Zannie Bock & Phakamani Dadlana - Literacy Conference http://www.ched.uct.ac.za/literacy/Papers/Bock_DadlanaPaper.html 1 of 11 15.03.2005 13:24

Zannie Bock & Phakamani Dadlana - Literacy Conference http://www.ched.uct.ac.za/literacy/Papers/Bock_DadlanaPaper.html 2 of 11 15.03.2005 13:24 NB: This paper and other papers available at this conference site are drafts of papers submitted or under preparation for publication elsewhere. Please contact the author for publication details or permission to quote from this paper. The availability of this paper here to conference participants does not constitute publication of the paper. Draft Papers Authors: Zannie Bock & Phakamani Dadlana (Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape) Title: A cross-linguistic analysis of the writing of first year students in Xhosa and English. Abstract _________________________________________________________________ Please note that this is still a DRAFT! Please send feedback to: zanniebock@freemail.absa.co.za, pdadlana@uwc.ac.za. Thanks. A cross-linguistic analysis of the writing of first year students in Xhosa and English. Paper to be presented at the International Literacy Conference, November 2001, University of Cape Town Zannie Bock & Phakamani Dadlana, Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape 1. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND RATIONALE The ability of students to write academic essays in English is a critical factor in their success or failure at tertiary level. Over the past few decades, a number of researchers have investigated student writing from a number of different perspectives (e.g. Berkenkotter & Huckin, 1995, Candlin & Hyland, 1999, Ivanic, 1998, Lea & Street, 1999, Leki, 1995, Taylor et.al., 1988) and a number of approaches to the teaching of academic writing have been developed and researched. This wealth of research has given us valuable information about student writing and useful insights into how best to assist students to develop their abilities to write formal academic English. Yet ���problems��� in student writing at tertiary level in English and other languages persist. The need for this research was sparked by the desire on the part of the researchers to better understand the ���problems��� of student writing so as to be able to more effectively assist students to develop their academic writing skills. In particular, the researchers felt that not enough sentence level linguistic analysis had been done of the actual product of student writing itself, specifically of Xhosa/English bilingual students who come from historically black schools, as a precursor to understanding the nature of student writing. Thus this research focuses on a textual analysis of the writing of UWC Xhosa/English bilingual students in an attempt to identify and describe the kinds of language problems as well as the strengths that typically characterize their writing. It includes a cross-linguistic comparison of student writing in English and Xhosa to ascertain the extent to which the linguistic features and discourse patterns are language specific. By ���discourse patterns���, we are referring to distinctive features of the writing which extend over any stretch of text which is used to communicate and which is judged by the receiver to be coherent (Brown & Yule, 1983, Cook, 1989) 2. RESEARCH PURPOSE The main research question is: ���How can one characterize typical linguistic and discourse features of academic writing in Xhosa and English among Xhosa-speaking students at UWC so as to account for breakdowns in communication and provide possible ���points��� for pedagogic intervention?��� The research recognizes that examining only the ���product��� of student writing ignores many contextual factors that fundamentally shape that writing. In addition, the researchers are aware of the dangers of operating within a deficit model of student writing and are familiar with the critiques of research which does not critically examine the social and cultural practices within which the writing is embedded and which fail to challenge the ���hegemony��� of Western academic traditions and definitions of literacy (e.g. Heath, 1983, Street, 1995). However, this research assumes that for the foreseeable future, knowledge of the dominant educational genres as well as the ability to write English in a relatively standard, formal and coherent manner will assist students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds to access social, economic and political power and challenge these norms if necessary. It believes that to offer students less is likely to confine them to the margins of society and economic powerlessness (see Hasan, 1996, for a sustained argument supporting this position). Within a context of high unemployment where English is the growing lingua franca of business and government, the ability to communicate competently in English cannot guarantee you a job, but it certainly improves your chances of getting one. 3. RESEARCH DESIGN This analysis is based on corpus of entrance essays written by prospective first year Xhosa/English bilingual students as part of an alternative admissions process at the beginning of 2000 at the University of the Western Cape. The essays were written under test conditions after students had had a short interview with a lecturer. The essay questions were: Answer QUESTION 1 and ONE other question. Write each answer in the language in which the topic is given. Do you think universities in South Africa should use English only or should students have the choice to study through any of the official languages? Why? S�� of jy voel dat Afrikaans `n bedriege taal is in die nuwe Suid-Afrika, en gee rede vir jou seining. (Do you feel that Afrikaans is a threatened language in the new South Africa? Give reasons for your answer) Chaza ukuba ucinga ukuba abantu mabasebenzise isiXhosa esisulungekileyo (pure/ ���deep��� Xhosa) ezikolweni koomabonakude nalwezinye iindawo ezisesidlangalaleni (public places) okanye ucinga ukuba mabasebenizse isiXhosa esixutyiweyo (mixed). Nika izizathu zoluvo lwakho. (Discuss whether you think people should use pure/���deep��� Xhosa in schools, TVs, and other public places or do you think they should use mixed Xhosa. Give reasons for your answer.) For the purposes of this analysis, we only considered students who chose questions 1 & 3. A sample of 60 essays was randomly selected and each essay was marked by two experienced lecturers who were first language speakers of the language. From