Democratising the Classroom for Epistemological Access: The Role of RtL Pedagogy in an Eastern Cape Secondary School, South Africa

Abstract

Using documentary evidence (learners’ written, DoBE’s curriculum documents, lessons plans, and prescribed workbooks) semi-structured interviews and Reading to Learn pedagogy, to generate data, this paper reports on the positive effect Reading to Learn (RtL) has on literacy development of Grade 10 English First Additional Language learners from a township school in South Africa. The main thrust of this paper is to trace how RtL positively influences literacy development of a cohort of learners whose teaching was informed by Reading to Learn principles. This paper argues that learners whose learning is informed by RtL principles experience accelerated literacy development. The approach is built on the theory of scaffolding proposed by Vygotsky, 1978 and Bruner, 1983; genre theory (Martin, 1985: Christie, 1990); and on the functional model of language developed by Halliday (1985). Systemic functional linguistics was used as the analytical framework; the study situates itself within the critical paradigm, subjective epistemology, and mixed-method research approach. The study revealed that RtL can be part of the solution towards resolving literacy development challenges faced by underprivileged learners in South Africa and other similar environments.

Keywords:Reading to Learn pedagogy; scaffolding; systemic functional linguistics; critical paradigm; subjective epistemology and mixed-method.

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-27-08

Publication date:September 30^th 2022