- Title
- Explored Vygotsky’s concept of mediation in a biliteracy project in the foundation phase of a township school
- Creator
- Frans, Nompumelelo Grace
- Subject
- Literacy -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Subject
- Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Subject
- Education, Bilingual -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Subject
- Vygotskiĭ, L S (Lev Semenovich), 1896-1934
- Subject
- Biliteracy Project (South Africa)
- Date Issued
- 2020
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- text
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147204
- Identifier
- vital:38602
- Description
- The research reported on in this thesis explored teacher mediation when a biliteracy approach through task-based teaching and learning is used in a Foundation Phase classroom in a township school in the Eastern Cape. It is an action research aimed at understanding and systematically investigating how and what it means to work with bilingual mediation to ensure cognition, with emphasis on task design, facilitation for cognition, mediation forms and language use. This thesis was motivated by three issues that are still not being adequately addressed: the low level of cognitive work in South African schools, the failure to use the home languages of children throughout schooling as a medium of instruction and assessment (while providing excellent access to English as subject), and a top-down approach to both policy development and teacher professionalisation. These three issues drove me to explore theories that can help address them, and that is how I came to rely mostly on mediation, biliteracy and a task-based approach to teaching. For this research, on data handling I prepared and taught six lessons, but only three of the six lessons were recorded, transcribed and analysed for empirical data. I chose data handling, as in my previous experience I found it to include all the mathematical problem-solving skills which involve addition subtraction, analysing and comparing information. It also offered opportunities for language use, and meaningful interactive co-construction and acquiring of knowledge in the process of teaching and learning. This turned into a form of theory-driven action research, which was also developmental. I was critically reflective on my practices, and my facilitation for cognition and how I use language to make cognition possible. I also looked at the types of activities that I gave learners to help reach maximum development. The data collected from the classroom interactions, shows how I, in some instances, would take decisions, implement them and then find them not to be effective. It also shows some of the challenges I came across, from myself and the learners. Learners challenges were, unfamiliarity with the systematic build-up of data handling, filling in tables, transferring information from one form into a different form, and constructing and analysing bar graphs. This was part of pedagogynot the policy, which indicated inadequate teacher development. This could be because data handling is allocated minimal weighting from the CAPS document, and teachers do not go as in depth as they need to in dealing with data handling. My challenge was to prepare the grade 3 class for more data handling encounters in the higher grades. I had to ensure they grasped data handling concepts in their mother tongue before the switch to English as LoLT, as prescribed by policy. Learners proved to have little or no knowledge with regards to data handling concepts, which meant I had to start from the basics, as I had nothing to build on, and then progress to grade 3 level in one year. This study suggests that for any concept that has to be taught, cognition must be a priority, and strategies on how to facilitate that needs to be well thought out. Teachers need to be aware of theories that can positively impact on their practices. Teacher development is key to improvement of education, especially in the Eastern Cape. That cannot be done in isolation, but in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
- Format
- 155 pages
- Format
- Publisher
- Rhodes University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Frans, Nompumelelo Grace
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | FRANS-MA-TR20-316.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |