Abstract
M.Ed.
The need to redress the educational deficiencies of the workforce and adult population generally is enormous, especially in the poverty stricken rural areas of the country. While the government has committed itself to redressing adult illiteracy, there are other issues like the language policy which make the situation even more complex. Although the country has eleven official languages, all of which have been recognized and given equal status, it is generally accepted that English will remain an important language of wider communication and of international communication for South Africa. The aim of this study is to explore the teaching of literacy in English as a second language (ESL) in literacy programmes in a rural area of Mapulaneng, in the Mpumalanga Province. For this aim to be achieved, an interpretive design is applied, and qualitative data-collection methods are used, which include the analysis of written documents, observations and interviews. The major finding of this investigation is: The teaching of literacy in ESL is not successful in Mapulaneng, a rural area of the Mpumalanga Province. The main reasons for this are: • The teaching of English literacy is approached inappropriately. Adult learners are not literate in the first language commonly used at the centres - Northern Sotho. The main implications of the findings are: There is a need for the training of literacy teachers in this rural area of Mapulaneng.
There is a need for some form of communication between the Department of
Education and Culture and all the stakeholders involved in adult education. Although not replacing the other languages, English should remain as the main language of learning.