University of the Western Cape

LCS 323

Name: MZUKISI
Surname: MEMA
Student Number: 3812303
Due date: 26 OCTOBER 2020
Tutor Name: SIFUNDO METULA
Lecturer Name: PROF. ZANNIE BOCK

FINAL PROJECT

Declaration

I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and pretend that it is one’s
own. Therefore each significant contribution to, and quotation in this essay that I have taken from
the work of other people has been attributed, cited and referenced. I therefore declare that this essay
is my own work and I have not and will not allow anyone to copy my work with intention of
passing it off as his or her own work.

Signed: ………M.MEMA………………………………..………………. Date: ……26 OCTOBER 2020……

Literacy has been told to be a set of isolated reading and writing skills, in simple terms Literacy is
an elastic idea in that it means different things to different people (Hamilton, 2010). Moreover,
“people's literacy practices are situated in broader social relations, this makes it necessary to
describe the social setting of literacy events, including the way in which social institutions support
particular literacies” (Barton, 1994: 35). With that being said, the core intentions of this essay is to
analyse and discuss an extract taken from an interview that I had conducted with Marcus, a
dedicated and undeterred neighbour of mine, on the 11th of August this year. Furthermore, this essay
is going to be governed and influenced by the social literacy approach which deals with, “the
multiplicity of meanings, and definitions that carry implicit but generally unrecognised view of its
functions” (Barton's 1994: 26). Secondly, this essay will present an analysis of one of the literacy
event which forms a major part of the interview I had conducted with my research participant. The
first basic unit of analysis I made use of is that of event, the term or theory of literacy event can be
referenced as, 'all sorts of occasions in everyday life where the written word has a role” (Barton,
1994: 37).

The pseudonym I gave to my research participant is Marcus, a neighbour and friend of mine, who
originates by birth from a subsistent and self supporting farming family in the outskirts of a town
called Cradock in the Eastern Cape. Farming to Marcus, his parents and extended family meant that
they had little use or need for formal education. Moreover, Marcus claims that his initial literacy
history as well as practices are embedded largely on his culture, which is one that is governed by an
oral history and a tradition of tapestries that pass down stories from one generation to the next, for
many years the language that he and his family spoke was oral before it evolved to become written
and subsequently read. Marcus holds his literacy history in great esteem in that he claims that it is
the preservation and upholding of his literacy history that has uplifted him to the position he finds
himself in currently. It is important to understand that the interview I had conducted with Marcus
took place in his home, which is next to my home, where I live. We both chose this setting as it
appeared to be a perfect environment to share intimate information about himself.

As part of my qualitative research, it is crucial for me as a researcher to start out by giving out or
reconstructing my own narrative. As a black man, who is in his early twenties, 22 to be exact, I
come from and continue to live in an under-privileged society or community, one of the most
contributing factor towards the under-privileged state of being I find myself in came as a result of
the under-developed form of education I and subsequently my parents had received. As a child, I
never actually had the opportunity to be surrounded by books so as to be able to be read to and to
read for my self and others. Because of the under-privileged conditions I grew up in. Nevertheless,
Higher education to me was never an ideal choice that I took, It was an expectation. I was never the
smartest student in the class room neither did I receive straight As, but I managed my school work
with ease. Moreover, my relationship with Marcus, my interview participant, started way back in
2011, he is my neighbour and friend, we both share a common world view as well as values,
between and amongst us there are no specific powers dynamics, we are equal in that both of us have
received formal education in both our lives, the only visible power dynamic is that Marcus is older
than I am. Despite the age difference between us, being friends made it easier for him to share
insightful data with me and he was never hesitant to speak openly nor was he withholding
information from me.

The extract I have used occurs in the middle of the interview I had conducted with Marcus. The
interview tries to explore the different areas of my interview participant's social life such as, his
family, education and public life, his values and purposes (Hamilton, 2010). This led to the
understanding that,”the point of departure for detailed examination of literacy practices is to realise
that literacy may be different in different domains and that school, for example, is but one domain
of literacy activity” (Barton, 1994: 40). A further exploration of the interview I had conducted
shows that my research participant has got a literacy history that can be divided into different sub-
categories. The first two literacy practices are school based activities such as school reading and
school writing, this means that these literacy activities require, “different physical and cognitive
skills such as using pen and paper or typing with digital keyboard or using, most commonly, an
English text” (Hamilton, 2010: 11).

My research participant utters that school reading to, “Me was tantamount to a required reading task
wherein I was obligated to prove that I most certainly knew the correct information”. Also, he
described school writing as linear, teacher directed and often formulaic, he only saw it as a type of
problem banking education in that he says, in his own words that,“I grew up in schooling system
that endorsed those who posed themselves to be literate in terms of being able to write and read
better” this then means that he was taught in a schooling system wherein his teachers were, “talking
about reality as if it was static, motionless, compartmentalised, and predictable.” (Freire, 1978, p.
72), “the teacher delivered to us linear content that is completely alien from the existential
experience of us as students, in turn we were compelled to receive, memorise and repeat that
particular content”. On the one hand, the other sub-categories are literacy practices that he did
outside of the school domain or setting, these practices essentially involved literacy events such as
story reading, leisure reading, creative and personal writing. These literacy practices were more
valuable and prominent to, “me when I was younger (see image 1), but as, “I grew older and
attended school (see image 2), these practices as well as events degenerated over a period of time
due to the strict regulations and system of our school reading and writing”. This obviously means
that the school based literacy practices and events was or is more supported, endorsed and
legitimised by the education institution than the home based literacy events and practices which are
devalued and are not seen as having a place in educational institutions (Hamilton, 2010).

Interestingly, the main significant event in the life of my interview participant is how, “I made use
of both of My school based and home based literacy practices to help me to write my grandfather's
detailed letter of complaint to the Cradock municipality.” writing this letter was an honour to, “me
because it was a positive challenge that came with responsibility and it showed my grandfather that
I was literate enough to be able to write, on his behalf, a formal letter designated to an official
service provider, the Cradock Municipality”. This can be interpreted to mean that, my interview
participant, Marcus, made use of his learnt or picked up cognitive resources and combined it with
his knowledge of writing as well as reading that he had also picked up in school (Hamilton, 2010).
He further says that “I had also accumulated, while in school, organising skills, which included, but
were not limited to, arranging in ascending order assignments and tasks in a diary book and creating
a list of the assignments and tasks that I had already accomplished, this was my way of reflecting of
my effectiveness, as a general school pupil”. “I also made use of my, arguably sharp English
knowledge to write in broad details the contents of the letter of complaint to the municipality as
well as the recommendations therein”. This supports the ever changing nature of literacy practices
and the commonly shared nature of a person's literacy practices. Also, this allows one to see how,
“social institutions and the power relations they support structure our uses of both the written and
spoken language (Barton, 1994: 37).

Taken together, literacy event and practices are the two basic units of analysis I have made use of to
analyse the social activity and literacy of my interview participant (Barton, 1994). Overall, my
involvement in the interview with Marcus encompassed wider dimensions, as the primary
interviewer he regarded or viewed me as a, “figure of authority who carries a label of researcher,
someone affiliated with the prestige institution called the University, and surrounded by
assumptions of intellectual brilliance and sophistication” (Blommaert & Jie, 2010: 50).

Literacy events and practices vary from person to person or from one home to the next, they are not
static, they evolve. The interview I conducted with Marcus shows that his literacy is a social
practice because it mainly extracts information that speaks to or involves or includes a common
pattern of using reading in different communicative situations and contexts. Also, Marcus has got a
literacy must be viewed as a social practice because it is associated with the written word, this helps
us to see how social institutions and the power relations they support structure our use of
language(s)
References
1. Barton, D. (1994). Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language. Oxford:
Blackwell.

2. Blommaert, J. & Jie, D. (2010). Ethnographic Fieldwork: A Beginners Guide. Bristol:

Multilingual Matters. Pp. 48-64.

.3 Freire, P. (1978). From Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In Ollman, B. and Norton, T.M. (Eds),
Studies in Socialist Pedagogy. New York: Monthly Review Press. 60 – 76

4. Hamilton, Mary. (2010). The social context of literacy. In Hughes, N. & Schwab, I. (Eds),
Teaching Adult Literacy: Principles and Practices. Berkshire: Open University Press. Pages 7-13
(extract).
APPENDIX A
Interview Transcription.

1. Mzukisi: How has your pre- and post- school literacy (reading and writing) experiences shaped
your world view? Name one literacy event or practice that you find most important in your life.

2. Marcus: Err....that's quite a difficult one … I guess I would say that reading especially has
allowed me to see and view the world as a beautiful place to be in, despite all the disenchantments,
dreadfulness and problems that keeps humanity in a miserable state... – its still a beautiful world....
(3.0) The letter.... that I .. that I wrote to the Cradock municipality on behalf of my grandfather is
something that I hold dear unto this very day.

3. Mzukisi: What are some of the life lessons that you have learned from your pre- and post- school
literacy experiences, especially writing?

4. Marcus: [ ] …. Wow... OK – Most importantly I have learned that writing is an art that only a few
know how to master infinitely and that in life one has to find balance between and amongst things..
… (3.0) For example, some would...err...would describe this and say one has to strike a balance
between the spiritual and the material.... some people focus more on the spiritual and loose the
material, others focus more on the material and loose their spirituality – so I have learned not to
lean … but to balance – everything has to balance.

5. Mzukisi: Are the literacy experiences you have had in your pre- and post- school still applicable
to applicable to you currently?

6. Marcus: Definitely man.... err as the saying goes – a person without the knowledge of his past
history is like a tree without roots... so I find my self obliged to still apply my past experiences to
my current state of being (3.0) because the past is what has moulded me into the person I am and
also the person I am evolving to become.

7. Mzukisi: How has reading and writing improved or degenerated your literacy from pre-, post-
school and currently?

8. Marcus: [ ] …. All right – phew... I would say my literacy level has satisfactorily and gradually
evolved or improved – this is because over the year I have been able to read, learn, re-learn,
assimilate and put into practice through writing the important aspects of literacy, aspects that are
there to guide an individual, such as my self, in the journey of life (3.0) err... currently, I am still in
the process of practicing the relevant literacy teachings that I have accumulated over the years.

9. Mzukisi: What advice would you give to young people as it relates to the preservation of the
literacy experiences they have already accumulated.

10. Marcus: …. [ ] well.. its basic and simple, one has to regard literacy as a basic tool for a proper
guidance in the sometimes perilous journey of life. (3.0) Most importantly, one must never give in
to the pressure of abandoning their own (literacy experience), for the adoption of another.... we have
to stick to what it is that is ours so as to be never confused about or disengaged from our past
literacy experience/ history.
APPENDIX B
LCS 323 Literacy Studies
Research Ethics and Informed Consent

1. Issues of research ethics and informed consent are increasingly important in today’s world.
All research at UWC and other institutions is guided by strict ethical guidelines. All projects
need to be formally registered with the university’s research committee. Your interview will
fall under Prof Zannie Bock’s project, Fostering Inclusion: New Student Voices in Higher
Education (Reg No.: HS18/3/4).
2. This also means that all participants must be informed of the purpose of the interview (both
orally and in writing via an information sheet) and, should they agree to participate, be asked
to sign a consent form. They can sign physically (pen on paper) or electronically, or simply by
stating their consent clearly on the audio recording (“I hereby give consent for this interview
to be used for this literacy project. The project and the terms of my participation have been
clearly explained to me”, etc.)
3. They must be informed and assured that:
- All participation is voluntary;
- They are free to withdraw from the research at any time without any negative or
undesirable consequences to themselves;
- All data will be anonymised so as to protect their identity;
- Although there is minimal risk to them as a participant, should they experience any
discomfort or distress, they may immediately withdraw and will be referred to a
professional counselling service (e.g. CSSS, Help Line, SADAG).
4. You will therefore need to prepare various documents (information sheet and consent form)
for your participant to read through before the interview begins. Templates of these (see
next pages) will be uploaded on Ikamva for you to use. These will also be further discussed in
the online lectures.
5. Give your participant a pseudonym – a name which cannot be traced back to them. You
should also anonymise the names of places, schools, streets, or anything that could be used
to identify them, in both your transcript and your written analysis.
August 2020
Information Sheet
Research Project: Fostering Inclusion: New student voices in higher education.
I am a student in the Linguistics Department at the University of the Western Cape. I would like to
interview you for my research project for my third year module, Literacy Studies (LCS323). My
purpose is understand your history and experiences of acquiring different literacies during the
course of your life. My conversation with you will be recorded and parts of it transcribed. It will be
used for my third year project, and may be added to the broader pool of data in the UWC
registered research project, ‘Fostering Inclusion: New student voices in higher education’, of which
my lecturer is the principal investigator.
The interview (data) will not be shared with parties external to the project without your
permission, and it will be stored in a password protected computer. You may request a copy of the
transcribed data and may request that parts of the data be withdrawn from the research. Rest
assured that your participation will always be voluntary, and that all data pertaining to you (and
other participants) will be anonymised. Even if you initially agree to participate in the research, you
may withdraw at any time, for any reason, without any negative or undesirable consequences to
yourself. Although there is minimal risk to you as a participant, should you experience any
discomfort or distress, you may immediately withdraw, and you will be referred to a professional
counselling service. If you agree, I will ask you to sign the attached consent form which ‘spells out’
the UWC ‘code of conduct’ for research.

For further enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact me on my cell phone

(___0732761144________________) or via email (_____3812303__________@myuwc.ac.za). You
may also contact my supervisor, Prof Zannie Bock in the Linguistics Department
(zbock@uwc.ac.za).

Thank you for your participation,

________MZUKISI__MEMA_________________
(Your name)

Consent Form University of the Western Cape

Title: Fostering inclusion: New student voices in higher education

Researcher: MZUKISI MEMA

Supervisor: Prof Zannie Bock

Please initial box

1. I confirm that I have read and understand the information sheet explaining the
above research project and I have had the opportunity to ask questions about the project.

2. I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time
without giving any reason and without there being any negative consequences. In addition,
should I not wish to answer any particular question or questions, I am free to decline.
(If I wish to withdraw I may contact the lead research at any time)

3. I understand my responses and personal data will be kept strictly confidential. I give
permission for members of the research team to have access to my anonymised responses.
I understand that my name will not be linked with the research materials, and I will not be
identified or identifiable in the reports or publications that result from the research.

4. I agree that the data collected from me can be used in future research.

5. I agree to take part in the above research project.

7. I understand that I may decline to be audio-recorded at any time

 Siphelo Mzimkhulu 20/10/2020 S.Mzimkhulu
(or legal representative) Date Signature

Mzukisi Mema 20/10/2020 M.Mema

Name of researcher Date Signature
(If different from lead researcher)

_________________________ ______ ______________

Prof Zannie Bock Date Signature
IMAGES

MARCUS 1

MARCUS 2