The (MIS)Match between the Curriculum and Assessment Policy and Classroom Practice in English First Additional Language: A Case of Secondary Schools in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

This study explored the use of English First Additional Language (EFAL) as a Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) in three Non-Native Speakers of English (NNSE) rural high schools, in Limpopo province. This was triggered by the realisation that the silence that arises in the classroom when learners exclusively use English as a LoLT makes teaching and learning ineffective, and much unproductive than what the curriculum policy was meant to deliver. In reaction, this study was conceived, with the aim of exploring the (mis)match between the Curriculum and Assessment Policy and the language practice that emerge when English EFAL is used as a LoLT in Grade 10 EFAL classrooms. To achieve this, a qualitative approach grounded on constructivist research paradigm was adopted, due to the social nature of this study; and employed a combination of multiple case study design and action research for data collection. Multiple data collection instruments including semi-structured interviews; focus-group interviews; and observation were employed, to gather data from 4 EFAL teachers and their 15 learners. These participants were purposively selected from a population of Grade 10 EFAL classes in the selected high schools; to gather data that explored (i) the teaching and learning patterns that emerge when English is used as a LoLT; (ii) EFAL learners’ and teachers’ perceptions about the use of English as a LoLT (iii) how the teaching approaches and LTSM employed shape the learning process in EFAL classrooms. The findings from the study confirmed that there are indeed patterns of policy-practice mismatches that arise from the three objectives of the study, and this study treats them as the research gaps it sought to address. These include knowledge and pedagogical gaps, among others. These findings are critical because likely to have significant implications on language policy direction, transformative impact on the current teaching practice and teachers’ indepth understanding of the harms they cause to learners due to limited understanding of their realities.