EXPLORING OUR VOICES

THIS TEXT IS AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDY FOR UNDERGRADUATES; TEACHERS IN TRAINING, AND TEACHERS IN NEED OF UPGRADING, WHO TEACH OR WHO WILL TEACH ENGLISH IN MULTILINGUAL CLASSROOMS IN KWAZULU NATAL AND ELSEWHERE IN SOUTH AFRICA. LANGUAGE IS TREATED AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON, AND THE TEACHING METHODOLOGY IS LEARNER-CENTRED. THE STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO WORK TOGETHER IN GROUPS TO NEGOTIATE AND CONSTRUCT SHARED MEANING, AND PARTICIPATE IN REAL COMMUNICATIONS, THROUGH THE TEXT'S LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES. ALL EXERCISES HAVE A SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT, AND THE STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO REFLECT ON THEIR OWN ATTITUDES TO LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE TEACHING AND TO RE-EVALUATE THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW LANGUAGE SHAPES AND IS SHAPED BY SOCIETY, AND WHY.