CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS
4.2 AN ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
4.2.4 Methods of Teaching Literacy in isiZulu
The following question was asked: “What strategies do you use when teaching learners in Grade 1 reading?” It was intended to uncover teachers’ Pedagogic Content Knowledge (PCK) of the strategies they use when teaching Grade 1 reading.
Three teaching methods were identified by the teachers: the phonic method, integrated methods and the look-and-say method.
The Phonic method
All six teachers reported that the phonic method is used first, before any other method, as it is the basis of all methods. The teachers highlighted the process they followed, which consists of
48 teaching the five vowels in isiZulu (a, e, i, o, u) followed by combining vowels with consonants to form syllables such as:
m + a = ma b + a = ba m + e = me n + i = ni
After the formation of syllables, they combine one syllable with another syllable to form words e.g. ma+ ma = mama, bo + na = bona, etc. For example, Teacher E stated the following:
Teacher E: ….siqale sibafundise onkamisa o a, e, i, o, u, bese sibafundisa uhlamvu silushadise nonkamisa njengo –ma- bayobe sebenza amagama amafishane njngo mama, bona, uma sebewazi amagama amafishane sidlulele egameni eligcwele. Sibe sesibafundisa imisho emifishane ezoba nalezizinhlamvu ebesizifunda njengo “umama ubona uMimi”. (...we start by teaching them the vowels a, e, i, o, u. We then teach them the consonant that will combine with the vowel to make syllable, e.g. –ma-, after that we teach them to combine one syllable with another syllable to make a word e.g. –bona-. After that we teach them how to construct a short sentence with the sound, we have been teaching, e.g. “Umama ubona umimi”.
Integrated methods
Another finding from teachers A and C showed that they integrated shared reading and the phonic method. They highlighted that shared reading, when integrated with the phonic method, exposes learners to words at an early stage. They further stressed that language skills were not taught in isolation as the teacher used one text to teach different aspects of language, such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar and other language structures and conventions. Teacher A responded as follows:
Teacher A: Izindlela esizisebenzisayo imvamisa lapha esikoleni i-phonic method, storytelling, and shared reading. Siyazihlanganisa lezizindlela uma sifundisa. i-phonic method siqala ngayo kuqala then sizihlanganiseke ngokuqhubeka kwesikhathi.
Sihlanganisa i-phonic method, alphabet method ne shared reading bese sihlanganisa i-storytelling ne phonic method. Ukufundisa ngalezizindlela kuyasiza kakhulu kumntwana ngoba ufunda amagama esasebangeni eliphansi aphinde afunde ukulalela,
49 akhulume, abhale aphinde afunde neminye imithetho yokufunda kanyekanye. (The methods we use are the phonic method, storytelling and shared reading. We start by using the phonic method first then the integration of phonic and shared reading and the integration of storytelling and phonic methods. To integrate helps learners to learn words at an early stage and teaches learners different skills like listening, speaking, reading, writing and also the language structure in one lesson.)
Another finding was from teachers C and D who were from the same school. They mentioned that they used the phonic method in teaching isiZulu literacy. They added that they also integrated the phonic method with play so as to enhance the lesson and promote learner involvement. They demonstrated that when phonics are integrated with play, learning is improved because play sustains learners’ attention span, creates fun and develops their reading skills faster. Teacher C responded as follows:
Teacher C: Siqala sigxile konkamisa nasohlamvini. Uma sebebazi bonke onkamisa, sibe sesiqalake sibafundise ngezinhlamvu ezahlukene, sakhe nabo amagama amafishane, kulandele agcwele bese sikwazi ukwenza nemisho emifishane.
Siyayisebenzisa nendlela yokufunda sakudlala ikakhulukazi uma sibafundisa ukufunda imisindo. Siyakholelwa ukuthi abantwana abasheshi bakhohlwe abakufunde bedlala.
(In Grade 1, we start by telling them a story, they also tell their stories. In that story, we take a word with the sound I want to introduce that day. We start by teaching the five vowels, when they know the vowels; we teach them sounds. After that, we teach short words and then the full word. We then teach them short sentences. We also integrate the phonic method with the play method as we believe learners do not forget easily when they are taught using the play method.)
Look-and-say method
The following finding was identified by teachers E and F who were from the same school.
They stated that they used the phonic method and integrated it with the look-and-say method.
They explained that using pictures when teaching enables learners to learn in an enjoyable way as they are guided by a picture that gives them contextual clues. Other literacy skills are utilized, as they predict and associate the word represented by the picture. Teacher F responded as follows:
50 Teacher F: Onkamisa sibafundisa ngokuqale sibeka isithombe njengesithombe esinomama. Sebeyobuka isithombe bese besho ukuthi babona (umama) esithombeni.
Bayobe sebefunda ukubhala umsindo –m- ka mama otholwe esithombeni. Bayobe sebeqhubeka bawushadise nonkamisa njengokuthi –ima-. Babe sebenza amagama agcwele njengo umema kanye nemisho emifishane e.g. Umama umi. (We teach learners the vowels by showing them a picture. They will be asked what they see in that picture. They will respond that it is umama. We will then teach them the sound – m. We then teach them how to form a word from the sound –m- by prefixing the vowel at the beginning and ending with a vowel at the end of that consonant –m- e.g. ima or uma. They will then be able to write full words e.g. umama and short sentences e.g.
Umama umi.)
All teachers responded that they first use the phonic method when teaching reading in Grade 1. It was noted that the phonic approach to literacy was used predominantly in teaching decoding. It is the initial phase of teaching, as it is regarded by teachers as fundamental in teaching reading through which learners learn sounds using the bottom-up approach.
Additionally, the findings indicate that teachers also used a combination of teaching strategies to teach isiZulu. They integrated the phonic method with other methods like shared reading, learning through play where their learning was enhanced, storytelling where learners were developed their listening and speaking skills, and the look-and-say method where learners were encouraged to predict what they could see in the poster.
4.2.5 Teaching of Phonics as the Main Focus in Teaching isiZulu Literacy in Grade 1