Students with a mother tongue other than English often struggle with the demands of an academic programme at tertiary institutions where the medium of instruction is English. If their English language proficiency is inadequate, it may hamper their academic progress. Students feel that their command of English is unsatisfactory, and this causes…

Journalism's societal role hinges on effective communication, demanding proficient language skills. This study assesses a South African University of Technology's Department of Journalism, probing existing selection methods' efficacy in predicting success in two English modules. Concerns persist about these methods accurately identifying students…

Background: A large number of studies have established that reading for comprehension in South African schools is comparably poor relative to other Southern African states. Some of these studies confirm that learners' competency in reading in English is lacking when contextualised in a learning environment. Various systemic evaluations were…

With this article I explore the relationship between core academic language skills (CALS) -- a construct representing a set of high-utility language skills needed to manage the linguistic features prevalent in academic texts across content areas -- and schooling outcomes. There has long been an understanding that there is a distinction between…

Professionalism in English phrases is an indispensable tool for the enhancement of fluency and accuracy in communication. However, English second language learners face redundancy challenges apropos an effective use of phrases. The research investigated strategic intervention for selected deviant English phrases at the University of Venda. A…

The current longitudinal study set out to investigate the development of working memory and English language skills of 5-6 year old English Language Learners. These English Language Learners are all in their first year of formal schooling and all attend the same school in South Africa. South Africa has a rich linguistic diversity which results in…

This paper provides a critical reflection on the academic writing ability of English second-language students in a South African university. Acquiring proficiency in academic writing is one of the essential skills that students at the tertiary level are expected to acquire. One challenge that has emerged after the outbreak of COVID-19 is that…

Background: The underperformance of South African learners in literacy and numeracy is a source of concern, especially when learners move from Grade 3 to Grade 4. Aim: This article reflects on the reading and comprehension challenges of English language learners (ELLs) in the Grade 4 2013 mathematics Annual National Assessments (ANAs). Setting:…

The purpose of this study was to examine pre-service teachers' perceptions of their use of an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) as an English language proficiency tool. Pre-service teachers' perceptions were analysed using Engeström's second-generation cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT). A qualitative interpretivist paradigm was used. Six…

Recently a novel instrument -- the Core Academic Language Instrument (CALS-I) -- aimed at testing a constellation of school-relevant English language skills was developed and validated for use in the United States (Uccelli, Barr, Dobbs, Galloway, Meneses and Sánchez, 2015. Core Academic Language Skills: An expanded operational construct and a…

Background: In Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes, there are concerns about student teachers' English language proficiency. Aim: To discuss the first iteration of the PrimTEd English language and literacy test and analyse the results for information about the test instrument and about student teacher attainment. Setting: South African…

Framed by decolonial theory, this paper explores how language and literacy ideologies, including Anglonormativity, or the expectation that children should be proficient in a standardised version of English and are deficient if not, shape language and literacy practices in South African classrooms. While not legitimised, the use of fluid language…

After 1994, South African policy changes brought about variations in language education resulting in many monolingual classrooms becoming multilingual. Much of the current literature focuses on either providing recommendations to diverse approaches of teaching a second language or describing the experiences of second language learners while…

In South Africa, English is used as a language of learning and teaching for most students from Grade 4 onwards. National policies have requirements for all teachers regarding language proficiency in English, and they also require all teachers from Grades R (pre-school) to 6 to be English language teachers. Because most teachers are not English…

This study explores whether a range of socio-demographical factors predict adult learner self-directedness in the context of South African open and distance e-learning higher education (ODeLHE). We observe significant differences between socio-demographical groups in the sub-dimensions of the Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale. The study…