This article describes and appraises a reading comprehension programme that was aimed at Grade 6 learners and teachers and implemented in different ways in two high poverty primary schools where reading levels were very low. The programme was implemented during formal school hours at the one school, while it was offered after school as a voluntary afternoon activity at the other school.  Because attendance of the voluntary programme was generally poor, the latter school served as a control site. The results of the comprehension programme for the learners’ reading abilities in their home language, Northern Sotho, and in English are reported. On the basis of these findings, we evaluate the programme and identify ‘lessons learned’ from its implementation that may have relevance for future reading comprehension interventions.

This paper reports on a study that integrated two instant messaging applications (Moya Messenger App and WhatsApp) and a myUnisa’s online discussion forum (ODF), and utilised them as tools to support student learning at an open and distance e‑learning university in South Africa. The participants in this study were 41 undergraduate education students enrolled for an undergraduate English Studies module. Employing a case study research design, the study utilised voluntary sampling to select its participants, and set out to answer three research questions. Data were collected through the three afore‑mentioned tools. To this effect, the study made the following observations. First, both the instructor and students were able to engage in asynchronous and synchronous scaffolding using Moya Messenger App. This included engaging in features of scaffolding such as orientation, coaching, conceptual scaffolding and meta‑cognitive scaffolding, largely by the instructor. Second, the instructor used Moya Messener App to engage in presence teaching, while students utilised it to engage in presence learning. Third, students utilised WhatsApp to produce short synchronous formal essays based on a compare and contrast essay writing activity. Fourth and last, students used myUnisa’s ODF to produce meta‑content reflective writing about the module.

This paper reports on a desktop review study of undergraduate and postgraduate English studies (both English literature and English language) module offerings (n = 48) of 24 English departments at 17 South African higher education institutions (HEIs) conducted in 2017. The review focused on the presence and purpose of the term, decolonisation, in these module offerings. Framed within deparochialism and a null curriculum, and employing purposeful sampling and explicit inclusion criteria common in systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the study has the following findings: (a) decolonisation has a presence in only three undergraduate module offerings and it is mentioned in only one honours module offering among the 48 module offerings reviewed. (b) All four modules are English literature modules; (c) decolonisation is a module thematic or topical component and is used for critical analytical purposes in the identified modules in varying degrees. (d) In the three undergraduate modules, decolonisation is restricted to African literature or Africa writings and (e) in the postgraduate module, decolonisation is offered as one of the four optional standalone modules. Finally, the paper argues for a decolonisation that deparochialises the disciplines of English studies.

No abstract

No abstract