Lecturers’ Views on Teaching Composition at South African Universities: A Qualitative Enquiry

Abstract

The pedagogy of composition plays a vital role in developing up-and-coming new composers who are trying to find their own voice. The  aim of this study was to explore the views of lecturers at South African universities on teaching composition. Many academic outputs  have been published on aspects of composition techniques and skills; however, there is a paucity of sources that deal with teaching  composition at higher-level institutions. A qualitative study was conducted in which data were collected by means of conducting semi- structured interviews, using open-ended questions, with six composition lecturers at South African universities. The main findings are  that lecturers teach composition based on their backgrounds and experience gained during their careers without imposing their ideas on  their students. They strive to provide students with the necessary skillset and compositional techniques. It is considered vital to  include theoretical underpinnings, analysis and aural training in the composition module in order to nurture the student towards  maturity in their composition styles. This study may help lecturers of composition to understand the nature of composition pedagogy  and the essentials of the interaction that should ideally take place between student and lecturer.