Browsing by Author "Sanoto, Deborah Vimbwandu"

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    Teaching literature in to English second language learners in Botswana primary schools: exploring in-service education and training teachers’ classroom practices
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Sanoto, Deborah Vimbwandu; Van der Walt, Christa; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Primary school level is where the love for reading and understanding of literature starts, and for the teachers to succeed in the teaching of reading and literature they need to display certain habits and practices in their English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. This study was conducted to determine the reading experiences, habits and literature teaching practices of in-service teacher trainees in primary schools in Botswana. The literature depicts reading extensively and developing a passion for reading as indispensable conditions for the successful teaching of literature. The study further explored the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of in-service teacher trainees, in order to gain insight into the curriculum for Colleges of Primary Education (English language/ Literature studies), and its impact on the teaching of reading and literature to ESL pupils. This study utilized a qualitative approach and case study research design, including questionnaires, interviews, documentary data and lesson observations to answer the following overarching question: What role (if any) does literature play in the studies and classrooms of in-service English language teacher trainees? Data were collected by means of a questionnaire, interviews, lesson plan analyses and classroom observations. Analysis involved coding and classifying data, by identifying themes and patterns in the data. The findings indicate that the source of knowledge base, in this context, the Colleges of Education curriculum, did not lay a foundation for a solid knowledge base. This is with regard to in-service teacher trainees’ PCK, which taught literature without students reading the literary texts. This anomaly denied the trainees an opportunity to apply critical thinking in analysis of texts, and by extension they failed to see the significance of fostering critical thinking and an appreciation of reading in their ESL pupils. The data further reveal that the teachers are frustrated by a lack of resources for leisure reading in the schools, which adversely affects not only their efforts to inculcate a culture of reading, but also a positive attitude towards reading and teaching of literature at primary school level. The study concludes that an appreciation for literature starts very early on in the teaching of literacy, whether literacy is developed in Setswana or in English. The study points out that in teaching literature to primary school pupils, teachers in addition to the requisite PCK must also exhibit certain reading habits and practices of their life-world in their classrooms.