(Her)stelwerk: skoolopstelle as voorbereiding vir akademiese geletterdheid op universiteitsvlak

Abstract

This article explores the gap between school and university writing in terms of creative writing done at school level, as specified in the relevant policy documents and the requirements of academic literacy at university. This article also involves an empirical study in which a questionnaire aimed at first year university students determined the extent of essay instruction at school. This was followed by an interview with a subject specialist for Afrikaans Home Language. It was found that despite the fact that departmental policies require teachers to teach different types of essay writing they are not taught effectively. It is clear that teachers may require training in terms of teaching different types of essays and that the Department of Education should monitor and separately assess modes of writing, such as expository and argumentative essays that could contribute to improving academic literacy.