Disabling myth or writing for the world: the secondary schools language project in the Eastern Province, South Africa

Abstract

The majority of learners in South African schools are black, and they learn through English as a second language (L2). This contrasts with white students who learn through their first language (L1), English or Afrikaans. Most black students in South Africa are multilingual, and new developments in the curriculum promise to value this achievement. Even now, young black students display considerable competence in their written English when they use electronic links to communicate with fellow students and adults worldwide. Computers motivate students as writers and language learners. One of the many disabling myths that threatens to impede progress towards equity in educational outcomes in South Africa is the myth that teachers of writing in historically black schools will wait a very long time for the technologies of word processing and e-mail to be available to them. In the Eastern Province many schools have no telephones or electricity. The ANC Government is struggling to meet basic needs quickly and computers could then be used to promote equity among learners. In this study, students had only limited access to keyboard and e-mail facilities, yet the enthusiasm and concentration computers generated meant that they could leapfrog many hours of classroom instruction.