Languages, Literacies, and Literatures

The Division of Languages is made up of three separate Departments: English, Afrikaans and African Languages . Each Department teaches its particular language as a major academic subject in the Bachelor of Education degree, as well as methodology courses for students specialising as Secondary School teachers in the subject.

HEAD OF DIVISION:

Dr. Donovan Lawrence

DEPARTMENTS AND COURSES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

The Department of English presents courses in the study of language (specifically English) at tertiary level, and of the relationship between language, society and education, with particular reference to a multilingual South Africa. There are also courses in the study at tertiary level of literary and other texts in English, drawn from a range of genres (such as poetry, drama, prose fiction, children’s literature, film) in a variety of contexts, including South Africa, and the study of the social, cultural, and educational issues arising out of these texts and their contexts.

DEPARTMENT OF AFRIKAANS

The Department of Afrikaans gives students the opportunity to study the principles of additional language acquisition, language interference and the implications for teaching and learning, and the development of textual and contextual literacy. There are also courses in the study of literary and other texts in Afrikaans, from a range of genres including poetry, drama, prose fiction and children’s literature. Students’ proficiency in Afrikaans is enhanced through the development of reading, speaking, writing, listening and thinking skills.

DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES

The Department of African Languages offers courses in isiZulu at the levels of Home Language, First Additional Language and Second Additional Language, and in Sesotho and Sepedi at the level of Home Language. The languages are studied for academic and professional purposes in teacher education: aural comprehension, conversational competence, reading and writing, application of writing skills to the classroom. Topics to be studied include linguistics, culture and folklore, modern literature and children’s literature.

STAFF

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Professor Andrew Foley

BA, HDipEd(PG), BA(Hons), MA (Witwatersrand), PhD (Natal). He serves on the Executive and the Council of the English Academy of Southern Africa and on the English National Language Body of the Pan South African Language Board. He is an officially rated researcher by the National Research Foundation. His research interests include contemporary literature, South African literature, liberalism in literature, sociolinguistics, language in education policy. He has published widely on both literary and linguistic topics, and in 2009 his book, The Imagination of Freedom: Critical Texts and Times in Contemporary Liberalism, was published by Witwatersrand University Press.

Professor Elsie Cloete BA(Hons) (Stellenbosch) Political Studies; BA(Hons) (UNISA) English literature; MA (UNISA) Theory of Literature; PhD (Wits) African Literature. Research interests: Postcolonialism, ecocriticism, twentieth century writing, literature from the Indian Ocean rim nations, language and the environment. Publications in a wide range of national and international journals on life writing, feminism, the environment, biocultural diversity, animal studies. Publications in both literary and educationaljournals. She is an officially rated researcher by the National Research Foundation.

Harriet Davis BA, Transv l Teachers Higher Diploma, Applied Linguistics Honours, MA in English Education (Wits).She teaches literature, language and methodology courses for the English department to BEd and ACE students. She has been involved in research concerning similar upgrading and re-skilling programmes for practicing teachers. She is particularly interested in innovative approaches to teaching grammar and also multimodal approaches to teaching literature, and ways in which such approaches can be assessed. She is currently involved with the Wits School Shakespeare Series team who are responsible for bringing out new editions of Shakespeare for the South African school market. She has been involved in research concerning similar upgrading and re-skilling programmes for practicing teachers.

Ana Ferreira

BA, HDipEd(PG) (Wits), BA(Hons) (RAU), MA in English Education (Wits). Ana Ferreira’s teaching interests include critical literacy; film, media and popular culture; sociolinguistics and language in education; and language methodologies. She has published on multiliteracies, reconciliation pedagogies, language and identity, and on engaging difference productively in educational contexts. Her current research uses a teaching intervention in the English classroom to investigate South African youth identities in a context of social change. In 2009 she edited a language methodology textbook, Teaching Languages, published by Macmillan, and aimed at pre- and in-service South African language teachers.

Toni Gennrich BA, HDE(PG) (Rhodes), BA(Hons) (UNISA), MA (NMMU). She is able to teach in the areas of writing, communication, English language and literature and media studies. She also has an interest in drama. She is currently registered for a PhD in the field of literacy.

Dr Karen Lazar has a BA, BA(Hons), MA and PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand. Her areas of interest include South African and African literature, postmodernism, gender studies and creative writing. She has also conducted research on first-person narratives of brain changes in stroke and other illnesses, and has written in this area. She has published a range of feminist articles on Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer’s short and long fiction, as well as three extensive interviews with Gordimer.

Kathy Mabin BA (UNISA) (1981), Transv l Teacher’s Diploma (JCE) (1966), Higher Diploma in Librarianship and Information Science (Wits) (1983). She has experience as a primary school teacher, and as a librarian in academic libraries. She teaches English literature and secondary school methodology to BEd students. Her research interests include teaching poetry in high schools, South African children’s and youth literature and modern drama. She has published on children’s literature, and has presented papers at local conferences and a paper at an international conference.

Lesley Masterson completed her BA Degree and her Higher Diploma in Education at the University of Natal, Durban, and her Honours degree in Applied English Language Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has many years of experience in teaching English at Matric level in multilingual classrooms and is an experienced Matric marker. Her interests lie in the field of teacher training and development, as well as in assessment practices in the language classroom.

Belinda Mendelowitz obtained her BA (HDE) from UCT, and Honours in Applied Linguistics and Masters in English Education from Wits University. She is currently in the final stages of completing her PhD. Belinda is passionate about literature and language and her work intersects both fields. Her research and teaching focus on imaginative writing, writing pedagogy, narratives in education, multilingualism, diversity and identity. She has published various journal articles and has presented papers at local and international conferences. Belinda’s PhD research explores teachers conceptions of imaginative writing and their enactment of these ideas in the classroom.

Hilary Wilson completed her BA, BEd and Applied Linguistics (Hons) at Wits. Her other qualifications include an HDipEd from JCE, a RSA Diploma in TEFL and a postgraduate Diploma in Heritage Studies from Wits. She is currently completing an MA in Language Education at Wits. She worked in educational NGOs such as SACHED and READ for many years, and has extensive experience in publishing and materials development. She has also been a member of educational research teams throughout South Africa, and has designed and presented in-service training programmes for rural teachers. Her publications include two storybooks for children as well as a wide range of educational and informational materials. Her interests include creative writing, speculative fiction, poetry and literacy.

DEPARTMENT OF AFRIKAANS

Dr Donovan Lawrence (Head of the Department of Afrikaans) obtained a BA (Honours) and Higher Diploma in Education from the University of the Western Cape. In 1999 he obtained his MA (cum laude) from the Rand Afrikaans University and in 2004 he completed a PhD at the University of Johannesburg on the use of ICT for language learning. His specialization in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and shared interest in language teaching and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has him lecturing in two divisions: EDIT (Educational Information Technology) as well as the Division of Languages where he is heading the Department of Afrikaans. He has published articles and delivered papers in the following fields: Afrikaans-English code-switching; ICT in the classroom and the use of ICT (multimedia, CMC, the WWW) for developing language skills.

Malinda Lawrence completed her BA Degree in 1988 and the Higher Diploma in Education at the University of the Western Cape in 1989. She started her teaching career in the Western Cape. She holds an Honours and Masters Degree in Applied Linguistics obtained from the University of Johannesburg in 2002 and 2004. She specializes in second language learning and teaching. Her fields of interest include: second language acquisition, sociolinguistic aspects of languages, language teaching and language needs.

DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES

Grant Coltman (Head of the Department of African Languages) . BA(Hons), MA, HDipEd(PG) (Wits). Research and lecturing areas include isiZulu First Additional Language, Second Additional Language and Methodology. Research interests include Reading in FAL and SAL isiZulu, material requirements in these areas, language acquisition and isiZulu taught at school level at FAL and SAL levels.

Fikile Khuboni BEd (UKZN), BPaed (UZ), BA(Hons) (UKZN), MA(UKZN). Research and teaching areas: IsiZulu language teaching with more emphasis on how reading is taught.

Joe Magwaza BA(Hons), MA (Wits). I teach IsiZulu literature and linguistics and my research interests are in sociolinguistics and assessment. I have published an article in SAJAL and contributed a chapter in a book sponsored by the United Nations on HIV/AIDS discourses in Africa. This year I presented a paper at the RASA conference on how schools implement peer assessment policies.

Sithabile Ndlovu BA(Hons) in Education (AELS); MEd in Education (current registration: Wits). ICT pedagogical integration; ICT in Education policy implementing; IsiZulu Second Language Teaching. Accessibility of ICTs to learners in South Africa: a comparison of poor and rich schools (PanAf Edu, No4 February 2009)

Thelma Tshesane trained as a Junior Secondary School Teacher in 1973-74 at Setotolwane Teacher Training College in the Limpopo Province. She has a BA degree from the University of the North, a BA(Hons) from Potchefstroom University and a BEd from the University of Johannesburg. She was trained in Israel for Community Development and Nation Building, at Levinston College, Histadrut. She is accredited for Simultaneous Interpreting (English into Northern Sotho) by the South African Translators Institute. She is currently studying for an MA in Translation studies with the Wits Translations & Interpreting School. She is currently teaching Sesotho and her interest is Lingustics, language teaching, teaching of Sesotho culture compared with western culture and Teaching Experience.