| Summary: | D issertation subm itted to the Faculty o f E ducation
University o f the Witwate.-irand, Johannesburg
for the Degiee of Master o f Education
Pretoria 1973 === An investigation was made in to w hat constituted the subject o f English as first language
in the Transvaal at w xtr.dary school level over a period o f thirty years, from 1942 to
1972, a period which was bounded by im portant changes o f syllabus. Inform ation for
the study was obtained from official publications 0 1 the Transvaal Education D epartm ent
during that period: syllabuses, Language R eports to the A dm inistrator, the Annual
Reports, public exam ination papers and exam iners’ reports, and reports o f the Education
Bureau. T he titles of the prescribed w orks for the period were collated and analysed.
Som e o f the language tex t books in use in the Trans 'I at various times were analysed
A sample o f internal exam ination papers in C om position and Com prehension for Std 8,
set by Transvaal teachers at the end o f 1973, com pleted the source material.
The study outlines different concepts o f the nature o f English as a school subject.
Present and projected trends in English teaching in m ajor English speaking countries are
described, as a background against which to interpret the changes noted in the teaching
o f the subject in the Transvaal over the given period, and in order to throw light on
possible future developm ents in the province.
The source m aterials are analysed in chapters on Syllabuses, Prescribed Works, Public
E xam inations and Internal E xam inations The analysis deals w ith aims, subject m atter,
the ethos o f the subject, and the assum ption:, b o th explicit and implicit, o f the
education authorities and the teachers.
Ti e s.udy describes how changes have occurred in every aspect o f the subject over the
thirty year period. Language teaching has changed from instruction in formal Latinate
gramm ar, through a period o f rigorously proscriptive and prescriptive teaching, to a
concern with ability to com m unicate in given circum stances and with the use of language
in m odem society. Spoken Engl.sh has also developed from being confined chiefi.1 t j
proscriptive speech training, to playing a bigger role in all English teaching Written
English has changed slowly from form al essay and letter w riting to w ritten com m unication
o f various kinds In the prescription o f set w orks there has been a shift away from
the classics o f previous centuries to the work o f tw entieth century writers.
These changes have been accom panied by a change in the subject m atter and ethos of
English. T he language which pupils in the nineteen seventies are expected to study and
produce no longer conform s to a V ictorian model, as it did thirty years ago. The subject
m atter is no longer literary and dom inated by the British way o f life I he shill to
subject n a tte r which i« o f interest to the contem porary child coincides with a shift in
aims. Instead o f presenting the child w ith a culture which he must be able to reproduce,
the teacher reeks to draw the child out. Personal developm ent and self-confidence in the
use o f language are given priority.
The investigation has shown the need for close co-ordination am ong the various
authorities directing the subject, the exam iners and the teachers. There has been a lack
o f com m on policy and sense o f direction, which is shown particularly by inconsistencies
and fluctuations o f standard in the selection o f prescribed works, but is also apparent
in 'h e erratic developm ent o f the subject over a wide front. Recom m endations for
future curriculum developm ent in English are made.
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