Eating soup with a fork – why the EFAL syllabus cannot promote learning across the curriculum

Abstract

Dismal literacy figures of South African learners, on the one hand, and poor matriculation results of public school learners who still prefer English as a medium of instruction, raise the question whether the current second language curriculum has failed to promote academic literacy and additive bilingualism. The authors argue that more time spent in the EFAL classroom will not necessarily mean that the objectives as envisaged by the curriculum will be attained. In order for academic literacy to be improved, the distinction between a language of learning and a language as subject matter should be acknowledged. In lieu of this distinction, a new English curriculum should be introduced from Grade 1-12 in all South African schools where English is used as the medium of instruction. The authors propose the implementation of an adjunct CBI and CLIL syllabus where language development and content development are not regarded in isolation and where the focus is on the intersection of language, content and thinking objectives.

Keywords: English medium of instruction; CLIL; Content and language integrated learning; CBI; Content based instruction; English First Additional Language; EFAL