:

In die Afrikatale is daar to veel aandag aan die formele teoretiese kennis, dit wil se vorm, oftewel struktuur, gewy omdat sommige akademici glo dat dit 4

die taak van die universiteit is om 'n deeglike teoretiese opleiding to verskaf. Daar is egter 'n groeiende bewustheid dat kommunikatiewe kompetensie ook hoe prioriteit moet geniet.

Similarly, Ngara (1976:64), quoted by Kashoki (1994), asserts:

In Southern Africa, -Bantu language studies are on the whole abstract in nature and often sound esoteric and less familiar than the study of English or French whose terminology is more commonly understood by the average educated person.

Kashoki actually urges the university lecturers to improve the teaching of African languages in practical ways. He points out that the departments of African languages at African universities "can justifiably be described in effect as faculties or departments of linguistics and little else". Moreover, he states that "the primary preoccupation of these departments as they function today is not the actual teaching of African languages themselves but the structural intricacies of those languages" (Kashoki 1994:8). The nature of the problem facing the teaching of African languages necessitates thorough research into the teaching of these languages.

Brumfit (1985:47) makes the following comments about language teaching:

If there is any genuine discipline seeking to apply linguistic insights, it must have a great deal of relevance to mother tongue work. If applied linguistics can find little to say of interest to mother tongue teachers, questions must be raised of its very status as a useful discipline. 5

This study sets out to determine what will be relevant to the teaching of African languages as a first language.

1.2 Aims of the study

Having given the background and stated the problem on which this study would like to focus, the following is a summary of the aims of the study:

To assess how relevant the Zulu first language syllabus is in respect of its meeting the needs of learners, that is, in terms of the development of communicative competence. To investigate language teaching approaches that may be appropriate to first language teaching. To determine the extent to which various language syllabuses can be integrated for the enhancement of effective first language teaching. To integrate teaching approaches.

The above aims need some elaboration. This study explores what might be worth doing in the teaching of Zulu as a first language. This will be done by way of investigating the literature on language teaching. The content as well as the aims and objectives of the Zulu first language grammar syllabuses will also be reviewed. The results of this investigation are aimed at helping the teacher of Zulu as mother tongue who does not have adequate first language teaching skills to teach Zulu successfully. These efforts to help the teacher are made because the syllabus also fails to guide 6 the teacher in translating the objectives of the syllabus into practical techniques. Instead the Department of Education and Training (DET.) Syllabus for Zulu: Standard 9 and 10 ( 1989: 2 & 47) states:

Exactly how the integration (i.e. integration of different sections of the syllabus in the classroom) will take place, will depend on the methods, approach, and emphasis of the teacher.

Surely the teacher is put in a more difficult position if he does not know all the necessary methods and approaches that the syllabus designer had in mind. What makes this investigation more challenging is the lack of methodology textbooks for first language teaching. Faced with a similar situation Brumfit (1980a:65) observes that "although there are a number of books written for the use of foreign languages, there are very few, if any, for the first language teacher". Hence, there is wide scope for this study to investigate some approaches that would be appropriate to first language teaching.

This study also takes into consideration the fact that for most pupils taking Zulu as a first language, standard Zulu is neither necessarily the first language of the mother or the father nor always their dominant language, e.g. the pupils in the Gauteng Region, to quote but one example. Pupils using other varieties of Zulu which are different from the standard Zulu find the study of the standard Zulu foreign and too difficult. They also develop a negative attitude towards the study of the mother tongue. This calls for an approach to first language teaching which will not hamper the development of language skills or have a negative effect on the language performance of the child. It is hoped that this situation may be controlled with 7 sound approaches and methodology in respect of the teaching of Zulu and will not give rise to what happened in Finland as far as the teaching of the mother tongue is concerned. Hansen (1991:113) describes the situation in Finland as follows:

The public school represented a language norm far away from the vernacular spoken by the people in their homes and villages on the periphery. In that way the teaching of mother tongue came to contribute towards making the public school partly isolated and alien to the people for which it was originally created. When people were confronted with the school and the elaborated speech code it represented, they suddenly recognised that the language they used in their daily life sounded bad, was incorrect and was not good enough to be expressed in written texts.

The above case emphasises the fact that language programmes and courses need to be carefully designed and executed. In fact there is a difference between the "home" language and the "school or classroom" language.

The school teaches a standard dialect. The classroom context should, however, serve as a microcosm of the real world outside, although it can never be exactly the same. At school the child may be confronted with some language registers which he has never heard before.

The main problem with the Finnish public school might have been the manner in which the standard language was introduced at school. Hook and Evans (1982:285) warn that the lack of knowledge of dialectology and the constant attack on dialectal differences by the teachers sometimes has a 8 blighting effect on students. The harmful effect as observed by these authors in the teaching of English is described as follows:

They (students) are made to feel that their language and that of their parents and friends was inferior, sometimes to be ashamed of Some of them did their best to eliminate the variations between their speech and that which the teacher and the textbook said was correct. Others merely did the exercises and emerged unaffected. Still others - the ones adversely affected - concluded that here was only one more piece of evidence showing the uselessness of school; they were penalised because they did not learn to "talk like a book", and often these penalties, along with others imposed by the school, made them decide to drop out at the earliest possible time.

The pupils should be made aware that the standard dialect of any language is not linguistically superior to any other dialect. The problems relating to the establishment of the standard language should be known too. According to Hall (1972:144) there are three kinds of such problems, namely, "the choice of a variety to be preferred above others; the areas of human activity in which it is to be used; and the achievement of recognition for the new standard".

The sole purpose of standardisation is to ensure that "everyone should use and understand the language in the same way with the minimum of misunderstanding and the maximum of efficiency" (Milroy and Milroy 1987: 23). Milroy and Milroy (1987) furthermore explain that if there had not been a form of standardisation by some authorities, the language would break into dialects that would sooner or later become mutually incomprehensible. 9

The standard dialect is used in literature and official documents. It is the variety normally spoken by educated people and used in the news media. Trudgill (1984: 32) says that the standard language "is that set of grammatical and lexical forms which is typically used in speech and writing by educated native speakers" of the language.

The standard language includes formal as well as the informal styles, like for instance the use of "colloquial and slang vocabulary as well as swearwords and taboo expressions" (Trudgill (ibid.)). Trudgill goes on to explain that the concept standard language "does not involve phonetics or phonology although accents do differ considerably in social status".

In their discussion of the varieties of standard English Trudgill and Hannah (1985: 1) explain that students of English as a foreign or second language, when receiving formal instruction, are taught the standard variety of English. In other words, the standard language is taught to both non-native and non- standard dialect speakers and it is used as the written form because of its acceptability as literary language. The speakers of non-standard dialects of the same language usually understand it easily even if they do not use it (Fromkin and Rodman (1983: 251).

The teaching of a standard variety in school is necessary for the first language speakers too. Although the first language speakers understand many varieties of their language, "differences in accent and subtle or unexpected differences in dialect can hamper understanding for them, too" (Trudgill and Hannah (1985:3)). There remains a problem that the 10 standardisation of the spoken language is never achieved because the spoken language constantly undergoes some variation and change. However, Milroy and Milroy (1987:22) have shown that through standardisation a high degree of uniformity can be achieved in the writing system, i.e. in spelling and other aspects of expression deviations from the norm are not tolerated.

Although this section of the work does not aim at discussing standard Zulu, it should be mentioned that the teaching of Zulu implies the teaching of standard Zulu, i.e. the dialect spoken in KwaZulu, especially in the northern part of the region. However, as the language is dynamic and not static, there is a movement towards relaxing the need for the use of the KwaZulu-Zulu and recognising some other dialectal vocabularies, as long as there is consistency in their use. It would benefit the study of Zulu if the guardians of the language acknowledge that historically standard Zulu was superimposed on other dialects.

Regarding the use of the non-standard variety in class, the Cox Report (DES:1989) on the teaching of English, as quoted by Perera (1994:88) recommends that the non-standard dialects should not be treated by the teachers as inferior languages. The Report recognises some social and emotional problems caused by the addition of the forms of standard language to the linguistic repertoires of the pupils. Cox (1991:128) warns that:

Teachers should never treat non-standard dialect as sub-standard language but should recognise the intimate links between dialect and identity and the damage to self-esteem and motivation which can be caused by indiscriminate 'correction' of dialect 11

forms. All children should be supported in valuing their own dialects ... but should also be able to use standard English when it is necessary and helpful to do so in speaking as well as in writing.

In fact the attitude of the pupil who is learning the standard variety should be positive in that the standard variety should be regarded as a means of extending the language he has already begun to acquire.

In the broader perspective, Msimang (1993) in his discussion of the language policy for South Africa calls for the harmonisation of Nguni and Sotho. He envisages that the eleven languages could be reduced to six, that is, (a) Afrikaans and English as official languages; (b) Nguni (Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi and Ndebele) and Sotho (N.Sotho, S. Sotho and Tswana) as national languages; (c) Tsonga and Venda as regional languages. As far as Nguni is concerned, he explains that harmonisation does not intend to favour one dialect and suppress others, nor shall the dialects, like Swazi, for instance, cease to be Swazi because its speakers speak Nguni. He quotes Nhlapo (1945:21) who says that a free flow of Xhosa words into Zulu, and vice versa, should be encouraged. That would help to establish a powerful and rich Nguni language. The Zulu words, when used by the Xhosa speaker or vice versa, should be regarded as synonyms.

It stands to reason that the words of the so-called non-standard dialects of Zulu can be taken as synonyms in the so-called standard form. However, this will not be an easy task for the language teacher and, if not carefully handled, it may cause further complications in the present unsatisfactory situation of the teaching of Zulu. 12

Brumfit (1985:4) proposes the following interesting and practical developments with regard to language courses:

The needs of learners are analysed to find out what kinds of language use are most necessary for them. The syllabus is specified not only in terms of the language items the learners are likely to need, but also in terms of the kind of meanings they may want to express (`notions') and the things they may want to do with their language (`functions'). Materials are developed which take into account the different ways in which people use the language ... Language teaching is seen as an effort to involve the whole person, that it cannot be treated as a purely technical exercise but should relate to students' genuine feelings, interests and needs.

Of all the points mentioned in Brumfit (1985), the above four points are seen to be of the greatest importance in helping the teacher, who should in turn help the learner or the pupil studying Zulu grammar to apply sound techniques in the teaching of language because only sound approaches can help the learner. This whole exercise will find a way of relating the insights of linguists to the solving of practical problems concerning the teaching and learning of language in the classroom (Doughty 1974:11). This will hopefully ease the problem of teachers who teach pupils to analyse or describe the language, instead of teaching them to develop productive skills. In fact there are many mother tongue pupils who have studied Zulu but, as a result of the methods and approaches used, did not learn to use the language effectively. In this regard Yalden (1981:1) says that if that be the case, "wrong methods are used". Because of the dynamism of language 13

Yalden (1983:1) further encourages ongoing research to be done on language teaching. She points out that:

There will always be a demand for sound approaches to language teaching, and therefore it is necessary that our ongoing attention be directed to this work in this area, and that we continue to devote our best efforts to providing superior opportunities for the language learner.

The approaches of Halliday, Mclntosch and Strevens (1964) to language teaching of the native language seem to be very helpful. According to Halliday et al. (1964), the productive teaching approach "helps the pupil to extend the use of his mother tongue in the most effective way". What is more interesting about this approach is that, as Halliday puts it, it "is not designed to alter patterns the pupil has already acquired but to add to his resources; and to do so in such a way that he has the greatest possible range of potential of his language available for him for appropriate use, in all the varied situations in which he needs them" (Halliday et al. 1964:241). This study will not only focus on the work of Halliday et al. but will also look into new developments as far as first language teaching is concerned.

1.3 Hypothesis

The approach to the teaching of grammar in Zulu mother tongue secondary school courses is inappropriate for first language teaching and does not promote communicative competence.

14

1.4 Scope and method of investigation

Language teaching covers a very wide scope of work. This investigation will be limited to the teaching of grammar and the development of productive communicative skills for Zulu mother tongue pupils at secondary school level.

This research will focus on theoretical treatises as well as the methodology books used in the teaching of African and non-African languages. In order to get a balanced perspective in this investigation it will be necessary to consider the latest approaches and methodologies applied in language teaching.

1.5 Organisation of the study

Chapter one is a general introduction. It also gives an overview of current teaching approaches followed in the teaching of Zulu as a first language.

Chapter two deals with the role of linguistics in language teaching. It focuses mainly on the arguments for and against the teaching of grammar at school.

Chapter three investigates the teaching of Zulu grammar to the mother tongue speakers at school level. It is argued that the present approach does not promote language proficiency.

Chapter four discusses different types of language teaching syllabuses which could serve as a guide for the design of the Zulu language teaching syllabus. The possibility of integrating various syllabuses is recommended. 15

Chapter five discusses theories of language teaching. Several language teaching methods are based on these theories. The importance of a knowledge of language learning and teaching theories during the management of learning processes is highlighted in this chapter.

Chapter six discusses practical approaches and methodology in the teaching of grammar in the classroom. This chapter indicates how grammar, when properly taught, can be profitable to learners and how it can play a role in the development of learners' competencies.

Chapter seven offers conclusions arrived at on the basis of findings emerging from a review of the literature. Recommendations are made as to how Zulu grammar should be taught at school level.

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CHAPTER TWO

LINGUISTICS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

2.1 Introduction

Although the needs of society and of students are changing as a result of political change in South Africa, especially in terms of the newly acquired official status of the African languages, up to now the teaching of Zulu first language in schools has shown no significant signs of change. Zulu is now one of the official languages in a multilingual South Africa. That implies that the teaching of Zulu should be upgraded to a standard equal to that of the two well-established official languages, namely, Afrikaans and English. Therefore there should be ongoing appraisals on the teaching of Zulu, not only as a first language but also in view of its newly acquired status as official language. As the main concern of this thesis is first language teaching, it is considered important to establish from the outset how languages are taught world-wide so that, where possible, relevant principles can be adopted.

2.2 First language teaching in other countries of the world

Although it is not possible to discuss the broader curriculum of language teaching and explain fully how first languages are taught internationally, the researcher made a brief investigation of the situation of first language teaching in Australia, Britain, Canada Finland and Africa. These countries were selected due to their state of development in the field of language teaching. For instance, language teaching in Brittain exemplifies what could be the best alternative in the formulation of principles of first language teaching. In Finland, according to Hansen (1991) and Kroon and 17

Sturm (1987), language teaching is in the developmental stage when compared to the British and the Canadian situations. Although language teaching in Canada can almost compare to that in Britain, their situation is comparable to the South African situation in as far as the teaching of first language to native speakers is concerned. Despite some differences in practice, the principles underlying language teaching are similar. Therefore the Canadian and Finnish situations will not be dealt with here. What follows is an attempt to outline some principles of language teaching in Britain, Australia and Africa which may be useful for the teaching of Zulu in South Africa.

2.2.1 The British context

According to Brumfit (1985) the promotion of skills in language teaching received more attention during the 1970s in Britain than the provision of information. At the same time teachers saw a need for the development of social attitudes. Hence, there was much talk about the verbalisation of experiences, which refers to "our reactions to experiences within and outside us" (Stratta, Dixon, and Wilkinson 1973: xi). The verbalisation of experiences was concerned with the production of language, that is, speaking and writing. There was, however, also another type of experiencing in mother tongue teaching, namely experience of verbalisation, which was concerned with the reception of language through listening and reading. This, in fact, focuses on understanding the words of other speakers in context. According to Stratta et al. (1973), this type of experience is concerned with the improvement of a pupil's competence in using his mother tongue. The following aims given by Brumfit (1980a:15) are reflective of the approach followed in British schools as far as the teaching of the mother tongue is concerned:

18

Aims 1. The promotion of skills: (a) Literacy and oracy aiming at accuracy aiming at fluency and comfort; (b) Critical and analytical ability specifically in response to writing and speech specifically in response to literary texts specifically in discussion of the nature of language and how it works by transfer, to all situations, particularly in response to aesthetic stimuli and to rational argument; (c) Social skills, 'poise', particularly in the context of the society of which the pupil is a member; (d) Use of the imagination.

2. Encouragement of attitudes and affective states: (a) Generally liberal, ethical, and humanitarian attitudes through an active engagement with problems of writing and formulating ideas through response to works of literature; (b) Respect for imagination and the intellect; (c) Respect for literary and cultural tradition in general; a particular tradition.

3. Provision of information: (a) Knowledge about literature The English literary tradition The Western literary tradition Literature as a human activity; (b) Knowledge about language the English language the language as human phenomenon. 19

Recent developments, according to Tonkyn (1994:3), reveal that many British mother tongue schools emphasise the humanistic approach and discovery learning in mother tongue teaching. They have abandoned "traditional grammar lessons and form-focused correction of written work in favour of creative writing and the development of fluent, effective speaking".

As far as the teaching of grammar is concerned, the teacher introduces linguistic terminology into the classroom when pupils begin to look closely at their written work. According to Lodge and Evans (1995:105) to introduce linguistic terminology at that particular stage "helps them towards the concepts and vocabulary they need to develop their work".

In the British context, grammar teaching is not confined to the narrow definition of grammar, that is, "the analysis of parts of speech and sentence structure" (Lodge and Evans (1995:106). Instead, grammar teaching pays attention to "the systematic discussion of language in use". Lodge and Evans (1995) agree with the recommendations contained in the Cox Report (DES:1989) that the teaching of grammar should consider the following issues:

the changes in language to suit form, audience and purpose; the different effects which can be achieved in speech and writing; the reasons why some language structures are ambiguous or misleading; the study of elements larger than sentences; the introduction of specialist terminology in context, for a purpose. 20

Lodge and Evans (1995) agree that the teaching of grammar should be regarded as an integral part of everyday work in the English classroom.

2.2.2 The Australian context

The Australian language teaching situation differs from that of Britain. Since Australia is a multilingual society with more than ninety spoken languages, it is impossible for the school to provide for the teaching of all native languages. The society is not only linguistically diverse but also culturally diverse in the sense that the teacher's knowledge of all cultures may be found wanting. As a consequence, emphasis is put on English teaching and learning.

The methodology followed in language teaching in the first years of school is predominantly based on the development of literacy and in the higher education the development of communicative competence. Makin (1992) describes the situation where the learning of English is emphasised and the children's mother tongue ignored in spite of their mother tongue being a functional and communicative tool. However, pupils whose mother tongue is English benefit from the methodology followed. Makin (1992:35) identifies two focus areas for oral language development. The first of these is the extension of the range of meanings that are associated with conceptual development which may help the learner "to express relationships, to describe sequence, to hypothesise, and to reason". The second area of focus entails the extension of the range of subject-specific terminology such as the vocabulary of science or mathematics. Furthermore, there are three models followed in facilitating learning, namely immersion, bilingual education and submersion. The teaching of grammar in 21

schools was discouraged as early as the late 1960s (Watson 1968:5-6).

It seems as if in Australia first language teaching is not as developed as it is in Britain. (One does not expect the methodology to be similar in all countries, since the language teaching methodology followed in each country should be determined by the needs of the society.) Davis and Watson (1990) quote Piper (1983) who describes the situation in Australian territories, where oral development is neglected, as "boring and relying heavily on commercially produced textbooks." Makin (1992:36) encourages proper research into language teaching. She maintains that this should be done since "teachers in higher years (levels) have little understanding of how to teach reading and writing." Makin (1992:37) furthermore states that the courses for teacher education do not help the language teachers to understand the differing needs of pupils, and as a result, teaching is ineffective.

2.2.3 The African context

Here, too, it is impossible to comment on the full scenario of language situations that prevail in the teaching of African languages in African states. The teaching of Zulu, as discussed in this study, serves as an example of the South African situation. Swaziland schools use a syllabus almost similar to that used in South African schools. Generally, the teaching of the mother tongue in African states leaves much to be desired. In the Nigerian situation, which may be representative of many African states, Awoniyi (1982:58-9) cites the following as reasons for the unsatisfactory teaching of African languages in secondary schools: 22

There are few trained teachers, especially graduates, to teach African languages. There are inadequate textbooks in African languages. There are inadequate teaching resources for teaching some of the African languages. The evaluation or testing techniques have been mostly inadequate. The curriculum contains some defects.

These reasons reflect the unsatisfactory the state of African language teaching as mother tongue in many African countries. In fact some of the African languages have not as yet been committed to writing.

2.3 General issues in mother tongue teaching

The teaching of a language as mother tongue poses a problem not only in South African schools but world-wide. One would agree with Brumfit and Roberts (1983:92), who voice the concern that there is no agreement yet as to what constitutes appropriate activities for mother tongue classes. The need for formulating an adequate theory for mother tongue teaching is expressed by Brumfit and Roberts (1983:93), who say:

On the whole, the foreign language teaching has been seen essentially as a technical problem for teachers to overcome, but mother tongue teaching has more often been seen as intimately bound up with cultural value. Teachers have therefore been less willing to concentrate on technical solutions to their problems. Their attitude to 'scientific' claims of linguistics has been suspicious and no other theoretical discipline has won universal acceptance as a basis for language work. Literary criticism, sociology, psycho-analysis, politics and linguistics have all had their advocates, but none of them alone can provide the basis for a 23

theory of mother tongue teaching. (emphasis added).

Brumfit (1980a) points out that there are a number of books/materials written for use by teachers of foreign languages, but very few for first language teaching. It should be mentioned too that many scholars have written extensively on approaches to foreign or second language teaching. However, according to Stern (1983:2), the line of demarcation between first and foreign language teaching is so thin in many instances that it is practically indistinguishable. In many instances the approaches to foreign- language teaching can be successfully applied to the teaching of the first language as well.

Since the issuing of the Report of the Committee of inquiry into the Teaching of English Language, namely, the Kingman Report (DES:1988) and the Cox Report (DES:1989), many approaches to the teaching of first languages have been proposed. These helped the language practitioners to make a paradigm shift towards teaching the language and not about the language. However, this should never be interpreted as meaning that scientific language teaching should be discarded, but rather that first language teaching at school level should, if possible, avoid the teaching of linguistic complexities. Scholars such as Corder (1988) and Nunan (1991) maintain that the purpose for which grammar was written, the intended audience and the author's beliefs on the nature of language determine grammatical presentations. For instance, the grammatical presentation of a linguist writing for another linguist would differ from his presentation when writing for a teacher of a foreign language. Corder (1988) illustrates it as follows: 24

Author Reader Object of 'grammar' Linguist Linguist To illustrate and validate a particular linguistic theory. Linguist Student of linguistics To teach syntactic theory inductively through its application to a particular language. Applied linguist Educated native speaker To systematise in linguistic terms the implicit knowledge of the reader. Applied linguist Teacher of the mother To systematise the tongue implicit or explicit knowledge of the reader in a form which is pedagogically appropriate for his native speaker pupils. (Corder 1988:128)

In the case of the teaching of Zulu grammar at school level, one can assume that some of the aspects were researched so that they could be included into the school syllabus. In fact, one of the aims of teaching first language should be the promotion of oracy and literacy, that is, listening and speaking activities, and reading and writing skills. One would agree that the syllabus that puts emphasis on the teaching of literature, linguistics and culture, helps the teacher to maintain a balance in language learning and assists in language development. However, knowledge in only one of these fields does not constitute the ability to use language effectively (Brumfit & Roberts 1983:97).

This study maintains that first language teaching should view the promotion of language skills as more important than the provision of information about the language. Hook and Evans (1982), in their discussion of the teaching of high school English, say that less 25

grammar should be taught to students who are native speakers. Hook and Evans (1982: 248-9) point out:

Old teachers, who spent class hour after hour having students underline subjects and encircle verbs, or comment on the grammatical characteristics of every word ... or drew sentence diagrams that looked like something from a geometry book - such teachers did not produce many students who loved and respected the language and used it effectively. Neither did those younger teachers whose students drew vast sentence trees and struggled painfully with the construction of phrase structure rules that resembled equations in advanced algebra.

This leads to the conclusion that the teaching of the mother tongue at school level should concentrate on improving the use of the language. The above writers do not advocate the total abandonment of grammatical study. They point out that there is a need to show how the language works, that is, "how parts cooperate with each other to assist us in the expression of meaning". Hook and Evans (1982:249) further argue:

For this purpose we need not traditional, structural, transformational, or some other conventionally recognised grammar, but a pedagogical grammar. This is one that selects from the welter of theories and terms just those few that will help ordinary students (few of whom will become linguists) to understand the basic characteristics of the most powerful tool they are likely to own, their language. (emphasis added)

The basic problem faced by the first language teacher of the advanced pupils world-wide is the fact that more research has been done on language learning or language acquisition for beginners and less on that for advanced pupils. Most psycholinguists 26 researching first language acquisition/learning, have focused on children from the early stages up to the age of eleven.

It is assumed that the pupils in secondary schools already know the structure of their language. However, the works of Webb and Beaukes (1991) and Strauss (1991) indicate that many mother tongue speakers cannot express themselves fluently in their mother tongue and cannot use the language effectively. Therefore, when teaching first language it is important for the language teacher to start off by establishing or exploiting what the pupil already knows and to then improve on it. The pupil should be able to organise the information he has into a meaningful network of knowledge. The teacher should help the pupil to relate the new knowledge to already existing knowledge. Should linguistic knowledge be taught, the focus should be on the development of both the learner's linguistic proficiency and performance.

Halliday et al. (1964) made valuable contributions towards first language grammar teaching. These scholars laid a strong foundation for language teaching that has remained valid to this day. They divide language teaching into three components, namely the prescriptive, descriptive and the productive component. A full discussion of these components lies beyond the scope of this study; instead, a brief description of each of these approaches will be given below.

In prescriptive language teaching the existing skills are worked on and some patterns of activities that have been successfully acquired are replaced. In this approach the rules, including the do's and don'ts, are emphasised. 27

In descriptive language teaching the teacher demonstrates the way language works. The skills that have been acquired are not altered but discussed.

In the productive language teaching approach new skills are taught. Halliday et al. (1964) seem to be in favour of the productive language teaching approach. This approach helps the child to improve his use of his native language in the most effective way. The purpose of the approach is not to alter the patterns already acquired by the child, but to "add to his resources". This should be done in a manner that will enable him not only to use all the potentialities of his language, but to use them appropriately in various situations.

The productive approach does not focus on formal patterns. It encourages the child to learn the grammar and lexis of his mother tongue in the same way as he learns them outside the language classroom. Halliday et al. (1964) further point out that the child needs to be taught the varieties of the language appropriate to different situations. Although the child will be learning what is not completely new to him, in his mother tongue class or in his extracurricular use of, for instance, spoken or written language, there are always features that he may come across for the first time in his mother tongue class. Halliday et al. (1964:244) state:

Productive teaching is a familiar feature of the native language class; enough has perhaps been said to suggest in what ways it might be broadened in coverage and application. The aim is the most effective use of English. We have tried to make clear the distinction between value judgement on language itself, on particular patterns or varieties, and assessment of the effectiveness of the use of language in relation to specific purposes. There is no 28

such thing as 'good English' in the abstract. But there is such a thing as 'appropriate and effective English for the given purpose', and it is the ability to speak and write such English that productive teaching seeks to develop.

These scholars also suggest that prescriptive teaching should be reduced to a minimum. Valid scientific description should be introduced and the scope of productive teaching should be broadened. The teaching of the mother tongue should relate and must be seen to relate to 'how we use language to live'.

2.4 New trends in language teaching

The emphasis in language teaching is shifting from the teaching of formal grammar to the teaching of language functions. A discussion of the place of grammar teaching is complex and remains a controversy in language teaching in that it means different things to different people. Nunan (1991: 154) discusses three different views on what is meant by grammar teaching. What he says can be briefly summarised as follows: The teaching of grammar entails the formal explanation of grammar rules. It provides learners with practice in mastering common grammatical patterns through a process of analogy rather than explanation. It gives pupils the opportunity to use the language in various realistic situations.

There will always be a problem in the teaching of grammar if only one of the above views were to take prominence. Regarding language teaching, Stern (1992: 127) points out that there is no single answer to the question as to how to handle grammar in the 29 classroom. No wonder the teaching of grammar is an unending debate. In fact formal grammar teaching in all its diversity has been severely criticised. Lack of proper application of grammar to language teaching resulted in the disappearance of the teaching of formal grammar in most (if not all) English-language schools.

Looking at the teaching of the English language as a prime example for thorough research in first language teaching, Smith and Taylor (1994: 220) say that teachers, who as students endured laborious tasks of the empty analysis of clauses, are unwilling to cause their pupils to suffer something which they associate with a regimen of meaningless exercises. This clearly shows that the nature of the grammar that was taught to such teachers whilst they were still students made little contribution towards their language learning. Notwithstanding the above arguments, it should be taken into consideration that basic grammar will actually strengthen pupils' competence in both written and spoken language.

Stubbs (1986:4) discusses and refutes some arguments against (and for) teaching linguistics. In his argument he points out the following alleged reasons for not teaching linguistics in school:

"Linguistics has been no help to teachers so far." It is true that linguistics, or formal grammar based on the traditional method of teaching, have not been helpful to either teachers or students.

"Linguistics is too difficult for teachers." Teachers are supposed to be scholars and they should keep themselves abreast of any new development in their field of specialisation. The professional linguist, too, should not "select what is 30

clearly irrelevant to teachers in contemporary linguistics" (Stubbs 1986:5) and present such for school use.

"But simplified linguistics is no good either." To simplify linguistics for teachers does not mean linguistics should be vague or shallow, but that it should be presented in an intelligible and accessible way.

"Teachers are practical, down to earth people, who don't need all this theorising." In answer to this view, Stubbs (1986:5) explains that teaching is always based on some kind of theory and that "all teaching is theory-loaded, and all theories are value-loaded".

Stubbs further explains that theories help teachers to explain the reasons why they do certain things in a certain way. Moreover, there are some things that can only be explained in theoretical terms; for example, why the Zulu nouns umuntu and umuthi are not classified into a single noun class. How does the Zulu adjective function as a pronoun. How does the Zulu spelling system work? and so on.

Although without grammatical rules learners would be unable to communicate clearly, not all forms of grammar teaching can help the learner. In this regard Brown (1980:239) discusses the use of scientific grammar, like, for instance, the transformational grammar, and he points out that it "was valuable to language teachers for its implications, not its applications ... and helpful for grammarians ... but not helpful for the language student". 31

Protherough, Atkinson and Fawett (1989: 48) draw our attention to the problems that arise when the teaching of formal grammar disappears from schools. The following points need to be mentioned here:

A vacuum exists in which nothing has replaced formal grammar because teachers are uncertain of what should be known. There is a loss of structure; hence some classes follow a series of one-off English activities with no apparent shape, rationale or developmental sequence. There is a false assumption that, because language acquisition seems natural, therefore language development is also a kind of automatic process - whereas evidence suggests that the rate and extent of language development depend on the situation and guidance.

Nunan (1989:13) also says:

For some time after the rise of CLT (Communicative Language Teaching), the status of grammar in the curriculum was rather uncertain. Some linguists maintained that it was not necessary to teach grammar, that the ability to use a second language would develop automatically if the learner were to focus on meaning in the process of using the language communicatively. In recent years, this view has come under serious challenge, and it now seems to be widely accepted that there is value in classroom tasks which require learners to focus on form. It is also accepted that grammar is an essential resource in using language communicatively.

From the above it is clear that the teaching of grammar is still necessary to guide the language development of the pupil. It is 32

also necessary for the teacher not to depend on his language intuition, but to consult and use other sources of information. This brings us to the question of the place of grammar in mother tongue teaching. Since there are some arguments for and others against, the following section will briefly look at some writers' views about the advantages brought about by grammar teaching.

2.5 The place of grammar in mother tongue teaching

The first language teaching approach and its objectives obviously affect the language content of the teaching/learning material used at school level. Since it has been pointed out that not all forms of grammar teaching are beneficial to the learner, the focus will be on the reasons for including grammar teaching in the syllabus and the nature of the grammar that ought to be taught to first language speakers at school level. When the question of the role of grammar teaching is raised, people become interested and attack or defend it depending on their preconceived ideas about language teaching. They take a firm stand and tend to ignore the counter arguments. The main problem is that there are still conflicting ideas as to what is to be taught to pupils and what is appropriate in schools. Teachers are also not sure whether it is a knowledge of grammar or a knowledge about grammar that is important and is to be presented to the pupils.

Hudson (1992:181-188) discusses the following reasons for teaching grammar as part of first language teaching:

(a) "To build linguistic self- respect" As a result of grammar teaching, speakers may develop linguistic self-confidence. Being bad at speaking is a socially disastrous situation due to the fact that 33 speech permeates the whole of one's social life. Grammar teaching/learning can play a role in developing such confidence.

"To help in teaching the standard language." Without the teaching of standard language, language teaching will be haphazard. Although all dialects are equal, some sort of rule should be followed, keeping the teaching of language uniform.

"To help in improving performance." The teacher is able to correct the learner like, for instance, in the case of the Zulu concordial agreement system, where a speaker may use Izingane as a subject but unconsciously use the concord of abantwana. (This is also discussed under paragraph 5.5.4.2 in this thesis.)

"To help in learning foreign languages." Explicit grammar teaching plays an important part in language teaching. When learning a language, adults, unlike children, like to compare the foreign language with their native language.

"To increase linguistic and cultural tolerance." In grammar teaching some dialects, or languages other than the local non-standard language should be included. These should be accepted as other varieties "rather than as an object of mockery and contempt". 34

"To teach scientific methods and analytical thinking." The implementation of discovery- learning will help the child to develop analytical thinking. This will help him learn to observe, generalise, solve problems and know that in principle the world is orderly and intelligible.

"To protect against linguistic exploitation" Children are to be taught to read critically and be able to assess the purpose of a text whether it is an advertisement or propaganda or contains any of the various kinds of prejudice.

"To help understand language problems." This is rather abstract to be taught in detail at school level. By this Hudson (1992) refers to problems like slow speech development, speech affected by illness, and so on.

"The deepening of a general knowledge of language." This aspect has to do with the various language registers such as those used by clerics, novelists, lawyers, and so on.

Svartvik (1986), a Swedish scholar, lists a number of "misuses" of grammar in mother tongue education - misuses which are also experienced as far as Zulu first language teaching is concerned. This clearly indicates that the problems encountered with the teaching of Zulu first language are not unique. Svartvik (1986:21) makes the following observations: 35

Grammatical insight is not connected with language practice but taught in isolation, as a meaningless study. Often, not only the pupils but also the teachers do not know what reason there may be for studying grammar ... . The study of grammar is allowed to structure the teaching of language use; e.g. taking parts of speech as a starting-point in the teaching of grammar does not improve language proficiency ... . Grammar, in the sense of descriptive rules for a language system, need not be understood as normative rules. No matter how often we, as linguists, repeat this fact, the language as described will nevertheless become the prestigious language. The detailed descriptive analysis of language is so complicated that it has no pedagogical value.

Svartvik (1986) urges authors of pedagogical grammars not only to improve the description of the language, but also to improve the use of such a description. "Pedagogical grammar" here means what Brown (1980:238) calls "a grammatical description of language specifically designed as an aid to teaching that language".

Protherough et al. (1989) list guidelines that can be taken into consideration in the discussion of what is appropriate in the teaching of school grammar. Protherough et al. (1989: 49) propose that in the teaching of grammar there should be a clear distinction between:

The implicit, experiential knowledge which all children have and the explicit, theoretical knowledge that classifies it. The specific knowledge of mother tongue language and the wide knowledge of 36

language that can include second (and sometimes third) languages. The analytic knowledge of structures and the sociolinguistic knowledge of how language is used for different purposes in the different contexts. The knowledge that is perceived as appropriate for pupils and that which is thought necessary for their teachers.

First language teaching is also faced with the challenge of maintaining a balance between the learning of grammatical rules and practice in the active use of the language by students. In other words, the pupil should be taught to formulate rules and to develop his implicit knowledge about grammar as a native speaker, and he should also be helped to develop his ability to talk explicitly about how language works. The pupil should be taught to use language fluently, without hesitation, and without concentrating on the form of what he is saying as he modifies it according to the context of his purpose. Thus, the learning of grammar rules should be a means to an end.

2.6 Conclusion

This chapter has shown that grammar teaching as an end in itself results in attainment of inadequate levels of proficiency. The knowledge of linguistics and its contextual variations proves to be valueless unless it is used to achieve desired communicative tasks. Seemingly, the problem stems from inefficient methods of teaching as there is no comprehensive study available to provide the methodological insights that are needed to rectify the situation.

37

CHAPTER THREE

FIRST LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SOUTH AFRICA: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ZULU

3.1 Introduction

Approaches to mother tongue teaching vary from one language group to the other in South Africa. If one compares the core syllabus for Zulu first languages higher grade with the English first language syllabus, it becomes clear that the syllabuses for Zulu and English are two extremes as far as the grammar that is taught to mother tongue students is concerned. To mention but a few examples, the English syllabus is communicative, whilst the Zulu syllabus can be described as structural; the English syllabus does not emphasise grammar teaching and insists on the practical use of language rather than on the study of formal language, whilst the Zulu syllabus lists a number of grammatical concepts which should be known by a mother tongue pupil. Although grammar is taught in English first language, the syllabus does not encourage a detailed grammatical description of language like the one for Zulu does. In order to put this discussion into proper perspective, the planning and nature of school syllabuses for African language mother tongue speakers will be looked into.

3.2 Why a grammar-based syllabus for African languages first language teaching?

The question may be asked why a great deal of technical grammar should be taught in African language first language teaching? There is no satisfactory answer to this question, except to say that the work 38 done at universities greatly influenced the syllabus for schools. Surely, there is a need to design a school syllabus that would enable pupils passing the matriculation examination to bridge the gap between school and university work. Snyman (1986:91) expresses his opinion on the new 1987 syllabus for African languages, of which Zulu is part, as follows:

We at the Universities are looking forward in anticipation that we will in the future (sic) be enrolling well-trained students displaying insight in the mother tongue because for the first time we do have a school syllabus that enables pupils to bridge the gap to the University syllabus. (emphasis added)

If all pupils doing, for instance, Zulu first language, are being prepared as language teachers and nothing else, the above comments would be justifiable. However, if the other aim of language teaching is to equip the child with life skills and to prepare him/her for a vocation after passing the matriculation examination, this objective is unacceptable. Bell (1981:54) also discusses the grammar syllabus and points out that:

The aim of teaching the whole of the grammar may well in itself be inefficient, not only because it is virtually an unattainable goal but also because few learners will ever need the whole of the grammar in order to communicate.

The African languages school syllabuses were drawn up by college and university lecturers in consultation with officials from the Department of Education and Training (DET). School teachers were never involved in the process. Unfortunately, some of these 39 university lecturers lack pedagogical training and consider their main task to be research rather than teaching (Ingram 1978:3).

The lecturers' lack of teacher educational training makes them less aware of the real problems facing the teacher in the classroom and also less aware of alternative methods and hence less critical of established pedagogical traditions (Ingram 1978:3). In this regard Ingram (1978:8) maintains:

The fact that they (university lecturers) succeeded sufficiently well in the existing system to become staff of language departments makes them less likely to see faults in the system and therefore more likely to perpetuate the (for instance, grammar-translation) approach that they themselves experienced.

Askes (1978:16) comments about the syllabus for first language pupils and states that it should aim at the extension of their basic knowledge of language "known as linguistic dexterity". Such a syllabus should include "aspects such as vocabulary enrichment, cultural refinement, structural perfection and the development of the child's creative and critical use of language".

The Zulu syllabus complies with these requirements except that the grammar section is too technical. What should receive attention in the teaching of African languages, particularly Zulu, is language proficiency and performance as expected from a first language speaker. 40

3.3 The grammar taught in Zulu first language

According to the work of Kosch (1993:49 et seq.) and Wilkes (1987:16), the development and approaches to the study of African linguistics had a great influence on the syllabus for mother tongue speakers. These approaches, the classical, the functional, the structural and the modern periods discussed by the above scholars do not, however, refer to approaches to language teaching, but rather to linguistic study. The nature of the descriptive linguist's work and his interest are directed at a description and explanation of the phenomenon of language, rather than the problems involved in the learning and teaching of specific languages (Bell 1981:26).

The information supplied by the descriptive linguists is always helpful to the language teacher. However, in the process of syllabus design for Zulu mother tongue speakers, it seems as if applied linguists were not consulted. The involvement of applied linguists would have helped in maintaining the balance between language description and its application in language teaching. The applied linguists, with their applied linguistic knowledge, would have helped in solving the problem of the gap that exists between the theoretical discoveries of descriptive linguists and the practical needs of first language pupils in the classroom.

3.3.1 The selection of content

The syllabus for Zulu first language consists of three main components: namely, grammar, composition and reading, and literature. Each component has its aims and objectives. The scope of the work to be covered in each component is very broad. For the 41

purpose of this study it will suffice to focus on aspects of grammar such as phonetics, phonology, morphology and word function only and take that as a starting-point for a brief discussion on the teaching of linguistics in schools. These aspects will serve as an indication of the grammar taught at school level.

3.3.2 Aims regarding phonetics

The syllabus states the amount of content the learner should have completed by the time he passes matric. The content entails the transcription of "all words of his language phonetically", the description of "all speech sounds of his language in terms of their articulatory features". In addition to that, pupils must have an elementary knowledge of how tone distinguishes words (lexical tone) and how tone distinguishes grammatical structures from each other (grammatical tone). Phonetics is not treated in an interactive manner in the textbooks. Its treatment does not go beyond the prescription of the syllabus in that there is no guidance leading school teachers and pupils towards understanding its relevance in language learning.

3.3.3 Aims regarding phonology

There are no serious problems regarding the study of phonology, since the syllabus recommends that sound changes should be studied in the context of the word and sentence. The only disturbing factor is that teachers describe the conditions under which these sound changes take place without relating them to authentic communicative situations. Secondly, the syllabus does not state the brevity of the treatment of phonological features such as palatalisation, nasalisation and elision. As such, various textbook writers discuss various aspects 42

of phonology that they deem suitable for the student's level of understanding for the particular standard. The teacher, too, would follow the view given in the textbook given to him, in some instances; without comparing it with others. In the event of discrepancies being found, he faces the predicament of not knowing which view to follow.

3.3.4 Aims regarding morphology

The syllabus states that the aims in the morphology are to:

analyse words morphologically within the context of the sentence and to identify and name the constituting morphemes.

In the case of verbs, for example, this would mean that the pupil would have to be able to identify and name all formal features indicating the mood of verbs in a sentence such as, for instance, the various forms assumed by some subjectival concords in the different moods, the ending -e which is characteristic of, for example, verbs in the subjunctive mood.

name the word class to which a word belongs.

The point at issue here is the teaching and learning of language analysis which Hartwell (1985:109) calls grammar 2 (that is, "the branch of linguistics which is concerned with the description, analysis, and formularisation of formal language patterns"). He says that though it is of "great theoretical 43

interest to the composition teacher, it is of little practical use in the classroom" (Hartwell 1985:114).

3.3.5 Aims regarding word function

Here the syllabus requires the pupil to:

know the most important syntactic characteristics of each word class and to be able to identify them in the sentence, and

know and master the necessary syntactic terms such as, for instance, subject, direct and indirect object, predicate, qualificative and agentive adjunct, descriptive (adverbial) adjuncts of time, place manner, determiner, and so forth. (DET: 1989 Syllabus for Zulu: Standard 9 and 10.)

3.4 Criticisms against grammar teaching in schools

The morphology and syntax discussed in the foregoing paragraphs should be done in terms of twelve Zulu word classes (parts of speech), namely:

(a) Substantives: Noun 1 Pronoun 2. (b) Qualificatives: Adjective 3. Relative 4. Enumerative 5. Possessive 6. 44

(c) Predicative Verb 7 Copulative 8. (d) Descriptive Adverb 9. (ii) Ideophone 10. (e) Conjunctive 11. (f) Interjective 12.

On the face of it, this may seem to be a small amount of work. However, the syllabus explains the content of morphology and word function in no less than twenty two pages. To complicate the matter further, the exposition of the content is so technical that the syllabus is not interpreted in a uniform way by the authors of grammar manuals and as such it is taught differently at different schools using different textbooks. In this regard Mndawe (1992) discusses and cites some of the difficulties faced by the authors of Zulu grammar manuals. He points out that information on some aspects of Zulu grammar is not found in any of the approved Zulu grammar books, but occurs in various articles. In some cases these aspects of grammar are still being debated. The authors and the textbook writers vacillate on grammar issues. In fact it is doubtful if linguists manage to communicate their grammatical findings to language teachers in an accessible form.

Hartwell (1985:120) is very critical about grammar rules as presented in some school textbooks. He points out that sometimes students are required to behave in a manner that is not similar to that of mature writers. He says: "I have never in my life tested a sentence for 45 completeness, and I am a better writer - and probably a better person - as a consequence."

The frustration of teachers regarding the teaching of grammar becomes evident when linguists fail to agree among themselves as to which is the best method of grammatical analysis. Allen and Widdowson (1975:45) describe the dilemma in which language teachers find themselves:

On the other hand, traditional grammar was supposed to be 'unscientific' and therefore unworthy of serious consideration, while linguistics seemed to be a highly esoteric subject beyond the comprehension of any but the most dedicated of University scholars. ... As a result many teachers became disillusioned, not only about modern linguistics, but about linguistics in general, including traditional grammar, and there was a widespread reaction against grammar-teaching in the schools.

Posthumus (1994) also mentions some important discrepancies as far as the treatment of morphology in African languages is concerned. He points out that grammarians are inconsistent in that they opted for a root-based morphology, yet they do not always analyse or describe the morphological processes from the root. Posthumus (1994:29) argues:

How else could they account for the fact that they refer to the verb categorial morphemes -a, -e and the verbal extensions as suffixes or to the subjectival, objectival and aspectual morphemes as prefixes? It is, however, quite clear that the linguists are inconsistent in their 46

application of the principles that should apply to root- based morphology.

Posthumus (1994) clearly indicates that some of the problems experienced in the teaching of Zulu can easily be overcome by opting for word-based morphology, since in African languages the morphological structure of the verb suggests that the morphological processes are not applied to the root, but rather to the word (Posthumus 1994:32).

The syllabus is unfair in that it demands that authors, teachers and students should give the conditions under which morphemes like, for instance, the present tense -ya- operate, whilst scholars hold different views about such conditions. The syllabus, in its present form, seems to have disregarded the dialectal differences in this regard. This lack of harmony has definite negative effects on the teaching of Zulu and it must be given immediate attention by involving the different stakeholders so that they can reach consensus. Secondly, the promotion of the teaching of grammar in context could help solve part of this problem.

3.5 Assessment of grammar in Zulu first language

The evaluation in the matriculation examinations clearly indicates that the examination of linguistic technicalities receives more attention than the application of descriptive grammar to communicative strategies. Mark allocation could be a plausible reflection of how important an aspect is in the Zulu syllabus. 47

3.5.1 Mark allocation

The marks for the written examination are divided as follows:

Paper 1 Written composition 25% Paper 2 Comprehension test (10%) and grammar (35%) 45% Paper 3 Literature 30%

The mark distribution clearly indicates that teaching should focus on the teaching of comprehension test and grammar, for instance, paper 2, which carries more marks than paper 1 and 3. An analysis of the present school syllabus reveals that the mark allocation for the grammar section as such is distributed as follows:

Phonetics 11% Sound changes 8% Morphology and word function 43% Syntax (moods) 15% Semantics 15% Vocabulary 8%

3.5.2 Assessment of morphology and word function

Regarding the assessment and testing of morphology and word function in the fmal examination, the syllabus states that it must be such that it tests the required insight of the candidate into the grammatical structure. Since the syllabus is based on language structure, it is no surprise that morphology and word function should constitute 43% of the total amount of work to be done in the teaching of Zulu grammar. It stands to reason that what is accorded special 48

emphasis in the teaching of the Zulu language is an analytical inquiry at the expense of the actual teaching of communicative skills. It is even doubtful if this approach will cause pupils to be grammatically competent.

3.6 Conclusion

It is doubtful whether the current approach followed in the teaching of Zulu will in any way help fulfil the present needs of society. As far as language teaching is concerned, the teaching of Zulu first language does not correspond with what is happening on the international scene either. The present approach to first language teaching is unsatisfactory in that the proficiency levels attained are found to be inadequate, and the objectives sought, as assessed from the Zulu first language matriculation examination, have little relevance to current needs, or the degree of language proficiency expected from the first language learner.

Secondly, the present syllabus demands that the Zulu first language teacher should teach Zulu grammar as if he is dealing with descriptive linguistics, rather than teaching pedagogical grammar. The present approach followed in the teaching of grammar is definitely not satisfactory for the classroom requirements with regard to first language learning and teaching. In fact, due to different points of view, there is a need to determine the needs of advanced mother tongue pupils. That would determine what should be taught to first language speakers. 49

CHAPTER FOUR

LANGUAGE TEACHING SYLLABUSES

4.1 Introduction

Any syllabus expresses particular assumptions about language, the process of learning and possible contributions to the classroom. Since this study is aimed at investigating the learning and teaching of grammar, this thesis will not delve into all the principles of general language syllabus design in detail. It will concentrate on those aspects that can guide the drawing up or choosing of a language syllabus for teaching the grammar section of a language, which appears to be problematic in the teaching of African languages, particularly Zulu as first language. For instance, students complain that the study of grammar is uninteresting. On the other hand, teachers complain that the work they do in grammar is repeated year after year and seems to be irrelevant in that it does not improve their students' language proficiency. According to Brumfit and Roberts (1983:94-5) the best language syllabus is the one that satisfies the needs of society, that is, scientifically, educationally, economically, politically, socially, and so on, and helps the speaker to develop communicative competence.

Scholars, such as Johnson (1982), Munby (1978), Nunan (1987; 1988) and Yalden (1983), to mention but a few, have written much about language syllabus and curriculum design. It is beyond the scope of this thesis to interpret the stupendous work of the above scholars. However, they have reflected on the fact that grammar teaching should take the needs of society into account. Some of their contributions may not be relevant to the South African 50

situation. The work of these scholars will be used as basis for discussion in this study. From the work of the above scholars, this study will select a few relevant points that can help in developing a syllabus for Zulu first language teaching. To start with, at this point it will also be appropriate to define the term "syllabus" since in some countries it is used interchangeably or confused with the term "curriculum".

4.2 Syllabus: a definition

The term "curriculum" has been used by North American linguists to refer to what the British linguists call "syllabus". The diversity of views on syllabus design are caused by its broad and narrow definitions. Some of the differences in the definition of the syllabus are revealed in the work of scholars such as Stern (1984), Yalden (1984), Widdowson (1984) and Allen (1984), to mention a few. Firstly, when narrowly defined, "syllabus" has to do with a local rather than larger institutional frame. According to Candlin (1984:31) the narrow concept of the syllabus comprises the collection of contents that are broken down and sequenced according to a specific order. Secondly, when broadly defined, the term "syllabus" should include information on particular audiences of learners, their needs for learning the subject matter, objectives, learning experiences and evaluation. According to Yalden (1984:14) the syllabus should have a social role:

It [syllabus] ... replaces the concept of 'method' and the syllabus is ... seen as an instrument by which the teacher, with the help of the syllabus designer, can achieve a degree of 'fit' between the needs and aims of the learner (as social being and as individual) and the activities which will take place in the classroom. 51

Allen (1984:61) defines the syllabus as part of the curriculum : Curriculum is a very general concept which involves consideration of the whole complex of philosophical, social and administrative factors which contribute to the planning of an educational programme. Syllabus, on the other hand, refers to that subpart of curriculum (sic) which is concerned with a specification of what units will be taught (as distinct from how they will be taught, which is a matter for methodology).

Nunan (1988:6) defines the syllabus as:

... a statement of content which is used as the basis for planning courses of various kinds, and the task of the syllabus designer is to select and grade this content.

From the above definitions, we learn that the syllabus is a plan of what is to be achieved through teaching and learning. Some plans are intended to be predictive. According to Breen (1984) there are two ways of drawing up a syllabus. Firstly, a syllabus may be like a plan that has been drawn up before the actual learning-teaching process. What is to be achieved should be identified and divided according to certain principles of organisation. The second plan of the syllabus is the retrospective one which is constructed during/after the actual teaching-learning process (that is, constructed by considering what is being achieved or has been achieved during the teaching-learning process). The above views of the syllabus affect the design.

Brumfit (1984b:2 and 3) summarises the definition and function of syllabuses by collating major points made by other scholars. The following six points from his work need mentioning here:

(a) A syllabus must be related to a broader curriculum, and to a larger social context 52

reflected in the 'hidden curriculum', which may be either supported or criticised through the syllabus. It is a device for public planning, but for teaching not learning. Thus it operates as a means of control, and must be administratively workable. Planning may be limited to a broad curriculum level, the specific syllabus remaining more spontaneous and local. It involves initial specification with discrete items which must be selected, defined and graded, with an appropriate starting point and end point or at least goal (sic). There will be sequencing which is intrinsic to the language content system, and extrinsic, administratively determined, sequencing for items which do not fit into a system, and the items taught should not be explicitly linked to time. It generates a set of units of work, and implies particular methodologies; indeed the methodology can be considered part of the syllabus specification. It should be negotiable during use, and after, but constraints will be needed as support for some students; however, it may be considered a retrospective record rather than a prospective plan. (0 It can lead to many courses of study, and should produce general competence, unconscious automatic abilities and conscious meta-linguistic capacities.

Yalden (1984) discusses some basic organisational principles that guide syllabus design. Such principles must be answerable to the overall understanding of how language is learned, acquired and used. These principles should not be divorced from the procedures of syllabus design. Paragraph 4.3 below discusses one of the above principles, namely the basic assumption about language and learning. 53

4.3 Assumption about language and learning

Beliefs or assumptions about language and learning influence the nature of the language syllabus and language teaching. This in turn affects the teacher or syllabus designer's approach to language teaching. Grammar teaching is also influenced by different views on language teaching, hence the different types of syllabuses, i.e. structural, situational, notional, and so on.

Stern (1992) considers the fact that language can be learned both informally (subconscious absorption of language through use) and formally (an explicit or deliberate study and formal practice). Stern (1992:128) states:

...there is no simple choice between the deliberate practice and study of grammatical forms and the intuitive acquisition of these forms through use in real-life contexts. We believe that both processes come into play and should be encouraged in a teaching programme.

Celce-Murcia (1985) distinguishes between various learner factors which may influence grammatical form in second language teaching. These factors can be adapted to focus on mother tongue grammar teaching. This can be indicated by the following diagram:

Importance of form

Learner factor 4 Less important Moderately More important important Age 4 Children Adolescents Adults Proficiency level 4 Beginning Intermediate Advanced Learning style 4 Holistic Mixed Analytic Adapted from Stern (1992:129) 54

Celce-Murcia's proposal explains what Brumfit (1980b) and Yalden (1983) calls a structural core which advocates the "development of communicative methodology to help develop fluency as well as accuracy, while maintaining structural progression as the organising principle of his syllabus type" (Yalden 1983:111).

Stern further discusses five conceptual levels underlying grammar teaching which should not be overlooked in syllabus design. These levels start from level 1 where the grammatical theory proposes a model which provides the categories and methodology for descriptive research on grammar. At level 2 the grammar of the target language is analysed with the purpose of "(a) testing the theoretical model against the reality of language X or Y, and (b) contributing to the more adequate description of that language" (Stern 1992:131). Level 3 constitutes many research studies that make up a full description of the language; a description which is referred to as linguistic grammar. It should be noted that the results of linguistic analysis should not be directly applied to syllabus development before it reaches the fourth level, namely, that of pedagogic grammar.

At the fourth level the various scientific descriptions are sifted and related "to the practical situations in which the grammatical data are used" (Stern 1992:132). Level 5 is where the syllabus and the actual teaching of grammatical aspects is found. The five levels and their mutual relationship can be illustrated as follows:

55

Grammatical theory providing Level 1 categories and methodology for descriptive research

Linguistic research on a Level 2 language (for example, Zulu) 4, Linguistic grammar: composition of research studies Level 3 into a scientific description of a language (for example, Zulu) 4, Pedagogical grammar of Level 4 language (for example, Zulu) 4, Grammatical aspects and teaching in the language Level 5 learning class. Teaching grammar, learner's grammar. Grammatical syllabus Adapted from Stern (1992:131)

These five levels can serve as a valuable tool that can be used in syllabus design. In the following paragraphs various syllabus types will be discussed and evaluated with a view to choosing or combining or integrating them to satisfy the goals of first-language teaching. 56

4.4 The structural syllabus

4.4.1 Characteristics of the structural syllabus

The structural syllabus is the most common of all syllabus types. It has been used for many years in language teaching. The main characteristic of the structural syllabus is that the content of language is made up of a collection of grammatical structures and forms of the language to be taught. These structures may include parts of speech like nouns, verbs and pronouns; syntax, and so on. The study of pronunciation and morphology is included in the structural syllabus. The Zulu school grammar syllabus for mother- tongue speakers is an example of a structural syllabus (see Appendix I).

This syllabus type is based on the theory that takes the structural aspects of language to be basic and useful in language teaching (Krahnke 1987:15). This theory assumes that a knowledge of language structures will lead to functional ability or communication.

4.4.2 The content of the structural syllabus

Teaching in the structural syllabus is conditioned by grammatical forms. The grammatical classification may either be prescriptive or descriptive. As with the Zulu school grammar syllabus for mother-tongue speakers, where the twelve parts of speech form the basis for grammatical study, grammatical categories such as nouns, pronouns, past tense, future tense, passives, etc. are common in the structural syllabus. 57

A great deal of vocabulary and expressions can also be found in the structural syllabuses. In the case of the syllabus for Zulu mother tongue speakers, technical terms, traditional words, and archaisms, form part of the vocabulary and expressions to be studied.

According to Wilkins (1976:2) the structural syllabus is "synthetic." He defines the synthetic language teaching strategy as:

... one in which the different parts of language are taught separately and step-by-step so that acquisition is a process of gradual accumulation of parts until the whole structure of language has been broken down probably into an inventory of grammatical structures and into a limited list of lexical items.

The synthetic language teaching syllabus requires an analysis of language just as the syllabus for Zulu mother tongue speakers does. The elements isolated as a result of grammatical analysis should form an important part of the content of the syllabus. Krahnke (1987:16) points out that structural syllabuses assume a general theory of learning that holds that the learner can synthesise the materials being taught in one of at least two ways. Firstly, by using the analysed information (that is, rules and patterns) in linguistic communication, when generating discourse or checking the accuracy of production. Secondly, the same analysed information could be transformed from the analysed into the "unconscious behaviour that makes up language use".

4.4.3 Goals of the structural syllabus

The goals of the structural syllabus are stated in terms of linguistic forms, for instance, in the structural syllabus the learners are 58

expected to be able to describe rules and explain why a certain structure is grammatically correct or incorrect. These features occur in the Zulu school syllabus for mother tongue speakers. The pupil, according to the syllabus, must be able to:

describe all speech sounds of his language in terms of their articulatory features ... know the conditions under which these sounds change take place ... give a morphological analysis of words within the context of the sentence identify and name the relevant morphemes occurring therein. (DET. 1989. Syllabus for Zulu. Standard 9 and 10).

Language categories like these are said to be helpful in the development of the explicit structural knowledge of the learner.

Another goal of the structural syllabus is to develop what Krahnke (1987:16) calls the "recognition" or "judgmental" ability of the language learner. By this he refers to the structural knowledge that the first or mother tongue speakers have,that is, "the ability merely to judge whether a given form is acceptable or not, and, usually, to correct unacceptable forms".

A third goal of the structural syllabus is the teaching of accuracy. The learner should be in a position to use the structures absolutely correctly.

4.4.4 The structural syllabus and teaching methods

This syllabus type is associated with language teaching methods like the grammar-translation method, which emphasises the learning of grammatical forms and patterns of the language, and 59

audiolingualism, which uses a behaviourist learning model by emphasising and instilling the knowledge of the structure in the learners. Some cognitive theories also assume that language can be best learned through the conscious acquisition of structures and rules.

4.4.5 Selection of the content of the structural syllabus

In the structural syllabus grammatical structures are taught. Krahnke (1987:17) points out that the degree of detail language instruction should be concerned with poses a problem for the selection of content. This problem is experienced in the syllabus for Zulu mother tongue speakers in that some grammatical points are presented with all their quirks and intricacies, as for example the treatment of the so-called "marked" and "unmarked possessives" which not only cause conflict among Zulu textbook writers, but also confuse both the teacher and the pupil (see Appendix I, page 226).

4.4.6 Positive characteristics of the structural syllabus

Krahnke (1987:21 - 24) lists eight positive characteristics of the structural syllabus, namely:

The structure or grammar is the most general component of communicative competence. The importance of structural ability in language use should not be overlooked. Familiarity of the "grammar" is frequently expected in a language classroom and usually constitutes familiar content. Learners are sure of what to expect from such a language course. The content is relatively easy to describe, for example, terms like nouns, adjectives, passives and verbs are generally used in language study and there is a general 60

agreement about what they mean. However, this may not be true as far as the language function is concerned. Structural knowledge is the most measurable of the components of communicative competence. Structural knowledge can prevent later fossilisation or cessation of learning. It is assumed that successful language learners are learners who had earlier received instruction in the structure of language. Structural knowledge can play a role in language use by serving as the basis for the learner to monitor, or check on the accuracy of production and self-correction according to known rules when time and attention of the language user allow for it. Instruction in language structure offers a basis for teachers or others to provide learners with feedback on the accuracy of their production. Structural syllabuses can be taught independently of cultural values in instructional settings where language itself may be desired.

4.4.7 Criticism of the structural syllabus

The importance of grammar teaching is discussed in detail in Chapter two of this thesis where it is shown that, although language structures are teachable and learnable, if improperly applied they can be of little value to communicative competence. Learners may be misled into thinking that they are learning the language whilst they are merely learning facts about the language.

Brumfit (1980b), cited by Yalden (1983:28), says:

The attack on grammatical syllabuses is in part an attack on the view that language must be taught as a body knowledge, a package, which the teacher passes on to the learner. No learner is in passive possession of language; it is rather an extension of his personality, a facilitating set of abilities which is used for a whole range of unpredictable purposes. 61

4.5 The communicative syllabuses

The communicative syllabuses are the syllabuses designed for communication. These syllabus types have resulted from the change of emphasis in language teaching. This approach to language teaching/learning is moving away from purely structural or grammar-based syllabuses. Yalden (1983) gives examples of six syllabus types which are considered to be forms of the communicative syllabus, namely: 1. structural-functional; 2. structures and functions; 3. variable focus; 4. functional; 5. fully communicative, and 6. fully notional.

Communicative syllabus type 1: Structural-functional

According to this syllabus type it is assumed that the linguistic forms are presented first, before the language functions are introduced. In actual fact this approach uses the existing syllabus and merely adds the communicative functions. It does not integrate, but combines communicative teaching with the teaching of linguistic forms.

Communicative syllabus type 2: Structures and functions

This syllabus differs from the previous one in that linguistic forms and components of meaning are combined from the start. Yalden (1983:110) says that this type represents a "structural progression in a communicative framework". This type of syllabus resulted from criticism of the notional syllabus. The main source of criticism was the fact that language learning theory was not taken into consideration 62

by Wilkins (1976), who is an ardent advocate of the notional syllabus.

The role of grammar in language teaching was regarded to be of little significance. However, there are those who defend it. For instance Brumfit (1980b), also cited by Yalden (1983), is against discarding grammar and pronunciation in language teaching; he advocates that it should be retained as the organising principle. Brumfit regards accuracy and fluency as vital in language learning. Regarding grammar teaching, Brumfit (1980b:5) proposes the following:

The simple proposal is to use the grammatical system as the core of the syllabus in a ladder-like series of stages and to be prepared to relate all other essential material to this series. Thus notional, functional, and situational specifications can be conceived of as a spiral round a basically grammatical core.

(c) Communicative syllabus type 3: Variable focus

This type of syllabus takes the level of communicative competence into consideration. This type looks like an extension of the structures and functions type, because there is a shift in progression from elementary to advanced language use. Yalden (1983:113) explains that under this type the work is divided according to three levels of communicative competence, namely, level 1 emphasising structural practice, level 2 emphasising functional practice and level 3 emphasising instrumental practice. These 63 practices are interdependent and they co-exist on all levels of language learning.

Communicative syllabus: Functional syllabus type 4 and the fully notional syllabus type 5: These syllabus types consider the communicative value of everything that is taught. They also take the knowledge of language in communication to be of paramount importance. Since these syllabus types form large part of discussions in this section of the thesis, they will be discussed as one unit and in detail in 4.5.1 below.

Communicative syllabus Type 6: Fully communicative

This syllabus is known as the learner-generated syllabus. The advocates of this syllabus view it as a syllabus which should have minimal input. The primary objective of this syllabus is to teach communication.

Yalden (1983:117) points out that the advocates of syllabuses of this sort view the involvement of a teacher who knows the classroom situation to be of great importance. Methodology, teacher preparation and learner autonomy are considered to be the cornerstones of language teaching within this syllabus type.

Roberts (1983) suggests that the teacher's direct intervention should be less, so that learners can be allowed to produce more unpredictable language. According to Roberts (1983:146) the following activities would help the teachers carry out a communicative syllabus: 64

"Teacherless" tasks such as pair and group-work. Open-ended tasks relying on learner-to-learner interaction such as problem-solving, role play, invention or narratives and dialogue, debate and discussion. "Discovery" tasks in which learners form, test and revise their own generalisations about the target language. Pre-comprehension activities where information is elicited from learners to establish a relationship between text and learner.

These propositions are not without shortcomings, since during the early stages, learners need to be guided and led towards autonomy. Furthermore, in communicative teaching there should be a controlled practising stage. However, the teacher's interventions should not be detrimental to learning.

4.5.1 The notional - functional syllabus

The notional-functional syllabus forms part of communicative syllabuses. This syllabus is made up of the collection of functions performed when language is used, as well as the notions used by language users to express meaning. There has been criticism of the notional-functional syllabus type. Some authors prefer to call it an "approach" associated with communicative language teaching. According to Krahnke (1987:29, it is difficult to explain the nature of this syllabus because in the end it looks like "a collection of different approaches and procedures clustered around notional- functional content". However, according to Brown (1980:202), the notional-functional syllabus is a type of syllabus "whose aim is primarily to establish the communicative competence of 65

individuals, (and which) may present a set of lessons organised around certain functions, acts, or rules of conversation."

Although the notional-functional syllabus has much in common with the structural syllabus in that, both of them can be associated with a variety of methodologies. While the structural syllabus views language in terms of its forms and the notional-functional syllabus focuses on the notion and function of the language.

The work of British linguists such as Firth and Halliday played an important role in the development of functionalism. Their point of departure was that information on how, for what purposes and in what ways language is used, should be included in adequate language description (Krahnke 1987:30).

Notional-functionalism, as an organisation behind the notional- functional syllabus, defines the categories of language use in two ways. The first category comprises notions, which are categories of meaning. Wilkins (1976) refers to these notions as semantico-grammatical categories. Examples of these categories are time, point of time, duration, quantity, and so on. The second category comprises functions of language, for example, agreement, greeting, approval, prediction and requesting direction. The category of language use is sometimes called "communicative purposes" (Finocchiaro and Brumfit 1983:13).

4.5.1.1 The content of the notional-functional syllabus

Krahnke (1987:32) draws our attention to the fact that notional- functionalism is actually "a procedure for designing a syllabus and not part of the content of the syllabus itself ", because notional- functional teaching is directed at developing a specific discourse 66

type, which is why it can be called communicative. An example of the content of the notional-functional syllabus is found in Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983). Van Ek (1976) also gives a list of functional categories. Its content is selected in accordance with the needs of learners. As such, this syllabus may be suitable for language for specific purposes. As in the case of the structural syllabus, the grading of the learning material poses a major problem to notional-functional syllabus design. The selection and grading of items is very complex. The designer has to try and predict which items will benefit the learner.

4.5.1.2 Positive characteristics of the notional - functional syllabus

The notional-functional syllabus has helped in taking language teaching a step further. According to Wilkins (1976:19) the advantage of the notional syllabus is that "it takes communicative facts of language into account from the beginning without losing sight of the grammatical and situational factors ... it will produce communicative competence". Indeed, the notional-functional syllabus includes information that the structural and situational syllabuses do not include. Krahnke (1987:35) points out the following about the notional-functional syllabus:

If the content of an appropriate notional- functional syllabus can be learned, then the students will be better able to function in written or spoken interaction. They will have more experience with, and knowledge about, which linguistic forms do what in the new language, and they will have exposure to at least some real or simulated interaction in the language. They may view language less as an abstract system of elements and rules, and more as a communicative system. (emphasis added) 67

Brown (1980:204) points out that the notional-functional syllabus should not be viewed by language teachers as a panacea. However, the advantage is that the notional-functional syllabuses not only organise language content by functional categories but also provide a means of developing structural categories within a general consideration of the functions of language.

4.5.1.3 The concept "functionality" in some African language teaching materials

In the teaching of African languages the functional approach is being misinterpreted and it lacks proper direction. A misinterpretation of the functional approach is evident in the Unisa Subject Didactics study guides for African languages. The following paragraph clearly indicates that their concept of the functional approach differs from what is generally understood by this approach:

A functional approach to grammar tuition means that the living language should form the basis for the study of linguistic phenomena. This implies that the linguistic phenomena studied should derive from a real-life language situation. Hence the study of grammar should be based on practical language usage. Such a real-life language situation can be created in many ways, for instance by letting pupils engage in a dialogue or tell a story, or by reading a passage from a book or showing them pictures, provided the linguistic form or phenomenon to be discussed features prominently in these situations. The linguistic phenomenon in question is then taken from this situation and analysed. Posselt (1994:30) 68

It seems as though lessons should lead to discourse analysis. Posselt (1994) further states that this "method" emphasises:

the application (or functional use) of that linguistic phenomenon in a particular si tuation Pupils may, for instance, be required to use a noun such as ubuhle as the subject of a sentence, as part of the relative construction in a sentence, and so forth.

The interpretation of this approach is further reflected in the Zulu teaching method books of Ngwenya, Ubhaqa Lwamathwasa (1992), and Radebe and Mchunu, Izindlela Zokufundiswa KwesiZulu (1989). In fact, Ngwenya explains that this approach has not been quite explicit to teachers who are supposed to be using it. However, neither of these publications proposes any solution as to how the functional approach should be understood. One gets the impression that these authors fail to distinguish between the structural, situational and communicative approaches.

The above authors' interpretation of the functional approach emphasises the teaching of language structure while its proponents, such as Savignon (1983), advocate that the teacher should rather make a list of functions to be taught than of the language structures themselves. In this regard what should be prominent is the function or use of speech utterances rather than the particular grammatical forms, speech utterances take (Savignon 1983:13).

It is quite clear that some scholars confuse Halliday's functional approach to linguistic study or the Dokean functional approach to African linguistics, with the functional approach to language teaching (which is part of the communicative approach to language teaching). In this thesis the examples of "function" are understood 69

to include functions like, for instance, apologising, greeting and contradicting, as its advocates meant them to be.

4.5.1.4 Criticism of the notional-functional approach

Amongst all criticisms levelled against these syllabus types, Krahnke (1987:37) points out the following four as important:

The notional syllabuses consist of a "simple series of isolated form-function pairings" (which) will do very little "to develop interactional and communicative ability because these isolated functions are not synthesised into discourse". "... because content is tied to specifics of use, the instruction is less generalisable than the structural content." "Notional-functional syllabuses are limited to short utterances or exchanges involving the function in question." Should large structures of discourse be ignored, students may not be able to cope with language in longer, connected discourse. The notional-functional syllabuses can become a vehicle for teaching "routines" and "patterns". However, some emphasise the teaching of such routines as unanalysed chunks rather than as products of grammatical systems.

Widdowson (1979:248), also cited by Yalden (1983:77), criticises the notional syllabus as follows:

The notional syllabus, it is claimed, develops the ability to do this (that is, realise linguistic competence as communicative behaviour) by accounting for communicative competence within the actual design of the syllabus itself. This is a delusion because the notional syllabus presents 70

language as an inventory of units, of items for accumulation and storage. They are notional rather than structural isolates, but they are isolates all the same. What such a syllabus does not do - or has not done to date (an important proviso) - is to represent language as discourse, and since it does not it cannot possibly in its present form account for communicative competence - because communicative competence is not a compilation of items in memory, but a set of strategies or creative procedures for realising the value of linguistic elements in context of use, an ability to make sense as a participant in discourse, whether spoken or written, by the skilful deployment of shared knowledge use. The notional syllabus leaves the learner to develop these creative strategies on his own; it deals with the component of discourse, not with discourse itself.

The researcher agrees with Brown (1980) that this syllabus type has taken language teaching a step further.

4.6 The situational syllabus

4.6.1 The content of the situational syllabus

The situational syllabus is made up of structures and vocabulary graded according to grammatical difficulty and selected according to situations. In situational language teaching, structures are taught within sentences and the vocabulary is chosen in accordance with the suitability of the sentence pattern to be taught (Richard & Rodgers 1986:37). The situations in situational teaching may either be imaginary or real. The goal of the situational syllabus is to teach the language that occurs in situations. Examples of situations may be ordering food at a restaurant, seeing the dentist, 71 asking directions, and so on. The dialogues are organised in terms of situations.

Krahnke (1987:41) cites Alexander (1976) who differentiates the situational syllabuses into three types. The first situation is called the "limbo". In this situation, "the specific situation" is not important, for example, "introductions at a party" where the setting of the party is not of great importance but the language involved, is. The second situation is the "concrete". Here the "situations are enacted against specific settings" and the setting and the language associated with it are important (Alexander 1976:89). A message can be best conveyed when both the language and the customs of the people are taken into consideration. The third situation is the "mythical". This refers to the situation that "depends on some sort of fictional story line, frequently with a fictional cast of characters in a fictional place" (Krahnke 1987:42).

It was initially assumed that the situational syllabus would replace the grammar-based syllabus. That is why the situational syllabus has features which do not appear in the structural syllabus. The situations may also emphasise functions such as apology, or introductions and notions such as time, colour, comparison, and so on. The situations may be presented as role plays and the learner may be expected to produce the language that occurs in that particular situation. Dialogues play an important role in the presentation of situations. The dialogues can be created to represent situations. The content of these situations is normally created by the teaching material, writers and teachers and can be derived from real-life situations. Language practice is also a focus of situational teaching. Such practice may include activities like chorus repetition, dictation, drills, oral reading and writing tasks. 72

The learning activities of the situational language teaching syllabus are successfully employed in the teaching of new language material. Richard & Rodgers (1986:38) cite Davies, Roberts and Rossner (1975:3), who explain the procedure in the situational teaching:

The form of new words and sentence patterns is demonstrated with examples and not through grammatical explanation or description. The meaning of new words and sentence patterns is not conveyed through translation. It is made clear visually (with objects, pictures, action and mime). Wherever possible, model sentences are related and taken from a single situation.

4.6.2 Positive characteristics of the situational syllabus

Wilkins (1976:16) points out the following positive characteristics of the situational syllabuses:

Although language is described as general systems, language is always used in social context and cannot be fully understood without reference to that context.

The above statement implies that the implementation of this type of syllabus will in actual fact help the learner to communicate in specific settings as these syllabuses provide contexts of discourse. Forms are not learned in isolation but in context.

According to Krahnke (1987:45), the situational syllabuses can encourage learners and "help to improve some social and cultural information about the language and its users in a non-didactic way". 73

4.6.3 Criticism of the situational syllabus

According to Wilkins (1976:18), the situational syllabus does not offer a general solution to problems of syllabus design. And besides, apart from what Wilkins says, as far as language transfer is concerned, the use of predetermined and artificial situations may hamper and limit proper transfer. Students may concentrate on prelearned routines.

The situational syllabuses do not cover all kinds of language function because they concentrate only on those that occur in certain situations. Productive language learning can be interfered with if situational language teaching focuses on routines and patterns. Situational content has the tendency to become quickly outdated, and "the more specific and accurate the language associated with a situation, the more likely it will become inappropriate quickly" (Krahnke 1987:46).

4.7 The skill-based syllabus

Little has been written about this syllabus type. Krahnke (1987:10) describes it as:

the one in which the content of language teaching is a collection of specific abilities that may play a part in using language ... Skill based syllabi group linguistic competence (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, sociolinguistics, and discourse) together into generalised types of behaviour, such as listening to spoken language for the main idea, writing well-formed paragraphs, giving effective oral presentations, taking language tests, reading texts for main ideas or supporting details and so on. 74

The goal of the skill-based syllabus is to teach learners to acquire specific language . skills and to develop general competence in the language.

"Skill" in this syllabus type refers not only to the mode of language, namely, speaking, listening, reading and writing, but also to the nature of the content of a language learning skill. Skill-based instruction is traditionally known as competency-based instruction. The focus here is on what the learner should or can do as a result of instruction.

This syllabus type can also be useful for mother tongue teaching because not all mother tongue speakers of a language are equally competent users of language. Apart from that, all users of language need to develop their language competence. In skill-based instruction there may also be a need to teach learners specific skills like taking notes, scanning or skimming or writing formal documents. The tasks in skill-based instruction are not predetermined as in situational language teaching. For this reason skill-based instruction is of an academic nature, and this means that it can be unpredictable. Skill-based syllabuses can be used in language for specific-purpose programmes. According to Krahnke such programmes become more successful if the contents of the structural, notional-functional, situational and skill-based syllabus are integrated.

4.7.1 Positive characteristics of the skill-based syllabus

The content of the skill-based syllabus is useful when learners want to master specific language skills, such as intensive reading in order to develop note-taking skills. Skill-based syllabuses may 75

help learners to focus their learning only on skills they require and avoid learning irrelevant learning material which has little to do with their needs, or fields of interest.

4.7.2 Criticism of the skill-based syllabus

The shortcomings of this syllabus type are potential rather than absolute. In fact this syllabus type has few drawbacks. Krahnke (1987) points out that if the instruction is narrowly defined, this instruction may not enhance overall proficiency. If it is of too narrow a scope, it may "programme students for particular kinds of behaviour (for example, obedience in work setting) or isolate them from achievements and ambitions that the competencies do not prepare them for (for example, education rather than entry-level employment" (Krahnke 1987:55).

4.8 The task-based syllabus

The content of the task-based syllabus comprises a series of complex and purposeful tasks that the student needs for the purpose of use or performance in the language he is learning. Task-based learning syllabuses differ from other syllabuses in that in the task-based learning syllabus the focus is not on the outcomes but on how to use the pedagogical process in order to reach the outcomes. In task-based instruction, language is not directly taught, but forms a necessary part of the process of completing the task. Richards, Platt and Weber (1985:289), cited by Nunan (1988:42), describe the task-based syllabus as follows:

... a syllabus which is organised around tasks, rather than in terms of grammar or vocabulary. For example the syllabus may suggest a variety of different kinds of tasks which the learners are 76

expected to carry out in the language, such as using the telephone to obtain information; drawing maps based on oral instructions; performing actions based on commands given in the target language; giving orders and instructions to others, etc. It has been argued that this is a more effective way of learning a language since it provides a purpose for the use and learning of a language other than simply learning language items for their own sake.

Some examples of tasks that can be done by students are compiling a report, applying for a job, and so on.

The goal of task-based instruction is to help learners to use real-life needs as a starting point for learning a language. Transfer is also stimulated by the use of new and old information in an interactional manner. Unlike structural instruction, in task-based instruction language forms are best learned through language use.

What is important about task-based instruction is that it can make up the whole curriculum for a language teaching programme. This language instruction helps in language learning in the broader sense, and it provides "maximal amounts of comprehensible inputs" as the learner learns by means of tasks that will help him learn the language.

The theory associated with task-based instruction is the communicative language learning theory. In task-based instruction the four competencies, namely linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence, are fully represented.

The student's cognitive and linguistic aptitude play an important role in the selection of the tasks. The "task" in task-based 77

instruction has been defined differently by writers such as Doyle (1983) and Candlin (1987). According to Candlin pedagogic criteria should be followed in the selection of tasks. Doyle (1983:161), also cited by Nunan (1988:46), is of the opinion that a task needs to specify the following: The products students are to formulate The operations that are required to generate the products The resources available to the student to generate products.

Task-based syllabuses are designed to suit a learner in the beginning, intermediate and advanced stages.

4.8.1 Positive characteristics of the task - based syllabus

This type of syllabus is viewed as one of the best tools for language learning. It accommodates learners from different backgrounds. It is able to address difficult problems in language learning. It also addresses the problem of language acquisition. It can also be an instrumental tool if learners are motivated to do more out-of-class activities. In this syllabus type, culture and life skills can be learned along with the language.

4.8.2 Criticism of the task - based syllabus

This syllabus type may not be easy to implement if there is no proper commitment and involvement from the side of the learners. Secondly, the teacher who depends too much on the textbook may not be able to implement this syllabus because it requires a lot of creativity and initiative on his or her part. This syllabus type requires that material outside the classroom should also be utilised. Finally, evaluation in the task-based syllabus can be extremely difficult. 78

4.9 The content-based syllabus

This syllabus type is not regarded as a syllabus per se, but as a means of teaching subject content, such as science and history through the language that is learned. Content-based instruction is concerned with information rather than the language per se. The arguments in favour of content-based instruction is that it facilitates learning "not merely through language but with language" (Nunan 1988:49). Language and content acquisition take place simultaneously in content-based instruction. Language instruction is not given directly to the students; content instruction is given instead.

The theory of language teaching associated with content-based instruction is the communicative approach, whilst the theory of learning is an "acquisition theory that accounts for learning without explicit instruction" (Krahnke 1987:68). The immersion approach has also been followed in the content-based programmes.

Content-based instruction can also be used outside the classroom settings. It has proved to be effective for children, but for adults it only becomes effective if preceded by formal instruction in the language. Kraluike (1987:69-70) gives the following positive characteristics of content-based instruction programmes:

The language is learned in the context of its use, eliminating the problem of transfer from instruction to use.

There is a match between what needs to be learned and what is provided ... Students learn exactly what they need to learn. 79

(c) Students who are not motivated during the language lesson may be motivated when the language is used to present content material that interests them.

4.10 An integrated syllabus for language teaching /learning

Integrated syllabus types actually mean integration of the different syllabuses involved in language teaching. In the discussion of the syllabus types, it has been shown that not all aspects of language learning can be covered by employing a single syllabus type. The contents that are organised around one syllabus type may be used to fulfil various objectives (goals) of language learning/teaching. The desired knowledge of language learning is one of the determinant factors for syllabus integration. The integrated syllabus that reinforces and takes into consideration the content of the various syllabuses will have more effect on language learning/teaching.

Yalden (1983) proposes that the syllabuses be combined in a proportional approach. When syllabuses are integrated or combined, care should be taken that no syllabus type predominates in the learning programme. Krahnke (1987:87), on the other hand, suggests that integration should be centred around one syllabus type. Although he foresees some problems in that integration might result in complex discourse, Krahnke (1987:87) concludes:

Syllabus types on the higher end of the scale integrate language material naturally, or at least provide natural context for integration, because they contain complex discourse, and language material, skills, and informational content occur in meaningful ways and in larger contexts. 80

In fact Krahnke (1987) perceives that as a problem because his discussion is based on the integration of syllabuses for foreign language teaching. Proper integration will result in pupils' perception that language or grammar is not taught as an end in itself The syllabus type should include the broad and comprehensive representation of language functions and discourse types. Such an integration should lead to the learning of language skills and improve performance of tasks.

In the course of the integration of the syllabuses, the implications of their implementation should be taken into consideration. The integration of syllabuses should, in a coherent manner, aim at accounting for the diverse language needs of the learner and the community.

It has been shown that the situational syllabus came up as a result of the shortcomings of the structural syllabus. The notional- functional syllabus, too, resulted from beliefs about language learning. The basic aim was to design a syllabus that would promote the development of communicative competence. Crombie (1985:117) rejects the assumption that any adaptation or integration of approaches such as structural, notional, and notional- functional syllabuses will encourage communicative competence. She maintains that the integration of syllabuses that could encourage communicative competence should be through a discourse-centred approach which concentrates on binary relational values. Such an approach should involve all aspects of linguistic communicative mechanisms. Crombie's model of syllabus design, which she calls "relational approach", focuses not only on linguistic units in isolation, but also on related linguistic units in contexts. 81

The other scholar who advocates integration of syllabuses is Geyser (1994) and she discusses how the curriculum for first language teaching should look like. Geyser (1994:144) advocates the inclusion of pragmatics as a component within the language structure. She views pragmatics as the interaction between language structure and language usage. She also maintains that pragmatics sets a general coherent setting that serves as the basis for the first language curriculum. She views the development of the learner's communicative competence as the main objective of language teaching. The following diagrammatic representation depicts coherence between communicative competence, context, language function and structure:

Language Teaching

Pragmatic perspective i Functions Interaction in Structure context J, Communicative Competence Adapted from Geyser (1994:146)

Geyser maintains that through the pragmatic perspective the functional coherence between grammar, semantics and pragmatics would be reflected in the classroom. She explains, furthermore, the possible distinction between contextualisation on the micro, meso and macro levels in the first language curriculum. The macro level refers to authentic language use within the career context or language use outside the classroom and the curriculum. 82

The meso level, refers to language use such as in the context of a Mathematics class, Science class, and so on., while on the micro level pupils study functional language use. Basically, Geyser's curriculum for first language teaching integrates syllabuses such as the content-based (macro level), task-based (meso level) and structural, situational and notional-functional syllabuses (micro level). However, it would be impossible to reduce this curriculum to a single syllabus under one cover. Geyser (1994:149) solves anticipated problems regarding the proposed curriculum by pointing out the following:

It appears to be impossible to fully cover all the branches of a macro context in a syllabus. The solution lies in subject didactical guidelines to the teacher, who then transforms meso and macro contexts into micro context in the classroom by creating a particular situation. In the creation of micro contexts the language needs of the learners can be directly accounted for.

It is noticeable that although Crombie and Geyser use different terminology, their purpose is to get a solution to language teaching and learning that will meet the needs of both the learner and the community.

Littlewood's approach (1992) to curriculum design differs from that of Geyser in that Littlewood agrees with Allen (1983) and Stern (1983) that in order to balance different aims and aspects of language learning, a 'multi-level' or 'variable focus' curriculum should be considered. The curriculum type Littlewood proposes contains three levels, which are structural, functional and experiential levels. As all these levels are important in language learning, their "emphasis can change at different stages of learning" (Littlewood 1992:20). Since the first two levels have 83

already received attention in this chapter, it is important to mention that the third level's focal point is the use of authentic language in current situations. As opposed to the other two levels, which focus on structural and discourse practice, the experiential level promotes free language practice. It is this third level that Duyvene de Wit (1994), based on Kolb (1984)'s experiential learning model proposes that it could help in the reconciliation of various opposing language-teaching approaches such as the accuracy-based and fluency-based approaches (Duyvene de Wit's proposals for the application of experiential teaching in African languages will be discussed in chapter 5). The experiential model sets out to maintain the balance between theory and practice as it is a synthesis of a diversity of language-teaching approaches.

4.11 Conclusion

In the preceding section the different syllabus types were discussed. These syllabuses are different and unique. Each syllabus tends to express particular assumptions about language. In fact scholars agree that there is no such thing as a perfect syllabus, but they differ as to how the syllabus should be structured. The teaching of language cannot be confined to only one syllabus type. The different syllabus types need to be integrated or combined.

Furthermore, learners' and society's needs are always changing, hence language syllabuses themselves should always be evaluated in order to determine whether they still meet the needs of both the learners and the society. 84

CHAPTER FIVE

AN OVERVIEW OF LEARNING STYLES, THEORIES ON LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING AND THE OBE MODEL

5.1 Introduction

In this chapter some theories on language acquisition and learning and the approaches and methods of teaching developed as a result of such theories, are discussed. These theories, if explicitly discussed and subjected to critical scrutiny, can serve as a basis for pedagogical recommendations since the current Zulu syllabus does not adequately consider the language acquisition process. They can also help the teacher who does not possess the necessary didactic skills to reflect and improve on his teaching techniques. The discussion will help answer some of the questions such as how learners learn a language and how teachers ought to teach.

5.2 Learning styles and strategies

Duyvene de Wit (1993), Marton (1988) and Nunan (1991) discuss language and learning styles and strategies. Learning style refers to the ways in which individuals prefer to learn while learning strategies refer to "the mental processes which learners employ to learn and use the target language" (Nunan 1991:168). Learning style is one of the factors that influence academic success. Learning strategies are also referred to as procedural knowledge. Ellis (1989), cited by Nunan (1991), suggests the categorisation of learning strategies under three broad process types. The first of these is hypothesis formation, which refers to strategies employed by the language learner to arrive at his own conclusions about how the target language works as compared 85 to the structure of his first language. Secondly, hypothesis testing refers to strategies to test whether the rules that have been learnt work. This is done by communicating with the native speaker and observing his reaction as a means of evaluating whether the rules work or not. Thirdly, automatisation includes strategies for practising the language. However, scholars disagree about the grouping of learning strategies. For instance, Ellis and Sinclair (1989) prefer that strategies be grouped together according to their microskill focus (listening, speaking, reading and writing), while Willing (1989) makes a distinction between the strategies for managing learning processes and the strategies for managing information. According to Nunan (1991:169), the management of the learning process pertains to the development of an understanding of one's own language learning preferences, like for instance, managing communicative situations, practising, monitoring and evaluation. The strategies for the management of information, on the other hand, pertain to selection, association, categorising, pattern learning and inferencing.

Learners are categorised into four types. Nunan (1991:170) summarises these categories:

'Concrete' learners. This type of learner tends to like games, pictures, videos, using cassettes, talking and practising language even outside the classroom.

'Analytic' learners are learners who like to study grammar and textbooks, read newspapers, study alone, discover their own mistakes and work on problems given by the teacher.

c) 'Communicative' learners are those who like to learn by watching, listening to native speakers and talking in the target 86

language. They use the language and they learn new words as they listen and use the words they have learnt. d) 'Authority-oriented' learners rely much on the teacher's explanations, they use their textbooks, they write everything in a note book. They study grammar, read and learn new words as they see them.

Nunan (1991:171) gives thirteen points which constitute the characteristics of good language learners, that is, learners who learn effectively. Such learners do share certain strategy preferences. The teacher needs to know more about the learners and their learning strategies so that he or she can apply that knowledge in helping the learner to reach the peak of his abilities. The teacher should:

encourage learners to find their own way in learning a language; help learners to organise information about language; create opportunities for the learners that will enable them to be creative and experiment with language; create the atmosphere so that learners can create their own opportunities, and find strategies for getting practise in using the language inside and outside the classroom; encourage learners to learn to live with uncertainty and help them develop strategies for making sense of the target language, assuring them that they can still learn even though they do not understand the entire vocabulary of the target language; encourage learners to use mnemonics (rhymes, word associations, an so on, in order to recall what has been learned); help learners to view errors in a positive way; help learners to understand that linguistic knowledge, including knowledge of their first language, can be used successfully in mastering a second language; 87

help learners understand that context can help them in comprehension; and help learners to learn different styles of speech and writing. The learners should also learn to vary their language as the situation determines.

The categorising of learner types led Willing (1989) to suggest that language classes should be constituted on the basis of learner types. However, this suggestion cannot be put into practice at school level due to some administrative problems. For instance, it would be very expensive to employ teachers in order to cater for individual learners' needs exclusively, and the teacher who applies the principle of individualisation may not be able to do much in a short space of time.

Duyvene de Wit's proposal (1994) on language teaching does not encourage constitution of language classes on the basis of learner types but argues that language teaching methods and approaches should be integrated in a manner that will cater for various types of learners. According to Duyvene de Wit (1994), the experiential learning model of Kolb, which is based on philosophy, psychology and physiology will be able to cater for various learning styles. She explains that the model that reconciles theory and practice as well as abstract and concrete will make a meaningful contribution towards language teaching and learning. In her discussion, she mentions four different kinds of abilities that are needed by the learner. These abilities entail "concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation". These abilities will help the learner integrate his observations. Observation enables the learner to solve problems as he gives meaning to situations surrounding him. Duyvene de Wit (1994:146) goes on to cite four learning styles that accompany the four learning abilities of the learner. They are: 88

divergence, which combines concrete experience and reflective observation and comprises the gathering of "background information and the sensing of opportunities, the investigation of new patterns ... and the generation of alternatives". Assimilation, which combines abstract conceptualisation and reflective observation. Assimilation "requires the development of theory, the comparison of alternatives, the formation of criteria, the formulation of plans and hypotheses, and the definition of problems". Convergence, which combines abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation. Convergence includes the "selection of alternatives, the focusing on attempts, the evaluation of plans and programmes, the testing of hypotheses and the making of decisions". Accommodation, which is composed of concrete experience and active experimentation. Accommodation advocates the formulation of ideas, the setting of objectives and schedules and the implementation of decisions made.

Duyvene de Wit (1994:146) demonstrates that appropriate teaching methods that suit the different learning styles can be selected and organised to correlate with Kolb's model (1984) of how the adult learning process takes place. Given the above, it will be possible to accommodate all learner types in the teaching of language since this "model serves as a synthesis for the variety of different approaches".

5.3 The differences between Ll and classroom L2 learning

There are some differences that exist between L 1 and classroom L2 learning. According to Ellis (1990), location, participants, topics and purpose are distinctive factors differentiating the domains of 89

classroom and natural language learning. The Ll natural learning principles can be applied to classroom L2 teaching. The classroom, if utilised appropriately, can, however, provide a richer and more diverse learning experience. Scholars such as Corder (1973), Wilkins (1974) and Krashen (1981) make a distinction between the terms "acquisition" and "learning". Krashen and Seliger (1976) assert that acquisition and learning as processes can both occur in both classroom and natural language learning contexts. Wilkins (1974:26) distinguishes between these two terms as follows:

The term acquisition is used here for the process where language is acquired as a result of natural and largely random exposure to language, the term language learning where the exposure is structured through language teaching.

Ausbel (1964), Cook (1969) and Stern (1970) compare the differences that exist between first and second language acquisition. According to Ellis (1990:41) and Lightbown and Spada (1993:71-2) the difference between Ll and classroom L2 learning is in fact related to the conditions of learning and the nature of the learners. A comparison between conditions of Ll and classroom L2 learning and instructional settings can be summarised as follows:

The Ll learner has more time to learn his mother tongue as he interacts with family members whilst the classroom L2 learner has limited time with the teacher.

The Ll learner's conditions are natural and the language is not a structured, step by step process, while those of the L2 learner consist of carefully selected, sequenced and graded inputs. 90

The L1 learner commits errors in his speech which are rarely corrected and the emphasis is on the interlocutor understanding what the learner is saying. The L2 learner, on the other hand, avoids committing errors and if they are committed they are frequently corrected. Accuracy tends to receive priority.

The L1 learner has an innate capacity for learning language whilst the L2 learner depends on his cognitive ability.

The L1 learner has a stronger motivation to communicate, while the motivation of the L2 learner is weaker.

The L1 learner has no previous linguistic knowledge whilst the L2 learner knows at least one language and tends to transfer his knowledge to the target language.

The L1 learner has, in the process of language acquisition, acquired cultural norms; the L2 learner also acquires cultural norms which may differ or conflict with those of the target language.

As the conditions of learning differ in terms of location, age of the participant, purpose and the amount of time available for learning, the teacher should seek for guiding principles to lead him in his methods and techniques. Communicative language teaching programmes propose a move from traditional instruction towards taking more of the natural learning techniques into consideration. For instance, it is recommended that there should be a limited amount of error correction and meaning should be emphasised over form.

Milian (1991) has identified four types of learners. Taking proper cognisance of these four types of learners could help to facilitate 91

language learning in the classroom. Knowledge of learning style strategies also plays an important role in the understanding of the types of learners.

5.4 Linguistic theories on second language learning

Research on second language learning has grown enormously over the past years. That the theories developed for first and second language learning are closely related, however, should not be interpreted as meaning that direct analogies can be drawn between first and second language acquisition/learning. Some scholars drew a direct analogy between first and second language learning by considering one theory of language learning, without a thorough investigation of how a second language is learnt. Stern (1970:57) discusses some arguments that state that the L2 learner can acquire the L2 in the same way as the child learns his mother tongue. However, there are some flaws in these views. Each of the arguments discussed in Stern (1970), as summarised below, shall be considered:

(a) "In language teaching, we must practice and practice, again and again. Just watch a small child learning his mother tongue. He repeats things over and over again. During the language learning stage he practices all the time. This is what we must also do when we learn a foreign language." Practising in second language learning should not be equated to the speech of a child learning his mother tongue. A child communicates within a meaningful context and he needs to communicate his needs. A drill lesson in second language learning may be monotonous, since the learners do not have any actual need to be addressed through language at that moment. 92

"Language learning is mainly a matter of imitation. You must be a mimic. Just like a small child. He imitates everything." Regarding imitation, scholars such as Lightbown and Spada (1993) say that imitation plays a very minimal role in mother tongue learning. However, the Audiolingual approach disregards meaning and encourages imitation. According to Brown (1980:34-35), when a child hears utterances he imitates them by engaging in deep structure rather than surface structure imitation. Therefore, it is important that the teacher, in the classroom, should focus on structure as well as meaning in language teaching. His main concern should be to develop the learners' communicating ability.

"First, we practice the separate sounds, then words, then sentences. That is the natural order and is therefore right for learning a foreign language." Although this statement appears to be true of first language acquisition, there are cognitive, affective and linguistic differences between a baby learning his/her mother tongue and a pupil or adult learning a second language. The teacher of the second language learner should, preferably, help the learner to learn to communicate by using sentences in a meaningful context.

"Watch a small child's speech development. First he listens, then he speaks. Understanding always precedes speaking. Therefore, this must be the right order of presenting the skills in a foreign language." Although this statement is true, the question arises as to how a learner should listen. There is no empirically proven answer to this question. Approaches to second-language learning such as Total Physical Response 93

encourage a silent period before a learner may speak. In this approach a student will only begin speaking after ten hours of instruction. The course is divided into 70 % for listening comprehension, 20 % speaking and 10 % for reading and writing (Krashen 1982:140).

(e) "A small child listens and speaks and no one would dream of making him read or write. Reading and writing are advanced stages of language development. The natural order for first and second language learning is listening, speaking, reading, writing." This statement is true of first language learning. However, a second language learner adult who can read his first language fluently, can benefit by having access to the second language written text.

"You did not have to translate when you were small. If you were able to learn your language without translation, you should be able to learn a foreign language in the same way." Translation, not in the form of the traditional grammar- translation method, is ultimately necessary. For the second language learner, the use of his first language may be a facilitating factor to his learning. Shrum and Glisan (1994:121) explain that the use of the mother tongue may be both necessary and helpful in guiding pupils in the use of learning strategy and in checking their comprehension.

"A small child simply uses language. He does not learn formal grammar. You don't tell him about verbs and nouns. Yet he learns the language perfectly. It is equally unnecessary to use grammatical conceptualisation in teaching a foreign language" (Stern 1970:57). Grammar teaching actually improves the effectiveness of language. The method of 94

grammar presentation will determine its effectiveness. (The methods of grammar teaching will be discussed in Chapter six of this thesis.)

The theories that address how children acquire their mother tongue have generated many studies. Ellis (1990:32) discusses two views regarding classroom language learning. The first view asserts that classroom language learning is essentially the same as L 1 acquisition. Such a view led to justifying language teaching proposals known as

cognitive anti - method. The second view claims that the goal of classroom language learning is competence. This view argues that learners should be engaged in a linguistic analysis of language forms and is called the cognitive code method.

5.4.1 The cognitive anti-method

The Cognitive Anti-method holds that classroom L2 learning is essentially the same as L1 acquisition. It states that classroom language learning would proceed most effectively if there were no interferences with the natural process of learning (Ellis 1990:32). The main advocates of this view are Newmark and Reibel (1968). Ellis (1990) summarises the cognitive anti-method theory by formulating six assumptions which, in fact, form a radical alternative to the Audiolingual method, and which are repeated below:

a) "Second language learning is controlled by the learner rather than the teacher." The role of the learner should be taken into consideration in L2 teaching. The learner is said to be the problem-solver and is the one who selects and organises his inputs. 95

"Human beings possess an innate capacity for the learning of language." In this regard scholars such as Newmark and Reibel (1968) go to the extent of arguing that an adult can learn the L2 in a similar manner that the child learns his mother tongue. However, this view is disputed by applied linguists.

"It is not necessary to attend to linguistic form in order to acquire an L2." The point at issue here is that first language acquisition takes place successfully without any linguistic form analysis. Newmark (1963), cited by Ellis (1990:36), points out that there is a need to "liberate language teaching from grammatical theory".

"Classroom language learning is not an additive process." According to Newmark (1966) the first learner does not acquire linguistic features bit by bit, but rather learns the language as a whole. Linguistic parts should not be isolated; instead a natural context in which language is to be learnt should be created.

"Errors are a concomitant of the learning process and therefore, inevitable." This assumption refutes the claim that language learning in children involves imitation of parental speech, since some utterances made by children are unique or very unusual. It is important to note that the learner should discover his errors rather than be corrected by the teacher (Corder 1967 as cited by Ellis 1990:37).

"Ll interference is the result of ignorance." Ellis (1990:37) explains that, according to Newmark and Reibel, language interference occurs if the language "learner's attention was drawn to the contrast between her(his) Ll and L2 as was the case in both grammar-translation and audiolingualism". That 96

could be minimised by creating an environment of Ll acquisition in the classroom. Some scholars, such as Cook (1991:6), point out that L1 helps the L2 learner when the two languages have elements in common and can hinder when they differ.

5.4.2 The cognitive code method

This method is described by Carroll (1966:102) as "a modified up to date grammar translation theory". This method motivated comparative studies which were designed to establish its success against audiolingualism. The advocate of this method, Chastin (1971), pointed out that a development of the perception about language rules should be established.

Chastin is the one who argued that learning commences with competence and proceeds to performance. Competence is concerned with an explicit knowledge of grammatical rules, whilst performance is concerned with the actual practising, the use of the grammatical rules. In short the cognitive code learning theory emphasises deductive learning, i.e. "grammatical rules should precede the provision of opportunities for practice" (Ellis 1990:38).

Although the teaching of explicit grammar is supported by applied linguists, care should be taken that there should be no return to the traditional method of grammar teaching as in the bad old days of the grammar translation method. In cases where explicit grammar is taught, it should only help the learner understand what he is learning. Rules should not be viewed in a negative light but as something which might provide a short-cut to learning.

On the other hand, it should be understood that the memorisation of a fixed set of patterns and the mechanical practice of grammatical 97

rules does not result in language learning. The advocates of the cognitive code method such as, for instance, Jakobovits (1968) and Chastin (1971) based their views on rules perception and pointed out that grammatical forms are not acquired through imitation and practice, but that there should instead, be "concept attainment" which is preceded by the verbalisation of grammatical relations. Jakobovits (1968) also rejects pattern drills because they deal with surface structure, and opts for transformation exercises which deal with deep structure.

Ellis (1990:39) describes the cognitive code learning method as "a half-way house between the received opinion of audiolingualism and the radical proposals of the cognitive anti-method." He also criticises the cognitive code method explaining that it does not make sense to talk of explicit knowledge as preceding language use (i.e. competence preceding performance). The cognitive code method also fails to reconcile the "new ideas presented by generative linguists and L1 acquisition researchers".

5.5 Linguistic theories on first language acquisition/learning

Scholars of psycholinguistics such as Brown (1973), Fromkin and Rodman (1983), and Nelson (1988), to mention but a few, agree that all normal children from various cultures seem to go through similar stages when acquiring their first language. According to Lightbown and Spada (1993) children can acquire their first language with very little help from other children or adults. Brown (1988:76) explains too that the parent does not teach the mother tongue by the formulation of rules of sentence construction. Instead the child has an ability "to extract from the speech he hears a set of construction rules. On the other hand, the psycholinguists ask the question as to how a child can acquire complex language structures without much assistance. Why 98

are there some similarities among all children in their process of language acquisition? For instance, children normally begin to speak between their eighteenth and twenty-eighth month. Theories have been developed that account for first language acquisition. There are two extreme and polarised positions in the study of first language acquisition, namely, the behaviourist position as developed by Skinner (1957) and supported by Bijou (1976) and the mentalist position as developed by Chomsky (1959). Besides these two there are some that try to combine the two extremes. These will also be discussed in this section of the study.

5.5.1 The behaviourist position

The behaviourist position claims that children come into the world without "preconceived notions about the world or about language" (Brown 1980:18). The children's vocalisations are shaped by the environment in which they grow. Behaviourists contend that, without external stimulation, a person cannot acquire any language. Children are slowly conditioned through various patterns of reinforcement.

Skinner (1957) attempted to construct a behaviouristic model of linguistic behaviour. He believed that language is the behaviour which is noticeable, measurable and manipulatable. The focus of this approach is the immediately perceptible aspects of linguistic behaviour. The production of the correct response to stimuli is regarded as a sign of effective language behaviour.

Skinner's general theory of learning was based on "operant conditioning". Brown (1980:19) defines "operant conditioning" as the conditions in which a person produces an utterance or operant, "without necessary observable stimuli; that operant is maintained 99

(learned) by reinforcement". According to Skinner the child's random vocalisations are shaped to conform to adult-like speech by way of reinforcements. The adult rewards correct sounds or words and incorrect responses are ignored.

In this theory it is believed that a child learns language through imitation and habit formation. The child learns by imitating the words and sounds of their parents or caretakers.

The criticism of the behaviourist theory is that imitation is not the only way in which a child learns language. According to Lightbown and Spada (1993:3) the rate of imitation in some children may be less than ten percent, and children's imitation is selective and is based on what they are currently learning. Although imitation is a "meaningful activity that is contextualised and purposeful" (Brown 1980:52), the choice seems to be based on what "the child already knows, not simply on what is 'available' in the environment".

Imitation and practise do not account for how children learn all aspects of their mother tongue. Lightbown and Spada (1993) point out that not all children imitate and practise. Some children do not imitate, but they ask or answer questions or elaborate on the other speaker's statement or question. It would also seem that children learn the language rules and overgeneralise them to cover new contexts.

Imitations and practice cannot explain errors made by children where the forms created by the child were never produced by adults. Children can also produce utterance which clash with those of their parents (Fromkin and Rodman 1983:333). The behaviourist approach is unable to explain how the child acquires 100

regular and routine aspects of language and cannot account for the acquisition of the more complex grammatical structures of the language.

Since language acquisition is not entirely dependent upon the language that a child hears, there was a need to formulate another theory that could redefine the scope of psycholinguistics and to account for the role played by inborn factors in language acquisition. That theory is known as the mentalist theory.

5.5.2 The mentalist (innatist) position

This theory was developed by Chomsky in reaction to Skinner's behaviourist theory. He argued that human behaviour is more complex than animal behaviour. The mentalist position claims that children come into the world with very special innate (inborn) knowledge of the nature of language and of the world. Children act upon their environment by developing these bodies of knowledge. According to this theory, children's language simply develops in the same way that other biological functions develop. This theory holds that, just as you do not need to teach a child to walk, you do not need to teach him to talk. Lightbown and Spada (1993:8) explain that according to Chomsky "the environment makes a basic contribution" - for instance, the people who talk to the child - and "the child's biological endowment will do the rest". According to Chomsky a child is born with an advanced capacity or hypothesis of language. However, Chomsky is unable to describe the nature of the hypothesis of language that the child is born with. Chomsky (1966:20-21) asserts that humans are born with

a hypothetical language-acquisition device AD that can provide as 'output' a descriptively adequate grammar G for the language L on the basis of certain primary 101

linguistic data from L as an input; that is, a device represented schematically as ... primary linguistic data -3 AD -3 G. We naturally want the device AD to be language-independent - that is, capable of learning any human language and only these.

The moment a child selects a certain advance, he will be able to interpret structures that he is encountering for the first time.

McNeill (1966), cited by Brown (1987:20), describes the language acquisition device (LAD) as consisting of four innate linguistic properties, namely:

the ability to distinguish speech events into various classes. the ability to put linguistic units into categories. the ability to recognise that only a certain kind of linguistic system is possible while others are not. the ability to constantly evaluate each linguistic hypothesis in order to select the simple system which fits the observed primary linguistic data.

The LAD proposition is able to address aspects of language acquisition like meaning and abstractness and creativity in an implicit manner. For instance, it is not empirically evident that children test different hypotheses.

Lightbown and Spada (1993:9) summarise some kinds of evidence which have been used to support Chomsky's innatist position as follows:

a) Virtually all children successfully learn their native language at a time in life when they would not be expected to learn anything else so complicated. 102

Children successfully master the basic structure of their native language or dialect in a variety of conditions: Some which would be expected to enhance language development, (and some which would) inhibit it. Children achieve different levels of vocabulary, creativity, social grace, and so on, but virtually all achieve mastery of structure of the language spoken around them. The language children are exposed to does not contain examples of all the information which they eventually know. Animals ... cannot learn to manipulate a symbol system as complicated as the natural language of a three- or four-year-old human child. Children seem to accomplish the complex task of language acquisition without having someone consistently pointing out to them which of the sentences they hear and produce are "correct" and which are "ungrammatical".

The mentalists further support their arguments on the basis of biological factors, namely that children who for medical reasons cannot walk, can do so when their problems are corrected. Similarly, children who can hear, but cannot speak, can generally speak when their problems are corrected. The "critical period" hypothesis has been used to support this view of language acquisition.

The critical period hypothesis refers to a specific and limited time period for language acquisition. There is a strong and weak version of this hypothesis.

The strong version holds that children must acquire their first language by puberty or they will never be able to learn the language after that period. Lightbown and Spada (1993) cite the example of 103

Victor, a twelve-year-old boy who was found wondering naked in the forests of Aveyron in France. He could not learn the language even after he was taught to speak for five years.

The weaker version holds that language learning will be more difficult and incomplete after puberty. The best example cited in this regard is that of Genie, a thirteen-and-a-half-year-old girl who was isolated and abused by her father. She could learn the language, but with incomplete, inconsistent and incorrect use of grammatical forms (cf. Curtiss 1977). However, according to Elliot (1981) these observations are not to be taken as evidence of the innate Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Factors such as the function of language, the role of environmental factors and the development of cognitive categories should be taken into consideration when accounting for language acquisition. Notwithstanding the criticisms against the mentalists, they have succeeded in uncovering problems that the behaviourists were not aware of The problems include the possibility that the grammars of all languages may conform to certain general formal requirements, and that learning might be seen as the development of cognitive structures according to certain innate principles (Brown 1980:22).

5.5.3 The interactionists' position

According to the interactionists, the child develops language because of the interplay between human adults and the child together with the environment in which the child develops. In this theory "the language which is modified to suit the capability of the learner is a crucial element in the language acquisition process" (Lightbown & Spada 1993:14). The speech of an adult when speaking to a child is one example of this position. In most cases 104

adults modify their speech by using short sentences, more varied intonation, topics that are related to the child's environment, and so on.

5.5.4 The procedural approach

Chomsky rejected Skinnerian behaviourism and concluded that a theory of grammar which will establish the formal properties of grammar is needed so that linguistic information can be adequately explained. However, Chomsky is aware that it will still be difficult to solve the "problems involved in the investigation of meaning and the causation of behaviour" (Chomsky 1959:56). He argues that a linguistic theory that establishes what is learned does not by itself establish how learning takes place, that is, the actual operation of the process of learning. Both the behaviourists and the mentalists have actually paid scant attention to the actual course taken by language development, in that the behaviourists did not take into consideration the contribution made by the child in the learning process while the mentalists rejected the role played by linguistic input and environment in the learning process. The procedural approach to language development takes both the internal and external factors into consideration (as the central point). The mentalistic approach is actually the starting point of the procedural approach since it takes into consideration the child's cognitive capacity to discover structure in the language around him. This approach sees the child's comprehension and production of language as based on a system of discovery procedures which keeps on changing and expanding. It begins with the child's primary linguistic data, which is his input, followed by the cognitive organiser which will lead to his language behaviour, namely, his output. In order to explain the nature of the output it is necessary 105

firstly to know the structure and the function of the input and, secondly, to know how the child's cognitive organisation is formed.

5.5.4.1 The structure and function of the child's linguistic input

For many years the mentalistic approach to language learning assumed that the child's linguistic input is not organised or structured. The mentalists contended that there is no difference between what is said to a child and what is said to an adult because both contain speech errors like slips of the tongue, false starts, etc. However, this position was reconsidered when scholars showed interest in the actual linguistic input of children. Scholars maintained that parental speech to children consists of short sentences, syntactically well-formed and semantically simple utterances. De Villiers and De Villiers (1978:194-195) made the following observations regarding the differences between the adult to child and adult-to-adult speech. Unlike adult-to-adult speech, adult- to-child speech is characterised by the following:

Observation on phonological differences

The adult uses a higher pitch and exaggerated intonation when speaking to a child. His speech contains clear enunciation. The speech is slower and there are distinct pauses between utterances. The adult speech directed to the child is marked by phonological simplification, and distinct consonant-vowel combinations, and the syllables are frequently reduplicated.

Observation on syntactic difference

Here the adult speech is marked by a shorter and less varied utterance length (MLU). "MLU" refers to the mean length of utterance. Care is taken that almost all sentences are 106

well-formed and intelligible. The adult uses many partial/complete repetitions of his own or the child's utterances. To avoid complex sentences, many constituents are uttered in isolation. The sentences are marked by fewer verbs per utterance, fewer co-ordinate or subordinate clauses and fewer embeddings. Modifiers rarely occur, and there are more content words.

The adult prefers to use imperatives and questions to young children, particularly occasional questions. Depending on the age of the child, declaratives will be increased.

(c) Observations on semantic differences

The vocabulary is used in a limited way, and it is found that unique words for objects and many diminutives are used. Preferences are "invariably to the here and now; words have concrete referents and there are few references to the past". Different levels of generality in naming objects exist. d) Observations on pragmatic differences

Pragmatic differences are marked by more directives, imperatives, and questions. There are also more deictic utterances.

From the above it becomes clear that parental speech to the child is much more structured and modified. However, it is not clear whether such modifications make learning easier or not. 107

5.5.4.2 The child's cognitive organisation of language

The difference between the child's input and output needs to be explained. Slobin (1973) formulated some operational principles in his discussion of cognitive prerequisites for the development of grammar. There are six principles, three of which fall under semantic coherence and are concerned with the mapping of ideas onto language, and the other three under surface structures, dealing with the problem of dividing speech into separate and meaningful linguistic units. According to Clark and Clark (1977:340) the two sets of principles for the development of grammar that have to be taken cognisance of are:

Semantic Coherence:

Systematic modifications in the form of words. Grammatical markers indicating underlying semantic distinctions which make semantic sense. The avoidance of exceptions.

Surface Structure:

Paying attention to the affixes of words. Paying attention to the order of words and prefixes. Avoiding interruption or rearrangement of linguistic units.

These principles account for the learning of language. Els, Bongaerts, Os, and Janssen-van-Dieten (1984:34) explain that in principle (a), i.e. systematic modification in the form of words, the language learner is made aware that word systems may be modified to express various meanings. The language learner will learn to use these forms mainly in the initial period of his speech. According to principle (b), the language learner marks a semantic category with cues. An example of principle (b), in Zulu, can be found in the 108 works of Bosch (1985). Bosch (1985:99) explains the use of the conjoined subject agreement, citing the following example:

Isangoma nesanusi bayagoduka. `The witch doctor and the diviner are going home. '

The concordial agreement used indicates [+human] and [+plural] features and has as such been used by the speaker in order to mark semantic categories. The generalised principle (c) applies as is shown by using the concordial agreement of the noun class 8 zi, for example:

Isangoma nesanusi ziyagoduka The witch doctor and the diviner are going home.'

In this case the learner assumes that the conjunction of isangoma `witch doctor' and isanusi 'diviner' result in either two witch doctors or in two diviners (Bosch 1985:99).

Principle (d) may be applicable in the Zulu language in the use of verbal endings in respect of the use of present and past tenses. Principle (e) has to do with the learners who learn about the order of affixes within words. The learner knows where the prefix or suffix should come and does not confuse them. In the case of principle (f) the child is able to use utterances like:

Amazambane uyawafuna? 'Potatoes, do you want them?' instead of Ufuna amazambane? 'Do you want potatoes?'

Thus far, several language learning theories have been discussed. In order to be able to employ these theories in practice, an 109

overview of the major language teaching approaches and methods will be discussed. The theories of language and their application in teaching form the foundation upon which language teaching approaches and methods are built.

5.6 A brief overview of language teaching approaches and methods

5.6.1 The Situational Language Teaching Approach

The Situational language teaching approach is an approach to language teaching which was developed by British applied linguists. The two scholars who need to be mentioned here are Palmer and Hornby. These scholars were familiar with the Direct Method, and for this reason wanted to "develop a more scientific foundation for an oral approach to English" (Richards & Rodgers 1986:31). The approach to methodology they developed involved systematic principles of selection, gradation and presentation of the content of a language course.

Richards and Rodgers (1986:34) outline the following as the characteristics of the Situational approach:

Language teaching begins with the spoken language. Material is taught orally before it is presented in written form. The target language is the language of the classroom. New language points are introduced and practised situationally. Vocabulary selection procedures are followed to ensure that an essential general service vocabulary is covered. Items of grammar are graded following the principle that simple forms should be taught before complex ones. Reading and writing are introduced once a sufficient lexical and grammatical basis is established. 110

The theory underlying Situational Language Teaching is based on British Structuralism. Speech is the basis of language, while the structure is the centre of speaking ability. In this approach language is considered to be a set of structures. It is the distinctive feature of Situational Language Teaching that the theory of language must always be linked to situations (Richards and Rodgers 1986:35). This view is in line with what is emphasised by British linguists, such as Widdowson (1990), that language should be used by taking into consideration the relationship between the structure, context and situation.

The principles of learning underlying Situational Language Teaching are memorisation and habit formation. These principles address the process of learning. Frisby (1957), cited by Richards and Rodgers (1986:36), discusses three processes in learning a language, namely, receiving the material, fixing the material in the memory by repetition, and using it in actual practice. Situational Language Teaching prefers to use the inductive approach to grammar teaching. In this approach the explanation of the meaning of words is discouraged, and the learner is instead encouraged to induce the meaning of the word from the way it is used. The language learned in the classroom should be applied to situations outside the classroom.

The objectives of Situational Language Teaching are to teach a practical command of the four basic skills. This could be achieved by the teaching of structure. The Situational Language Teaching approach encourages accuracy in both grammar and pronunciation. This method holds that, through speech, automatic control of basic structures and patterns which are fundamental to reading and writing can be acquired. 111

The learning activities employed by the Situational Language Teaching Approach are repetition and substitution drills. This approach tries by all means to avoid translation and grammatical explanation. The learners are also not allowed to make any mistakes. Initially the learner listens and repeats what the teacher says and he also responds to the commands and questions. The learner has no control over the content of learning. The learner will later participate by initiating statements and asking questions (Davis, Roberts and Rossner 1975).

The role of the teacher in the Situational Language Teaching approach is to act as a model in presenting structures. The teacher should orchestrate drill and practice. In the case where the learner commits errors the teacher should correct them and also test progress. The success of this method rests on the shoulder of the teacher since the textbook only describes activities for the teacher to carry out (Richards & Rodgers 1986:39).

As far as instructional material is concerned, the Situational Language Teaching approach relies on a textbook and visual aids like pictures, charts, flash cards, etc. The material in the textbook is tightly organised and planned around grammatical structures.

5.6.2 The Audiolingual Method

The Audiolingual Method was developed as a consequence of the development of audiotechnology in the 1950s. This method was originally known as the Army Method. It was developed in World War II, during the time when the US had the need to teach oral skills to a vast number of people in the army. The linguist who helped the Army by developing language courses within the 112 framework of the Army Specialised Training Programme was Leonard Bloomfield.

According to Brown (1980:242) two theoretical stances, that is, structuralism and behaviourism, paved the way for the rise of the Audiolingual Method. This method "bases itself on the principles from a theory of linguistics (American Structuralism) on the one hand, and on a learning theory (behaviourism) on the other" (Els et al. 1984:152).

Within the Audiolingual Method, language was viewed as a system of rule-governed structures hierarchically ordered. As far as the learning of language was concerned, the elements of the language and the rules by which these elements are combined were things to be mastered. Richards and Rodgers (1986) explain that audiolingualism regarded speech as language and that speech had a priority over writing in language teaching. Audiolingualism helped in presenting language teaching with a basis for a scientific approach towards language teaching. For instance in 1961 William Moulton was able to proclaim "the linguistic principles on which language teaching should be based" (Richards & Rodgers 1986:49).

The theory of learning underlying the Audiolingual Method is habit formation as explained by the behaviourist psychologists. In this regard Els et al. (1984:153) draw the following three conclusions:

Habits are strengthened by reinforcement; Foreign language habits are formed most effectively by giving the right response, not by making mistakes; Language is behaviour and behaviour can be learned only by inducing the student to behave. 113

The elements upon which the behaviour is dependent are, firstly, a stimulus which serves to elicit behaviour; secondly, a response which has been triggered by the stimulus, and, thirdly reinforcement which will either encourage or suppress the repetition of the response in future (Richards & Rodgers 1986:50).

According to Audiolingualism, skills are learned more effectively if the mastery of speech precedes writing. The mastery of phonological and grammatical structures is more important than the mastery of vocabulary.

The objectives of the Audiolingual Method are divided into two groups,namely, the short-term and the long-term objectives. According to Brooks (1964) the short-term objectives entail three other objectives: firstly, "control of the structure of sound, form and order" (Brooks 1964:113); secondly, knowledge of the vocabulary that will help in the content of the structure; and, thirdly, learning meaning which leads to semantic competence. The long-range objective is that the learner should be able to use language like the native speaker uses it. The learner must be developed to acquire oral fluency. The acquisition of oral fluency will be attainable by teaching the learner listening comprehension, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.

The learning and teaching activities consist of dialogues and drills. Dialogues, which provide a means of contextualising key structures, are used for repetition and memorisation. Drills and pattern-practise exercises are based on the specific grammatical patterns of the dialogue which has been practised and memorised.

In Audiolingualism the learners are seen as organisms, that is, they can be directed to produce correct responses. The learners play a 114

reactive role in the teaching process as teaching is teacher-centred. The learner, if he is allowed to interact, may commit errors which, according to this method, cannot be allowed and are to be avoided at all costs. As the teacher's role is central, he must guide the process of learning through verbal interaction. He must also guide the learner in choosing the vocabulary to be learned.

5.6.3 The Total Physical Response

Richards and Rodgers (1986:87) explain that this teaching method was developed by James Asher. It is built around the co-ordination of speech and action. It is called Total Physical Response because it holds that language can be taught through physical (motor) activity. Richards and Rodgers further point out that Asher views language as being composed of abstractions. Asher (1977:11-12), quoted in Richards and Rodgers (1986:88), asserts:

Abstractions should be delayed until students have internalised a detailed cognitive map of the target language. Abstractions are not necessary for people to decode the grammatical structure of a language. Once students have internalised the code, abstractions can be introduced and explained in the target language.

According to Asher (1977) comprehension plays a central role in language learning. Asher further asserts that second language learning is the same as first language learning. Asher (1977) also adds that listening competence should be developed first in order to help in the development of speaking ability. Furthermore, it is asserted that commands made by parents play an important role in making children respond physically. The moment listening comprehension has been established, speech will develop naturally and effortlessly from that comprehension. 115

The Total Physical Response theory holds that language is acquired "through motor movement - a right-hemisphere activity" (Richards & Rodgers 1986:91). Furthermore, the advocates of this method say that the child acquires his first language in a stress-free environment. Conditions for successful language learning should therefore be stress-free. Meaning should be interpreted through movement. The abstract study of language forms is discouraged by this approach.

The objectives of the Total Physical Response are to teach proficiency and to produce learners who can communicate uninhibitedly and intelligibly with native speakers (Nunan 1989:194; Richards & Rodgers 1986:91). The goals for the Total Physical Response are achievable through the application of action-based drills in the imperative form.

The types of learning and teaching activities in the Total Physical Response entail imperative drills. The aim with regard to drills is to "elicit physical action and activity on the part of the learners" (Richards & Rodgers 1986:92).

The role of the learner is to listen and perform. Physical response to the command of the teacher is seen as playing an important role. The content of learning is determined by the teacher, and the learner has very little influence on it. The Total Physical Response Approach is teacher-centred since it is the teacher who should prepare his lesson, model his new teaching material and present the lesson in the classroom. The teacher in this approach is encouraged to draw up a detailed lesson plan. 116

The Total Physical Response alone cannot promote successful language learning. Its relevance to real-world learner needs is questioned by the proponents of the Communicative Language Teaching Approach. The Total Physical Response Approach can be successfully integrated with other approaches of language teaching.

5.6.4 The Silent Way

The Silent Way is the method of language teaching started by Caleb Gattegno. Richards and Rodgers (1986:99) summarise the learning hypothesis underlying Gattegno's work by stating the following:

Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learned. Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects. Learning is facilitated by problem-solving involving the material to be learned.

This method holds that for the learner to learn effectively, the teacher and the learner should work together as the teacher involves the learner in the problem-solving, creativity and discovering. The learner should be the principal actor rather than a passive listener. The Silent Way advocates that the learner should be involved in the process of learning through discovery. That will benefit him in that his intellectual potential and his intrinsic motivation will be increased.

The Silent Way views each language as composed of elements that give it a unique rhythm and spirit. Richards and Rodgers 117

(1986:101) explain that the "spirit" refers to the "way each language is composed of phonological and suprasegmental elements that combine to give the language its unique sound system and melody". The Silent Way is structural in its approach to language teaching. According to Gattegno, functional vocabulary and core structure are a key to the spirit of the language.

The theory of learning in the Silent Way assumes that first language learning processes form a basis for "deriving principles for teaching foreign language to adults" (Richards & Rodgers 1986:120). This should, however, not be understood as meaning that the process of learning a second language is the same as that of learning a first language. According to Gattegno approaches on "natural" language learning are misguided approaches. Gattegno (1972:11) furthermore points out that the second language learner "cannot learn another language in the same way" as he learned the first language. He asserts that silent awareness and active involvement and trial play an important role in language learning. Second language learning is regarded as an intellectual and cognitive process.

The objective of the Silent Way is to teach learners to attain near-native fluency in the target language. Correct pronunciation in the target language is emphasised as well. The learner is also taught basic practical knowledge of grammar. With the Silent Way the learner learns how to learn a language.

The Silent Way is one of the methods of language learning that encourages the learners to be responsible for their own learning. They must develop to the point where they can be independent. This method, however, includes some characteristics of traditional 118

methods like the Situational Language Teaching Methods and the Audiolingual Methods.

5.6.5 The Community Language Learning Method

The Community Language Learning method was developed by Charles A. Curran and his associates. This method represents the Counselling-Learning theory to teaching languages. Within the Community Language Learning Method, linguistic theory is viewed as a prelude to presenting the model language. The proponents of this method view language as more than a system for communication. According to La Forge (1983) language is a social process. It involves the "social process of growth from child-like dependence to self-direction and independence" (Nunan 1989:194).

There are no specific objectives for Community Language Learning. However, the goal in teaching is to help the learner achieve a near native mastery of language. The learning activities include translation, group work, recording, transcription, reflection and observation.

What makes Community Language Learning important is that it is sensitive to the needs of the learner. The teacher does not teach in the traditional sense, but acts as a counsellor who provides a safe environment in which the learner can learn and grow. This method also stresses the humanistic side of language learning.

The criticism of the Community language Learning method is that teachers cannot embark upon counselling without proper training and the counselling metaphor itself is questionable. Richards and Rodgers (1986) also remark that the problems and successes 119

experienced by a particular group of learners may not necessarily represent language learning universals.

5.6.6 The Natural Approach

The Natural Approach was started by Tracy Terrell. It is said to be based on the use of language in communicative situations. According to Krashen and Terrell (1983:17) the latest research in first and second language acquisition supports the theory of Natural Approach and this approach is adaptable to many teaching situations (contexts) for students of all ages. This approach is also regarded as an example of a communicative-based approach and is "similar to other communicative approaches". Within the Natural Approach the essence of language is meaning. According to this approach, grammar should not hold the central position in language teaching; vocabulary should be the heart of language teaching instead.

Krashen and Terrell (1983) discuss five principles underlying the Natural Approach, namely:

The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis The Natural Order Hypothesis The Monitor Hypothesis The Input Hypothesis The Affective Filter Hypothesis

In summary, Krashen and Terrell assert that there are two ways of second language learning The first of these is "acquisition", which is a natural subconscious process. This process parallels first language development in children. Secondly, there is "learning", which is a conscious process of language learning through the 120 development of language rules. However, according to these scholars, learning cannot lead to acquisition.

The objective of the Natural Approach is to help the beginner and intermediate learners to acquire basic communicative skills that will make them function adequately in the target situation. Krashen and Terrell (1983:71) remark:

They need not know every word in a particular semantic domain, nor is it necessary that the syntax and morphology be flawless - but their production does need to be understood. They should be able to make the meaning clear but not necessarily be accurate in all details of grammar.

The goals for language teaching include the acquisition of basic personal communication skills, which entail both oral and written communication focused on the development of basic skills such as listening and writing of personal letters, and academic learning skills, which include both oral and written communication, and which focus on the development of academic-oriented skills such as listening to a lecture and taking notes. The personal communicative skills are concerned with, for example, listening to announcements made in public places and the reading and writing of personal letters. The academic learning skills, on the other hand, are concerned with listening to a lecture and taking notes in class. The acquisition of forms or structures does not constitute the goal of the Natural Approach.

The types of learning and teaching activities aim at providing comprehensible input. The activities focus on the communication meaning and not the acquisition of grammatical forms. The learners in the Natural Approach are advised not to try to learn a 121

language in the usual sense, but to try and "lose themselves in activities involving meaningful communication" that "will determine the amount and kind of acquisition" of language (Richards & Rodgers 1986:136). In the Natural Approach the teacher is viewed as the primary source of comprehensible input - he generates input - and secondly, he creates a positive classroom atmosphere which is without anxiety. Thirdly, he chooses and orchestrates a rich mixture of activities. The material he collects should be based on what has been shown to be the students needs and interests.

The Natural Approach resembles the traditional method of language teaching where formal grammar is rejected as a prerequisite for language teaching. Richards and Rodgers criticise the Natural Approach and point out that its procedures are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It uses a method "that emphasises comprehensible and meaningful practice activities, rather than production of grammatically perfect utterances and sentences" (Richards & Rodgers 1986:140-1).

5.6.7 Suggestopedia

Suggestopedia is a language teaching method developed by Georgi Lozanov. This method is pupil-centred in approach and is based on Suggestology, which is the scientific study of suggestion. This "science" is concerned with the systematic study of the influences that human beings respond to. Such influences may either be non- rational or non-conscious (Stevick 1976:42). The proponents of this approach assert that these influences may be redirected in order to achieve learning. According to Lozanov (1982:146) the word suggestion is a communicative factor which is expressed in "proposing" that the personality should make its choice. According 122 to Richards and Rodgers (1986:142) Suggestopedia is somewhat mystical in that Lozanov "acknowledges ties in tradition to yoga and Soviet psychology" and he has "borrowed and modified techniques for altering states of consciousness and concentration and use of rhythmic breathing". According to Lozanov (1978:267) the distinction between Suggestopedia and hypnosis and other forms of mind control is that Suggestopedia comprises "a desuggestion-suggestive sense" which is lacking in the other forms of mind control. Secondly, the other forms of mind control "fail to create a constant set up to reserves through concentrative psycho- relaxation". In interpreting these concepts Richards and Rodgers (1986:145) say:

We interpret reserves as being something like human memory banks. Desuggestion seems to involve unloading the memory banks, or reserves, of unwanted or blocking memories. Suggestion, then, involves loading the memory banks with desired and facilitating memories.

Suggestopedia puts more emphasis on learning through memorisation than conventional methods. This method purports to explain how "attentiveness is manipulated to optimise learning and recall" (Richards & Rodgers 1986:143). There are theoretical components through which suggestion and dessugestion operate. Firstly the teachers as source of great "authority" constitute a ritual placebo system that is appealing to most learners; secondly the teacher-student relationship which resembles the "parent-child" relationship should be maintained; thirdly the "environment" in which instruction takes place is important; and, finally, "intonation" and "rhythm" co-ordinated with a musical background help induce a "relaxed" attitude. According to the proponents of this method, learning occurs through suggestion, when learners are in a deeply 123

relaxed but focused state. Specially selected music, as a stimulant, plays an important role in the process of learning.

The objective of Suggestopedia is to promote advanced conversational competence quickly. The students have to master a long list of vocabulary pairs in an unbelievable manner. Memorisation should not be regarded as an end in itself, however, and learners should understand and be able to solve problems in a creative way (Lozanov 1978:251).

The learners must not try to study or learn, but should maintain a passive state and allow the materials to work on them. The teacher's role is to create situations in which the learners are most "suggestible". He should also present the material in a way that will encourage positive reception and retention (Nunan 1989:194; Richards and Rodgers 1986:149). Suggestopedia is a method of language teaching that can help the learner to build up self-confidence.

The criticism of Suggestopedia by those who are grammatically oriented is that grammatical categories are given very little attention in the teaching and learning process. The styles of presentation of material are intricate, inaccessible and also require extensive teacher training, especially with regard to the reading of dialogues in a special way. Stevick (1976:157) points out the following in this regard:

The precise ways of using voice quality, intonation, and timing are apparently both important and intricate. I have found no one who could give a first-hand account of them. 124

5.6.8 The Communicative Approach

The Communicative Language Learning Approach is of British origin. The demise of the Situational Language Teaching gave birth to this approach. The sub-forms of this approach include the Communicative Approach, Notional-functional Approach and Functional Approach. This approach is more comprehensive than the other approaches discussed so far. One of its most outstanding characteristic features is that it pays systematic attention to both the functional and structural aspects of language (Littlewood 1981:1).

Within the Communicative Approach language is viewed as a system for the expression of meaning. Interaction and communication are viewed as the primary functions of language. Halliday (1975), cited by Richards and Rodgers (1986:70), gave seven functions performed by language. These functions are summarised as follows:

Getting things Controlling the behaviour of others Creating interaction with others Expressing personal feelings and meaning Learning and discovering 0 Creating the world of imagination g) Communicating information

The Communicative Approach, in as far as the promotion of learning is concerned, encourages the involvement of the learner in activities that involve real communication and the carrying out of meaningful tasks (Richards & Rodgers 1986:72). The mechanical practice of applying language patterns and structures is discouraged. Instead learners' needs must be known and the 125 learners must be involved in activities in which authentic language is used. The language used should also be meaningful to the learner. Other activities in which the learner may be involved are information sharing and the negotiation of meaning.

Breen and Candlin (1980:110) explain the role played by the learner in the Communicative Approach. The learner is a negotiator "between the self, learning process, and the object of learning". This simply means that a learner cannot learn in isolation, and that communication should instead be a joint undertaking. Co-operative learning is encouraged by the proponents of this approach. According to Breen and Candlin (1980), the teacher is a facilitator of the communicative process, a participant within the learning-teaching group - both researcher and learner, needs analyst, counsellor and group process manager. (For a detailed discussion of these points consult the work of Richards and Rodgers 1986:76).

Although most of the approaches discussed in this thesis were initially designed for second language teaching and learning, they have several features that can be applied in the first language classroom. However, the approaches discussed in this chapter cannot be regarded as a panacea, although they can alleviate many problems faced by the language teacher in the classroom. Each approach can be modified and adjusted to suit a given group of learners. However, the classroom situation does not consist of one group of learner-types. Therefore one will agree with Brown (1980:243) that "no single method suffices to answer all needs of all learners at all time". hi order to address all learners' needs at all times, an integration of various approaches, as discussed below, appears to be a practicable solution. 126

5.7 The integration of approaches to language teaching

Since there is no approach that can be optimally effective for all learners, Duyvene de Wit (1993 & 1994) presents some steps for language teaching that form a basis for synthesizing teaching approaches. This thesis acknowledges the fact that one approach may not be suitable to all learner types. The researcher adopts the views given by Duyvene de Wit (1993) in as far as the integration of language teaching approaches is concerned. This thesis argues that an integrated approach to language teaching will result in a method that caters for a broad range of learning needs and learning styles.

The various teaching approaches, as grouped by Greyling (1990:116) and cited by Duyvene de Wit (1994:142), are divided into two groups, namely the accuracy-based approaches which entail the Grammar Translation, Audiolingualism and Direct Method, and the fluency-based approaches which entail Community Language Teaching, Total Physical Response, Community Language Learning, Suggestopedia, Natural Approach and Communicative Teaching. Duyvene de Wit (1994) proposes the implementation of Kolb's model as the way of integrating these approaches. The phases that could be followed in the integration of these approaches are discussed briefly below.

5.7.1 Phase one: concrete experience and reflective observation

Duyvene de Wit (1994:143) explains that if Kolb's model is applied to language education, it means that the student has to encounter real-life authentic language in the first phase of concrete experience. The student is expected to reflect, as he goes through a period of listening. In the case of language learning one can start to 127 build up a vocabulary, as the vocabulary level of the learner has important implications for his interpretation of a text.

In this phase Duyvene de Wit gives the locative as an example of the grammatical feature the student encounters. This grammatical feature is encountered in a learning activity such as the playing of `naughts and crosses'. When reproducing the noun in its basic form as well as the locative derivative noun, the student realises that prefixing and suffixing, or prefixing only, sometimes occur with the formation of locatives. From this he also concludes that his knowledge of the locative structure is deficient. Once a person experiences a deficiency, he is motivated to search for a solution to the problem. Therefore, this makes the student receptive to the grammar period that is introduced in phase two. Thus, affective involvement that serves as a stimulus for change is obtained. In playing the `naughts and crosses' the student is being explicitly instructed in dealing with the grammatical rules of the locative in an inductive way. Duyvene de Wit (1994:144) asserts that Kolb's model requires that a student be exposed to new situations; that he investigates new patterns; that he acquires background information; that he identifies problems; that he becomes effectively involved; that he senses hidden possibilities; that he gets to know concrete reality and that he observes it reflectively. These activities require a divergent style of learning.

Furthermore, Duyvene de Wit, explains that in terms of the constructs of fluency versus accuracy, one may speak of a blend form. For instance, the language in the reading lesson should be authentic and in accordance with real-life language in empirical concrete reality and by implication should be based on fluency. As the language in the reading lesson is contextualised, and not decontextualised as with accuracy, the reading lesson is more 128

fluency-based. She also explains that in the learning activities initiated by the teacher, however, the input is meta-communicative, and thus accuracy-based. The responses expected from the student are meta-communicative, by implication thus, accuracy-based.

5.7.2 Phase two: reflective observation and abstract conceptualisation

In this phase the language is not authentic and focused on concrete reality as, for instance, in a normal conversation situation where the focus is on the transmission of a message. The language in this phase is abstract and removed from empirical reality, as sentences are studied in isolation in a decontextualised way. In this phase there is language learning and not language acquisition. What is emphasised in this phase is accuracy and not fluency, and, furthermore, the emphasis is on knowledge of the linguistic rules, on the knowledge about language. Duyvene de Wit states that in contrast with the affective involvement in the previous phase, in this phase a strong appeal is made to cognition. This phase encourages the learner to be involved in the activities that require him to narrowly define the problems identified in phase one; compare alternatives; reach a theoretical synthesis; formulate future plans and hypotheses against the background of set criteria. In this case, language is not studied in the way that it occurs in concrete and empirical reality. Language is dealt with in an observing, reflective and abstract manner. This involves a deductive approach. This activity requires an assimilating style of learning. Activities in phase two are meta-communicative and accuracy- based. 129

5.7.3 Phase three: abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation

As in the second phase, the emphasis in the third phase is still abstract because the assignments have a meta-communicative focus. The learning activities do not require a production of authentic language such as that which occurs in empirical reality. However, the student does play a more active role than in phases one and two insofar as he applies the acquired grammatical knowledge in practice. The student is no longer observing and receptive as in the previous two phases. The learning activities should help the student to implement in practice the theoretical knowledge he has acquired. This involves selecting between alternatives; taking decisions; focusing on the attempts; testing set hypotheses and evaluating plans. In this phase there is active experimentation with the (abstract) theory, in this case the locative structure.

The chosen learning activities should lead to application of the cognitive domain. Duyvene de Wit (1994:145) defines application as the ability to use acquired knowledge in new situations. Application includes the implementation of rules, methods, concepts, principles and theories. This is manifested in a demonstration of the use of newly acquired knowledge. It also involves the solution of problems. She explains, furthermore, that application as a learning outcome indeed occurs on a higher cognitive level than comprehension and knowledge. The next level of the cognitive domain, namely analysis, may also be introduced by activating the ability to break up the material into its various parts so as to come to an understanding of the organised structure. This may involve identifying the parts, analysing the relationship between the parts, and recognising the implied organisational 130

principle. In this case the learning outcomes represent a higher intellectual level than comprehension and application as they require the understanding of both the content and the structural form. Put in terms of behavioural objectives, the students are required to analyse, break up, distinguish, identify, illustrate, select, subdivide, etc. the material.

In terms of the constructs of fluency and accuracy, one may speak of a blend form. Insofar as the responses are meta-communicative and decontextualised, they are focused on accuracy. The more active and productive role that the students play suggests that the teaching is more focused on fluency. Thus the active experimentation tends towards fluency, while the abstract focus implies accuracy (Duyvene de Wit (1994:145).

5.7.4 Phase four: active experimentation and concrete experience

In this phase the student is active, focused on concrete reality, and carrying out authentic real-life-centred assignments. After this phase one may evaluate the possible problems that the student may experience, and then take remedial steps. Against the background of Kolb's model, the activities involve the following: objectives are set; a plan of action is carried out; a commitment to a schedule is made, and decisions are implemented to solve problems. The student communicates actively in the target language and is focused communicatively on the concrete empirical reality so as to convey a message focused on real life. These activities are practice-centred and require an accommodating style of learning.

Duyvene de Wit (1994) maintains that the learning activities in this phase lead to synthesis which is a level of the cognitive domain. By synthesis she refers to the ability to join parts to form a new 131

whole, for instance, through the production of unique communication. The learning outcomes of this category emphasise creative behaviour. They involve the integration of learning from different areas to solve a problem. There is synthesis insofar as the learning outcomes require the students to create, design, generate, modify, organise, rearrange, reconstruct, reorganise, revise, rewrite, summarise, tell and write (Duyvene de Wit 1994:145).

She concludes that in terms of the constructs of fluency and accuracy, phase four is fluency-based, and there is greater emphasis on language acquisition than on language learning in this phase. Duyvene de Wit (1994:146) concludes:

The implementation of Kolb's model thus reconciles the opposing fluency-based and accuracy-based approaches. During the phase of concrete experience and reflective observation, as well as the phase of abstract conceptualization and active experimentation, a mixture of accuracy and fluency takes place.

The position subscribed to in this thesis is that the integration of language teaching approaches in the teaching of Zulu first language will help in breaking away from the traditional formal teaching of grammar which is currently practised at school level. In this way the teaching of grammar will be integrated meaningfully into a synthesis insofar as grammatical rules are studied in a contextualised way within a communicative system.

Since the planned South African school curriculum for languages will be within an Outcomes-based Education (OBE) approach, the concept "Outcomes-based Education" will be discussed briefly in this chapter in order to show how it affects the teaching and learning of languages. However, the aim of this section of 132

this chapter is not to give full details of what Outcomes-based Education entails. Its aim is only to establish the nature of this approach. Furthermore, as Outcomes-based Education will be implemented in South African schools, questions are asked as to whether teaching of the mother tongues will actually take place within this new approach to education. It must be mentioned from the outset that Outcomes-based Education refers to an education system and not to a language learning approach per se.

5.8 Outcomes-based Education (OBE)

5.8.1 What is Outcomes-based Education?

The concept Outcomes-based Education has different meanings to different people. It is interpreted in various ways, hence it operates under the labels: Results-Oriented Thinking, Mastery Learning, Outcome-Based Instruction, Outcomes-Driven Development Model, and so on. Evans and King (1994:12) explain that Outcomes-based Education may be regarded as an "umbrella concept under which various educational reforms efforts can be placed". Boschee and Baron (1993:1) assert that "outcome-based education is a student-centred, results-oriented design premised on the belief that all individuals can learn".

Outcomes-based Education is an education system that aims to prepare students for real life, and not simply getting them ready for university. It is education committed to the success of every learner. It focuses on educational choices rather than the needs of individuals and it ensures continuous improvement through learning. An "outcome" in Outcomes-based Education refers to an actual (culminating) demonstration of significant learning in an authentic context. Spady (1994:18) explains that an outcome 133

should not be confused with a score, and that it should be understood as "the end product of a clearly defined process that students carry out". The Report on the Ministerial Committee for Development Work on the NQF (1996:24) defines outcome as

a culminating demonstration of the entire range of learning experiences and capabilities that underlie it, and it occurs in a performance context that directly influences what it is and how it is carried out. These defining elements clearly tell us that an outcome is not simply the name of learning content, or the name of a concept, or the name of a competence, or a grade or test score, but an actual demonstration in an authentic context.

5.8.2 The origin of Outcomes - based Education

Although Outcomes-based Education is being brought to South Africa as a new approach to the educational system, it has been in existence for some decades. In order to put its origin into proper perspective the ideas (that is, concepts such as outcome, objectives, criterion-referenced measurement, Mastery learning, and so on) reflecting the origin of Outcomes-based Education, which were part of the American educational practice since the 1950s, will be outlined briefly.

(a) Objectives

The term objectives is associated with Tyler who, in 1950, identified fundamental issues that teachers should consider in their curriculum development and instruction planning Tyler (1950), cited by King and Evans (1991:73), as the forerunner of Outcomes-based Education, noted the significance of objectives for the systematical planning of 134

educational encounter, asserting that a well-written objective should identify both the behaviour to be molded in the student and "the area of content or life in which the behaviour is to be applied". Tyler's ideology was followed by the taxonomies of objectives for the cognitive and affective domains by Bloom (1984) and Mager (1961). King and Evans (1991:73) add that these taxonomies "provided the framework - and behavioural objectives, and the method - for embracing a behaviourist orientation in psychology and for clarifying the instructional process". The Ontario Ministry of Education and Training (1995:27) makes the following distinction between objectives and outcomes:

Objectives Outcomes • Focus on what the teacher • Focus on what the learner will will do. do. • Describe the intent of • Describe the result of learning. teaching. • Focus on opportunities Emphasise how learning is provided for learning. used, especially how it can be applied in new areas. • Involve estimating the amount • Require flexible allocation of that can be learned in a given time. period of time.

(b) Outcomes

The ardent proponents of Outcomes-based Education such as Mitchell and Spady used the terms "outcome" and "goal" interchangeably as early as 1978. King and Evans (1991:73) reiterate that the word outcome could be synonymous with "goal", "purpose" and "end". The term 135 outcome is also used by Johnson (1967) in his "definitions and models in curriculum theory". Johnson, for instance, contends that there should be a change in traditional approaches to curriculum development. As is the case with Outcomes-based Education, he asserted that objectives should not be derived from the textbook outlines but from desired changes in the learner.

Criterion-referenced measurement

This concept of measurement is one of the roots of the notion of Outcomes-based Education. Glaser (1963) mentioned the importance of student placement in accordance with what the individual can or cannot do. Glaser's view is supported by King and Evans (1991) who assert that the criterion-referenced measurement "is appropriate for Outcomes-based Education because it locates a student's test behaviour on a continuum ranging from "no proficiency" to "perfect performance". In Outcomes-based Education, the student's placement could be determined by the application of the criterion-referenced measurement. This therefore suggests that the concept "criterion-referenced measurement" paved the way for the establishment of Outcomes-based Education.

Mastery learning

The mastery learning movement was established on the ideas of Benjamin Bloom of the University of Chicago who used group instructional techniques and varied both instruction and time to meet an individual's needs. King and Evans (1991:73 et seq.) affirm that mastery learning 136

was the vehicle for the development of the Network for Outcome-Based Schools established as a result of a meeting of a group of practitioners discussing the implementational problems of mastery learning and competency-based education. It should be noted that although some principles of mastery learning are used in the implementation of Outcome-based Education, the emphasis in mastery learning falls on what the teacher does.

(e) Competency - based education

This movement originated as a result of a change in the job market in the late 1960s. This was during the period when people expressed their doubts about the adequacy of education in preparing students for life roles. The main idea was that competency-based education should be built around the integration of outcome goals, instructional experiences and assessment devices. Competency-based education became a testing and remediation programme focused on basic skills. In its ideal form competency-based education contained most of the elements of Outcomes- based Education. Lack of agreement as to what the concept `competency' represented led to its demise.

From the above discussion it transpires that the Outcomes- based Approach focuses on the encouragement of self- directed learning and self-assessment of the learner. In the Outcomes-based Approach, learners are given the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts they are learning.

137

5.8.3 The fundamental beliefs of Outcomes-based Education

The fundamental beliefs of Outcomes-based Education are explained by Boschee and Baron (1993:2) and Spady and Marshall (1991:67), who point out that Outcomes-based Education is founded on the premises that, firstly, all students can learn and succeed (but not on the same day in the same way). Secondly, success results in further success. Thirdly, schools create and control the conditions under which learners succeed. Finally, the community, educators, learners, and parents share in the responsibility for learning.

5.8.4 Approaches to Outcomes-based Education

Spady (1993), (1994) and Spady and Marshall (1991) distinguish between three approaches to Outcomes-based Education. Firstly, there is the traditional approach, which concerns itself mainly with student success in school. Secondly, there is the transitional approach, which is concerned with students' culmination in a capacity at graduation and, thirdly, there is transformational Outcomes-based Education which is concerned with students' success after they leave school. The first two will not be considered in this discussion, since South African education wants to adopt the transformational Outcomes-based Education model because of the reasons given in Spady and Marshall (1991:68), namely that OBE is:

not calendar defined but outcome defined. not constrained in opportunity but expanded (which enables successful teaching and learning for all to occur). 138

based on performance credentialing, that is, one gets credit through accomplishment, using clear criteria, and demonstrating success of priority outcomes. not tied to curriculum coverage, that is, approach to teaching and testing but aided by instructional coaching which fosters successful performance for all students on essential outcomes. not segmented in content but integrated in concepts as it applies to a cross-curriculum approach to outcomes, curriculum structure, instructional delivery, and assessment. 0 based on culminating achievements. characterised by cooperative learning which fosters learning success for all. not dependent on comparative evaluation but confirmed by criterion validation, that is, expectation of high-level performance on clearly defined outcomes and standards.

As the aim of outcome-based education is to prepare learners to adequately meet the needs of real life, especially in the twenty- first century, language teaching and learning should be in line with technological advancement and societal changes. As far as language teaching is concerned, the principles of Outcomes- based Education are relevant to the generally accepted principles for language teaching. Outcomes-based Education will, in fact, enhance the teaching of language, since it requires that that which a learner must learn should be clearly identified. This would mean that language learning outcomes should coherently "focus on the life skills and context" and the learning should be "active and experience-based for maximum application of knowledge, skills, and orientations necessary to learner success in the present and future" (Boschee and Baron 1993:3). In other words there should be clear specifications as to whether the 139

language learned is required for occupational or educational purposes.

5.8.5 Language learning in Outcomes - based Education

The recommendations of the Learning Area Committee dealing with language, literacy and communication indicate that grammar teaching has been accommodated, since the fifth learning area outcome requires that learners should be able to control and reflect on language by knowing and understanding its structures and conventions in context (see Appendix II, page 248). The learning area committee regards grammar teaching as one of the important aspects of language learning, since it enables the learner to

understand literal meaning understand and apply grammatical skills coherently structure the content of a text or communication logically understand and apply language conventions appropriately understand and apply language structures as used in other disciplines or fields recognize and use different texts or speech genres identify incorrect and/or inappropriate use of language.

Although, at this stage, the above points are still proposals submitted by the committee, the researcher argues that the above outcomes cannot be achieved without knowledge of how language functions. It should also be noted that the above points could be linked to the syllabus types discussed in chapter four. For instance, example (a) above, could be linked to the notional 140

approach, (b) the notional-functional approach, (c) the communicative approach, (d) the Situational approach, and (e) the content-based approach. This confirms the notion that the teaching of grammar, whether explicit or implicit still has a role to play in Outcomes-based Education, for Outcomes-based Education can neither alter the principles of language teaching ' and learning nor prescribe for teachers approaches to be applied in language teaching. Thus, Blair's (1982:214) view on the importance of linguistics in language teaching still holds:

One even claims that for a language student to attempt to learn a language without understanding linguistics is like a physics student attempting to learn physics without understanding mathematics; though to some extent it can be done, it is highly inefficient and not to be recommended for the serious student. From that point of view it would seem that just as mathematics is a prerequisite to the study of the physical sciences, so linguistics should be a prerequisite to serious language study. (emphasis added)

Blair (1982) does not suggest that language students should be overloaded with technical nomenclature as is the case with the present syllabus for Zulu mother tongue speakers, but that the grammar to be taught should match the outcomes related to the needs of the student and also correlate with the provincial philosophy, vision, mission and exit outcomes.

In summary, in implementing outcomes-based language learning teachers need to develop objectives and authentic tasks. Authentic tasks should entail activities that are student-centred and should "focus on content and skills that are useful in real life" (Boschee and Baron 1993:95). Although authentic tasks serve as both instructional and assessment tools, in assessing 141

student progress not all learning activities and tasks in the classroom have to be authentic.

Boschee and Baron (1993:84) propose that, in order to enhance authentic learning in Outcomes-based Education, students should be grouped so that cooperative learning can be facilitated, brainstorming activities in problem-solving should be encouraged, and there should be a heterogeneous grouping of students. These strategies, when properly applied, may facilitate interactive activities which will in turn enhance the process of learning.

5.9 Assessment in Outcomes - based Education

The Outcomes-based Education in South Africa will alter the concept of pass/fail to a credit/try-again system. The learner's progress will be measured against agreed criteria and the measurement process should not only be appropriate to the outcomes being assessed but should also satisfy the quality of specified standards.

The Outcomes-based Education advocates that the individual learner's progress be assessed continually. The assessment should be based on the premise that teachers use appropriate resources and strategies to facilitate and improve the quality of each learner's learning need. The learner should also have a clear understanding of what he is expected to know, value and be able to do, that is,. he should have a full understanding of expected outcomes. It is essential for the teacher to discuss the progress of the learner with him as frequently as possible. This should be done, since assessment is part of learning. The learner needs to know about his performance, since such knowledge becomes a means of checking 142

on what he has or has not mastered. The work mastered will serve as motivation to subsequent learning.

Different measurements for assessing learning will be applied. The traditional system of giving tests to learners will be replaced with assessment procedures such as portfolio, demonstration, observation, self-assessment, task completion and learner projects.

5.10 Will the Outcomes - based Education work?

It is difficult to give a clear-cut answer to the question as to whether Outcomes-based Education will be successful or not, since there is no empirical evidence for its success. Evans and King (1994:14) comment that at this stage, "documentation of the effects of outcome-based education is difficult to find, and what is available is largely perceptual". They conclude that data collected in states where Outcomes-based Education is implemented, by interviewing teachers, administrators and school board members, indicates that since the implementation of the Outcomes-based Approach, there has been "a tremendous increase in student learning". Others say that outcome-based education works for the average and unmotivated learner, while still others expressed their concern that the approach "has questionable effects on high-achieving students".

The success of Outcomes-based Education demands that teachers be properly trained into the full understanding of what Outcomes- based Education entails and be properly guided as to what it is that should be improved in the South African schools. The researcher expresses his confidence in the success of language teaching within the outcomes-based model since it encourages an integrated approach to language learning. The principles of language learning 143 discussed under the integration of approaches share some similarities with the Outcomes-based model. Both recognize that basically all learners can be successful all learners can learn but, because of dissimilar learning styles and strategies, not necessarily in the same way or within a stipulated time frame language acquisition is a holistic, integrated activity that occurs in purposeful and meaningful contexts the learner should be provided with the opportunity to participate in purposeful, real-life demonstrations of what he has learned the study of the uses and conventions of language, grammar included, should increase gradually as the learner develops his language skills.

In terms of the above, it can be concluded that the language learning/teaching approaches discussed in this chapter relate to the requirements for the Outcomes-based model. The approaches, in their integrated form, will no doubt help in the synthesis of divergent teaching approaches and alleviate many problems faced by the language teacher in the classroom. 144

CHAPTER SIX

GRAMMAR TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM

6.1 Introduction

In the previous chapters of this study it was mentioned that secondary school pupils and teachers of Zulu mother tongue complain that the study of Zulu grammar is uninteresting and difficult. The main problem is that the compilers of the syllabus did not develop a coherent approach to language teaching. Learners understand neither the relevance of the grammar they are learning nor the contribution made by its discrete aspects towards their language development. The work they are doing does not contribute to the improvement of their ability in Zulu speech and writing, and neither does it improve their knowledge of their culture (Kumalo 1992:69). The general feeling is that there should be a shift away from the learning of formal Zulu grammar towards the creative and experiential learning model. There is a need to apply approaches to grammar teaching that will involve the learner in analytic and interactive activities. Learners should engage in activities which will expose them to authentic texts and discourse which is then used as basis for teaching of grammatical structures in a holistic and inductive way. This chapter will discuss some methods and approaches that could be adopted to the teaching of first language (Li).

6.2 Methods of grammar teaching

Gurrey (1958) deals with the teaching of mother tongue in secondary schools. He devotes special attention to the section on grammar 145

teaching. He explains and suggests some techniques to teach grammar. He proves convincingly that the pupils have a "rough-and-ready command of language". They are content with their limited proficiency, without realising that their response to their mother tongue and improvement on its use could determine their intellectual growth.

Grammar can be taught either deductively or inductively. Since both methods have their shortcomings, some teachers prefer to approach grammar teaching in an eclectic way. These methods will be discussed briefly.

6.2.1 The deductive method

The deductive method was originally devised to teach Latin and Greek. Many teachers who are teaching grammar the traditional way use this method. According to this method the teacher tells his pupils the aspects of language he will be teaching them. The teacher starts by defining the concepts. That is followed by writing examples on the board. Additional examples may be taken from textbooks. The examples are discussed and such discussions lead to an explanation of the underlying grammatical rules. The pupils must then apply these rules in producing similar examples.

The deductive method is cognitive in nature. In most cases when this method is used, the explanation of the rules becomes the point of focus. The value of the message becomes secondary.

According to Cross (1992:27) and Richards et al (1985:73) the steps followed under the deductive method are mainly used by the teachers who follow the so-called grammar translation method. Teachers who 146

make use of a textbook containing traditional grammar are inclined to follow this method. This method is popular in the teaching of Zulu mother tongue. It is a popular method to most Zulu grammar teachers presumably because most of them follow an approach that is teacher- centred and examination-oriented. This method does not promote oral fluency. According to Cross (1992:27) this method should be rejected by those with a communicative aim in language teaching. However, this method can be very useful in the weaker version of the communicative approach in cases where the teacher is confronted with complex grammatical rules that could be explained for the sake of the learner.

6.2.2 The inductive method

In the inductive method, according to Cross (1992:28), the grammar teacher "induces the learners to realise grammar rules without any prior explanation". Richards et al (1985:73) aptly define the inductive method as an approach to language teaching in which:

... learners are not taught grammatical or other types of rules directly but are left to discover or induce rules from their experience of using the language.

Within the inductive method the learner is exposed to grammatical forms representing real-life situations. The pupils are guided to analyse the structures or forms and infer rules applicable to them. The teacher should not do the thinking for his pupils but help them to arrive at the conclusions. Although this method helps the learner discover underlying concepts, some scholars such as Shrum and Glisan (1994:92) advise that "the inductive method cannot guarantee that the 147

induced concepts will actually be correct". Therefore, help from the teacher in this regard is very important. Cross (1992:33) advises that in order to build up linguistic competence the teacher should start by teaching only grammatical concepts that are easily explained. He should only pay attention to difficult grammatical concepts that appear in the text used in the classroom. He should avoid "making the learners grapple with niceties that they cannot possible master" and avoid spending much time on rules that do not concern their present situation.

6.2.3 The eclectic way

Whereas there is a considerable divergence in the approaches of authors of grammar textbooks, that is, some prefer an inductive while others favour a more deductive approach to grammar teaching, teachers generally prefer to follow an eclectic style. Prabhu (1987:108) discusses what the concept 'eclecticism' refers to and how it operates:

Eclecticism is a matter of operating with a combination of perceptions or procedures which, though all different and some perhaps arguably inconsistent with others, have nevertheless found a satisfying balance in the mind of an individual. ... . Eclecticism is an exercise of worldly wisdom - a search for the safest course in the midst of many risks.

Eclecticism is a desirable principle of life. It is a refusal to see things in terms of irreconcilable alternatives and a belief that, where there are alternative courses of action available, the 'right' course must be somewhere between the two. Eclecticism is the development of a new perception which enables one to see earlier perceptions in a new 148

light or a new relationship, thus resolving what was earlier seen as a conflict. This is what often happens when there is a shift in focus which renders earlier dichotomies irrelevant or reveals earlier interpretations as having been inadequate.

The eclectic way is the most preferable to some teachers due to advantages and disadvantages prevalent in both the inductive and the deductive methods. For instance, the deductive method is best suited to situations when difficult aspects of grammar have to be explained. Older learners prefer to know the rules of language, hence the deductive method is more advantageous to them. However, it is also disadvantageous in that it does not involve the learner in discovering the underlying rules, while the inductive method does.

According to the eclectic way the teacher may choose not to teach grammar per se. The learner will become aware of the rules as he uses the language. The attention of the class may be drawn to certain grammatical structures as they occur in a text or during the presentation of the lesson.

Since the publication of the the Cox Report (DES:1989), which followed the Kingman Report (DES:1988), and the introduction of the Language in the National Curriculum (LILAC) (n.d.) programme, a lot of work has been done to address the problem of grammar teaching. The works of applied linguists, such as Batstone (1994a & 1994b), Lodge and Evans (1995), Swan (1994), to mention but a few, entail new approaches to grammar teaching that will address the problem of grammar teaching in a more adequate manner. The approaches to be followed in the teaching of grammar as proposed by these linguists take into consideration, firstly, the nature of the grammar to be taught, 149

secondly, the teachers' knowledge of grammar, thirdly, grammar and learning, and, finally, grammar and teaching, as major areas of relevance to the teacher. These approaches will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

6.3 Approaches to grammar teaching

In the light of the changing circumstances in the classroom, the teacher, according to Lodge and Evans (1995:106), should be in a position of knowing what he and his pupils need to know about grammar. He should know whether grammatical knowledge should be left implicit and, if not, how and when it should be made explicit. His basic aim should be to improve the pupils' understanding of how language works and to help them become more effective in their use of the language. In order to achieve that, this section of the study suggests some approaches that will sensitise learners to process grammatical items within a communicative context. The approaches should help him develop his internal system by helping him develop comprehensible and meaning-bearing inputs. This should be done by providing sufficient details for an analytic look at the components of language use that contribute to effective communication. The approaches to be discussed here are the results of elaborate research done on grammar teaching by applied linguists. It is hoped that teachers will sift, sort and select judiciously from the variety of proposed approaches and techniques, and apply them to their own life situations. Batstone (1994a and 1994b) discusses approaches that will help teachers to find a comprehensive basis for effective grammar teaching and proposes that the grammar should be taught as product, process and as skill. 150

6.3.1 Teaching grammar as product

Teaching grammar as product focuses on helping the learner to notice and to structure language by focusing on specific forms and meanings. This approach does not differ very much from the structural approach to grammar teaching. Product teaching cannot hope to be completely effective. It, too, has some drawbacks as well as strengths. The strengths indicated by Batstone (1994a) can be summarised as follows:

It gives a clear framework. It outlines the language features to be covered, to give the learner a sense of direction. Product teaching allows learners to focus their attention on specific aspects of the language system. The explicit learning of grammar is facilitated by this approach. Product teaching is flexible. The teacher can vary the emphasis given to form and meaning and concentrate on formal aspects of the language system. It allows the teacher to give guidance as he perceives the needs of the learners.

It is hoped that, through product teaching, grammatical items can be made as salient as possible by the teacher. However, it should be noted that there are some criticisms of this approach. Noticing and structuring grammar does not guarantee that the learner will be able to use grammar effectively. Teachers should guard against spending too much time on explaining grammar at the cost of practical application, thus resulting in pupils not being able to act on the acquired knowledge and to internalise the knowledge. It would seem the theories presented in grammar teaching are divorced from practice. In fact, this has been a cause for concern in the teaching of Zulu first language. 151

6.3.2 Teaching grammar as process

Although grammar can be internalised by learners, it is still necessary for them to practise it by means of genuine conversation and expression of meaning. Hence, process grammar teaching is recommended. Batstone (1994b:227) writes:

If learners are to learn grammar to the point where they have effectively internalised it, then they will need considerable practice in language use, involving a genuine focus on meaning and on self-expression. Such an emphasis on language use can help learners to reorganise their knowledge of language, storing it mentally as a large network of routines - fixed or semi- fixed expressions which can be activated at speed, thereby equipping the learner to handle the communicative stress typical of much real-life communication.

Process teaching advocates that learners should be directly involved in the process of language use. The guidance given in the process teaching aims is "to develop the skills and strategies of the discourse process" by giving learners tasks which will help them express themselves effectively. Learners should "deploy grammar in their talk, MI-etching their linguistic resources so that they use language which is grammatically rich" (Batstone 1994a:78).

In process learning, language use is regulated. The intention is not just to block out major aspects of language use, but to influence and sharpen features of the context indirectly. It is hoped that such regulation will give learners opportunities to notice and structure their 152

working hypothesis about language. It should be noted that this approach is used in foreign language teaching too. As such it should not be blindly applied to first language teaching without considering that pupils already have basic knowledge of their mother tongue. However, if correctly applied it can help develop and refine language skills. Process teaching alone is not enough to meet the needs of the mother tongue speaker. Hence, there is a need to move on to the teaching of grammar as skill.

6.3.3 Teaching grammar as skill

The teaching of grammar as skill aims to carefully guide the learner to utilise grammar. This approach complements product and process grammar teaching. Batstone (1994a and 1994b) discusses three methods to be taken into consideration when teaching grammar as skill, namely, noticing, grammaticisation and reflection.

6.3.3.1 Noticing in grammar teaching

Noticing is a prerequisite for subsequent learning. The technique of noticing that helps the learner to make sense of the language in context is the presentation of language through listening and reading tasks. Dialogue or written text may also be given to learners as part of their activities. It should be noted that, in most cases, written texts are edited to such an extent that they do not reflect discourses from real-life situations. Such written texts do not leave room for slips of the tongue and 'um' and `er' clutters. Such clutters may only confuse the learners all the more. In order for the learners to notice grammar, they must be given well- constructed tasks. Such tasks would require them to notice and 153

process the grammar as a prerequisite for the successful completion of the tasks (Batstone 1994a:100). Grammar learning in isolation may lead to learners failing to notice grammar when presented in context. That is why noticing activities should not focus on grammar in isolation but should take an authentic text or discourse as a point of departure.

6.3.3.2 Grammaticisation

Grammaticisation refers to the process of applying grammar to words or phases in language use. Widdowson (1990) elaborates on this technique by illustrating that there are situations where grammatical elaborations become redundant. He gives an example of the surgeon in the theatre addressing his assistants: "'Scalpel!' `Swab!' `Clamp! He argues that in examples such as the above, there is no sign of grammar, yet communication is achieved by lexical means and by the context of the shared knowledge which makes it possible to use minimal cues (Widdowson 1990:82). In this approach learners may be given words that they have to combine and grammaticise in their own ways. Words in sentences may be jumbled by the teacher or given in a reverse pattern. Learners may also be given key words which they can then use to write down the outline to a story. This approach can also be used to stimulate and guide interaction and conversations. The level of the learners should be the determining factor in choosing grammaticisation activities. The strength of graminaticisation as a teaching technique is that it helps learners to reshape and improve their own language "with greater sense of involvement in the whole procedure" (Batstone 1994:110). 154

The teaching of Zulu first language grammar, which has been giving prominence to the formal properties of grammar for a long time, will definitely gain a lot from utilising this technique. This approach does not dissociate grammar from context or deal with it in isolated sentences. The view is also supported by Widdowson (1990) who advocates that grammar should be taught in such a way that its intrinsic communicative character is understood and acted upon.

6.3.3.3 Reflection

The teaching of grammar as a skill without the learners being encouraged to reflect on the quality of the language they are using, does not benefit the learner. Learners should be encouraged to assess the language they are using. They should also be encouraged to ask themselves questions such as: How did I go about learning this? Which way of doing certain tasks works best for me? Care should be taken not to over-emphasise the correction of grammatical errors and discouraging the learner due to many shortcomings in his language usage. Instead the learner should be properly guided to overcome such shortcomings.

The teaching of language according to the above approaches is not far removed from the recommendations made for the teaching of listening and speaking in the National Curriculum of the English language for mother tongue speakers.

Apart from the above approaches, the interactive approach features prominently in the teaching of grammar. This is one of the 155

approaches that can be used in the teaching of Zulu grammar. The interactive approach to grammar teaching will be discussed in the following section.

6.4 The interactive approach to grammar teaching

According to Comeau (1987:57) the word interactive is derived from the Latin preposition inter, which means among and the Latin verb agere, meaning to do. Hence, the interactive approach emphasises the teaching of grammar by means of mutual participation in small groups. Comeau (1987:57) further points out some salient characteristics of this approach:

It is active rather than passive, student-centred rather than language-centred, cognitive rather than behavouristic, indirect rather than direct, and personal rather than manipulative. An interactive grammar exercise puts communication on a par with correctness, turning the study of grammar into a social activity.

This approach helps to stimulate communicative interaction. According to Rivers (1987:7) pupils are able to increase their language store through interaction and to use all the language they possess, which consists of what they have learned in real-life exchanges. This view of language teaching is also supported by Kilfoil (1990:21) who emphasises that language should be taught "in a way that causes learners to interact with it in its semantic and discoursal context so that they should have more conscious control over it". The same view of grammar teaching is also upheld by Celce-Murcia (1985) and Stern (1992), who advocate that language should be approached 156

experientially and non-analytically within a language curriculum. Celce-Murcia (1985:299) suggests that there are six dimensions that guide the preparation of activities that will make students focus on grammatical forms "while at the same time they experience language in context". The six activities are communication, context embedding, basing activities on a text, cognitive demanding, the use of authentic material, and the use of material with an interesting content. These points are not discussed in detail, since some of them will be mentioned often throughout this thesis.

To promote interaction in formal classroom situations, the teacher should decide on a technique or classroom approach. It will always be advisable for the teacher not to lose sight of the aims with regard to the teaching of the language. The age, scholastic background, and learning style of the pupils play an important role (as discussed in the preceding chapter) in the interactive approach.

6.4.1 The qualities of good interactive activities

One of the ways of exploring grammar in the classroom is through interactive exercises. Activities should lead to effective learning. Comeau (1987) discusses the qualities of good interactive exercises and mentions that pupils may be involved in tasks where grammar is used. However, the grammar exercises should be communicative. The communicative exercises integrated in group activities should include activities such as interviews, group games, dialogues or any activities that will encourage communication either between pupils or between pupils and the teacher. 157

The grammar exercises should be meaningful. Through interactive exercises, pupils' minds and imaginations should be fully engaged in the learning process. The pupils should be able to learn the principles of grammar naturally without thinking specifically about them. They should do something they feel comfortable doing. Pupils should be given an opportunity to communicate meaningful messages.

The pupil-to-pupil interaction should be based on peer relationship. Pupils learn a great deal from their peers. Activities can include discussions, joint problem-solving tasks and dialogues. For instance, the Zulu adjectives and relatives can be used in the description of an object, taking colours and size into consideration. The following examples of the use of adjectives (and relatives), as taken from the description of Ur (1988:47), can be used for pupils in grade eight, in this instance. 158

Inserting adjectives/relatives

The use of adjectives/relatives before and after nouns.

Material: An interesting story or text of 100 - 300 words with few or no adjectives/relatives. Procedure: Read the text aloud, stopping at appropriate nouns for the students to volunteer ideas for descriptive adjectives/relatives that might go with them. Alternatively, present only the written form of the text with blank spaces where students are to insert adjectives/relatives. Variations: You can give a written text with no obvious blanks. The students then have to identify the nouns and the right place for the adjectives/relative by themselves, making the exercise rather more advanced and challenging. Adapted from Ur (1988:47)

The other example given by Ur (1988:233) requires that the learners be divided into groups or that they should work in pairs. They can do the following activities:

Building with lego blocks

Materials: Sets of lego blocks of varied colours and sizes. Each pupil should have an identical set. 159

Procedure: Demonstrate to the learners how to arrange the components,as in the following example:

Beka isitini (ibhulokwe) esibomvu eceleni kwesiluhlaza. `Put the red brick (block) next to the green one'. Ngaphezulu kwalezi zitini, beka isitini esiphuzi nesibanzi sigamanxe. `On top of these bricks, put the yellow brick and broad brick across'.

Where the learners are working in pairs, one will arrange his lego blocks in a specific pattern. He will then give instructions to the other as to how to lay them out. At the end they will both compare their patterns and check whether they are similar. If the patterns are not similar, the instructions were either not clear or the pupil failed to follow the instructions. During the process of building these patterns, the pupils are encouraged to ask questions in order to ascertain whether they are on the right track. These activities may seem to have non- linguistic results. However, they have great learning value for the pupils because the objectives (that is, the building of blocks) are realized through the use of grammar.

Other activities that can be taken into consideration in grammar teaching are activities based on literature. Such activities can add variety and richness to the grammar lessons. Unfortunately the old and traditional teaching methods of Zulu mother tongue disregarded the integration of grammar teaching with literature. It disregarded the fact that activities that deal with specific aspects of grammar can be selected from literature. For example, pupils may be shown how ideophones are used in the vivid and lively description of actions. The description is more concise than when verbs are used. Ntuli (1970:15) 160 describes the actions where a young man was caught by a monster in a dense forest:

Ngizwe into ingithi xhakathisi ngengalo. Ngisathi ngiyadluthula, kungithi xhakathisi okunye kwesinye isihlakala. Ngisathi paqupaqu, ngizwe ngqi emaqakaleni. Ngasengiphakanyiswa. Ngabe kunununi kodwa khona lokhu okungibambayo? Bhokiyani mina, dluntu, dluntu! `I felt something snapping me tightly upon my arm. As 1 was jerking off, the other one snapped me tightly on my other wrist. Whilst I was trying to wriggle free, I felt a firm grip on the ankle. I was then lifted up. ... But what kind of a monster is it that holds me? I suddenly became serious, tugging, tugging! '

However, the pupils should be made aware that other techniques, parts of speech and punctuation marks have been used to create the sense of tension. The pupils may then be asked to write their own texts.

Lodge and Evans (1995:107 et seq.) illustrate how pupils can use adjectives to build an atmosphere of 'horror'. Their aim for choosing such a theme is to "enhance the pupils' explicit understanding of how such writing is achieved". They further demonstrate how the knowledge of grammar can be used in analytical writing.

The Zulu riddles can also be used in helping pupils to be inventive and to develop their skills of using grammar in describing objects as in the following examples:

Qagela: Inkunzi yami ebomvu egwaza inkunzi emnyama. Emnyama igwaze emhlophe. Emhlophe yeqe isibaya. 161

`Guess what?: My red bull gores the black one. The black bull gores the white one. The white one jumps out of the kraal'.

The learners will be given an opportunity to seek for the answer. In case they fail to guess what the answer is, the teacher will help them as follows:

Impendulo: Umlilo oshisa ibhodwe elimnyama, nebhodwe elishisa ubisi bese ubisi luyachitheka. `Answer: It is fire heating the black pot and the pot heating the milk and the milk spilling out of the pot.'

Qagela: Nginezinsizwa zami ezilishumi. Ziphuma ziyozingela ehlathini elimnyama. Kuthi nxa sezibone inyamazane emhlophe, bese kuphuma ezimbili ziyibulale. `Guess what?: I have ten young men. They go out and hunt for a white buck in the black forest. The moment they see the buck, two go out to kill it.'

Impendulo: Iminwe yezandla esuke ifuna izintwala ezinweleni ezimnyama. Ithi ingatholakala bese kusetshenziswa izithupha ukuyichoba. `Answer: It is the ten fingers of the hands searching for lice. The two thumbs are being used in killing it'.

Effective language teaching demands effective language activities. Ellis (1990:231) outlines some criteria for evaluating communicative classroom activities. The following need to be mentioned:

a) Communicative purpose: This criterion encourages learners to be involved in pursuing real communicative purposes rather than just practising language for its own sake.

b) Communicative desire: This refers to activities that cause learners to desire and develop a need to communicate. 162

c) Content not form: According to Doff, Jones and Mitchell (1984) when students are involved in an activity they should concentrate on what they are saying and not on how they are saying it. However, in the case of mother-tongue teaching, where the objective is to refine language use, the how part also plays an important role.

The success of interactive activities depends on proper planning by the teacher. The work of Byrne (1987), Ur (1988), and Ur and Wright (1992) entails the organisation of a balanced programme of interactive activities in the classroom and can be useful in the teaching of Zulu grammar.

6.5 Teaching grammar in context

The placing of grammatical features into the total context of a total grammatical system is one of the aspects which are overlooked in language teaching. The teacher should be aware of the fact that, in communication, the speaker does not simply pick grammatical items intended to give ready-made or particular meanings off the shelf. Instead, the speaker carefully chooses words and uses them in language to express himself and convey his point of view. The speaker needs to position himself in relation to the world around him, and a knowledge of grammar is crucial in helping him to achieve that.

Batstone (1994a) discusses the so-called "distance and attitude" in grammar teaching. In his discussion he also examines grammar as it is used in context. The nature of distances discussed by him includes the 163

social, psychological and hypothetical distances. These distances are discussed in the following paragraphs.

6.5.1 Social distance

According to Batstone (1994a:137) social distance refers to "the degree of intimacy and directness in which people position themselves and each other in social context". In order for someone to interact and function effectively in social life he will always need grammar. A human being participates and co-operates in a group so that his own interests as well as the interests of others and the members of the group may be served. For instance, when making a request, its outcome will always depend on the willingness and co-operation of the interlocutor. For this reason the speaker will always make sure that his request does not result in conflict. He will always take care not to appear threatening to the other person. For this reason he will choose his language in such a way that potential conflict will be avoided. To determine social distance, the "tense" of a verb plays an important role in Zulu. The speaker routinely says things like "could you ...? would you mind ...?, which suggest that the need will only be met depending on the other person's ability and willingness to co-operate. For instance, the speaker may use one of the statements below depending on the degree of his intimacy with the interlocutor:

Ngiboleke uR5.00. 'Lend me R5.00? '. Ungangiboleka uR5.00? `Can you lend me R5.00?' Bewungangiboleka uR5.00? 'Could you lend me R5.00?' Bengicabanga ukuthi bewungeke 164

yini wangiboleka uR5.00? `I was wondering if it might not be possible for you to lend me R5.00?'

It is evident in the above examples that social distance progressively increases from the first example to the last. Batstone (1994a:17) explains that in using language such as this,

we convey a sense of respectful distance between ourselves and our interlocutor. In signaling different degrees of directness or intimacy we are giving expression to what is known as 'social distance'.

It is noted that the present tense form is used to signal a certain degree of social distance as in example (i). The social distance increases as the examples progress to example (iv) and the greater politeness is signalled. It is interesting to note that the term "present tense" in this instance does not express time, but politeness; however, "there is a connection which has to do with distance" (Batstone 1994a:17). Just as the past is distant from us and the present close to us, so great politeness is seen as being distant and directness as being close.

Just as there is temporal distance between present and past, so to speak, there is social distance between being polite and being direct (Batstone 1994:17a). What happens, it seems, is that we use the present and past forms in various, yet related, ways. The same device used to express distance in time - tenses - is also used to express social distance. 165

6.5.2 Psychological distance

Batstone (1994a) explains psychological distance as the degree to which states or events are seen to be relevant and part of the speaker/writer's current mental world. This aspect of the grammar is the one which should be taken into consideration in language teaching, like for instance, in the choice of past or present tense forms. In actual discourse the speaker can be influenced by subjective perspectives on events. Should he feel the events are close to him psychologically, he may be inclined to use the present tense form. The conversation may be as follows:

Zonke: Uwubonile umdlalo uSgudi Snaysi useyadlala futhi kuTV? Did you see the TV-play called Sgudi Snaysi is being replayed?'

Thandi: USgudi Snaysi? USibongile uwuthanda kabi lo mdlalo. 'Sgudi Snaysi? Sibongile likes this play very much.'

Zonke: Suka dade, sekuyiminyaka emine ahamba uSibongile. 'Don't say that, sister, Sibongile left four years ago. '

Thandi uses the present tense uwuthanda 'she likes it' in expressing her feelings about Sibongile's liking for the TV play, because her memory of Sibongile is still very much a reality. Sibongile has not been forgotten by Thandi, although she is out of her sight. Zonke brings it to her attention that Sibongile left four years ago: `sekuyiminyaka emine ahamba uSibongile'. 166

The use of a particular tense form also reveals the speaker's state of mind and how he positions himself in relation to others.

6.5.3 Hypothetical distance

According to Batstone (1994a) hypothetical distance refers to the degree to which states or events are seen as remote from actuality. For instance, language can be used to create imaginary worlds which include the invention of fictional pasts, and possible or impossible futures. Blose (1974:51) in the tragedy Uqomisa Mina Nje Uqomisa Iliba depicts the protagonist, Macianda, who wants to elope with his fiancée, creating imaginary worlds. Macianda, the protagonist, fears that they may be caught and be killed by the chief. Nevertheless, he hopes that they will get married beyond the grave.

Lolu hambo lunengozi. Ngangingazi ukuthi ngiyoke ngishiye ikhaya likababa ngilandele amambuka asesiLungwini. Noma kunjalo Nontombi lalela; uma ngithathwa ukufa ngisaqhakaza njengembali yimduze isasongile ibumbene, `ze ungakhali ngoba ngiyoba ngife ngisemusha ngimsulwa. Uma ngithathwa ukufa ngiselifilmuka, `ze ungakhali ngoba ngiyoba ngibizwe uMvelinqangi.' Nakhona kuyobuswa. Ungabuzi sogcagca kanjani? ngoba sogcagca kwelabaphansi. Kulapho kugcagca khona amaqhawe kaZulu.

`This journey is adventurous. I did not know that I would ever leave my father's house and follow 167

the traitors of the White man's place. Even so Nontombi, listen; If I am taken by death while I blossom like a flower of the crinum lilies still twisted and held together, never ever cry because I shall have died whilst young and innocent. If I am taken by death whilst I am an unfermented beer; never ever cry because 1 shall have been called by the Almighty, even there life and comfort will be enjoyed. Don't ask how shall we go through the marriage ceremony? because we shall marry at the place of the ancestors. It is where the Zulu heroes get married '

An example such as the above helps the learner to focus on the technique used by the language user in expressing thoughts. The teachers will help the learners explain and analyse how grammatical structures, vocabulary punctuation, and some stylistic devices are used to create special effects in the text.

In summary, the application of the "distances" in language teaching should aim at teaching learners to develop strategies for relating grammatical aspects to their communicative functions.

6.6 Teaching grammar by explaining

6.6.1 Adequacy of grammar

According to Alexander (1992:27) the best method of teaching grammar is by explaining. The grammar that the teacher is expected to explain must be explicit. James (1994) discusses three levels of adequacy, as proposed by Chomsky, on which the ability of the teacher and the nature of grammar are to be evaluated. These levels of 168

adequacy are observational, descriptive and explanatory adequacy and will be briefly discussed below.

6.6.1.1 Observational adequacy

Observational adequacy pertains to the grammar of a particular language. According to Radford (1988:28), also quoted by James (1994:203), observational grammar deals with the exemplification of the (in)correctness of sentences in a language as far as its syntax, semantics, morphology and phonology are concerned. The teacher's main task is to exemplify the grammar of the language. It would be considered adequately done if he were able to give correct contextual examples that could help the learner infer rules for the particular language that is being learned. James (1994:203) suggests that the teacher needs to be creative and imaginative at this stage. He should provide enough authentic spoken and written texts for the learners to interact with. Such texts should be naturalistic, semantically rich and communicative. James (1994), however, rejects this level of adequacy, since "there will be no recourse to the sorts of grammatical formulations that we recognise as explanation".

6.6.1.2 Descriptive adequacy

According to James (1994:204) descriptive adequacy is a higher level of adequacy for a grammar. This level is reached when the grammar has observational adequacy. Observational adequacy is achieved when the syntactic, semantic, morphological and phonological structures have been properly described by a grammar. It should be noted that descriptive adequacy plays a 169

prominent role in the teaching of foreign language grammar where the aim is to provide "a principled account of the native speaker's intuition" about language structure. However, not all scholars regard the "native speaker's intuitions" as playing an important role in foreign language teaching. It is argued that foreign language learners should view language from their own perspective. At this level too, there is no room for explanation, and thus descriptive adequacy too is rejected by James (1994:203-4).

6.6.1.3 Explanatory adequacy

According to James (1994:203) explanatory adequacy is for linguistic theories. He explains that linguists' grammars and any pedagogical grammar do not make provision for explanation. However, the constituent features of explanatory adequacy require that the grammar in question must

be universally valid; have psychological reality; and be maximally constrained.

James (1994) argues that none of the above constituent features of explanatory adequacy are wanted in "a teaching grammar" and he cites the following reasons: As far as the first point is concerned, the learner knows the universals and he is not concerned with the idiosyncrasies of the language. However, his point of argument is based on the teaching and explanation of the foreign language. About the second feature, he says that learners should be equipped with linguistic resources and should not programme their language 170

behaviour. As for the third aspect, that discourages formulating ad hoc rules, James (1994:205) argues:

This restriction, if insisted upon, would seriously impair the utility of a teaching grammar as it would deny access to those crucial associations of grammatical rules that teachers rely on when giving explanations.

The teacher should preferably learn to explain usefully. The general problem is that there are forms of grammar that do not need to be explained because they are so obvious, while those that are difficult and need to be taught are not easy to describe. The teacher needs to develop his skill in describing the terms that are difficult to describe by doing classroom research. An explanation will be "good" if it is compatible with the learner's prior knowledge.

6.6.2 Designing and explaining grammatical rules

The other essential point to be taken into consideration in grammar - presentation is how to design pedagogical rules. Although it has been argued that language rules do not contribute much to the language learner's development, it cannot be denied that language rules can be useful to language learners. Swan (1994) discusses six criteria for pedagogic language, namely, truth, demarcation, clarity, simplicity, conceptual parsimony and relevance. Although some of these criteria seem to overlap or are even of a conflicting nature, their application in grammar teaching will benefit both the teacher and the learner. 171

6.6.2.1 "Rules should be true" (truth)

The truthfulness of a rule lies in the fact that it corresponds reasonable well with linguistic facts. However, this is not always the case, because linguists are fallible. It should also be noted that it is not an easy task to design rules that will remain true, since language changes too. Swan (1994) suggests that, for the sake of telling the truth, grammarians should suppress their own prescriptive prejudices and resistance to language change. Swan (1994:47) further cautions:

If educated native-speaker usage is divided, the grammarian's job is to describe and account for the division, not to attempt to adjudicate.

6.6.2.2 "A pedagogic rule should show clearly what the limits on the use of a given form are" ( demarcation)

Telling the truth should reveal both sides of the coin. In the formulation of grammar rules, grammarians should be able to show what certain forms are like and leave no loophole as to what they are not. Swan (1994:47) cautions that pedagogic rules, even if they are true and well expressed, are useless if they do not demarcate clearly the area within which they can be appropriately used. In this way the communicative competence of the pupils is developed. However, there are instances where it is difficult to apply the demarcation criteria, like for instance distinguishing between the Zulu close synonyms such as woza (come) and buya (come). In such a case the dictionary definition is of very little help. 172

6.6.2.3 "Rules should be clear" (clarity)

According to Swan (1994) there are rules in many cases that are clear but untrue, and others that are true but unclear. Rules should be free from ambiguity. They should be stated in an orderly fashion and, where possible, examples should be given. The use of appropriate terminology plays an important part in rule formulation. However, the audience's level of understanding should be taken into consideration. For this reason the use of metaphors should be avoided where possible.

6.6.2.4 "A pedagogic rule should be simple" (simplicity)

The term "simplicity" should not be confused with "clarity". Simplicity is the opposite of complexity. Swan (1994) explains that "simplifying a description involves trimming it to make it more manageable" without losing its clarity. Teachers and syllabus compilers should guard against formulating language rules that are not simple and which may easily bog down learners. For instance, according to the Core Syllabus for Zulu First Language Higher Grade (DET 1984:19) learners are to learn about rules that govern the qualificative and predicative use of the adjectives and relatives. An example could be drawn from the adjectives and relatives which are words that qualify substantives (nouns and pronouns). When either the adjective or the relative is used predicatively, it loses its status as adjective or relative and becomes a copulative, as is explicated in the following examples:

a) Abantu abahle (abahle = adjective) The beautiful people' 173

b) Abantu bahle (bahle = copulative) 'The people are beautiful'

The above also applies to the relative. It should be noted that under the word category 'relative', verbs are also used to qualify substantives, as in (d) below:

Abantu bayafunda. (bayafunda = verb) 'The people are reading'

Abantu abafundayo. (abafundayo = relative) 'The people who are reading'

In terms of the above examples, when verbs are used qualificatively they cease to belong to the category 'verbs' and become 'relatives'. This suggests that the same word can belong to two unrelated categories. In fact, the word bayafiinda is the same word as abafundayo but used differently. In the discussion of these words, Zulu school textbook writers seem to ignore the natural relationship that exists between predicatively used verbs such as bayafiinda and the qualificatively used verbs such as abafundayo. The treatment of these word categories by textbook writers who follow the 1984 school syllabus for Zulu first language indicates that their qualificative usage is regarded as their inherent feature. However, writers such as Van Eeden (1956:395) regard predicative usage as more basic.

Furthermore, pupils should know rules such as: 174

... new information subjects and objects may not be pronominalised, new information subjects may not appear in the subject position in sentences, etc. DET (1984:16)

For some learners, understanding rules involves prior knowledge of the concept that is explained. Clear and simple rules help "make students feel that they can understand and control the very complex material that they are faced with" (Swan 1994:49). Simplifying a rule means reducing complexity without distorting the truth that needs to be understood. However, Swan (1994) argues that there are aspects of grammar that are so complex that simplification is actually impossible. Swan (1994:50) concludes by saying

whether or not a particular simplification is valid depends ultimately on whom it is addressed to, how much they already know, how much they are capable of taking in, and what value they and their teachers place on complete accuracy.

6.6.2.5 "An explanation must make use of the conceptual framework available to the learner" (conceptual parsimony)

According to Swan (1994) the use of terminology that is precise in its relevance can help reduce the complexity of an explanation. However, this statement will be true if a specialist writes or explains a certain concept to another specialist, but not in the case of a learner who is not familiar with the specialists' terminologies. For this reason, the teacher needs to make concessions to the principle of conceptual parsimony. Swan (1994:15) states: 175

... a teacher giving learners a rule can usually assume very little conceptual sophistication on the part of his/her readers or listeners. He or she must try to get things across using the simplest possible grammatical notions. Terminology will be chosen for its familiarity rather than its precision. It will sometimes be necessary to provide students with new concepts in order to get a point across, but one must aim for minimum intervention. This will often mean compromising - perhaps quite seriously - with the truth. (emphasis added)

Thus, in order to effectively communicate any information, new or old, the conceptual framework available to the recipient should be taken into consideration. It has been shown in Chapter two that grammatical presentations are shaped by the beliefs of the authors on the nature of language, intended readers/recipients and the purpose for which it was written (Nunan 1991:153).

6.6.2.6 "A rule should answer the question (and only the question) that the student's ... (language) is 'asking' (relevance)

The potential problems and questions asked by the learner should be answered by the rule. The teacher should not spend time on issues that are not relevant to the language problem of the learners. Effective grammar teaching should focus on the problems encountered by the learners in the language. According to the old practice in Zulu mother tongue teaching, the teacher was required to work through a grammar syllabus, giving rules regardless of the fact that pupils do not experience problems in some areas of grammar. A word of caution against such a practice is a very apposite old American saying: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' (Swan 1994:53). 176

It is believed that the proper use of the above criteria in the presentation of grammar will guide the learner a great deal. It is of importance that every presentation should focus on the learner's linguistic knowledge as well as on the language itself.

6.7 Conclusion

The discussion in this chapter shed light on the grammatical principles pertaining to the teaching of grammar at school level. The researcher's main aim was to address the shortcomings and inadequacies of the approaches and methods currently used in the teaching of grammar. Although there may be elements of deductive methods in the approaches discussed, they are more inductive and communicative in nature. They set out to enhance language learning as they indicate that explicit grammar instruction can be incorporated into learning activities without sacrificing communication. For instance, the teaching of grammar as product can help learners notice new language inputs and in so doing learners get a strong sense of position and direction. The teaching of grammar as product serves as a tool for teachers who want to make grammatical aspects as salient and noticeable as possible. It facilitates learning of grammar by providing a clear framework within which grammatical forms can be made salient for noticing and structuring. When teaching grammar as product is applied, the rapid learning of explicit grammatical forms is promoted.

Notwithstanding the positive aspects of the teaching of grammar as product, Batstone (1994b) points out that this approach is not without drawbacks. As it focuses on noticing and structuring, it does in a sense disregard the factors for language use since noticing and structuring components are not sufficient on their own for effective learning of 177 language. This approach may lead to a superficial style of learning in which learners accumulate language items. And what must be added to this is that what has been taught may not be retained by the learner. This approach does not provide sufficient opportunity for learners to intemalise knowledge to the point where it can be transferred automatically to real-life communicative situations.

Given the above point of criticism of the teaching of grammar as product, the teaching of grammar as process offers a better solution since it helps learners practise language use by engaging them in actual language use and helping them formulate meaning in context. The task-based approach to grammar teaching is an example of process teaching. These two methods find their synthesis in the application of the teaching of grammar as skill. The teaching of grammar as skill guides the learner to utilise grammar for his own communication. Activities in which pupils are engaged in product and process teaching find their meaning in the teaching of grammar as skill since this level constitutes the stage where the learner is guided to attend to grammar without neglecting self-expression and the focus on meaning. 178

CHAPTER SEVEN

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

7.1 Introduction

The primary aim of this thesis has been to research the teaching of Zulu first language, focusing on a first language approach and methodology. This thesis has attempted to uncover relevant facts on the teaching of language, grammar in particular. This chapter is a summary of the conclusions arising from a review of the literature on the role of linguistics in language learning, language learning syllabuses, theories on language learning methodology and approaches and finally methods and approaches to the teaching of grammar

7.2 Conclusions arising from a review of the literature

7.2.1 Conclusion regarding the place of linguistics in language teaching

For many years there have been endless debates on the role of grammar in language teaching. Opponents of grammar in the classroom concluded that formal grammar teaching has absolutely no effect on developing communicative skills. Findings in this study have shown that it is, in fact, the learning of formal grammatical forms and structures in isolation that does not adequately help learners to use language effectively and appropriately. The teaching of first language should focus on the promotion of language skills rather than the provision of information about the language. In those instances where grammar is taught, that is, when difficult grammatical concepts are explained, care should be taken that a balance is maintained between the learning of grammatical rules and the practice in the active use of the language by students. 179

It was concluded that the methodology of formal teaching and learning that is organised by form and structure should be discouraged and that which is organized with the purpose of attaining communicative competence (Berns 1991:89) should be promoted. Consequently, language teaching should revolve around the following:

Grammatical competence. The knowledge of the structure of language. Sociolinguistic competence. Ability to use language appropriate to a given context taking into account the roles of the participants, the setting and the purpose of the interaction. Discourse competence. Ability to recognize different patterns of discourse, to connect sentences or utterances to an overall theme or topic; the ability to infer the meaning of large units of spoken or written texts. Strategic competence. Ability to compensate for imperfect knowledge of linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discourse rules or limiting factors in their application such as fatigue, distraction, or inattention.

7.2.2 Conclusion regarding problems related to the prescribed grammar-based Zulu syllabus

The finding arrived at regarding the teaching of Zulu first language is that the current approach followed in the teaching of Zulu grammar does not correspond to what is happening on the international scene. In order for the syllabus to meet the classroom requirements with regard to first language learning and teaching, descriptive linguistics should be suitable to the knowledge level of learners at school level.

Secondly, in order to bridge the gap between the theoretical discoveries of descriptive linguists and the practical needs of the first language students, the inputs of the applied linguists should be employed during the process of syllabus design. Consequently, the 180

balance between language description and the application of that description in language teaching and learning should be maintained.

7.2.3 Conclusion regarding language teaching syllabuses

Much of the criticism directed at language syllabuses is that syllabuses tend to isolate certain aspects of language and treat them as such. For instance, the structural syllabus emphasizes the learning of language structure and disregards the fact that language should be taught as a unified entity. Secondly, the notional-functional syllabus deals with components of discourse, not with discourse itself (Widdowson 1979:248). Thirdly, the situational syllabus does not cover all kinds of language function because it focuses only on those that occur in certain situations.

Since there is no perfect language syllabus, it is concluded that effective language teaching can take place if various syllabuses are integrated. This could benefit the Zulu syllabus, in particular, where the present syllabus content has been divided into discrete compartments.

7.2.4 Conclusion regarding theories and approaches to language teaching and learning

The main theoretical aspects that have a direct bearing on language learning and teaching, ranging from first and second language teaching methodologies, through to psycholinguistic studies on language acquisition, have been discussed. It has been shown, firstly, that language teaching is a difficult task that requires a sound understanding of how language works and how it is acquired. Secondly, it has been demonstrated that effective language learning and teaching should take into account the type of learners such the ones categorized by Nunan 181

(1991:170), namely the concrete learners, analytic learners, communicative learners and the authority-oriented learners. Thirdly, it was found that the knowledge of learning strategies and styles aside, the actual success of language learning can be attained through the integration of approaches and methods if they occur in purposeful and meaningful contexts.

7.2.5 Conclusion regarding the teaching of grammar in the classroom

This thesis has shown that there are two ways of teaching grammar: the formal, rigidly structured way, and the informal practical way. The students will benefit more from informal grammar than detailed and and taxonomic grammar, as is the case with Zulu first language teaching where prominence is given to formal properties. The approaches discussed in this thesis and which should be followed in the teaching of Zulu first language take into consideration, firstly, the nature of the grammar to be taught, secondly, the teachers' knowledge of grammar, and lastly the role of grammar in learning and teaching. The most important point as far as the teaching of grammar is concerned is that approaches should sensitise learners to grammatical principles within a communicative context.

7.3 Recommendations

This thesis recommends that whole-language and a guided participatory approach to teaching, which is a synthesis of two concepts of learning, be employed in the teaching of Zulu first language. The concept "whole-language" is defined by Froese (1991:2) as

a child-centred, literature-based approach to language teaching that immerses students in real communication situations whenever possible. 182

"Literature-based" in the above definition refers to any kind of textual material, either fictional or informational, that could be used to promote language learning. "Real communication" refers to the involvement of genuine and interested audiences as participants in the linguistic effort. The term "guided participation" was coined by Rogoff (1990). He suggests that guidance and problem-solving in the "collaborative processes of building bridges from children's present understanding and skills to reach new understanding and skills", should be encouraged. The whole-language and guided participatory approach should be viewed as an alternative approach to language teaching that contrasts with the traditional explicit or implicit teaching. It can serve as a compromise between implicit and explicit views of language teaching. This is recommended on the premise that implicit explanation "rejects the need for formal grammar analysis" (Shrum and Glisan 1994:91) while explicit grammar instruction advocates a direct and overt role on the part of the teacher resulting in a passive role on the part of the learner.

Shrum and Glisan (1994:93) reiterate that in the whole-language and guided participatory approach, learners experience the whole language in order to be prepared to deal with the analysis of its parts. These scholars argue that, in grammar teaching, words, phrases or sentences should not be treated in isolation for "these linguistic elements only gain meaning when they are placed in context, and when used in conjunction with the whole". This is in agreement with Goodman's (1986:8) view of language teaching:

When schools break language into bits and pieces, sense becomes nonsense, and it's always hard for kids to make sense out of nonsense. Each abstract bit and piece that is learned is soon forgotten as kids go on to further fractured fragments. In the end, 183

they begin to think of school as a place where nothing ever seems to make sense.

One would agree with Goodman (1986) that the traditional way of teaching grammar makes it difficult for learners to learn language, since language becomes artificial and irrelevant to the learner if used out of context, the language taught has no social value, and the language is imposed by someone else and has no discernible purpose. Ozbek's (1995:44) research on the integration of grammar into the teaching of composition confirms that "students' problems with grammar stem from the way they are taught". Hence, the whole- language and guided participatory approach to language learning emphasises natural discourse and encourages learners to comprehend meaningful discourses.

In order to encourage learners to use language functionally and purposefully, grammar lessons within the whole-language and participatory approach should begin "with a whole text such as a story, poem, song, cartoons ... which will foreshadow the grammar explanation" (Shrum and Glisan 1994:94). It is asserted that the integrated discourse will help in highlighting the critical aspects to be taught in the classroom.

The whole-language and guided participatory approach does not disregard the teachers' beliefs about language and learning which, according to Froese (1991:9), are based on the following:

Language is a naturally developing human activity. As language is used for communication, the teacher can provide a context that depicts a "real-life" language situation. Integration should be encouraged in language teaching. 184

The learning of language should be holistic and, if it is refined, this should be done at a later stage. The teacher should plan his classroom to form a rich learning environment. The learning material such as textbooks should not dictate instructional and curriculum decisions. Teaching should be based on the individual's needs. Collaborative learning is encouraged while provision is made for individualisation and small groups. Opportunities and support should be given to students to think critically and creatively. Evaluation of students should be done in various ways.

The above points indicate that the whole-language and guided participatory approach could be an appropriate approach to the implementation of the outcomes-based approach to language teaching, since it would be easy to employ the cyclical approach to the teaching of grammar which differs from the linear or bottom-up processing of grammar. The cycle, as explained by Shrum and Glisan (1994:95), has four segments. In the first stage of the cycle the teacher foreshadows grammar explanations with special emphasis on meaning. In the second stage, what was done in the first stage is emphasised through pictures or role play. The third stage focuses the learner's attention on form. It is at the third stage that the teacher and the learners co- construct grammar explanation. The final stage will allow the learners an opportunity to use the grammatical structures in carrying out particular functions or tasks.

7.4 Concluding remarks

The findings of this thesis reveal that the current approach and methodology followed in the teaching of Zulu first language do not 185 help to fulfil the needs of the students and society. First language teaching is unsatisfactory in that the proficiency levels attained by the learner are found to be inadequate, and the objectives sought have little relevance to the current needs of the learner.

The approaches and methodology followed in the teaching of Zulu grammar result in teaching that does not directly draw on the knowledge gained in real-life situations. Grammar teaching in Zulu first language is superficial and is unrelated to the real communicative needs of the learners, consequently it has little or no value. It does not improve pupils to speak or write their mother tongue and it does not prepare them to avert grammatical mistakes. It is therefore recommended that:

Learning of grammar be made useful to students by strictly associating it with meaning. Grammar should be applied to language that arises or might arise in some real-life situations. Teachers should get students to focus on form while at the same time experiencing language in context. Teachers should guard against language teaching that emphasises the theoretical analysis of Zulu. Instead they should apply the theory to the practical use of the language as in listening, speaking, reading and writing activities. The syllabus for first language should be revised constantly, since learners' and society's needs are constantly changing. Inasmuch as language is complex, its teaching should not be confined to only one syllabus type. Instead different syllabus types should be integrated. 186

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CORE SYLLABUS

FOR

ZULU FIRST LANGUAGE HIGHER GRADE

STDS 8, 9 AND 10

1984

IMPLLMENTATION : Sc. 10 1989 212

4.2.3 Morphology and word functions

Goals

Contents

Nouns Pronouns Adjectives Relatives Enumeratives Possessives Verbs Copulatives Adverbs Ideophones Conjunctives Interjectives. Constructions.

4.2.4 Syntax (Moods)

4.2.5 Semantics

(a) Goals

• (b) Contents

4.2.6 Vocabulary and expressions

Goals and contents

4.3 READING AND LITERATURE

4.3.1 Reading goals

(a) • Reading aloud: goals -and evaluation

Silent reading: Goals and evaluation

4.3.2 Contents

Reading material

Literature

5. EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS

5.1 Paper I

5.2 Paper 2

5.3 Paper 3

WI3ABC 213

I. CORE SYLLABUS FOR ZULU FIRST LANGUAGE HIGHER GRADE, STD. 8, 9 and 10

APPROPRIATE ORTHOGRAPHY AND TERMINOLOGY

OBJECTIVES

LEARNING MATERIAL

4.1 COMPOSITION

4.1.1 Oral composition

(a) Goals

Goals and evaluation regarding listening skills

Goals and evaluation regarding oral skills

(b) Contents

4.1.2 Written composition

Goals and evaluation

Contents

Features concerning the official orthography

Paragraph

Types of composition

Written texts

Letter

4.2 GRAMMAR

4.2.1 Phonetics

Goals and contents regarding segmental- phonetics

Goals and contents regarding supra-segmental phonetics

4.2.2 Sound changes

Goals

Contents

WI3ABC 214 4.2 GRAMMAR

Introduction

Grammar, as one of the corner stone of the syllabus, is probably the part of the syllabus which will present the greatest challenge to the pupil. Besides the many linguistic concepts which the pupil has to acquaint himself with, there are also numerous rules which naturally have to be understood and learnt. This knowledge acquired by the pupil not only serves to extend his ability of language usage, but also provides him with insight regarding the structure of his language.

4.2.1 Phonetics

Phonetics is divided into two parts, namely the segmental phonetics and the suprasegmental phonetics.

(a) Goals and contents regarding segmental phonetics

The pupil must be able to:

transcribe all the words of his language (being an official recognised written language) phonetically.

describe all the speech sounds of his language in terms of their articulatory features.

The following are the relevant articulatory features:

(a) With regard to consonants:

Manner of articulation

Implosive Explosive Fricative Nasal Affricative Lateral Rolling sound/vibrant Click sound Aspiration Retroflexive, etc.

Position of articulation:

Bilabial Dentilabial Alveolar Prepalatal Palatal Velar Glottal

Voice:

Voiced Voiceless n,m,^ie-gmA 215

(b) With regard to vowels

Position of the tongue:

front back high middle low

Configuration of the lips:

rounded unrounded etc.

(c) With regard to semi-vowels

bilabial prepalatal, etc.

(b) Goals and contents regarding suprasegmental phonetics

Two suprasegmental features are relevant here; i.e. tone and length:

(i) Tone:

The pupil must have an elementary knowledge of how tone:

distinguishes words (lexical tone)

distinguishes grammatical structures from each other (grammatical tone).

Tone is not indicated in phonetic transcriptions.

(ii) Length:

The pupil must be aware of length and its presence in the words of his language.

Length must also be indicated in phonetic transcriptions.

Evaluation of phonetics is done in writing.

4.2.2 Sound changes

Sound changes are studied in the context of the word and sentence.

14I 3ABC 216

(a) Goals

The pupil must:

know and be able to apply the sound changing rules;

know and describe the conditions under which these sound changes take place; and

be able to recognise and identify sound changes within the context of a word or sentence.

(b) Contents

The following sound changes are relevant:

Palatalisation in passives, diminutives and locativised nouns;

Nasalisation, i.e. the influence of homorganic nasals on the following consonant, as e.g. in the formation of deverbative nouns in classes 9 and 10, e.g. -cwaya> incwayi, -xoxa>ingxoxo, etc.

Vowel elision, e.g. with demonstratives and with final vowels in fast speech

Vowel raising

Vowel coalescence.

4.2.3 Morphology and word functions

Introduction

Morphology and word functions concern mainly study of the morphology and syntax of the different word classes as indicated below.

(a) Goals

The goals may be subdivided into morphological and syntactical goals.

(i) Goals regarding morphology

As far as the morphology is concerned the pupil must be able to:

(a) Analyse words morphologically within the context of the sentence and-76--idTilify and name the constituating morphemes.

In the case of verbs, for example, this will i.a. mean that he will have to be able to identify and name all formal features

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indicating the modality of verbs in sentences, such as e.g. the various forms assumed by some subjectival concords in the different moods, the ending -e which is characteristic of e.g. verbs in the subjunctive mood, etc.

(b) Name the word class to which a word belongs.

(ii) Goals regarding syntax

In the case of syntax the pupil must:

know the most important syntactical characteristics of each word class and also be able to idenfify them in the context of the sentence

know and master the necessary syntactical terms such as e.g. subject, direct and indirect object, predicate, qualificative and agentive adjunct, descriptive (adverbial) adjuncts of time, place and manner, determine, and so forth.

Evaluation must be such that it tests the required insight of the candidate into the grammatical structure of Zulu.

(b) Contents

The morphology and/or syntax of the following word classes are treated in this section:

Nouns Pronouns Adjectives Relatives Enumeratives Possessives Verbs Copulatives Adverbs Ideophones Conjunctives Interjectives

In addition to the aforementioned word classes, a number of coltructions are also distinguished which perform certain - grammatical functions but which (for various reasons) cannot be classified under any of the recognised word classes.

In greater detail the contents of these word classes and constructions comprises the following:

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A. NOUNS

Morphology

1. Noun classes

The following is dealt with under this heading:

The main components of the noun:

The nominal class prefix (including the pre-prefix) vs the nominal stem (or root)

The division of nouns into different classes (numbered according to the Meinhof system)

(i) The form of the class prefixes

The following is dealt with:

Basic form of the class prefixes

Variant forms such as e.g. before mono- and polysyllabic stems, vowel stems, etc.

(ii) The semantic contents of the different noun classes.

2. Derived nouns

(a) Nouns derived from verbs (Deverbative nouns).

Personal deverbatives with ending -i e.g. umlobi, isigijimi, etc.

Impersonal deverbatives with ending -o. e.g. umthwalo, imfundo, etc.

(b) Nouns derived from other word categories, as e.g. from:

ideophones e.g. isibhamucbhamu

adjectives and relatives (especially in class 14) e.g. ubukhuluckhulu ubumnandic mnandi, etc.

(c) Diminutive nouns

Formed with the suffix -ana/-ane as well as with the compound suffixes -azana/-e, and -azanyana

(i) Diminutives with sound change, e.g.

m>ny umlomo : umlonyana ph > sh iphepha ipheshana o>w : umlilo : umlilwana, etc.

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(ii) Diminutives formed by the elision of the final vowel, e.g. inkosi • inkosana isitsha : isitshana intombi : intombazanyana, etc.

In dealing with diminutives attention has to be paid to the deroaative usage of these words as well.

Locative nouns : See 4.2.3 I(A)

Augmentative nouns

Formed with the suffix -kazi, e.g. itshe : itshekazi

Gender

The indication of gender by means of the suffix - (k)azi, e.g. injakazi inja inkomo inkomazi

Nouns with reduplicated stems, e.g.

izintabantaba 4 izintaba amasontosonto 4 amasonto

Nouns formed with the formatives -so, -no- and -ma- e.g.USomandla, UNomkhubulwana, UMaNtuli, etc.

Compound nouns

Compound nouns composed of two (or more) words, e.g.

- Noun + noun, e.g. umninimuzi

Noun + (shortened) pronoun, e.g. umniniyo

Noun + adjective, e.g. ubabamkhulu

Noun + relative, e.g. aManzimtoti

Noun + possessive, e.g. uMandlempisi

Noun + verb, e.g. uNdabazandile

Noun + adverb, e.g. uMfikimuva

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Verb + noun, e.g. impumalanga

Verb + pronoun, e.g. umzwangedwa

Verb + adverb, e.g. ivelakanci

3. Borrowed nouns

The main concern here is nouns which are borrowed from English and Afrikaans and the following matters need to receive attention:

how borrowed nouns are incorporated into the class system of Zulu, and

how foreign sounds or sound combinations which may occur in such borrowings, are accommodated in the Zulu sound system, e.g. the combination /CC/ in Afrikaans and English is changed to /CVC/ in Zulu, as e.g. in

olaas > ipulazi, etc.

Syntax

(a) The employment of the noun as:

subject direct and indirect object

(b) The position of subject- and object nouns in sentences. Here attention has to be given to:

the 'basic positions of subject- and object nouns in sentences, and

the circumstances which cause them to move from these positions.

(c) The syntactic differences between 'old' and 'new' information subjects and objects, e.g. new information subjects and objects may not be pronominalised, new information subjects may not appear in subject position in sentences, etc.

(d) The syntactic differences between direct and indirect objects, e.g. indirect objects occur before direct objects in sentences, are normally more pronominalised, thematised, etc. than direct objects.

(e) The condition(s) for the occurrence of 'postponed' subjects as e.g. in

kwafa abantu abathathu instead of: abantu abathathu bafa.

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B. PRONOUNS

1. Demonstrative pronouns

Morphology

Rules for the formation of demonstratives for all three positions as well as position 1A.

Syntax

Usage as a demonstrative determiner before and after its antecedent noun (also point out any possible differences in meaning that may occur here)

Usage as a demonstrative pronoun without its antecedent noun.

2. Locative-copulative demonstratives

Morphology

Rules for the formation of locative-copulative demonstratives for all three positions. Also note the variant forms in the case of the non-nasal classes, e.g. naba, nasi, etc.

Syntax

Usage as a determiner before its antecedent noun, e.g. Nangu uJosephine

Usage as a pronoun without its antecedent noun, e.g. Uphi uNimrod? Nango.

Usage in combination with relative and participial clauses, as e.g. in

Nangu umuntu engimshoyo Nango usistela Khumalo ekhuluma nodokotela

Usage as demonstratives as e.g. in:

Funda nasi isiqeshana sendaba

(Here any differences between these demonstratives and the ones treated in B.1. above must also be pointed out).

3. Quantitative pronouns

(i) The inclusive quantitative pronoun -nke

Morphology

The formation of this pronoun in each noun class including the first and second person

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Syntax

Usage as a quantitative determiner before and after its (object or subject) antecedent noun. Also point out possible differences in meaning which may occur here.

Usage as a quantitative pronoun without its antecedent noun.

The displacement of this pronoun away from its normal antecedent, as e.g. in: Izinkomo zafa zonke

(ii) The exclusive quantitative pronoun -dwa

Morphology

The formation of this pronoun in each noun class including for the first and second person singular and plural.

Syntax

Its usage together with subjects and objects, e.g. Ngummbila wodwa ophelile.

Its adverbial usage together with verbs, e.g. Ngizosala ngedwa.

The usage of the singular forms as numerals, e.g. inkomo eyodwa, etc.

(iii) Quantitative pronouns with a numerical basis

Morphology

The formation of these words with the adjectival numerals 1 - 5 as basis, e.g. bobabili, zozintathu, etc.

Syntax

In apposition to subjects and objects, e.g. Ngisho labobantu bobabile.

In a post-verbal position separated from the subject, e.g. Izinkomo zifile zozimbili.

4. Absolute pronouns

Morphology

The formation of these pronouns in each noun class.

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Syntax

The usage of these words as:

contrastive determiners e.g. Mina ngithanda ubisi kepha uNimrod yena akaluthandi

emphatic determiners, (often together with demonstratives), e.g. Ngisho yena lomfana

(At (a) and (b) the different positions which these words take up in relation to subjects and objects in sentences also need to be pointed out, as e.g. the fact that they may occur after subjects but never after objects.)

markers of left-dislocated direct objects when there is a pronominalised indirect object present in the sentence, as e.g. in:

imali engimnike yona

(shortened) pronouns together with particles, as e.g.

the locative particle ku- e.g. kuye the associative particle na- e.g. nabo the instrumental particle nga- e.g. ngayo the comparative particles njenga- and kuna e.g. njengaye, kunawe.

C. ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are basically not words but word stems which, through the addition of certain prefixal morphemes (concords), become words that can either be used:

Predicatively, as for instance in : umfazi muhle, or Qualificatively, as for instance in: umuntu omdala

Morphology

Treatment of:

the different adjective stems including the numeral adjectives 1 5.

The formation of the various. adjectival concords (predicative as well as qualificative concords) for all classes, including for the first and second person, e.g.

Predicative : class 1 : muhie, class 9 : inkulu, etc: Qualificative : class 1 : amuhle, class 9 : enkulu, etc.

The negative form of predicatively as well as qualificatively used adjectives, e.g. akamuhie, ezingeningi, etc.

WI3ABC 224

The diminutive form of adjectives, e.g. -khudlwana, -ningana, etc.

the augmentative form of adjectives, e.g. -khulukazi, -dekazi, etc.

Syntax

The predicative and qualificative use of adjectives

The usage of adjectives before or after their antecedents and possible differences in meaning that are brought about, e.g.

umfana omkhulu : omkhulu umfana

The usage of adjectives as (qualificative) pronouns, e.g.

omdala uyagula

Attention must also be given to the degrees of comparison which are formed by means of these stems, as e.g.

UJohn mdala kunami.

D. RELATIVES

Like adjectives relatives are basically not words but word stems which can either be used:

Predicatively, as for instance in : ukudla kumnandi or

Qualificatively, as for instance in: ukudla okumnandi.

Morphology

Treatment of:

Stems which function as relative stems, e.g. -mnandi, -mnyama, -ngcono, etc.

The way in which relative stems are derived from other word categories, expecially nouns, e.g.

-manzi< amanzi, -buhlunguc ubuhlungu, etc.

The formation of the various relative concords (predicative as well as qualificative concords) for all classses, e.g.

Predicative : libuhlungu, kumnandi, etc. Qualificative : elibuhlungu, okumnandi, etc.

Point out the formal differences that exist between the relative concords and the adjectival concords.

WI3ABC 225

Syntax

The predicative and qualificative use of adjectives

The usage of adjectives before or after their antecedents and possible differences in meaning that are brought about, e.g.

umfana omkhulu : omkhulu umfana

The usage of adjectives as (qualificative) pronouns; e.g.

omdala uyangula

Attention must also be given to the degrees of comparison which are formed by means of these stems, as e.g.

UJohn mdala kunami.

E. ENUMERATIVES

As is the case with adjectives and relatives enumeratives are basically stems of which words are formed by the addition of noun prefixes. Three enumerative stems are distinguished, i.e. -nye, -phi? and -ni?

Morphology

The formation of enumeratives with the stems -nye, -phi? and -ni? in the different noun classes.

Syntax

I. -Nye.

The usage of this enumerative together with subjects and objects. Point out its obligatory predicative usage together with subjects, e.g. munye (umntwana) ogulayo.

Point out the elision of the initial vowel of the nominal antecedent, as e.g. in:

Ngifuna (i)Randi linye Kwafa (u)muntu munye Bafike ngasikhathi sinye, etc.

Point out its usage in the participial mood, e.g.

Ngifuna inkomazi iyinye.

Point out the enclitic usage of -nye, as e.g. in:

ndawonye nkomonye, etc.

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2. -phi?

(a) The usage of -phi? together with subjects and objects. Point out that:

-phi? usually assumes a copulative form when it occurs with subjects and that it also precedes the antecedent in such cases, as e.g. in: Ngumuphi umfana obhemayo?

the subject noun may also be copulative, as e.g. in

(4)umfana muphi obhemayo?

(b) The usage of -phi? in possessive constructions, as e.g. in:

Umntwana wamuphi umfazi?

(c) The usage of -phi? with particles, as e.g. in:

Uhlala kuliphi ihhotela? Ufike ngayiphi indaba?, etc.

3. - ni?

The occurrence of -ni? together with copulative "subjects, e.g. (Ng)umuntu muni ohlala lapha?

Point out the elision of the initial vowel of the nominal antecedant as e.g. in: Ufuna (i)sikhumba sini?

The usage of -ni? as an enclitic added to nouns, as e.g. in: nyamani? nkomoni?, etc.

F. POSSESSIVES

A distinction is made between marked and unmarked possessives.

(a) Marked possessives

Morphology

Here the following features deserve attention:

The form of the possessive concord for all classes including the locative classes. Special attention should be paid here to the form of the possessive concord in cases where the possessor belongs to class lA or 2A, e.g.

imali kababa ibhayisikili likaPetros, etc.

The form of the possessive pronoun stem in all classes inclu-

WI3ABC 227

ding for the first and second person singular and plural.

The formation of possessive constructions with a noun as main component. Attention should be paid to the instances of vowel coalescence occurring here, e.g.

wa + umuntu .• womuntu ba + inkosi benkosi phezu kwa + itafula 7 kwetafula, etc.

The formation of possessive constructions with a locative noun or pronoun as main component, e.g.

abantu basedolobheni isikole sakithi, etc.

The formation of possessive constructions which render the meaning aspect 'whose', e.g.

umuntu onja yakhe ifile/efile.

The formation of relationship terms by means of possessives, as e.g.

Umfowethu, Umnewethu, Umkami, Umntanabo, etc.

Possessives formed by the associative formative na-, e.g.

Nginemoto, etc.

In the treatment of the marked possessives attention should not only be paid to possessives expressing possession as such, but also to instances where, possessives serve to express characteristics, functions, usage, kind of contents, purpose, order, gender, etc. as e.g.

characteristic umuntu wesifazane function ikamelo lokuhlala usage imbiza yamanzi type umsebenzi wasengadini order umuntu wesibili gender umuntu wesifazane position phezu kwetafula, etc.

(b) Unmarked possessives

Here the relevant possessives are those where the possession is a part of the whole and where the possessive relationship is not marked by a possessive concord, as e.g. in:

Bamgwaze isisu Ngilimele unyawo, etc.

In the case of the unmarked possessives the possessive -relationship existing between the possessor and the possession has to be dealt

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with at length.

Syntax

Pronominalisation with marked and unmarked possessives and the differences between them in this regard, e.g. marked possessives are pronominalised by means of possessive pronouns but not unmarked possessives.

The usage of marked possessives as possessive pronouns, as e.g. in:

owami, elakhe, abasemakhaya, owesilisa, etc.

The syntax of parts of the body with unmarktd possessives.

kci) The usage of unmarked possessives as subject and as object in sentences.

G. VERBS

This category is subdivided into (1) main verbs and (2) auxiliary verbs.

1. Main Verbs

Morphology

The morphological structure of the verb can roughly be divided into three overall structure categories, i.e.

prefixal morfemes verbal stems (which include basic verbal stems, i.e. roots as well as derived verbal stems) and verbal endings.

1.1 Prefixal morphemes of the verb

The following morphological categories are relevant here:

agreement morphemes (concords) aspectual morphemes reflexive morpheme negative morphemes temporal morphemes

(a) Agreement morphemes

(i) Subject agreement

The following matters deserve attention here:

The formal derivation of subject concords from class prefixes.

The pronominal function of subjects concords.

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The form of subject concords in the case of compound subjects which belong (i) to the same noun class and 7716different noun classes. (It should also i.a. be indicated here how the problem of class conflict in case of compound subjects is solved. Special atten- tion should be given here to the problem regarding the choice of the subject agreement morpheme in cases where the members of compound subjects belong to different noun classes. Attention should also be given to those combinations of subject nouns which are acceptable as those which are not.

The form of subject concords before vowel verb stems.

The indefinite subject concord ku- in combination with 'postponed' subjects, as e.g. in:

Kufike omunye umuntu. (The conditions under which this construction is used have to be spelt out).

The tonological differences between subject concords which have the same sound pattern, as e.g. the subject 'concord of the second person singular and that of class 1.

(ii) Object agreement

The following is relevant here:

The formal difference between subject and object concords.

The pronominal function of object concords.

The form of object concords in the case of compound objects which belong to the same and to different noun classes.

The form of object concords before vowel verb stems.

The optional and obligatory usage of object concords with objects.

(b). Aspectual morphemes

The aspectual morphemes include the following:

(1) the potential morpheme

the progressive morpheme

the exclusive morpheme and

the futuritive morphemes .(dealt with elsewhere - See G.1.1.e(ii)).

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Each of these morphemes has to be dealt with with regard to its form and meaning in both positive and negative verbs. (The exclusive only in case of negative verbs). Also deal with the form of the progressive in non-verbal constructions.

Reflexive

The form as well as the meaning are dealt with. Attention also has to be paid to the meaning of this morpheme in applied verbs.

Negative morphemes

The form and distribution of the indicative as well as of the non-indicative negative morphemes in both verbal and non-verbal predicates are dealt with by means of examples.

When dealing with the negative, attention must also be given to the axiomatic negative, e.g.

Angimshayanga nganduku Angiboni muntu, etc.

Temporal morphemes

The indefinite (present) tense morpheme -ya-

Here a distinction needs to be drawn between the so-called long present tense form (with -ya-) and the short form (without -ya-). The conditions under which each of these forms operate have to be indicated, i.e. the distributional differences between these forms have to be expounded in terms of rules.

The futuritive morphemes

Here a distinction has to be drawn between the so-called remote and near future tense forms. Each of these tense forms needs to be dealt with with regard to:

its full form and the manner in which it is composed.

all the contracted (variant) forms' which it may assume.

the form which it assumes in the negative.

(iii) The A-past tense form

Hereby the following is dealt with:

the form of the subject concords in this tense form.

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the prosodic feature's of the A-past tense morpheme

its occurrence in the indicative as well as in the narrative of the subjunctive mood, e.g. Uyise uphendule wathi

the negative of this tense form in both these moods.

1.2 Verbal stems

(i) Basic verbal stems (or roots)

(a) Phonological characteristics

(aa) monosyllabic verbal stems

Here a distinction must be drawn between:

regular monosyllabic stems, e.g. dla, -fa, -kha, etc.

defective monosyllabic stems, as e.g. thi, -sho, etc.

monosyllabic stems with a latent i-, e.g. -(i)ma, -(i)za, -(i)zwa, etc.

(ab) Vowel verb stems

Here a distinction must be drawn between:

vowel stems which regularly begin with a vowel, e.g.

akha, • -ehla, -osa, -em baths, etc.

vowel stems with alternating initial vowels, e.g.

emuka : -amuka embatha : -ambatha -emula : -omula

vowel stems with or without an initial vowel, e.g.

-esuka : -suka -ethwala : -thwala -edlula : -dlula

(ac) Polysyllabic verbal stems

e.g. -thanda, -gijima, -londoloza, etc.

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(b) Semantic-syntactic characteristics

Here one needs to distinguish between verbal roots with a single-, double- and intransitive lexical meaning- and the syntactical implications thereof, namely that it gives such verbs the ability to take one, two or no objects, as e.g. in:

ngithanda ubisi (once transitive) nginike umntwana isipho (double transitive) ngiyaphumula (intransitive), etc.

Furthermore attention also has to be paid to intransitive roots which may take 'idiomatic' objects, as e.g. in:

ukungena indlu ukuhamba isonto, etc.

(ii) Derived verbal stems

(a) Derived by means of verbal suffixes (extensions).

It is necessary here to distinguish between stems which are derived by means of (a) productive and (b) non-productive verbal suffixes.

(aa) Productive verbal suffixes

The following verbal suffixes are relevant here:

the passive the causative (including the 'old' causative suffix) the applied the neuter (-ek- as well as -akal-) the reciprocal the intensive the perfect

(ab) Non-productive verbal suffixes

The following non-productive verbal suffixes are dealt with:

the contactive the-dispersive the reversive-transitive the reversive-intransitive the stative the positional suffix

Note: Each verbal suffix has to be dealt with under the following headings:

formal characteristics (including variant forms)

semantic characteristics (including semantic variations and

WI3ASC 233

lexicalisation of meaning)

syntactic implications (i.e. usability it gives to verbs).

morphophonological changes (if any) it causes in the verb stem), as e.g. palatalisation in the case of the passive suffix.

the combination possibility with other verbal suffixes.

the position it occupies in suffix sequences.

(b) Reduplicated verbal stems

Rules for the formation of reduplicated verbal stems are dealt with. Reduplication of the following verbal stems is relevant here:

monosyllabic stems bi - and polysyllabic stems vowel verb stems.

Denominative and deadjectival stems

Here verbal stems are dealt with which are derived from nominal and adjectival stems respectively, e.g. -depha< -de.

Deideophonic verbal stems

Here the attention is mainly confined to those verbal stems which are derived from ideophones by means of the deideophonic suffixes k-, -1- and -z-, as e.g. in:

dabu.> -dabula, -dabuka qhofo > -qhofoza, etc.

1.3 Verbal endings

It is important to note that the verbal ending constitutes a separate morpheme in the verbal stem and that it is to be distinguished from e.g. the rest of the verbal stem. The following verbal endings must be identified and named:

the (bas-ic) ending -a the negative ending -i the ending -e (in e.g. the subjunctive mood) the negative ending -anga the perfect tense ending -ile/e.

The following should be dealt with under the perfect ending:

- the difference between the so-called long perfect tense form -ile and the short form with -é;

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the distributional differences in the usage of these two tense morphemes expounded in terms of rules;

the usage of -ile as marker of the so-called stative form;

stative verbal stems with 'deviating' perfect forms, as e.g. verbs ending on -ana, -atha, -ama, -al a, etc.

verbal stems with irregular perfect forms, such as e.g. -hlezi, -shilo, etc.

2. Auxiliary verbs

The following is dealt with here:

the morphological structure of (some) auxiliary verbs with special reference to the auxiliary verb ending -e.

The (semantic) function of auxiliary verbs in sentences.

The auxiliary verb + complement.

The following auxiliary 'verb constructions should be dealt with here:

auxiliary verb + infinitive complement auxiliary verb + subjunctive complement auxiliary verb + participial complement

A distinction has to be drawn between auxiliary verbs of which the complementary verb may only appear in one mood and auxiliary verbs of which the complement may appear in more than one mood and the semantic differences that may result.

Attention should also be paid to the negation of auxiliary constructions as well as to how changes in the tense of the auxiliary verb effect the tense and/or mood of the complementary verb, e.g.

ubuye amshaye : wabuye wamshaya but: uhambe ecela : wahambe ecela.

(d) Compound tenses with the auxiliary verb stem -be

The following is dealt with here:

(i) The different tenses which are marked by the auxiliary verb stem -be, positive as well as negative. This includes the following tenses:

continuous near past tense, e.g. bengibona perfect near past tense, e.g. bengibonile continuous remote past tense, e.g. ngangibona perfect remote past tense, e.g. ngangibonile the continuous future tense, e.g. ngiyokube ngibona

WI3ABC 235

- the contingent tense form, e.g. bengizobona.

The occurrence of -be together with other morphemes, such as e.g. the potential -nga- and the (exclusive) auxiliary verb stem -se- should also receive attention, e.g. wabe esethi...

All contractions and shortenings which occur between the auxiliary verb stems -be and -se respectively and the complementary verb, must be dealt with.

H. COPULATIVES

Morphology

Copulatives may be formed from different word categories. Copulatives formed from the following word categories must be dealt with:

(a) From nouns (positive and negative)

E.g. ngumuntu, yinkomo, akangumntanami, etc.

Here attention should also be given to the use of the subjectival concord in this construction as well as to the possible deletion of this concord in cases where the copulative predicate occurs with a subject, as e.g. in:

UJohn ungutisha : UJohn (-)ngutisha, etc.

The usage of the indefinite concord ku- instead of the subject concord of the accompanying subject in examples such as the following, should be dealt with:

UDingene kwakuyinkosi yamaZulu. UMnyamana kuyinduna enkulu.

(b) From pronouns (positive and negative)

From absolute pronouns, e.g. yimi, okunguyena, akasiye, (uma) engenguye, bakhona, akekho, etc.

From demonstratives, e.g. yilelohhashi, akuyilelohhashi, etc.

Froth.quantitatives, e.g. yimi ngedwa, akayedwa, (uma) bebonke, etc.

From qualificative pronouns, e.g.

formed from adjectives, e.g. ngomkhulu, bangabadala, wayengomunye, etc.

formed from relatives, e.g. ngelibomvu, bangabamnyama, etc.

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- formed from possessives, eg. ngelami, akungeyami, etc.

(c) From adverbs

E.g. yikude, kuseduze, basedolobheni, yikusasa, etc.

(d) From conjunctives

E.g. neukuthi, yingoba, kungakho, etc.

In addition to the copulatives formed from the abovementioned word categories copulatives may also be formed from nouns and pronouns preceded by formatives such as na-, njenga- and nganga-, e.g. unobuntu, unjengawe, etc.

(e) Copulatives formed by means of the copultive stem -ba

Here special attention should be given to the following:

The different complements which the copulative verbal stem -ba may take, e.g. nouns, locative nouns, adjectives, etc.

The formal change which some of these complements such as e.g. nouns and locative nouns, undergo when they occur as complements to -ba, as e.g. in:

Waba ngudokotela Kwaba sedolobheni, etc.

(f) Copulatives formed by means of kuna- and kukhona

Kunesibhedlela lapho na? Kukhona ihhotela elikhulu na?, etc.

Remark:

The different copulative forms referred to above, must as far as possible be dealt with with reference to the following:

The form of the copulatives in the different moods, especially in the indicative, participial and subjunctive mood.

The form of the copulative in the different compound tense constructions.

Axiomatic negative forms, e.g. angi(li)sela mina!

Variant negative forms, as e.g. in case of the copulative of absolute pronouns. Cf. e.g. akuyimi, akuyimi, akumina, etc.

WI3ABC 237

1. ADVERBS

Morphology

The morphology of the following types of adverbs is dealt with:

(a) Locative adverbs

Here the following is dealt with:

Locatives formed from nouns, including those in the infinitive class. The different rules according to whin locative nouns are formed must be dealt with. This also includes the different rules of palatalisation.

Locatives formed from nouns and pronouns with the locative formatives ku- and kwa-respectively, e.g. kudokotela, kwaZulu, kwethu, etc.

(b) Adverbs of manner formed with the adverbial formative ka-, e.g. kahie, kamnandi, etc.

(c) Adverbs formed with the formatives na-, nga-, ng(u)-/y(i)- (after passive verbs) njenga-, kuna- (in comparative constructions),

kwa-, sa-, etc., e.g.: Ngisike ngommese Ugijima kwakati Wazidlisa satshanyana, etc.

(d) Adverbs formed from nouns by the deletion of the pre-prefix, e.g. ntambama, ndawonye, mandulo, mpondozankomo, etc.

Syntax

Under syntaX all words which may function as adverbial adjuncts in sentences are dealt with. This includes all the abovementioned adverbs as well as the following words which may function as adverbial adjuncts:

Locative nouns belonging to the locative classes, e.g. phansi, phezulu, emuva, etc.

Certain interrogatives such as e.g. nini? kanjani? kangaki?, etc.

Diverse adverbs e.g. futhi, manje, etc.

In addition to the above, attention must also be given to adverbial clauses (in the praticipial mood). See also 4.2.4(e).

WI3ABC 238

conditional sentences must also be dealt with.

(b) The relationship of conjunctives with other word categories such as verbs (e.g. kuthe), adverbs (e.g. kanjalo), pronouns (e.g. lapha), etc.

L. INTERJECTIVES

The use of the following is dealt with here:

Intersectives such as the following:

Interjectives of consent, e.g. yebo. Interjectives of denial, e.g. cha, Interjectives of amazement, joy, sorrow, etc. e.g. hawu!, we babo!, mamo!, etc. Interjectives of abundance, e.g. wamuhle!, lagijima lelohhashi!

Vocatives, e.g. nkosi!, mnumzane!, etc.

M. CONSTRUCTIONS

1. The relative construction

Two types of relative constructions are distinguished, i.e. the so-called direct and indirect relative constructions.

(a) Direct relative construction

Direct relative constructions (positive and negative) formed from the following word categories are dealt with:

from verbs, e.g. abasebenzayo, olambile, etc.

from adjectival and relative stems, e.g. omuhle, elimanzi, etc. (See also 4.2.3 (C) and 4.2.3 (D)).

from copulatives, e.g. ongumuntu, okunguye, abangabadala, etc.

from possessives, e.g. owami, abanemali, etc.

from adverbs, e.g. abasedolobheni, abakithi, etc.

from pre-prefixless nouns, e.g. umfana onja yakhe i fi le/efi le.

formed by means of the subjunctive verb -b e, e.g. Ngifuna amaRandi abe mahlanu, etc.

(b) Indirect relative constructions

The following constructions are dealt with:

WI3ASC 2.39

J. IDEOPHONES

Morphology

The derivative relation between ideophones and other word categories, especially verbs, e.g.

-cima : cimi, -vumbulula : vumbululu, etc.

Syntax

The following matters must receive attention here:

The function of ideophones in sentences.

The usaae of ideophones together with:

verbs, e.g. Ucionde ngqo! colour relatives, e.g. Limhlophe qwa! the auxiliary verb -thi, e.g. Uthe cwaka!

(Attention must also be given to -thi as a tense marker and carrier of inflexional formatives).

The verbal nature of idophones.

Here special attention must be given to the following:

- ideophones and (in)transitivity, e.g.:

Ngamuthi nhlo! Uthe du!, etc.

(Attention must also be given to the use of the object concord in these ipstances).

- the use of ideophones in the imperative form (like imperative verbs), e.g.:

Cwaka madoda! Khumu bafana!, etc.

K. CONJUNCTIVES -

Morphology and Syntax

Here the following must receive attention:

(a) The function and syntactical position of conjunctives in sentences. The conjunctives must be treated in accordance with the sentence type (mood) which they govern. Particular attention must be paid to the function and usage of the conjunctives ukuba, ukuthi and ukuze in sentences. The usage of the conjunctive uma as marker or

WI3ABC 240

The antecedent is.underlying:

an object, e.g. umuntu engimshoyo, nansi imali anginike yona, etc.

a locative adverb, e.g. umuzi ahlala kuwo, etc.

an associative adjunct, e.g. indoda engakhuluma nayo etc.

an instrumental adjunct, e.g. amasoyi esiyokwakha ngawo, etc.

an agentive adjunct, e.g. inja engilunywe yiyo, etc.

In dealing with the different relative constructions special attention should also be given to the following:

The relative suffix -yo and its usage.

The formation of the relative concord in all classes.

The form of the relative construction in the different tenses, including the compound tenses.

The positive and negative form of this construction.

2. Interrogative constructions

The following interrogative constructions are dealt with:

Interrogatives formed with:

(i) phi? 'which'?, e.g. yiyiphi inkomo? maphi amadoda? kusiphi isikole? etc. (See also 4.2.3 (E)).

(ii) phi? 'where'? as verbal enclitic e.g. uhlalaphi?

(iii) ni? 'which type'? e.g. ngumuntu muni? msebenzi muni?

- also as enclitic to nouns, e.g. nyamani? nkomoni? etc. (See also 4.2.3 (E)).

(iv) ni? 'what' (i) as verbal enclitic, e.g. ubonani? .(ii) as part of copulatives, e.g. kuyini? (iii) in adverbial constructions together with particles; such as na and nga e.g. nani?, ngani?, etc.

(v) the noun ubani? (i) as noun, e.g. ufuna ubani? as copulative, e.g. ungubani wena? as possessive, e.g. yinja kabani le?

(vi) Interrogative adverbs (including those formed from relative and adjective stems) are treated elsewhere. (See 4.2.3 (I)).

WI3A3C ▪

241 4.2.4 Syntax (Moods)

The formal characteristics which distinguish the different types of sentences (moods) from each other are mainly marked in the verb. These characteristics have already been dealt with in the previous section.

Goal

Here the pupil is therefore expected only to know and recognise (in texts) the most important syntactic and semantic characteristics which distinguish the different types of sentences from each other (in surface structures).

Indicative sentences Semantic • Are used to express statements. Syntactic Act as main clauses.

Imperative sentences (interjective and vocative sentences being included)

Semantic Express commands, admonitions, encouragement ect. Syntactic Occur in isolation or in combination with other (adverbial) clause types, such as e.g. subjunctive adverbial clauses, e.g. Mtshele ahambe.

Also deal with direct and indirect commands here.

Infinite sentences Semantic Express processes or actions. Syntactic : Originally a type of adverbial clause which followed sentences with modal main verbs. Occur mainly as complement of (especially) modal auxiliary verbs today.

Subjunctive sentences Semantic Express i.a. a wish, purpose and friendly commands or requests (also by means of the hortative particle). Also express consecutive actions.

Syntactic : Act i.a. as adverbial clauses which follows indicative and imperative (main clauses, as e.g. in: Ngivuka ngigeze Mtshele makasheshe May also occur in isolation, as e.g. in Ngihambe?

Act as complement of various auxiliary verbs and conjunctives.

WI3ABC 242

(e) Participial sentences

Semantic Express action or processes which coincide with the main action.

Syntactic : Act i.a. as adverbial clauses of indicative main clauses. Act i.a. also as complementary sentence of various auxiliary verbs and conjunctions.

4.2.5 Semantics

(a) Goals

The most important goal here is to enlarge the vocabulary of the pupil in a formal way so that he will i.a. be able to:

express himself fluently and comfortably in any conversational situation.

follow the literary works in his language (as well as other subject literature) with ease.

render his thoughts appropriately in writing.

(b) Contents

Here the following features are of importance:

Synonyms Antonyms Homonyms (words with the same sound pattern but which differ in meaning) Paronyms Polysemes (words with more than one meaning) Idiom, idiomatic language Proverbs. Attention must furthermore be given to:

Figures of speech Literal and figurative meaning of words Ambiguity Emotive value of words (1) Words which are confused with one another (m) Old words with new meanings.

4.2.6 Vocabulary and expressions

(a) Goals and contents

Here the goals are essentially the same as those set out above under Semantics and include the expansion of the pupil's vocabulary by the informal study of:

WI3ABC 243

Technical terms in everyday usage Traditional words Adopted words Neologisms (new creations) Folk etymology Analogy Archaisms One word instead of .... 'Hlonipha'-terms, etc.

N.B. Examples of language impurities must be pointed out and corrected.

4.3 READING AND LITERATURE

Introducting

The teaching of the speaking-, reading- and listening skills culminates meaningfully in the study of the literature where it jointly contributes to the analysis of the written text.

The reading texts should include various registers of style so as to be representative of reality. In consideration hereof the development of the pupil's reading ability should not be one-sided. Besides literary works he should also study other texts such as technical publications.

The cultivation of good reading habits can only take place if the reading matter has been chosen with care and suits the emotional maturity of the pupil, and if the teacher himself shows enthusiasm regarding the reading material.

The pupils for their part must:

derive enjoyment and pleasure from the reading of books;

show insight into the read passage; they must develop a critical ability, and form their own opinion..

They must be able to distinguish between good and poor literature; they must be mindful of purity of formation, but also of the line of thought with a specific goal in view; .

extend their experience of life through the reading activity; they should develop an understanding for other people and their problems (even though they are:presented as being situated in a world of fiction.)

Hereby they can develop a moral feeling and responsibility, because this brinos them into contact with other views and values of life; they realise that habits and norms, in fact the complete cultural wealth of groups of people, differ, and that this must be respected;

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