An English for academic purposes needs analysis for Grade 12 learners of English as a second language in the Northern Province

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develop the oral communicative abilities of the learner at the expense of the 
academic abilities. This is not to say that the oral communication abilities are not 
crucial and should not be developed. The problem rather is that these textbooks 
tend to put more emphasis on BICS to the extent that CALP is completely 
ignored. Teachers and learners tend to put more emphasis on speaking at the 
expense of writing. The problem here is that in the examination the proficiency of 
the learners in the language is determined by what they can write than what they 
can speak. The idea of whether examination should be used or not to measure 
the success of the learners is another issue which is not the focus of this 
research.  
 
Although the difference between BICS and CALP has been identified by 
researchers nothing has been done (especially in South African secondary 
schools) in order to address this problem. Most of the studies on EAP are those 
that focused on universities and other institutions of higher learning. The area of 
EAP has been seen by many as an area involving universities, technikons and 
other institutions of higher learning. As Bolitho (1984:4) rightly points out, EAP 
can also be applicable to the secondary level of education, especially in countries 
like SA where the majority of learners use English as a medium of instruction.  
 
What this research intend to do is to identify the EAP skills that learners need in 
order to succeed in the examinations. In other words this research does what is 
called target situation analysis. As the minister of education Kader Asmal rightly 
noted, Grade 12 examinations are the only means of determining the 
performance of learners so far: ‘The senior certificate examination results are still 
regarded as one of the main indicators of performance and assuring standards in 
the South African education system’ (Sowetan, 29 December 2000: 7) 
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1.2 The role of language in learning. 
 
As Kilfoil (1999:48) points out: ‘English is an important language for South African 
students, partly because it is a medium of instruction, but also because most 
scientific writing is in English’. English is one of the two most commonly used 
media of instruction, in fact the most important medium of instruction in the South 
African educational system. Most of the subjects are taught in English and 
learners are expected to use English in answering examinations questions. 
Therefore, learners need certain skills in English in order to tackle examination 
questions successfully. The majority of learners in South African schools are 
learning English as a second language. Most English second language learners 
find it difficult to cope with the demands of using a English to learn various 
subjects, let alone the challenging task of using the language in writing. 
 
Dlamini (1998 cited in Von Grunewaldt 1999:205) has rightly indicated that when 
learners ‘have not mastered the language of instruction (in this case English), it 
becomes all the more arduous to grapple with the content of what they have to 
learn and the result is rote learning’. This means that language plays an 
important role in the comprehension of the content. The learner’ mastery of a 
language may determine his or her performance in the subject concerned. 
Language therefore plays an important role in the process of learning. It is crucial 
therefore that a learner should understand the language of instruction in order to 
understand the content. A lack of proficiency in the medium for instruction can 
influence the performance of the learner in specific subjects and across the 
curriculum.  
 
According to Gibbons (1991) language should also be able to achieve specific 
language functions in order to meet the needs of the learner. Gibbons identified 
what she calls ‘the more common functions of language: agreeing and 
disagreeing, apologising, asking questions, describing, evaluating, expressing 
position, explaining, expressing obligation, hypothesising, identifying, inferring, 
planning, refusing, reporting, sequencing, suggesting, warning, wishing and 
hoping, asking for permission, asking for assistance (direction), classifying, 
comparing, commanding, giving instruction, criticising and denying’.  
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Poor proficiency in English, especially in English for Academic Purposes can be 
disastrous as Dekker and Lemmer (1993:45) rightly point out: ‘Students who 
have a limited proficiency in the language of instruction are at most risk of failing 
and dropping out of school because they have not mastered the language 
required to cope with the learning material’. There is no way in which learners 
and teachers will know the language skills that are required for a specific subject 
or across the curriculum until a needs analysis on the language required for 
academic success, especially in the examination is conducted. 
 
The poor performance of Grade 12 learners has been an issue of concern to 
government, the private sector and the public in general. Various attempts have 
been made to try and address this problem. The issue of low performance among 
Grade 12 learners in South Africa in general has affected several province, hence 
the education minister Kader Asmal issued the following statement on the 
problem: ‘There are still considerable inefficiencies in the system on account of 
high failure rate and repletion rates. This results from low rates of success in the 
learning and teaching across the system. The need to address the causes of high 
failure rates remains as important priority throughout the system’ (The Educator’s 
Voice 2000: 14)  
 
The South African government made several attempts nationally and provincially 
in order to deal with the high failure rate amongst ESL Grade 12 learners. 
Projects such as Tirisano and others were introduced in order to help improve the 
pass rate in the country. In 2000 the Northern Star (a provincial newspaper) and 
its associated newspapers in the Northern media, the Pietersburg Chamber of 
Business and the Northern Province Department of Education jointly launched a 
project called ‘ Print media in Education’. The project was aimed at improving 
Grade 12 results in the province. 
 
According to the project, Grade 12 learners were to buy the Northern Star which 
supplied learners with eight special supplement ‘ focusing on the most difficult 
questions which matriculants are likely to face when it comes to the examination 
time’ This project was only focusing in those subjects which were deemed tough: 
Mathematics, Accounting, Physics and Economics. The project organisers 
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believed that by working through the model questions learners would be better 
prepared to tackle the end of the year examinations. The organisers of the project 
indicated that not all questions were going to be published but only those 
‘sections in which according to the examiners’ reports candidates had performed 
poorly in the past (Northern Star 2000:1). This project contributed to a certain 
extent in the improvement of Grade 12 results, other thing being considered. 
 
Liberty Life is also sponsoring a project that is also aimed at improving the 
performance of Grade 12 learners in subjects such as: Physics, English, Biology, 
and Mathematics. Although these ventures and many other ventures by teachers 
and the government are important, there is a need to address this problem by 
examining the EAP skills that learner’s need, especially when writing 
examinations. 
 
 
1.3 Academic English skills for Grade 12 learners  
 
In the light of the kind of the background portrayed above there is a need to 
design an English course that will develop the academic English skills of the ESL 
learners. The hindrance to the development of a course of that nature at this 
stage is that: 
 
The specific needs of Grade 12 learners for ‘academic English’ skills, particularly 
in their examination have not been identified; hence they remain neglected by our 
secondary education system. This situation can be attributed to some or all of the 
following: 
 
# The ‘top down’ approach of the specialists in the Department of Education 
when designing ESL curriculum, 
# A lack of knowledge of the specific ‘academic English’ writing skills required by 
senior secondary learners, 
# Uncertainty by the teachers as to what teaching techniques to use for academic 
as opposed to the more well known communicative uses  
The last two factors will be given special attention in this research. 
 
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Grade 12 learners for whom English is a second language do not possess certain 
‘English for Academic purposes’ (EAP) skills that are required for success in their 
formal education, particularly the writing skills required in the examination. As 
Stacey (1999:108) rightly indicates ‘the most obvious language mode when the 
representation of learning through language is being considered is writing’. The 
lack of such EAP skills is evident in the high failure rate amongst Grade 12 
learners, particularly in the Northern Province, which has suffered the lowest 
matriculation pass rate (32% to37.5%) in the last few years. 
 
This lack of EAP skills has resulted in many direct and indirect problems such as 
poor examination performance and demotivation amongst the learners. Not only 
does the lack of EAP skills have a negative influence on the performance of the 
learners in their ESL examinations, but, since these are ‘across the curriculum’ 
skills, the lack also have impact on the student’s performance or achievement in 
all academic subjects. Students cannot express themselves clearly when it 
comes to writing which demands more than the oral communicative ability. In 
regard to writing Chimbganda (2000) has this to say: ‘When it comes to writing in 
English, the learner is faced with overwhelming communication problems 
because unlike in oral communication where there is a shared meaning between 
the interlocutors, there is no immediate feedback from the interlocutors in written 
communication’ 
 
South African ESL learners are faced with a very challenging task in as far as 
learning of English is concerned as noted by Von Gruenewaldlt (1999:208): ‘To 
be academically literate South African students have to master EAP over and 
above English as a second language. They need to be able to manipulate 
through the medium of instruction the various discourse genres used in the 
academic environment’. 
 
Personal observations during the past five years of teaching English, Biology, 
and History in four high schools in the Northern Province suggest that the type of 
English required for advanced academic studies such as Grade 12 is needed, but 
lacking, amongst Grade 12 learners in the Northern Province. O’Malley and 
Chamot (1990:192) warn that the lack of CALP may result in children 
experiencing difficulties in learning. It is not a simple matter to include EAP skills 
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appropriate for senior secondary learners in the curriculum, since the skills for 
this level themselves, as well as the teaching and learning techniques through 
which they are best acquired, have not been identified and described for ESL 
learners in the context of the under-resourced and overcrowded South African 
classrooms.  
 
1.4 Aim of this study  
 
The main aim of this study was to identify the EAP skills that Grade 12 learners in 
the Northern Province need across the curriculum and in specific subjects in 
order to succeed in the examinations. There have been many speculations 
(based on intuitions rather than research) about what skills Grade 12 learners 
should be taught in order to help them to be academically competent especially 
when it comes to writing.  
 
1.5 Definition of terms 
 
In this section the following key terms, some of which are recurrent throughout 
the dissertation, are defined operationally: (i) needs analysis; (ii) English for 
specific purposes;  (iii) English for academic purposes; (iv) rhetorical functions;  
(v) rhetorical techniques; (vi) strategic competence; (vii); and (viii) academic 
discourse. 
 
1.51.  Needs analysis 
 
According to Tarone and Yule (1989:31) the term ‘needs analysis’ when used in 
the context of language teaching means the collection and evaluation of 
information to answer the question: ‘What aspect of the language does some 
particular group of learners need to know’ (for the purposes of their situation)? 
 
1.5.2.  English for Specific Purposes. 
 
English for Specific Purposes is a language course or programme of instruction in 
which content and aims of the course are fixed by the specific needs of a 
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particular group of learners (Richards, Platt and Platt 1992:125). Examples of 
ESP courses include EAP, EST. 
 
1.5.3. English for Academic Purposes. 
 
English for Academic Purposes is a branch of ESP focusing on the specific 
needs of the learner in the academic context (see 2.4). 
 
1.5.4.  Rhetorical functions. 
 
Rhetorical functions are the rhetorical elements that writers choose in order to 
present their major items of information e.g. description, definition, classification, 
instructions, visual-verbal relationships (Trimble 1985:70) and others which this 
research project aims to identify (see Chapter 4 and Chapter 5). There are 
rhetorical functions which are performed across the curriculum e.g. Describing or 
description, defining, explaining, and there are subject specific rhetorical 
functions e.g. calculating in Maths and Physical Science, classifying in Biology.  
 
1.5.5.  Rhetorical techniques 
 
Rhetorical techniques are the rhetorical elements that bind the items of 
information together in a piece of EST text (Trimble 1985: 52). Examples of 
rhetorical techniques are orders and logical patterns. Rhetorical techniques are 
used to express the rhetorical functions e.g. the use of the passive voice as 
compared to the active voice in some writing. 
 
1.5.6. Strategic competence 
 
Strategic competence is the ability to perform planning, execution and evaluative 
functions to implement the communicative goal of the written text. 
 
1.5.7.  Academic discourse 
 
According to Von Grunewaldt (1999:209) academic discourse is the language 
conventionalised for the expository mode of communication as conveying