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produce essays that do not have the academic readers (audience) in mind. Knowledge of the audience, IT has been argued, IS an essential part of academic writing in that it is this that determines the structure, style, level of formality, tone, and language of such a piece of writing (ALUGS, 2014). Mahalski (1992, in Mbirimi, 2012) also adds that many students in their writing of academic essays often ignore the importance of an introduction. Drawing from personal undergraduate experience, the researcher had no knowledge of the role of introduction in essay writing. Not only this, he was also ignorant of what constitutes a good introduction to an academic essay. It was during first year in the post- graduate programme in 2012 that he was introduced to the importance of an introduction, and the features of an academic writing introduction. From this experience, it could be argued that there are students, especially those from the historically disadvantaged high schools or poor educational background (Mgqwashu, 2009) that also are sharing the same experience, and have never learned the features of an academic writing introduction, but only know that writing begins with an introduction.
However, it is expected that the introduction to an academic essay should contain A clear statement of the position (thesis statement) to be argued in answering the question posed in the essay topic, as well as an outline of the argument (plan of development) and the definition of key terms (background information) (Mbirimi, 2012).
Thus, in preparing students to be academic writers, it is essential that the features of a good introduction, body and conclusion to academic essay are taught, and not only taught, but emphasized. This leads to the fact that in the assessment of students‟ academic writing practices, lecturers should not only concentrate on the linguistic or grammatical aspects of the essays, but the assessment should bear the structure and nature of academic writing in mind.
2.6 Understanding the concept and context of Academic Language
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academic literacy (Cummins, 2008).All entrant students (both L1 and L2) have been described as having academic writing challenges which vary in type and kind. However, within the South African HE context African students have been described to have a two-pronged challenge- the acquisition of language (discourse) and the acquisition of Discourse. This McKenna (2010) argues is a result of the political nature of language in South Africa. Hence, ignoring such a concept in the acquisition of academic literacy in South African context is a way of underplaying past political injustice. Therefore, the concept of language proficiency is not only about language issue, but it is cultural, political, and about social justice.
The term language proficiency traditionally means one‟s knowledge of, competence and ability to use a language accurately and appropriately in its oral or written form (Clood et al, 2000). In Scholtz and Allen-Ile (2007), communicative competence, communicative language ability, as well as communicative proficiency all refer to language proficiency. However, in their description of communicative ability, these authors argue that communicative ability transcends a mere transfer of information, but must be characterized by a “dynamic interaction between the situation, the language user, and the discourse” (p. 923). In other words, university learning goes beyond the ability to communicate in the language of instruction whether in the written or oral form, but it is that which “involves adapting to new ways of knowing: new ways of understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge‟ (Lea and Street 1998, 157).
From this perspective, it could be said that tertiary students are said to be academic language competent when they are able to infer, express personal opinion, think critically, form personal arguments and establish own view points. At this level of competence, students are expected to engage with deeper meanings of texts, not just making meanings from a surface level. This proficiency in language is what Manyike (2007, in Ramcharan, 2009) argues that varies depending on the purpose, function, and context of communication. In other words, academic language proficiency centers on the “new ways of knowing”; an exigency placed on all tertiary institution students. It is therefore obvious from the foregoing that language proficiency at the tertiary institution of learning emphasizes new ways of knowing and devaluates the old. In agreement with Scholtz and Allen-Ile‟s view as mentioned above, academic language proficiency denotes students‟ ability to demonstrate competence in language use beyond the general or basic literacy level, but in line with the dictates and demands of the disciplinary discourse.
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The situation of the ESL first year students at the university under study who at the moment forms the larger percentage of the student population poses a challenge to the teaching and learning process. Apart from the fact that the majority of first year students are L2 users of the university language of instruction, research has also revealed that the L1 speakers of the English language do not possess academic language proficiency since it is embedded in the new ways of knowing (Lea and Street, 1998). Thus, academic language proficiency surpasses a mere communicative competence in one‟s mother tongue and is cognitively demanding (Cummins, 2008). According to Weidman and Van Rens Berg (2002, p. 36), “language proficiency among young South Africans is low”. Stressing on this, Ramcharan, (2009) also contributes that this is not only the situation among the non-mother tongue speakers of English, but of the native speakers as well.
In a nutshell, it can be deduced that one of the problems common to most tertiary institution students specifically in the South African context relates to low levels of language proficiency.
This has consequently been described as being crucial to learning in the university in that there is a nexus between proficiency in the language of instruction and academic performance (Ramcharan, 2009). Archer (2010) states that South African universities need to consider certain factors in designing intervention programmes as well as methods of assessments. These, according to him include:
Firstly, most students need to write in English, a language other than their mother tongue. Secondly, the academic under-preparedness of all students, but particularly those from previously disadvantaged communities. Thirdly, all students need to learn the academic discourses of different disciplines.
And finally, the fact that students come to tertiary institutions with different literacies [sic] and cultural conventions (p. 496).
From Archer‟s (2010) perspective, learning in the university most especially in the South African context requires “most” (the larger percentage of) students to learn in an unfamiliar language that is different from their mother tongue. This, Dampier (2012, in Merisi 2013) argues that hinders access to global markets as well as epistemological access. Dampier contends that immersing children (learners) in English from a younger age rather than the present practice where learners are immersed in English at Grade Four, is one of the s keys to unlock the code of tertiary learning. To this, Fleisch (2008) adds that:
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shifting from mother-tongue instruction in reading, writing and numeracy in the first two to three years of schooling to a second language (L2) in Grade 4, where the learner is expected to be proficient in reading across the curriculum, is problematic. These learners had a limited vocabulary of about 500 words and could read only simple 3-7 word sentences in the present tense”.
(pp. 105-112,130).
Thus, this argument is pertinent to the problem of low level language proficiency at tertiary institutions of learning. Archer (2010) further adds that under-preparedness for tertiary literacy, though commonly ascribed to the L2 users of English, is still a common factor among all tertiary first year students. Acquiring a native competence in English language is not within the ambit of academic performance. Thus, learning a new way of knowing is pertinent to learning in the university, and all students need to learn the academic discourse of different disciplines in order to acquire their „specified‟ language competence.
Archer (2010) also notes that the fact that students come to the university with different literacies and cultural conventions is another factor underpinning students‟ low level of academic language proficiency. Ramcharan (2009, p. 16) laments that the recent decline in the language proficiency level, is permeating the “tertiary entrant students”. Since a low level of language proficiency, rather academic language competence poses a challenge to the teaching and learning at tertiary level in South Africa, specifically at the university under study, it is therefore imperative that the academic literacy module (ALUG in this context) must lend itself to principles underpinning reflexive pedagogy (Mgqwashu, 2000), where epistemological access is feasible. Not only this, the method of assessment too is another cogent area that needs serious intervention.