LEA301

TOPIC 1: An introduction to the CAPS

Foundation Phase English First Additional
Language Curriculum (Part 2)
ADDITIVE BILINGUALISM
We use the term “Additive”
to show an addition or
contribution to one’s
language (language
affected in a positive way).
That is, even while one is
learning a second
language, one’s first
Additive Bilingualism (CAPS FAL 2011:11) language skills remain
valued and don’t get
affected.
ADDITIVE BILINGUALISM

• Children come to school knowing their HL

• They speak it fluently
• Learning to read and write =builds on the foundation of oral language
• Need a strong oral foundation to learn English as FAL
• Need to hear simple spoken English in context …..They need to listen to their teacher
reading stories.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

ADDITIVE BILINGUALISM

Listening to the
teacher read from
Big Books is a good
way of learners
listening to simple
spoken language.

(CAPS FAL 2011:11)

ADDITIVE BILINGUALISM

• Once children’s understanding develops, they can be given the opportunity to speak in
simple ways.
ADDITIVE BILINGUALISM

• Many children in South Africa start using their additional language (English) in Grade 4
• They must be competent in English by the end of Grade 3……They need to read and write
well
• Must develop their skills in Grade 1 and 2
• Many skills learnt in the home language can be transferred to the additional language .e.g.
handwriting
ADDITIVE BILINGUALISM

• Handwriting skills learnt in the HL are used when writing in English

• Learners learn phonics in their HL …no need to learn sound-spelling relationships again
that are different in English
• CAPS FAL builds on learners’ literacy skills in their HL

• Example: Guided reading activities taught in Grade 1 are taught in the additional language
in Grade 2

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed

under CC BY-SA-NC
TIME ALLOCATION (CAPS FAL 2011:12)
TIME ALLOCATION (CAPS FAL 2011:13)
ASSESSMENT (CAPS FAL 2011:13)
ASSESSMENTS

• Formal Assessments Informal Assessments

• These assessments determine marks These assessments help check

or % for learners every term
learners performance: needed
Systematic way of assessment assistance.
Non-systematic
Determine whether they have mastered content Determine learners’ progress
and learning outcomes (overall achievement) rather than overall
achievement

Examples: Examples:
Tests, exams, tasks, assignments Checklists, rating scales
Observations
ENGLISH FAL: AN INTRODUCTION (CAPS FAL 2011:13-14)

Must be practical and fun.

Letting learners think of words they are

familiar with in English and explain
what they mean (based on learners’
prior knowledge of the language)

The use of a puppet: Can be given a

name (in the additional language) for
e.g. Peter Puppet. The puppet only
understands English. Puppet can’t
speak their HL. A second puppet can
be introduced.
LISTENING AND SPEAKING

Learning an additional language-

just like learning a HL, but happens
later in the learners’ lives

HL- In early stages learners learn

simple language in context

Gradually absorb the grammar and

vocabulary of their HL

Learn to speak using 1 or 2 words-

these words have a range of
meanings

They understand more than they

express
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (CAPS FAL 2011:14)

When learning an additional

language-Grade ones need to be
exposed to lots of oral language

For example, stories and classroom

instructions-stand up, sit down, put
your books away

Listening to stories is an excellent way

for children to acquire an additional
language

STORYTELLING

What stories could you tell children?

LISTENING AND SPEAKING (CAPS FAL 2011:14)
Short story (not too much information)

Story with a simple, repetitive structure

Use simple/basic language. Speak slowly

and pronounce words correctly

Make use of gestures, pictures, posters and

real objects

Can make use of puppets for learners to join

in

REPEAT: Tell the story several times,

involving learners for e.g. joining refrains

He huffs and he puffs and he blows the

house down
 LISTENING AND SPEAKING (CAPS FAL 2011:14)
SHARED READING AND BIG BOOKS

Use Big Books to read stories (enlarged

print)

This is called Shared Reading…..

This is an excellent listening activity and

develops learners’ emergent literacy

Children learn about the concept/idea of

print

They learn about reading from left to right

and from top to bottom

They learn about the front and the back of

the book
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (CAPS FAL 2011:14-16)

They begin to recognise a few written

words e.g. he/she, the, that, etc..

Learners will become familiar with

Shared Reading….they will do this
in HL lessons
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (CAPS FAL 2011: 15)

• TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE

Children respond physically to simple

instructions

Come here, Thabo….. Use gestures

This is known as the TPR approach

Total Physical Response…Children respond

totally using body actions

Clap your hands

LISTENING AND SPEAKING
LISTENING AND SPEAKING (CAPS FAL 2011:15)

• THE THREE LISTENING METHODS

• Listening to stories (Storytelling)

• Shared Reading (Big books)

• TPR (Total Physical Response)

• Think of activities to help improve English listening and
speaking skills
 LISTENING AND SPEAKING (CAPS FAL 2011:16)
• THEME TEACHING

A lot of time devoted to Listening and

Speaking in Grade one. Reduced in
Grades two, three.
More reading and writing introduced in
grades two, three
In CAPS, listening and speaking are
organized as follows:
• List of activities to be covered daily
• Focused activity: “listening to stories
told and read” which may be taught
once or twice in a week (time
available)
Above activities are planned around
themes. 4 themes per term. Should be
familiar to the learners(taught in the HL
already. Organised/new vocab in FAL
EXAMPLES OF THEMES

My Body Wild animals Healthy eating

READING AND WRITING (AN OVERVIEW)
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:17)

• GRADE R AND ONE: Strong focus on developing oral language

when learners will be learning to read and write in HL

• GRADE 2 AND 3: Focus should be on literacy development in

their FAL

• It is crucial as learners will use English as their LOLT in Grade 4

• They will need a high level of English vocabulary

READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:17)

• Reading and writing contribute to learners’ language

development in English

• Reading gives exposure to their FAL

• Vocabulary dependent on the amount of reading

• Writing is important: forces learners to think about grammar and

spelling
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:17)

Activities for Reading

and Writing
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:17)

• 1. EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PRINT

• Children get exposed to environmental print in English since their earliest years

• For example, signage (traffic signs, shop signs etc.) and packaging

• Use prior knowledge as a starting point for child’s emergent literacy in their additional
language

• Use practical examples: Bring physical things to show learners

READING AND WRITING

Collect your own resources

of print in the environment,
whether by taking photos,
magazine pictures, names
on cereal boxes for your
classroom.
READING AND WRITING

• 2. SHARED READING

• Big Books (enlarged print)

• Excellent reading activity and develops learners’ emergent literacy
• Talk about the pictures and familiar words
• Read story several times and ask questions
• Gradually let learners read the story together
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:18)

• 3. GROUP GUIDED READING

• New activity in Grade 2: Group Guided Reading

• Have been doing this in their HL
• Readers (reading books)-different levels (difficulty)
• Ability groups-reader appropriate for each level group
• Work within each group once a week
• Other groups: paired/independent reading OR reading activities
for e.g. simple writing; putting sentences in correct order
READING AND WRITING
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011: 18, 19)

ABILITY GROUPS
 READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:19)

• ABILITY GROUPS
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:19, 20)

• ABILITY GROUPS
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:20)

4. Paired and independent reading

 Provides a way of giving
learners reading practice
 Encourages reading for
enjoyment
 Learners to use this time to:

 re-read and practice reading

reader from group guided
reading
 Reading for pleasure from
reading corner
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:19, 20) PHONICS

 First stage of learning to decode written

language is ORAL
 Isolating different sounds to the letters
that represent them e.g. t, o, p, or sh
 Then blend letters together for e.g. top,
shop
 Learners have prior knowledge of letter
sounds in their HL. They can practice
decoding in English (FAL) by applying
their prior knowledge.
 LEARN where sound-spelling
relationships are different in HL and FAL
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:21) PHONICS

 Learners will also benefit from

learning to identify the sounds
of English (phonemic
awareness) in grade 1
 Best achieved through:
Songs, rhymes that help
isolate the sounds
 For example, “I am going to
the zoo, zoo, zoo. You can
come too, too, too”.
WORD RECOGNITION (CAPS FAL 2011:21) 6. WORD RECOGNITION

English has a large number of words that

are not spelt as the sound:

Sometimes it is impossible to decode these

words phonetically

Therefore: Make use of SIGHT words

Or ‘look-and-say’ words

HIGH FREQUENCY words can also be

learnt this way (words that appear
frequently in text)
READING AND WRITING (CAPS FAL 2011:22) 7. COMPREHENSION

o Often children are able to decode in

FAL, but are unable to understand
what they read.
o Could be because their language
skills are still weak
o Lack sufficient grammar and
vocabulary
o Teachers should help build their
vocabulary
o E.g. Build a word wall in class(go
over daily)
o Encourage reading to help with
vocabulary
LANGUAGE STRUCTURE AND USE

• A reasonable level of grammar contributes to the foundation for skills development in the
FAL.
• Grade 1- Incidental (Exposure to the spoken language)
• Grade 2 and 3 (Reading English)
• Grade 3 (Specified time allocation for Language Use)

• Vocabulary targets are set for each grade. Lists of high frequency words can be found in
Section 3 of your CAPS FAL FP document. It is imperative that learners reach the targets if
they are going to use English as a LOLT in Grade 4.
• STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING LEARNERS’ VOCABULARY
• Word Walls and labels in the classroom
• Vocabulary games, e.g. Bingo, quizzes
• Independent Reading
• Illustrated dictionaries (both monolingual and bilingual)
• Personal dictionaries
READING AND WRITING
UNIT ONE REFERENCES

Department of Basic Education. South Africa. 2011. Curriculum

and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). Foundation Phase
First Additional Language Grade R-3. Pretoria: Government
Printer