The type of learning support material used by the EFAL teachers

The most common LSMs used in both teachers’ lessons were the chalkboard by the teachers and learners’ books in which they do most of their writing exercises. While T2 referred to these as ‘exercises books’, TI referred to them as ‘grammar books’, which suggests she might position writing as part of grammar or language work. Explaining why she referred to learners’ books as ‘grammar books’, T1 said:

Because it is language. There is a difference between a reading book and grammar book. A grammar is language. In other words grammar is when you teach them to communicate good a language be it written or spoken. So I call it grammar books because this is where they do everything about the language, their prepositions, tenses, write compositions, letters and everything about the language.

(Interview 2, line 84-88 [Appendix 5a])

Notwithstanding that teachers’ might have in other lessons used the various learners’ textbooks and Workbooks either approved or provided by the Department of Basic Education, they did not make use of these in the 5 lessons observed. Instead teachers used other LSMs in the lessons I observed for various reasons. In addition to the chalkboard, which is the most widely used teaching tool, T1 chose to use an outdated text intended for Standard 1 (i.e. Grade 3): “Benny13

, and Betty and their friends: A standard 1 reader” for lesson 3 (see figure 6 below); and designed her own poster for lesson 4. She explained that her choice of LSMs, such as “Benny, and Betty

13_{Dalias, D., Harman, H.T., Hartshorne, K. B., Hemming, J. & Miller, W.T. (1983). Benny, and}

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and their friends’ for a reading comprehension lesson in Grade 5 was influenced by the language level of her Grade 5 EFAL learners:

It is good that you have noticed the type of material I have to use to get at their level. That is exactly the level where our learners are. If you look in their grammar books not all of them could get this task correctly. So I use these lower grades books just to develop their basic English skills and pull up gradually when I see that they are doing well.

(T1, lesson 3, line 49-50 [Appendix 4a])

Figure 6: One of the LSMs used by T1 in her writing lessons

This reader is part of a widely known series of textbooks, Day-by-Day, used pre-1994 when Grades were still referred to as Standards; this particular reader was published in 1983 and reflects a different (audiolingual) approach to language teaching than the communicative, text- based approach currently recommended by the CAPS. Interestingly the book is at Grade 3 level, suggesting a 2 year gap between the Grade 5 learners and their grade appropriate language competence.

With regard to the poster that T1 used as a LSM for her poetry lesson, she indicated that she chose to compose her own poem because she wanted to teach her learners about the vitamin14 that one can get from eating fish and “the books [she has] didn’t write that down” (Informal

14

T1 explained that she had in mind Omega3 when she composed the poem, but in reality the poem was not strictly speaking about the vitamin let alone mentioning it in the poem.

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conversational interview on lesson 3, line 8 [Appendix 5]). She further noted that as a language teacher one does not need to stick to prescribed text books or “follow one stream of doing things but rather be creative and dynamic” (Informal conversational interview on lesson 3, line 10-13 [Appendix 5a]).

T2 on the other hand indicated that she was overwhelmed by so many English textbooks and she did not know which one to use anymore:

I have so many textbooks for English. Sometimes I think the department wastes a lot of money on buying so many textbooks that we don’t even use. For instance I have this one, ‘Shuter’s Top Class English: Grade 5 learners’ book’, I have this one, ‘Headstart English: First Additional Language Learners’, and this one [Grade 5 English first additional language: Term 1-2]. All these books are said to be in line with the CAPS documents. In addition to those I also have this one, ‘New Bridge to English: Grade 5 learners’ book’ which I got from the Molteno Project that provides a lot of schools here in Grahamstown with so many teaching aids. So somebody will come and check whether you are using this, somebody will come and check whether you are using the other book…”

(T2, Stimulated Recall Interview [SRI] 1, line 26-34 [Appendix 5b]). In the lessons I observed, she used a READ Aloud Big Book titled ‘The day the truck got stuck, Storykit, 2005, stage 5’ to formulate her learners’ activities for all the lessons except for lesson 3 on adjectives, which was not related to the story at all. The teacher’s choice of the READ materials was underpinned by her beliefs that writing is a product of reading, which were shaped by the READ workshops she attended in 2005/6.

Both teachers indicated during the informal conversational interviews I had with each of them that they only use the Workbook titled ‘Grade 5 English first additional language: Term 1-2’ (provided by Department of Education) for informal activities or to keep learners busy when there was no formal teaching taking place. They gave similar reasons that they liked using other teaching aids and only use the Workbooks for learners to practice what they have learned in their English lessons (See informal conversational interviews (on T1’s lesson 4 and T2’s lesson 2) [Appendix 5]).