Die bruikbaarheid van letterkunde as basiese inhoud vir tweedetaalonderrig

Abstract

The overriding aim for English Second Language, as formulated by the TED-syllabus for English Second Language Higher Grade, standard 8-10, is communicative competence for personal, social, educational, vocational and academic purposes. This aim points to a communicative approach. Any language teaching approach is based on a hypothesis of how a language is acquired. Researchers have put forward various hypotheses as to how language is acquired, one of whom is Krashen (1981, 1982). How language is acquired is a crucial quest ion. In this study Krashen's five acquisition hypotheses are discussed with special reference to the comprehensible input hypothesis. A second language learner acquires language through exposure to the second language and should therefore, be exposed to a considerable amount of comprehensible input. Reading (and therefore literature) can provide the learner with a rich source - of comprehensible input. Another crucial question concerns the content of ESL as it does not have a specific content in the same sense as History or Physics. Numerous suggestions as to what can be used as content for ESL have been made, as can be seen from the various syllabuses that can be utilized e.g. cultural, functional, lexical, notional, topic, situational, discourse and stylistic syllabuses. All these syllabuses have been criticised and many solutions have been offered. This study discusses various views on the suitability of literature as basic teaching content for ESL, as well as providing the learner with comprehensible input to facilitate language acquisition. The implications of Krashen's acquisition hypotheses on the teaching of ESL are discussed. The successful implementation of literature as basic teaching content depends, to a greater extent, on the selection of a literary work and the strategy used in the classroom. Various criteria for the selection of a literary work and various teaching strategies are discussed in this study. Literature can successfully be implemented to reach all the aims of ESL teaching.