Browsing by Author "Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi."

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Critiquing representation : the case of an academic literacy course in an engineering faculty in a South African university.
(2012) Bengesai, Annah Vimbai.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
What does it mean to be academically literate? Responses to this question have led to an explosion of research in the field of applied linguistics, yet the diversity of definitions proposed in the literature for the concept of literacy per se indicate that it continues to defy consensus. Literacy, and specifically by extension academic literacy, must thus be recognised as a contested field, with different meanings for different people and inevitable tensions between those taking positions on or affected by its practical implications. Accepting its contested status, this study sought to explore student representations of academic literacy, academic staff representations of academic literacy and associated academic staff representations of students insofar as these touch on specific concerns of academic literacy in an engineering faculty. The purpose of this exploration was to determine how these representations permeate academic practice and inform pedagogical practice and attitudes to learning. This led to the research thesis, that dominant discourses produce certain practices which can lead to social exclusion/inclusion of students. Such a thesis, allows for an examination of institutional practices of teaching and learning. To do this, I employed a multidisciplinary approach drawn from applied linguistics, sociology and philosophy. Consequently, I drew on theories from James Paul Gee, Pierre Bourdieu, Basil Bernstein and Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger to understand the socio-cultural context where representation occurs. An understanding of these discourses and epistemologies also necessitated an approach that probed participants‘ versions of reality. Consequently, this research was premised within a Critical Realist ontology whose central tenet is the recognition of tripartite framework of reality. Within this framework, reality is comprised of the domains of the real, actual and the empirical. The domain of the empirical relates to perceptions of experiences, while the actual is concerned with events that produce these experiences. The real is the domain of generative mechanisms, which if activated, produce the events and experiences in the other domains. Data was collected to correspond to these domains, with critical focus on the analysis of underlying mechanisms which reproduce social reality. To establish how the real relates to the other domains, Fairclough‘s critical discourse analysis was adopted.
English studies and language teaching : epistemological access and discursive critique in South Africa.
(2007) Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.; Balfour, Robert John.
This study investigates ways in which English Studies at Rhodes University, the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Natal, and the University of Sydney responded to linguistic and academic literacy needs of entrance level students. Both qualitative and quantitative data from these research sites are integrated with an autobiographical narrative based on my own personal experiences of learning English and in English at secondary and tertiary levels in South Africa. Dealing with data this way made it possible for my study to examine strategies through which different English departments negotiate the challenge of enabling students to access the discourse of the Discipline. I relied on the principles underpinning Genre Theory and Grounded Theory to engage critically with participants’ responses to interview questions and documentary evidence from research sites. It appears from the study that modules designed to develop students’ linguistic and/or academic literacy skills need not maintain a pedagogic practice that is either grammatical rules or academic writing and critique based, without an attempt to integrate the two. This separation is seen as artificial, and reflects pedagogic practices that tend to mystify the discourse of the Discipline of English Studies. Given the fact that not all students posses relevant cultural capital to negotiate meanings successfully within this discourse, many of them are excluded during lectures. Literature and research findings in this study indicate that this exclusion manifests itself when such students fail to choose grammatical structures according to the purpose for which they construct texts, both in speaking and in writing. Within this context, there is a need for an alternative model to inform theory, module design, and pedagogic practices in entrance level modules.
Exploring teachers’ understanding of pedagogic practices in teaching mathematical concepts in grade 1: a case study in South African primary schools.
(2016) Hadebe-Ndlovu, Blanche' Ntombizodwa.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.; Khoza, Simon Bhekumuzi.
The study examines teachers’ understanding of their learning theories on pedagogic practices in teaching mathematical concepts in Grade 1. The study emanates from the findings of the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) Report and also from research which indicates that the teaching and learning of Mathematics in primary schools in South Africa are considered to be in crisis. Mathematics teachers remain critical role players in ensuring quality teaching and learning, as they are the curriculum implementers, but they seem to lack the crucial support that underpins improved learner performance. Forming a solid and a broad mathematical foundation on Mathematics concepts like numbers and operations, geometry and spatial sense, and measurement, with algebra and data analysis playing supporting roles, is one of the goals to unpack how teachers teach Mathematics to achieve their goals when teaching Mathematics. It is evident from research that learners in Grade 1 find mathematical concepts challenging and hence many perform poorly. The objective of this study was to understand pedagogic choices Mathematics teachers make to teach mathematical concepts, and to understand ways in which these pedagogical choices affect the learners’ acquisition of such concepts. Theoretically, the study draws on both Constructivism and Bernstein’s Pedagogic Device Theory. The study adopts a qualitative approach and uses a case study methodology. The selection of different schools in different context was not for comparison purposes but for understanding how teachers understand their pedagogic practices in teaching Mathematics in Grade 1. All ethical issues were observed to ensure trustworthiness of findings. Multiple data generation tools such as semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and documents analysis were utilised. Data was analysed through content analysis. Data were first summarised and then categorised to themes. The conclusions arrived at indicate that even though primary school teachers understand officially sanctioned pedagogical practices for Mathematics, like learner-centeredness and collaborative learning, they were faced with multiple challenges in their efforts to implement their understating of pedagogical practices as there were challenges with the shortage of resources. Therefore, it is impossible for them to implement the rationale, aims and objectives, in the content for Mathematics teaching. Vigorous innovation on teachers understanding would keep them well-informed about pedagogic theories and content knowledge to enable them to attain the required level of knowledge and understanding of their practice.
Knowledge structures and pedagogic practices : a case study of English education and English literacy studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.
(2015) Sevnarayan, Kershnee.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
This study arose out of a concern that lecturers, tutors and students in their disciplines pay insufficient attention to the nature, structure and effects of the types of knowledge that is being disseminated and learnt. It was argued in the study that lecturers, tutors and students are under the spell of what Maton (2014) terms ‘knowledge-blindness’. This study investigated how knowledge structures impact on lecturers’ and/or tutors’ pedagogic practices in the English Education and English Literary Studies disciplines at the University of the Witwatersrand. The study presented the following research questions: What are the knowledge structures in English Education and English Literary Studies? How do knowledge structures in English Education and English Literary Studies impact on pedagogic practices? Why are the effects of pedagogic practices on student learning the way they are? Since this study is grounded in a critical paradigm, it used the Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) (Maton, 2007), Critical Realism (Bhaskar, 1979) and Social Realism (Archer, 1995a and b, 1996) to conceptualise and to engage critically with each of the research questions. The substantive theories of Bourdieu (1988) and Bernstein (1990) were used to understand how disciplinary knowledge structures and pedagogic practices are constructed in the respective disciplines to impact on student learning. Since this is a qualitative study, one-on-one interviews, classroom observation and documentary evidence were used as research instruments. Case study research was chosen as the research design. The study shows that both English Education and English Literary Studies privilege a particular kind of disposition or ‘gaze’; this is stronger Social Relations which fall within the knower quadrant of LCT. In this quadrant, legitimacy is based on lecturers/tutors owning specialised knowledge and being the right type of knower in the process. A major finding of the study was that both disciplines were thus found to exhibit a knower code (ER-, SR+), which means that the acquisition of the target gaze or ‘way of being’ is the primary route to legitimation in the discipline. Students therefore need to demonstrate that they are indeed the ‘right kind of knower’ if they are to succeed in these courses. This would assume a pedagogy in which students are afforded multiple opportunities to see the gaze modeled to them. The analysis of classroom practice and assessment in this study, however, suggests that this was not the case as classes were teacher-centred and there were very few formative opportunities. In this way, the pedagogy privileged those students who, by virtue of their cultural capital, already had access to the target gaze. Pedagogic practices, it was argued, are constructed as an external power relation, the central concern being the voices silenced by pedagogic discourse. The way in which pedagogy is relayed, determines whether students are included or excluded based on the content they are learning. It was found that, in both disciplines, according to Archer (1996), whose Social Realist theory is based on the social transformation of individuals, lecturers and/or tutors will continue to replicate social conflict in the next morphogenetic cycle. The pedagogic practices of lecturers will affect the next morphogenetic cycle which will provide the next set of agents with a “constraining context within which to operate” (Vorster, 2010, p.38). It was argued that pedagogic practices in the two disciplines under study are a complex and socially situated phenomenon that entails both cultural and social transformation inclusive of individual transformation. Therefore, lecturers and/or tutors in their disciplines should be aware that knowledge structures should “transcend social conditions” and should be shaped to a realistic context (Maton, 2000a,b).
Language proficiency and academic performance : the case study for secondary school in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2009) Ramcharan, Anusha Paropcar.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
I have been fortunate in my teaching career to have taught young learners from Grade 1 to Grade 12 in English home language. This has led me to the realisation that English home language learners have a considerable advantage over their second language counterparts in acquiring education in general. Language proficiency in the language of learning and teaching is essential for academic success. Many secondary school learners lack the required academic proficiency in English, the language of learning and teaching. The English language proficiency of isiZulu-speaking Grade 8 learners at a Durban secondary school was evaluated in order to suggest ways in which these learners could be helped to maximise their academic success. This school was chosen on the basis of poor matric results. The study used a mixed-method research methodology. A sample of Grade 8 learners was selected, and their language proficiency levels were determined. The data collection techniques used were the focus group interview to generate pupils’ response to problems and barriers to learning, as well as document analysis of school documents. The findings indicated that the learners were generally not capable of handling the requirements of the Grade 8 curriculum. The language issue is complex and cannot be explained as an isolated variable as there are a variety of other mediating factors that interact to impact on the academic performance of learners with limited English language proficiency. It was recommended that the learners be guided to make optimal use of facilities, such as libraries. This could enhance the learner’s language development.
Literary art and social critique : teaching literature for social transformation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, English Education Discipline.
(2008) Mabunda, Magezi Thompson.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which the teaching of literary art to
On examining the role of English education knowledge structures in pedagogic practices : case study of English educators in a higher education institution.
(2012) Ngcongo, Baldwin.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
This study examines how English Education knowledge structures impact on pedagogy to serve students who are becoming English educators. The study investigates the English Education discipline within the School of Education, University of KwaZulu–Natal. The study responds to the critical question: how do English Education knowledge structures impact on pedagogy to serve students who are becoming English educators? This question seeks to uncover underlying structures, mechanisms and events at play in the English Education discipline, and how these inform knowledge structures to impact on pedagogy the way they do. The study is located on an interpretive research paradigm, and is framed within the Critical Realism (Bhaskar, 1978) and Social Realism (Archer, 1995) theories. These theories are used to critically engage with data by uncovering the underlying structures and mechanisms at play in the English Education discipline. The study further draws on Bernstein (1999) and Bourdieu (1986) as substantive theories used to develop a profound understanding of Knowledge Structures and Cultural Capital, respectively. Using qualitative methods of data collection, the study uncovers the role of a 2-Track System in the teaching of English Education students. Data collected in the study is analysed and critiqued to demonstrate how and why the structuring of English Education knowledge breaks away from unintended curricular impositions by the former University of Natal English Department’s curriculum. The study argues that the 2-Track System adopted in the English Education discipline is appropriate to serve students to be competent educators of English. Of paramount importance, data collected in the study also show how the structuring of English Education knowledge in the 2-Track System empowers and ‘give voice to’ the majority (Bernstein, 1999).
On exploring the role of an academic literacy module in developing postgraduate students' academic writing practices in a school of education: a qualitative case study.
(2015) Akinmolayan, Emmanuel Seun.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.; Bengesai, Annah Vimbai.
This thesis examines the impact of the Understanding Academic Literacy (UAL) module in the development of students’ academic writing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The pedagogical approach of this module and its impact are also investigated. The research project responds to three research questions: How is writing taught in the Understanding Academic Literacy module? Why is writing taught in the way it is taught in the UAL module? What impact does the way writing is taught in Understanding Academic Literacy have on students’ written work within the module? Using a qualitative case study approach, data was gathered through interviews, classroom observation and document analysis. Interviews were conducted with five students from different writing backgrounds in terms of linguistic and cultural capital. The lecturer of the module was also interviewed. In addition, three different periods of classroom observation were transcribed and analysed, along with documentary evidence, including the UAL course outlines, and students’ written tasks. All these were synthesised to describe and explain how students were initiated through scaffolding into the written discourse of postgraduates. Although perceived as a mystifying language by newcomers, academic writing remains an indispensable tool in postgraduate study. The provision of a module to inform, initiate and socialise students into this specific writing mode is therefore a matter of importance. This is the motive informing the UAL module. However, that most students continued to find academic writing difficult (Harris, Graham, and Mason, 2013) despite the existence of such modules provides the rationale for this study. The study assesses how the UAL has socialised students into academic writing, considers the reasons for the choice of this form of socialisation and its impact. The aim is to investigate whether the purpose of the UAL in respect of students’ academic writing at postgraduate level is being achieved. This study maintains that the ideological model of NLS defines an appropriate way for theorising the introduction of students to academic writing in the 21st century (Street, 2001, 2008, and Lea and Street, 2008), with emphasis on Gee’s (2007) distinctions between primary/secondary discourses and d/Discourses. But the data obtained from the various research instruments revealed that students were still initiated technically. As a result, students only develop a study-skills approach to writing. Although some aspects of the module showed elements of the ideological approach, most of the pedagogical evidence indicated that the module limited students to the intellect and product (autonomous) approach to writing. It is proposed that participation and interaction with experts and peers within the disciplinary community will enhance appropriate socialisation into academic writing, viz. secondary discourse (and Discourse). To achieve this, the academic writing tuition should be distributed across all disciplines and include tutorial sections, which will contribute to an atmosphere in which students’ academic identity can be developed appropriately.
On making sense of science discourse : the role of the foundation programme in a South African University.
(2013) Padayachee, Vasanthie.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
The BSc4 (Foundation) programme offered at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) caters for students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds, with lower matriculation points, offering them the opportunity to pursue studies in science. The students in the BSc4 (Foundation) programme are registered for foundation modules in science, viz. biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics as well as an academic literacy course. It is in the context of these foundation modules in science within the BSc4 (Foundation) programme that this study is undertaken. This study explores the discipline-specific literacies that the BSc4 (Foundation) students require in order to learn science and to acquire science discourse. The study uses case study as a research design, the interpretive research paradigm and the qualitative research approach to analyse data obtained from multiple research instruments. Research findings reveal that with the change in student profile, module changes within the BSc4 (Foundation) programme were implemented. In light of these, the study explores factors such as the ‘articulation gap’ between school and university; and disadvantaged educational experiences. The findings also suggest that students experience challenges with the use of the language of science and the use of discipline-specific literacies in science in the modules offered in the BSc4 (Foundation) programme. However, there exists the scope for stronger engagement between the academics who teach the foundation modules in science and the academic literacy specialists to assist students in the acquisition of the discipline-specific literacies required to learn science and for science discourse.
Pedagogic practices in an academic writing module for undergraduate education students: a phenomenological case study.
(2014) Merisi, Peter Oluwaseum.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.; Bengesai, Annah Vimbai.
Academic writing has been described both internationally and nationally as a major challenge the higher institution entrant students are faced with. In the South African context, many studies have indicated that the Black South African students who constitute the larger part of the student population in the (Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) who are affected the most; the reason being that they are second language users of English, the language of instruction. However, recent studies have revealed that academic writing problem is not only limited to the L2 users, but that the L1 users also have problem writing academically. Scholars the world over have found that students‟ inability to write academically has been the major contributor to their underperformances at the HEIs. Thus, academic writing, arguably, goes beyond a mere acquisition of writing skills, but the acquisition of academic discourse. The Academic Literacy for Undergraduate Students (ALUGS) module, formerly referred to as Academic Literacy in English (ALE), was introduced at the university under study to cater for this writing challenge. Surprisingly, students have been experiencing a high rate of failure even within the module itself- good intensions going wobbly! It is against this background that this study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of the pedagogy at use in the teaching of the ALUGS module. Hence, the purpose of the study was to explore how writing was being taught within the ALUGS module; why was it taught the way it was taught, and; what impact does the way writing was taught have on students‟ writing practices within the module. The study was located within an interpretive paradigm, and employed a qualitative approach in the analysis of the research data. Semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary evidences were the research instruments used in generating the research data. Theoretically, drawing from the social theories of learning, this study was framed by the New Literacy Studies (NLS), dwelling largely on Gee‟s discourse theory and Street‟s autonomous and ideological models of literacy. Findings from the study revealed that the approach being used focus more on the teaching of writing skills rather than the acquisition of academic discourses. It was also found that there was no training for tutors before they were engaged in the teaching of the module, and as a result, they ended up teaching different things in their tutorials. Findings further revealed that what students learned in the ALUGS module have little or no relevance to what they were taught in their various disciplines. Consequently, it was found that both students and lecturers are looking forward to having an academic writing module designed to be discipline-specific rather than a generic one. Thus, it was recommended that the academic writing module should be housed within each discipline to cater for the disciplinary writing needs of the students, and that the curriculum and the course materials should be redesigned.
Social inclusion and exclusion in higher education : the role of pedagogy in English.
(2011) Appalsamy, Kershnee.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
This study investigates how lecturers at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal construct pedagogy to socially include and/ or exclude students. The focus is particularly on two disciplines: English literary studies in the Faculty of Human Development and Social Sciences and English education in the Faculty of Education. The research question for the study is: how does the construction and practice of teaching in English literary studies and English education disciplines serve to include and/or exclude students? This question draws attention to how disciplinary knowledge structures inform pedagogic practice and how the disciplinary identity of these disciplines impact on pedagogic practice to include and/ or exclude. Since this study is grounded in a critical interpretive paradigm, it used social realist (Archer, 1995, 1996) and critical realist (Bhaskar, 1979) theories to conceptualise and to engage critically with the phenomenon of social inclusion and exclusion in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The substantive theories of Maton (2000), Bourdieu (1988) and Bernstein (1990) were used to understand how disciplinary knowledge and identities are constructed in the respective disciplines to include and/ or exclude. Classroom observation, documentary evidence and interviews were used as research instruments. Phenomenology was chosen as a research design. Research findings suggest that, irrespective of the discourses of equity and open access to HEIs, among other things, students from poor educational and socio-economic backgrounds are still excluded. Data suggests that the ways in which lecturers construct pedagogy heavily impact on the way inclusivity is achieved. Given the fact that not all students are able to acquire epistemological access equally, this study found that the system favours only those students who acquire the necessary linguistic and cultural capital prior to entering HEIs (Bourdieu, 1988).
Teaching literature for critical thinking in secondary school.
(2012) Madondo, Nkosinathi Emmanuel.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
This dissertation describes critical participatory action research study aimed at developing the capacity of learners to think critically in the context of a classroom in a South African Secondary school (and beyond). The data were qualitative in nature, and were generated through Govender’s (2008) 1949 short story prescribed for grade 11 in 2010. Informal discussions, classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, critical thinking tasks as well as learners’ assignments were the instruments inductively used for data production, interpretation and analysis. This process was guided by critical questions regarding the tasks’ characteristics, their position in the teaching sequence, the role of the learning environment, and the need to design activities which would effectively promote critical thinking. A reflexive critical paradigm to claims to knowledge particularly in terms of how knowledge emerges through the relationship between the knower and the known, how reality was explained in this study as well as in terms of the ways and means of producing evidence, was adopted. Orthodox Marxism, not approached from an economic deterministic and functionalist perspective was chosen as a theoretical frame for the study. This study was conceptualised in terms of literary works, ideology, historical materialism, dialectical materialism, critical thinking as well as practice. Constructivism as well as Reader Response theories emerged as being most likely to promote success in developing critical thinking skills. These theories were found to be relevant when evaluated against criteria of active engagement and interest by learners, attainability with effort, display of critical thinking traits, and compatibility with the South African curriculum. In these theories an interesting problem is posed at the start of a section, after which direct instruction and learner engagement with the problem run parallel to one another, linked by scaffolding tools which are engaged with both, individually and collaboratively. Data analysis demonstrated that it is possible, employing particular strategies and tasks, to promote the capacity of learners to think critically, even beyond the classroom context, while meeting the curriculum outcomes, although the intense pressure of the curriculum made this a challenging task, it must be acknowledged. Nevertheless, there is still a need of research that would enable learners to realise that literature has no direct relation with reality and that literature cannot produce a utilitarian totalising perspective of reality. In order to write about other things implies that a writer has to stop writing about others. Tasks design characteristics and positioning in the teaching sequence, and the conditions of the learning environment, were found to affect a tasks’ effectiveness at promoting critical thinking. Various teaching strategies in line with tasks that have a potential to promote critical thinking and theories can improve attainability by wider range of learners.
Trampoline trajectories : a dialectical analysis of the correlation between the teaching of reading and the learner-academic performance in a South African rural primary school.
(2015) Makhathini, Bheka Adolphus.; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi.
Using the Learning to Read methodology as an intervention, the study explores the phenomenon of the teaching of reading in a poor rural South African primary school. It examines the centrality of reading in the overall improvement of academic performance of learners across the curriculum. The study foregrounds as its theoretical and conceptual framework Bernstein’s, Vygotsky’s and Halliday’s theories that collectively inform the Learning to Read methodology to conceptualise the study, generate data and theorise the research findings. The Mixed Methods approach as a research methodology, Embedded Design as a research design, classroom observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary evidence collectively are used to generate data. Research findings reveal that there are fundamental assumptions that underpin teachers’ practices regarding the teaching of reading. Such assumptions tend to impact negatively on the academic performance of learners and/or produce positive outcomes for them. Thus, the attitudes, practices and perceptions (“understandings”) of practitioners on reading instruction as a phenomenon reflected in the kind of academic achievements of learners before, during and after the intervention are a major contribution to the field of language education. Crucially, the study reveals that the teaching of reading contributes significantly towards the improvement of learner academic performance when practiced across the curriculum, particularly in settings of extreme disadvantage.