ACADEMIC LITERACY RESEARCH

DRAFT RESEARCH FOR COMMENT

ACADEMIC LITERACY PROGRAMME
MODEL DESIGN
Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT)
S PACHAGADU & KJ DE BEER

ABSTRACT

The aim of the Academic Literacy Programme (ALP) at the CUT is to improve student’s academic literacy skills which will ultimately boost the student throughput rate at the CUT. According to Sebolai (2008) the programme will help students develop their academic language skills whilst creating a positive attitude towards the English language. The pass rate of grade 12 learners is shockingly high and this is supposed to be the feeding ground for Higher Educations in South Africa. Alet Rademeyer quotes from a document of Advocate Paul Hoffman, SC, and director of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, that the South African School System only delivers one out of 29 functional literate Black matriculants. It is a national crisis and is an indication of gigantic proportions
(www.Volksblad.com/thursday/10april/2008).


1. INTRODUCTION
Rademeyer (www.Volksblad.com/thursday/10april/2008) continues with a supporting quote from statistics of the literacy consultants, Hough & Horne, in Johannesburg who states that only two thirds of the 1,56 million six year old Black pupils who started 12 years ago with their school career completed grade twelve in 2007 ! Of these candidates 360 000 passed their final assessment.

When the successful candidates were tested for literacy in English, their first language choice of instruction, it was found that only 15% of the 278 000 Black candidates were actually functionally literate (Ibid). Fortunately more and more Black parents are now in favour to let their children start off with mother tongue education up to grade 3 found Dr Mbithi wa Kivilu in a Council of Human Scientific Research survey (Rademeyer in www.Volksblad.com/7 May/2008). However, the public trend towards English still exists. This survey included 3000 respondents of all races. Afrikaans speaking parents preferred mother tongue education in the basic years. Interestingly, it was founded in this survey that race, monthly income and level of education mainly influenced respondent’s choices (Ibid). According to the survey, English remain the language of preference in Higher Education Institutions, followed by grade 10 to grade 12 and there after from grade 4 to grade 9. Over the last four years, Black parents progressively preferred mother tongue education for the academic foundation years of their children (Ibid).

Professor Mary Metcalfe, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Witwatersrand, said that the scale on which Black learners have access to mother tongue education especially in urban areas where there are a multitude of mother tongue speakers and cultures, it will not be always possible due to the limited number of languages that teachers can speak. This includes the scarcity of resources as well (Ibid).

“The total number is 42 000 Black school leavers who have the potential to conduct skilled work” says Rademeyer. Each province in South Africa only delivered 4600 functionally literate candidates. According to Hoffman, it means that only 1 out of 29 (3,5%) of Black learners who entered the school system, came out with matriculation certificates which enables them to enter the levels for higher education, instruction and skills training. This in an economy where there exists a great need for skilled workers
(www.Volksblad.com/thursday/10april/2008).

Hoffman says that South African schools’ drop out figure is 77% over the past 12 years of scholastic training while the international norm according to UNESCO’s figures is 21%. Unfortunately the phenomenon of violence in schools is an obvious obstacle to quality assurance while the reluctance to insist on mother tongue education in the forming years of grade one pupils is also a factor for failure in the later grades according to educational specialists (Iwww.Volksblad.com/thursday/10april/2008).

2. NEEDS/SITUATION ANALYSIS

According to Hay & Sebolai (2007:1) one of the biggest challenges higher education institutions in South Africa are facing is the low academic language proficiency level of their student cohorts. The CUT, like other universities in South Africa, admit a great number of previously disadvantaged students with poor English language abilities.

Yeld (2003: 26-27) the Dean for the Faculty of Academic Development at the University of Cape Town, students require specific levels of knowledge and skills that are necessary for them to understand the ideologies that they will study at a tertiary level. Failure to address student’s shortcomings in academic language abilities at the CUT, will lead to unacceptable high failure rates, or lowered standards as institutions attempt to avoid the inevitable consequences of educational under preparedness.

3. Aims & Objectives OF CUT’S ALP

The aims and objectives of the ALP under the authority of the Unit for Academic Development is to improve first year students’ reading and writing skills in English and to use the Placement Test in English for Educational Purposes (PTEEP), to assess the students academic language skills. It implies to give the test to all first year students during the first quarter and to use PTEEP to decide whether learners should take classes for the ALP – Students who pass the test are exempted from attending these classes while those who fail will be obliged to attend.


4. Learning outcomes
the accreditation Status: NQF Exit level 5.
Van Wyk (2007:3) of the University of the Free State’s ALP states that upon completion of the course students must be able to: use a particular strategy to organise and comprehend texts and identify and understand the functions of discourse markers in texts. They must also be able to make inferences based on a given text. A further ability what ALP learners have to achieve, is to complete comprehension-based and problem-solving tasks accurately in the mode of written presentation as well as to write paragraphs and expository essays based on passages read. Finally they have to be able to summarise the main ideas of a written text.

5. CONTENT

5.1 Intensive Reading
Intensive reading is a component of the ALP in which students rigoursly read moderately short academic passages in class (one to two pages). A typical intensive reading lesson has three stages. These are the pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading stages.
5.2 Extensive Reading
Extensive reading is the major part of the ALP and graded readers are used for this component of the programme. At the beginning of the course students take a reading proficiency test. They are then placed at different reading levels (2, 3 and 4) depending on their scores. A student reads ten books at one level (they write reading responses on the books) before they move on to the next level.
5.3 Writing
The writing part of the course focuses on developing students’ competence in expressing information/ideas clearly and logically in paragraphs and essays. Student will focus on paragraph writing in the first semester and essay writing in the second semester.
5.4 Resources and other material
ALP learners are exposed throughout the course to books, the Internet; periodicals; magazines; and newspapers.

6. TEACHING AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
ALP learners are developed within the following context:
· Oral class/group discussion;
· Read extensively outside class;
· Write reading responses/paragraphs and essays; and
· Research assignments.

7. SPECIFIC AND GENERIC OUTCOMES

Van Wyk (2007:3) outlines the following specific outcomes such as completing comprehension-based activities and problem-solving tasks. This enables students to develop their English language reading skills. Students will then also be able to express their opinions about a variety of issues fluently, critically as well as creatively in the mode of oral discussion; and to express information and opinions clearly and with appropriate organisation in the written mode.

8. ASSESSMENT: CRITERIA, STRATEGY, METHODS, TECHNIQUES
8.1 Assessment Criteria
Once the module has been completed, students will be able to:
· Read academic text with understanding;
· Write coherent academic essays;
· Process various sentence structures quickly and accurately in a comprehensible text; and
· Accurately complete comprehension-based and problem-solving tasks in the mode of written presentation.

8.2 Assessment Strategy Method
· Weekly quizzes (vocabulary)-based on the reading they do in class 10 x 5 = 50 marks
· Weekly reading reactions on Graded Readers 7 x 20 = 140 marks
· Paragraph writing in the first semester 5 x 10 = 50 marks
· Essays-one page long essay in second semester 3 x 20 = 60 marks
· Summative-reading comprehension = 200 marks
Total marks = 500 marks

9. EVALUATION STRATEGY

The following evaluation strategy will be used, namely to conduct a coherent survey on the effectiveness of this programme for students furthering their studies in other programmes and to evaluate the performance of students who have completed the programme. Proper records are to be kept to make a coherent study of the effectiveness of this programme by establishing the progress of students in other programmes.

10. THE WAY FORWARD

To adapt the ALP at the CUT to suit modern higher education standards, the Centre for e-Learning and Educational Technology (CeLET) should integrate the programme with Blackboard 6, Campus Edition to prepare learning materials and to enable learners to develop themselves academically in their own time. It forms part of the modern development of Open Learning trends such as at UNISA.

UNISA opened the very first Institute for Open Learning on the African continent during May this year on the recommendations of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). It will not only add value to learning and teaching, but also for research outputs said Professor Mandla Makhanya, pro-vice chancellor of UNISA in Pretoria (SA Media. (SA Media. University of the Free State.www.samedia.uovs.ac.za/Rademeyer/2008). In comparing higher education access for SA learners for instance with Egypt on the African continent, it is lower. Participation in Higher Education in SA is lower than 45% comparing to the rest of the continent. Enrolments south of the Sahara are of the lowest in the world. Since 1965 it only increased from 1% to the current 5% stated Makhanya.

South Africa’s participation in Higher Education is 17% and the aim is to increase it to 20% in 2010. Open Learning and ALP could enhance both wider access as well as outputs. It provides better academic support to enhance quality Higher Education (Ibid).

REFERENCES


Hay, H.R. & Sebolai, K.W. 2007. Compulsory Academic Language Proficiency Testing and Development at the Central University of Technology: Proposal for Funding. (Report to CUT Senate on 22 October 2007.) Bloemfontein. 1p. (Unpublished.)

SA Media. 2008. University of the Free State Newspaper clipping service. (www.Volksblad.com/thursday/10april/2008)

Sebolai, K.W. 2008. Verbal communication with the author. Bloemfontein.

Van Wyk, A. 2007. Academic Language Proficiency Course (ALP00BV). Bloemfontein: UFS. 3p. (Study guide BVDPLF.)

Yeld, N. 2003. Academic literacy and numeracy profiles: An analysis of some results from the AARP and TELP tests of incoming students. In. Into Higher Education – perspective on entry thresholds and enrolment system. A joint SAUVCA- CPT publication. Pretoria.

LISTEN TO THE TEDDY BEAR SONG

To down load the tune go to

http://12121.hostinguk.com/teddybear.htm

WORDS TO THE TEDDY BEAR's PICNIC SONG

<[ On line] GOOGLE: Retrieved on 20 November 2008>
If you go out in the woods todayYou're sure of a big surprise.If you go out in the woods todayYou'd better go in disguise.For every bear that ever there wasWill gather there for certain, becauseToday's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.Picnic time for teddy bears,The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today.Watch them, catch them unawares,And see them picnic on their holiday.See them gaily dance about.They love to play and shout.And never have any cares.At six o'clock their mommies and daddiesWill take them home to bedBecause they're tired little teddy bears.If you go out in the woods today,You'd better not go alone.It's lovely out in the woods today,But safer to stay at home.For every bear that ever there wasWill gather there for certain, becauseToday's the day the teddy bears have their picnicCHORUSEvery teddy bear, that's been goodIs sure of a treat todayThere's lots of wonderful things to eatAnd wonderful games to playBeneath the trees, where nobody seesThey'll hide and seek as long as they pleaseToday's the day the teddy bears have their picnicCHORUS

ELRIE SCHLEBUSCH

Our grand daughter standing on the jetty at their Modder River holiday bungalow near Bloemfontein. She is now three years old and enjoy the motorboat trips with her father, Louwrens. She loves the two family cats, Lullu and Tiger and their two dogs, Mishka and Barney. And of course her little baby sister, Sanè, who's photograph was published earlier on my Blog next to a show horse. She especially enjoys her nephew, Reinhardt De Beer, aged six, when they visit one another.

GRAND FATHER AND MOTHER KJ DE BEER

Grand father Karel Johannes De Beer as introduced earlier in my Blog publications, married Anna Van Rooyen in Petrusburg. This photo was preserved by my niece, Nellie, daughter of his son, Karel Johannes, the youngest brother of my father, Barend Petrus. Little is known about my grand mother, who died when I was about only one year old. After her death, my father weired her golden wedding ring until his last day. I took it off on his death bed and handed it to my mother before he was taken to the undertakers. My father respected his mother with all his heart and grew very silent when she came up in family conversations. All what we know is that she brought up two daughters and four sons during the economic depression of the thirties and the droughts that forced everyone out to earn a penny or a tickey (1 cent and two and a half cent). The boys went hunting hare and bush doves for the pot. Annatjie prepared it with great taste, as my mother recalled later after her marriage to my dad. Annatjie was also a midwife who assisted with births in the Petrusburg district. On both of the tombstones of Anna and Karel De Beer in the Petrusburg graveyard, the following inscription in Dutch are exactly the same: "Veilig by Jesus" ("Safely with Jesus"). And thereby hangs a tale to be told...

Beer joke for church goers

*A preacher was addressing a congregation.** "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river". And the congregation cried, "Amen!"
"And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and throw it in the river". And the congregation cried, "Amen!"
"And if I had all the whiskey and rum in the world, I'd take it all and throw it in the river".
Again the congregation cried, Amen!"
The preacher sat down. The deacon then stood up & said: "For our closing hymn, let's turn to page 126 of our hymn books and sing, 'We shall drink from that river'.
The congregation SCREAMED "HALLELUJAH!!

MY DAD'S GRAND PARENTS

This picture is also published elsewhere in my Blog, but for grouping of the latest
family pictures of my cousin Nellie, I thought it would fit nice together. The
graves in Petrusburg of Barend Petrus De Beer and Petronella (Jacobs nèè Britz) are still in good shape while the inscription on Bared's tombstone reminds one of their Christian religion. (Rust mijn ziel uv God is Koning Dutch for : Rest my soul your God is King). It was one of the very first graves in the Petrusburg graveyard where British and Canadian soldiers were also laid to rest. My great- great grand father was a friendly man, so it is told, and was a Boer soldier in the Anglo Boer War. The photographer took this photo where a Mauser rifle slings over his shoulder, however, removed it later on when it became too dangerous for such photo's regarding the British war intelligence! One can detect the dark stripe over his Petrusburg. He died before his wive, Petronella, who married again
with Oupa Jacobs. Her maiden name was Britz. When her second
husband died, she use to live in a house that my grandfather, Karel Johannes,
build with some Rhodesian Sweep Stakes money that he has won, in Petrusburg. He planted a vegatable garden with fruit trees and lovely grape arch. He also dug a water well and developed the acres of fruitful red soil to grow lusern for his milking cows in the town's municipal camp. My grand mother, Ouma Annatjie, grew sour with this situation when Ouma Jacobs refused her children to pick some of the lovely
fruits at their new homestead. She fought for her children's rights to be
nearer to the school as well as to enjoy the comfort of a better home. She eventually won the family dispute and my father's grandmother had to move to another house in town. Their house still stands in Petrusburg, however, the well was filled up in the sixties when my grand father who lived alone in the house, got attacked by robbers in the night and eventually died in the National Hospital in Bloemfontein due to this tragic event. The robbers/murderers were never arrested, while the family still thinks the assault weopens were thrown into the well.

VAN ROOYEN BLOOD IN MY FAMILY ROOTS

My Dad's (Barend De Beer's) grand father and mother on his mother's side, Van Rooyen. They lived in the former eastern Transvaal, now Limpopo. My Dad traveled by ox wagon to their farm when he was a small boy (circa 1931). My Dad told me about the cattle that his father, Karel Johannes De Beer, bought to graze along with his father in law's herd. Unfortunately, due to the very great distance (nearly 1000 kilometer) from Petrusburg in the Free State where he and his family lived and worked on the South African Railways, to Mesina near the Rhodesian Border (now Zimbabwe), business with this part of the family grew sour. My grandfather lost most of the profit. It is said that his father in law was a very difficult character. The story goes that my grand mother actually eloped with my grandfather to the Free State. The other unfortunate fact is that we fell prone to the so called Van Rooyen's disease. A skin disorder that does not tolerate the harsh South Africa sunshine. My father and I had several operations to control this malign cancer of the skin. I have to go annually to the dermatologist to "burn/freeze" the spots from my head and especially the nose and hands. It heals quickly, however, some are too deep and needs either laser therapy or an operation. Our reddish complexion appears to be very healthy, but when we get too much sun, we turn into glowing bulbs! Sun blisters on the lips start to bleed and take weeks to disappear in summer. Consequently we hide ourselves under the umbrellas on the beach and avoid the direct sun from 10:00 am until 16:00 pm. Really hard for outdoor living especially when one wants to enjoy the great South African weather.

In the online publication "Health Bytes" the author gives the following advice:



"24 November 2008
Dear Health-Conscious Friend,

I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Timing is everything." It turns out that saying holds true for the timing of cancer diagnoses. According to a British study involving more than one million people, those who are diagnosed with cancer during the summer and autumn have a better chance of surviving the disease.

That's because that is the time of year when...

Sunlight - and the resulting vitamin D levels - are at their highest. Sunlight is essential for the production of vitamin D in the body and vitamin D has been shown to slow the rate of tumour growth and to trigger the self-destruction of cells developing abnormally. The study revealed that cancer patients diagnosed during sunny periods have a higher concentration of vitamin D in their blood.

The analysis of nearly 1.5 million men and women diagnosed with cancer between 1971 and 2002 found that the people who were diagnosed between June and November had a 6% reduction in death rate. This was especially true of people diagnosed with breast and lung cancer. Women who had breast cancer experienced a 14% lower death risk.

The vitamin combination that increases your chance of survival

The best way to get vitamin D is from the sun. It’s recommended getting enough sun every day to turn your skin slightly pink. But if that's not an option for you, try supplementing with 4,000IU of the vitamin. (The best way to get that total amount is by taking 1 tablespoon of cod liver oil plus 1,000IU of vitamin D.)

And this isn’t the only incredible cancer-remedy available

You see there are literally hundreds of proven remedies out there that will help tip the “cancer odds” in your favour. Only trouble is – you might not learn about them from your doctor.

Give yourself up to a 98% greater chance of beating cancer


You owe it to yourself to find out how... by getting the facts on these treatments:

* Why these two common foods could create a powerful cancer-busting combination so powerful you’ll want to start eating it – right away.

* The “secret” properties of bee pollen that have been proven to fight cancer and reduce radiation symptoms.

* Now you could drink your way to good health – the Chinese grass-tea that’s so remarkable even doctors are astounded by its anti-cancer properties.

*The tests that experts say can detect cancers months before conventional medicine can find them (and could increase your survival rate by 80%)!



In the name of good health,


Antoinette Pombo
Health Publisher"

MY DAD AND HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS

My cousin Nellie, compiled this image from her family album in Bloemfontein. At the date of publishing this Blog, the eldest sister, Hannatjie, is still living with her children on a farm outside Bloemfontein while the youngest brother Karel Johannes de Beer, Nellie's father, is still living in his house, Noordhoek, Bloemfontein.

WEDDING PHOTO OF MY PARENTS

My father, Barend Petrus (Ben) De Beer and my mother Susanna Wilhelmina (Meisie) De Beer (nèè Pelser) on their weddingday at the De Bloem Nether Dutch Church in Andries Pretorius Street, Hilton, Bloemfontein, 6 April 1945. The flower girls are Malie Nel (left) and Baby Pelser (right) with best men Nardus Nel (left) and Piet Pelser (right).

FINANCIAL ADVICE TO BEER DRINKERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

FINANCIAL ADVICEIf you had made a fixed deposit at some of the major banks of R1, 000 one year ago, you would have about R49,00 left.On JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange), you would have R2.50 left of the original R1, 000.With Sanlam Offshore investment, you would have less than R15.00 left.But, if you had purchased R1, 000 worth of beer one year ago, drunk all of it, then turned in the cans for the aluminium recycling refund, you would have R214.00 cash.Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink a lot so you can recycle.

HIGHER EDUCATION LEARNING AND TEACHING ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA CONFERENCE:2008(HELTASA)

de Beer, Kallie1; de Montfort, PJ2
bvdmerwe@cut.ac.za, kbeer@cut.ac.za
1: Central University of Technology; 2: SANDF
A Curriculum Model for Co-operative Education on Peace Support
Operations in Africa
The focus of this study is on a curriculum model of Co-operative Education (Co-op) on Peace
Support Operations (PSO) in African defence forces, civil policing and diplomatic core. The
post-1994 era has seen an increase in pressure for South Africa to become involved in United
Nations (UN) and/or African Union (AU) driven Peace Support Operations (PSO) in Africa. The
market for Education, Training and Development (ETD) in the field of PSO is growing rapidly,
as South Africa is becoming increasingly involved in peacekeeping missions on the African
continent. At present, there is no Higher Learning programme on generic PSO presented by
any of the major universities in South Africa. The objectives of this project are to determine
the need for a model of Co-op on PSO, and to write a comprehensive Instructional Design
Report (ISD) and Curriculum. The principal product will consist out of a curriculum for PSO to
be offered via Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Co-op. The key factors in production of
the learning programme include scientific instructional design, Co-op and the forming of
partnerships. The target market of potential learners includes military practitioners from the
SANDF and SADC countries, diplomats, civilian employees of ministries of defence, foreign
affairs, employees of NGO’s, scholars and relevant decision makers who could benefit from
Co-op on PSO in Africa.
Keywords Co-operative Education, Peace Support Operations
Format Work-in-progress
Day & Time Monday, 1 December at 15:40
Venue EG Seminar 2
Presenting author de Beer, Kallie J