A task-based approach to improving the communicative skills of university students learning Afrikaans as an additional language

Abstract

This paper reports on a qualitative study which was conducted with first year Afrikaans Language Acquisition students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. The aim of the study was to determine how task-based activities contribute to the teaching and learning of communication skills in Afrikaans as an additional language. The aim of the study was not to present quantative data, but to look at the attitudes and perceptions of the students and the lecturer through questionnaires and interviews. This study was explorative in nature through the use of task-based activities for the teaching of Afrikaans as an additonal language to university students by using authentic material in pedagogic tasks. A secondary aim was to prove the acquisition of Afrikaans by way of spontaneous communication and interaction with the target language. The study was undertaking specifically on the teaching and learning of Afrikaans as an additional language in the context of the language acquisition classroom. The paradigm which was implemeted in this study was a combination of qualitative and critical metatheory on the task-based approach to language teaching. A brief review of the implementing of a task-based syllabus following needs-analyses for students following the Afrikaans Language Acquisition course at the university is described; as well as a brief review of the criteria which was used in the design of the syllabus, the teaching materials and the teaching programme. Brief attention is given to aspects of form versus function in language teaching. The outcome of the tasks was formulated accordingly to what students needed to do with Afrikaans in the university contexts and is therefor focused on the students needs. The focus was not on the formal linguistic aspects of the language but the functions of language. The students were encouraged to participate and they learned Afrikaans by completing the task. The communicative potential of the task-based activities in the teaching programme is evaluated. This study showed that task-based activities contributed to the communication skills of students in the Afrikaans Language Acquisition class