Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9 (Schools) - Grade Five

Learning Area: Languages - First Additional Language

Learning Outcome 1:  Listening

The learner will be able to listen for information and enjoyment, and respond appropriately and critically in a wide range of situations.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Understands stories (told or read to learners):
  • answers literal questions;
  • responds personally;
  • notes relevant information (e.g. by labelling a simple diagram);
  • discusses ethical, social and critical issues (e.g. ‘Is the moral of the story right in all circumstances?’), codeswitching if necessary;
  • suggests an alternative ending for the story, codeswitching if necessary;
  • retells the story;
  • summarises the story with support.
• Understands oral instructions, directions and descriptions:
  • understands a sequence of instructions by responding physically (e.g. following instructions for a classroom task);
  • understands oral directions by following a route and locating a place on a map or plan.
• Understands oral descriptions:
  • identifies people, objects or places;
  • labels a diagram;
  • notes relevant information (e.g. on a chart).
• Understands recounted events:
  • answers questions about what happened first, second, etc.;
  • recounts the same events with support.
• Respects other learners:
  • gives other learners a chance to speak;
  • listens to them and encourages their attempts to speak their additional language;
  • encourages other group members to support fellow learners.

Learning Outcome 2:  Speaking

The learner will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in spoken language in a wide range of situations.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Interacts in additional language:
  • asks and answers questions;
  • takes part in a conversation on a familiar topic;
  • expresses an opinion and gives a reason for it;
  • expresses feelings.
• Acts in culturally appropriate ways:
  • role-plays some familiar situations using appropriate language and gestures;
  • shows increasing awareness of social and cultural differences (e.g. understands the differences in expressing politeness in home and additional language);
  • switches from one language to another where appropriate (e.g. to include someone in a group who does not speak own language).
• Uses additional language to communicate information:
  • recounts a sequence of actions using connecting words;
  • gives a sequence of instructions;
  • describes a process;
  • describes the purpose of something (e.g. a familiar tool and what it is used for);
  • talks about a familiar topic with preparation (e.g. my favourite sportsperson).
• Uses additional language creatively:
  • tells a story;
  • performs poems, songs and simple plays;
  • plays games involving language;
  • imagines and describes possibilities (e.g. what learner would do with R100).
• Shows awareness of the way language constructs knowledge and identity and positions people:
  • understands how the way someone is addressed:
    • tells us about the relationship to that person (e.g. a learner calling a teacher ‘Mam’ or calling an older friend ‘Bhuti’),
    • constructs that person’s identity negatively (e.g. calling an older person ‘girl’) or positively (e.g. calling her ‘Mama’ or ‘Gogo’).

Learning Outcome 3:  Reading and Viewing

The learner will be able to read and view for information and enjoyment, and respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural and emotional values in texts.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Understands in a simple way some elements of stories:
  • title, setting and characters (e.g. matches adjectives to characters in a story);
  • the moral of a story (where this is appropriate);
  • notices how characters and plots are constructed to represent a particular view of the world (e.g. Are old people and young people represented stereotypically or in alistic ways that show their diversity?);
  • notices the role that visual images (pictures, photographs) play in the construction of meaning (e.g. How are old and young people represented in the pictures?).
• Understands, in a simple way, some elements of poetry:
  • rhyme;
  • words which begin with the same sound;
  • words which imitate their sound;
  • comparisons (e.g. ‘He sings like a bird.’ ‘She is a star.’).
• Reads for information:
  • reads simple maps and plans (e.g. finds a place);
  • reads and follows texts involving procedures (e.g. instructions for a science experiment);
  • reads diagrams, graphs and charts (e.g. a flow diagram);
  • scans timetables and television schedules for specific information;
  • summarises a paragraph with support (e.g. puts into sequence given sentences to make a summary);
  • reads texts across the curriculum (e.g. textbooks in their Learning Areas).
• Reads and responds to social texts (e.g. invitations).
• Reads media texts:
  • reads and understands the layout and design of a magazine (e.g. a school magazine or young people’s magazine).
• Reads for pleasure:
  • reads fiction and non-fiction at an appropriate reading and language level;
  • evaluates books in a book report;
  • reads a very simple book review;
  • solves word puzzles.
• Uses reference books and develops vocabulary:
  • uses a dictionary;
  • demonstrates a reading vocabulary of between 2000 and 3500 common words. Learners who will study other Learning Areas through their additional language should aim for 3500 words.

Learning Outcome 4:  Writing

The learner will be able to write different kinds of factual and imaginative texts for a wide range of purposes.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Writes to communicate information:
  • draws and labels simple maps, diagrams, graphs and charts;
  • writes a sequence of instructions;
  • writes a recount of events;
  • writes a recipe;
  • writes a short description of a person, object or simple process;
  • expresses an opinion in writing and gives a reason for it (e.g. why a book was interesting or boring);
  • writes a book review.
• Writes for social purposes:
  • writes a short message such as a postcard.
• Writes creatively:
  • writes a play script or dialogue;
  • writes a simple story;
  • uses some techniques for creative writing:
    • words which imitate their sound,
    • words beginning with the same sound,
    • making a thing (e.g. grass) sound like a person (e.g. ‘the grass sings’),
    • repeating the same structure to create a poetic rhythm and pattern.
• Designs media texts:
  • designs a poster and/or notice.
• Treats writing as a process, and uses developing knowledge of language structure and use:
  • writes rough drafts;
  • reads them critically;
  • gets feedback from the teacher and classmates;
  • rewrites after feedback;
  • begins to understand differences in writing style (e.g. spoken or informal style and written or formal style);
  • spells familiar words correctly;
  • uses a wider range of punctuation (e.g. inverted commas).

Learning Outcome 5:  Thinking and Reasoning

The learner will be able to use language to think and reason, as well as to access, process and use information for learning.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Uses language across the curriculum:
  • explains some concepts from other Learning Areas (e.g. drought in Social Sciences);
  • knows and is able to use some of the vocabulary of other school subjects (e.g. Natural Science);
  • understands and produces texts used in other Learning Areas (e.g. a description of a simple process in Technology or Life Skills);
  • reads and follows instructions for a simple scientific experiment.

• Uses language for thinking:
  • answers and begins to ask some more complex questions (e.g. ‘Why didn’t they...?’ ‘What would you do?’);
  • formulates questions about a written text;
  • sequences things (e.g. the stages of a process);
  • classifies things according to criteria (e.g. mammals and non-mammals);
  • identifies similarities and differences between things;
  • distinguishes parts from the whole;
  • expresses cause and effect;
  • expresses opinions and gives reasons for them;
  • discusses advantages and disadvantages;
  • with support, writes about advantages and disadvantages (e.g. fills them in on a table);
  • writes simple definitions and gives examples.

• Collects and records information in different ways:
  • describes a simple process orally and in writing;
  • designs, draws and labels maps, plans, charts, graphs and diagrams.
• Transfers information from one mode to another:
  • listens to a talk and records information on a chart, or labels a diagram;
  • uses information from a visual or written text to create a graph or chart, or to label a diagram;
  • uses information from a chart, graph or diagram to write a text;
  • does a mind map summary of a short text.

Learning Outcome 6:  Language Structure and Use

The learner will know and be able to use the sounds, words and grammar of the language to create and interpret texts.

Assessment standards

We know this when the learner:

• Understands and uses some question forms, such as ‘Why couldn’t ...?’ and ‘What/How do you think ...?’.
• Uses language forms and structures to communicate orally and in writing:
  • uses the tenses introduced in previous grades to communicate orally and in writing;
  • uses subject-verb concord (e.g. ‘I have/she has’);
  • uses the passive voice to communicate orally and in writing:
    • present passive (e.g. ‘Gold is mined in South Africa.’),
    • past passive (e.g. ‘The telephone was invented in the 20th century.’);
  • uses a conditional form to communicate orally and in writing (e.g. ‘If she works hard, she will be successful.’);
  • uses some prepositions to communicate orally and in writing (e.g. prepositions of place such as: at, in, on, between);
  • uses determiners to communicate orally and in writing (e.g. a, the, one, every, both, a few, several);
  • uses some adjectives as comparatives and superlatives (e.g. bigger than, more expensive than, the biggest, the most expensive).
• Understands and uses simple sentence structure:
  • co-ordinates sentences with 'but';
  • analyses simple sentences (e.g. 'The light bulb/was invented/in 1877.').
• Develops own vocabulary:
  • analyses formation (e.g. drum, drummer);
  • uses a personal dictionary;
  • understands between 3000 and 4500 common spoken words in context by the end of Grade 5. Learners who will study some of the other Learning Areas through their additional language should aim for 4500 words.