The status of Xhosa and communicative competence in Cape Education Department schools

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dc.contributor.advisorZotwana, Sydney Zanemvulaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDugmore, Cuan Patricken_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-14T12:28:02Z
dc.date.available2015-10-14T12:28:02Z
dc.date.issued1991en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: leaves 196-201.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe empirical survey of Xhosa amongst Standard 10 pupils in Cape Education Department Schools (CED) sought to verify or negate two central concerns which surf aced in a pilot study of five Western Cape schools. This thesis contends that little has changed throughout South Africa's colonial and apartheid history with regard to the status of African languages within South Africa and particularly in CED schools. The second contention is that various factors, including the lack of second language expertise and contact with mother tongue speakers, continue to undermine the potential development of pupils' communicative competence in Xhosa. Separate questionnaires which included categorical and open ended questions were posted to Xhosa-teachers, Standard 10 non-mother tongue Xhosa pupils and their parents. The Xhosa teachers administered the questionnaires. There was an 80% response from the total population of CED schools offering Xhosa. The number of subjects included 169 Xhosa pupils, 154 parents and 26 Xhosa teachers. STATGRAPHICS and BMDP were the statistical packages used in the analysis. Chi-Squared tests with the Yates correction for continuity were used to compare frequencies between categorical variables. ANOVA and t-tests were used with continuous variables. Findings indicated the deteriorating status of Xhosa in schools. The low number of CED schools ( 13. 0%) offering Xhosa and a 0. 5% growth rate in Standard 10 pupils doing Xhosa between 1988 and 1991 are an indication of this. The lack of encouragement and support for Xhosa from schools and the CED, coupled with problematic subject choice options, the Xhosa syllabus and the examination system, has affected the status of Xhosa and the motivation of pupils adversely. In the survey, pupils had low communicative competence in Xhosa levels of perceived due to the lack of informal, natural acquisition environments and the over- emphasis of grammatical aspects in the classroom and in examinations. Furthermore, the lack of quality primary and secondary education based on negatively affected pupils' second language theory has attitudes, motivation and communicative competence levels in Xhosa. The recognition of the importance of African languages in a future non-racial South Africa in the current language debate has highlighted the contradiction that exists today. This contradiction necessitates the urgent re-assessment of language and education policies, strategies and teaching methodologies in order to uplift the status of African languages and improve the levels of competence in the target language amongst school pupils.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationDugmore, C. P. (1991). <i>The status of Xhosa and communicative competence in Cape Education Department schools</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,African Languages and Literatures. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14225en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationDugmore, Cuan Patrick. <i>"The status of Xhosa and communicative competence in Cape Education Department schools."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,African Languages and Literatures, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14225en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDugmore, C. 1991. The status of Xhosa and communicative competence in Cape Education Department schools. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Dugmore, Cuan Patrick AB - The empirical survey of Xhosa amongst Standard 10 pupils in Cape Education Department Schools (CED) sought to verify or negate two central concerns which surf aced in a pilot study of five Western Cape schools. This thesis contends that little has changed throughout South Africa's colonial and apartheid history with regard to the status of African languages within South Africa and particularly in CED schools. The second contention is that various factors, including the lack of second language expertise and contact with mother tongue speakers, continue to undermine the potential development of pupils' communicative competence in Xhosa. Separate questionnaires which included categorical and open ended questions were posted to Xhosa-teachers, Standard 10 non-mother tongue Xhosa pupils and their parents. The Xhosa teachers administered the questionnaires. There was an 80% response from the total population of CED schools offering Xhosa. The number of subjects included 169 Xhosa pupils, 154 parents and 26 Xhosa teachers. STATGRAPHICS and BMDP were the statistical packages used in the analysis. Chi-Squared tests with the Yates correction for continuity were used to compare frequencies between categorical variables. ANOVA and t-tests were used with continuous variables. Findings indicated the deteriorating status of Xhosa in schools. The low number of CED schools ( 13. 0%) offering Xhosa and a 0. 5% growth rate in Standard 10 pupils doing Xhosa between 1988 and 1991 are an indication of this. The lack of encouragement and support for Xhosa from schools and the CED, coupled with problematic subject choice options, the Xhosa syllabus and the examination system, has affected the status of Xhosa and the motivation of pupils adversely. In the survey, pupils had low communicative competence in Xhosa levels of perceived due to the lack of informal, natural acquisition environments and the over- emphasis of grammatical aspects in the classroom and in examinations. Furthermore, the lack of quality primary and secondary education based on negatively affected pupils' second language theory has attitudes, motivation and communicative competence levels in Xhosa. The recognition of the importance of African languages in a future non-racial South Africa in the current language debate has highlighted the contradiction that exists today. This contradiction necessitates the urgent re-assessment of language and education policies, strategies and teaching methodologies in order to uplift the status of African languages and improve the levels of competence in the target language amongst school pupils. DA - 1991 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1991 T1 - The status of Xhosa and communicative competence in Cape Education Department schools TI - The status of Xhosa and communicative competence in Cape Education Department schools UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14225 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14225
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationDugmore CP. The status of Xhosa and communicative competence in Cape Education Department schools. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,African Languages and Literatures, 1991 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14225en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentAfrican Languages and Literaturesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherXhosa language - Study and teaching - South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSecond language acquisitionen_ZA
dc.titleThe status of Xhosa and communicative competence in Cape Education Department schoolsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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