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

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;
  • notes relevant information (e.g. by filling in a chart);
  • responds personally;
  • connects the story to own life;
  • discusses social, ethical and critical issues (e.g. ‘What kind of person is the hero?’ ‘How does s/he act?’ ‘Is s/he represented realistically or in a stereotyped way?’), codeswitching if necessary;
  • suggests an alternative ending to the story, codeswitching if necessary;
  • retells the story;
  • summarises the story.
• Understands oral instructions and directions:
  • understands a complex sequence of instructions by responding physically (e.g. following instructions to set up a science experiment);
  • understands oral directions by noting them down and following them on a map.
• Understands oral descriptions:
  • identifies people, objects or places;
  • labels a diagram;
  • notes relevant information (e.g. on a chart);
  • answers questions.
• Understands recounted events:
  • answers questions about what happened first, second, etc.;
  • recounts the same events.
• 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;
  • sustains a conversation on a familiar topic;
  • expresses an opinion and gives reasons for it;
  • expresses feelings.
• Acts in culturally appropriate ways:
  • role-plays some familiar situations using appropriate language and actions;
  • shows an awareness of the common values expressed in different ways in different languages (e.g. ‘Ndicela ...’ and ‘Please ...’ are different ways of expressing the same value of politeness and respect for others);
  • switches from one language to another where appropriate (e.g. to show respect for someone else’s 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 piece of equipment and what it is used for);
  • talks about an issue with preparation (e.g. how to save water);
  • carries out a class survey (e.g. interviews classmates), and records responses on chart or graph).
• Uses additional language creatively:
  • tells a story;
  • performs poems, songs and simple plays;
  • invents a game involving language;
  • imagines and describes possibilities.
• Shows awareness of the way language constructs knowledge and identity and positions people:
  • begins to look critically at naming practices (e.g. how slaves and workers were named by owners/employers, women taking their husbands’ surnames, newly married women being renamed by their husbands’ families, naming people as ‘makwerekwere’).

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 some elements of stories:
  • understands title, setting and plot (e.g. says why things happened in the way they did);
  • understands characters (e.g. describes their feelings and talks about reasons for their actions);
  • identifies and discusses social and ethical issues in the story (e.g. 'Is the story just and fair?');
  • notices how characters and plots are constructed to represent a particular view of the world (e.g. 'Are people of different races and/or cultures represented stereotypically or in realistic ways that show their diversity?');
  • notices the role that visual images play in the construction of meaning (e.g. 'How are people of different races and/or cultures represented?');
  • suggests alternative ways of representing characters and their actions.
• Understands, in a simple way, some elements of poetry:
  • rhyme;
  • words which begin with the same sound;
  • words which imitate their sound;
  • comparisons;
  • talking about a thing (e.g. the sun) as if it is a person (e.g. ‘The sun is smiling.’);
  • some terms to describe these elements (meta-language) - alliteration, onomatopoeia.
• Reads for information:
  • follows instructions, recipes, maps and plans;
  • scans timetables and television schedules for specific information;
  • summarises a paragraph (e.g. identifies the main point and the topic sentence);
  • reads texts across the curriculum (e.g. textbooks in other Learning Areas).
• Reads and responds to social texts (e.g. letters).
• Identifies aspects of style related to audience (e.g. formal versus informal).
• Reads media texts:
  • identifies how advertisements persuade readers, for example, by using:
    • adjectives (e.g. new, amazing, fantastic),
    • poetic devices such as alliteration (e.g. ‘Meal in a Minute’),
    • humour,
    • science or famous people to promote the product;
  • understands the layout and design of a magazine, and compares it to a newspaper.
• Reads for pleasure:
  • reads much fiction and non-fiction at an appropriate reading and language level;
  • reads some new kinds of texts (e.g. a personal diary);
  • evaluates books in a book report;
  • reads a simple book or film review;
  • solves word puzzles.
• Uses reference books and develops vocabulary:
  • uses the contents page and index to find information;
  • uses a dictionary;
  • demonstrates a reading vocabulary of between 3000 and 5000 common words. Learners who will study other Learning Areas through their additional language should aim for 5000 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 plans, maps, graphs and charts;
  • writes a description of a person, object or simple process;
  • using a ‘frame’or structure, writes a simple report (e.g. of a science experiment);
  • expresses an opinion and gives reasons for it (e.g. why one poem is better than another);
  • writes a book review.
• Writes for social purposes:
  • with a ‘frame’, writes a simple personal letter;
  • identifies some differences between formal and informal style (e.g. word choice);
  • identifies some differences between speech and writing;
  • writes for personal reflection (e.g. a diary).
• Writes creatively:
  • shows development in the ability to write stories, play scripts and dialogues (e.g. by using poetic devices to create interesting titles, by including dialogue in a story).
• Designs media texts:
  • designs a poster, a simple advertisement and a simple questionnaire;
  • writes a simple news report.
• Understands the writing process, and uses developing knowledge of language structure and use:
  • writes rough drafts, reads them critically, gets feedback from the teacher and classmates, and rewrites;
  • understands the difference between revising (changing content and structure) and editing (correcting mistakes);
  • edits writing, using knowledge of structure (e.g. grammar, spelling, punctuation, grammatical differences between home and additional languages) and tools (e.g. a dictionary).

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. entrepreneur);
  • extracts information from materials used in Languages and other Learning Areas;
  • knows and is able to use some of the vocabulary of other Learning Areas (e.g. Natural Science);
  • understands and produces texts used in other Learning Areas (e.g. reads instructions for a simple scientific experiment and, with support, writes up the results).
• Uses language for thinking:
  • answers and asks some more complex questions (e.g. ‘Can you think of another explanation for this?’);
  • sequences things according to criteria;
  • analyses the features of things in order to classify them;
  • identifies similarities and differences between things;
  • distinguishes parts from the whole;
  • expresses cause and effect;
  • discusses advantages and disadvantages and writes about them;
  • evaluates, makes choices and judgments, and gives reasons for them;
  • writes definitions and gives examples.
  • Collects and records information in different ways:
    • carries out some simple research (e.g. a traffic survey);
    • 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 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 do you think ...?’ and ‘Why doesn’t ...?’.
• Uses language forms and structures to communicate orally and in writing:
  • uses tenses:
    • present and past passive,
    • past progressive/past perfect progressive (e.g. ‘I was watching TV when it happened.’ ‘She has been watching TV since ten o’clock.’);
  • uses the negative concord (e.g. ‘I don’t have’, ‘she doesn’t have’);
  • develops the use of conjunctions (e.g. since, during);
  • uses comparatives (e.g. as ... as, whereas);
  • uses a conditional form to communicate orally and in writing (e.g. ‘If I won some money, I would buy food.’);
  • extends use of prepositions, determiners and adjectives.
• Understands more complex sentences structure:
  • uses relative clauses (e.g. ‘Gold, which is mined in Gauteng, is an important export.’);
  • uses ellipsis - leaving things out (e.g. ‘Some people are rich; some are not.’).
• Develops own vocabulary:
  • recognises words which go together (e.g. ‘strong coffee’ but not ‘powerful coffee’);
  • words which sound the same but are spelled differently (e.g. right/write);
  • words which are often confused (e.g. diary/dairy);
  • understands between 4000 and 5500 common spoken words in context by the end of Grade 6. Learners who will study some of the other Learning Areas through their additional language should aim for 5500 words.