4.4 Boys’ perceptions of writing
4.4.1 Boys’ response to the questionnaire
This template rubric includes, “Planning and use of the writing process” and awards three marks for this aspect. It is therefore surprising that the learners did not seem familiar with the stages of the writing cycle. It is unclear why Ms Naidoo deviated from this regular process for the piece of writing that was completed during the class observations, but it was clear that the boys in this class were not very familiar with using a mind map to plan their writing (only one had successfully completed his mind map), writing and editing drafts, and submitting a neat, final draft—all the boys submitted unedited drafts. Yet, when asked about her views on the use of the writing cycle to develop her boys’ writing skills, she said that it was time consuming, but she felt it worked well because “it shows them exactly what to do so that they can complete their stories properly, and they enjoy it.” However, the data from the boys’ books reveal that the way Ms Naidoo approached the observed writing lessons did not necessarily work well as the boys were unable to meet her expectations. Adding to this, their lack of concentration during the lessons and the haphazard way they approached the written work (mind maps, drafts and final submissions) could indicate that they did not enjoy the writing as much as their teacher thought they had.
Ms Chetty also found using the writing cycle time consuming but added that it was demanding on her in terms of the marking load as she had to edit their draft and then mark their final submissions. However, she explained that she used it because it was a “department requirement” and felt that “with practice the learners will get used to what they need to do.” She further stated that it really helped her boys because they
“battled to express themselves and made a lot of mistakes, so at least I can correct the mistakes when I am editing and when their work comes for marking, it is not too bad.” In classes with large numbers, providing feedback at each stage and then marking all the final submissions may be overwhelming for the teacher, especially if learners do not have the academic competence required for peer editing.
here is based on the boys’ interactions and responses during the lesson observations, questionnaires and their written submissions. Their teachers’ responses during the interviews were also considered to obtain a holistic picture of how these boys viewed and approached writing.
The final activity-based questionnaire was broken down into four sections (See Appendix 5). In both schools, once the excitement over the stations, colours and stickers died down, the boys in both schools managed most of the first General section with ease. They were unsure of what to do at first but, after reading and following the instructions, they managed fairly independently. However, all the boys in School B and one IsiZulu speaking boy in School A came to the Help Desk needing assistance with writing their address, because in many of the outlying areas where they live there are no street names or house numbers. They were told to write down the area where they lived. The boys were asked where they live to assist with determining their cultural and socio-economic status. Some boys also came to the Help Desk to ask what they should do if no one helped them at home with their homework, so “No-one” should have been included as an option on the questionnaire.
The second section titled “School” dealt with aspects like the part of school that they enjoyed most and least, their favourite and least favourite subjects and who their best friend was. Seven boys chose English as their favourite subject and four boys indicated that it was their least favourite subject. On the other hand, eleven boys selected IsiZulu as their favourite subject and none said that it was their least favourite.
This section of the questionnaire was also accomplished with ease by the boys, but in both schools when I was walking around to check, I noticed that many had put a sticker by their favourite subject but omitted the green star on their least favourite subject. A possible reason for this was that the instruction was too long and, after engaging with the first part, the boys forgot to go back to complete the second part. Perhaps this question should have been split into two questions as follows:
5. Pick your favourite sticker and stick it on your favourite subject.
ENG
AFRIK
ZULU
MATHS
LIFESKILLS SS
NS
6. Stick a green star on your least favourite subject.
ENG
AFRIK
ZULU
MATHS
LIFESKILLS SS
NS
The next section titled “English” asked for their favourite and least favourite aspect of learning English and the genre that they most and least enjoyed reading. Here again, the question should have been split, as some boys omitted the second part of the instruction. Orals and listening to stories were the least favourite of most boys, with only five boys choosing writing, whereas reading was a favourite for most boys while six boys chose writing as a favourite. In contrast to this, in School A, four boys chose all the aspects as their favourite. This could be because they did indeed enjoy all aspects of learning English or that they enjoyed sticking the stickers, because in the second section of the questionnaire, these same boys did not select English as their favourite subject. The effects of socialisation and issues of masculinity were evident in the second question of this section because most boys chose action, adventure and comics as their favourites, with only two boys from School A and seven boys from School B choosing fairy tales and romance. Two boys from School B picked “other” as an option, but did not name the genre that they instead enjoyed reading. This was because there was no instruction or space provided on the questionnaire for them to write other genres. Instead, this part could have been designed as follows:
2. Stick a heart sticker on the type of story you enjoy reading the most and two green stars on the type of story you enjoy reading the least.
Adventure Action Fairy tales
Folk tales
Romance Comics Other:
3. Stick two green stars on the type of story you enjoy reading the least.
Adventure Action Fairy tales
Folk tales
Romance Comics Other:
Finally, the boys had to provide information about their writing experiences. They were asked about the types of writing that they did in class, their favourite and least favourite type and the part of writing that they found most difficult. In addition, they had to draw a picture reflecting their teacher teaching them writing and write a paragraph to explain what was happening in the picture. The answers they gave for the types of writing that they did in class were not consistent, considering they were all in the same class taught by the same teacher. For instance, in School A, most boys selected almost all the genres provided, but three selected only stories, letters and adverts. In School B, all the boys selected stories, plays and poems, but each had a different variation of the other genres. A possible reason for this is that the boys coloured in the ones that stood out in their minds and that they remembered having written, so this was not necessarily an accurate indication of the genres that they learnt how to write in class. Adding to this, some picked favourite and least favourite types of writing that were not compatible with the list that they provided for the types of writing that they did in class. An example of this is boy G from School A tabulated below.
Table 8: Boy G’s response to “Writing” 1, 2 and 3 Types of writing done in
class Favourite types of writing Least favourite types of writing
stories descriptions plays
letters poems posters
stories descriptions plays
letters poems news reports
cards invitations
adverts posters adverts
As can be seen in the table above, news reports, cards and invitations are given as his favourite and least favourite genres, but they do not form part of the list provided for the genres that they learnt in class. Thus, triangulation was important. For this purpose, teachers were asked about the types of writing that they had taught and the boys’ books were analysed to see the writing that they had completed during previous writing lessons. Their responses to these questions were important, as they indicated the writing types that the boys were most familiar with.