@phdthesis{01JD54JRCQNJNFZFB0S097ZDNV,
  abstract     = {{Literacy and language practices are central to any educational context, and many positive 
educational outcomes rely on students mastering the challenges associated with academic 
reading and writing. The overriding aim of this project is to explore the literacy and language 
practices of the student-teachers, lecturers and former students (now teachers) at a selected 
tertiary institution, referred to as ‘the University of the Future’, in the Western Cape, South 
Africa. 
Guided by a qualitative approach, this study makes use of a questionnaire, interviews 
and focus group discussions to collect data. As a result of the social restrictions imposed due 
to the COVID 19 pandemic, the data collection process had to adapt to online interaction. The 
research participants include both students currently registered at the University of the Future, 
and those who had received their education there some years before and who are now practising 
teachers. The rationale for including this second cohort of participants was to draw on both 
their memories of their own language and literacy practices while students 40 years ago, and 
to draw on their experiences of their current high school students’ language and literacy needs 
and challenges. A third group of participants, namely current lecturers and a mentor at the 
University of the Future were also interviewed. These three groups of participants (the entrylevel students, their current lecturers, and a group of ex-students, now teachers) were active 
participants in the face to face interviews and the focus group discussions which continued 
online during and after the pandemic.
This study is informed by a theoretical framework which includes theories of literacies
(also multiliteracies), multilingualism and language ideologies. In addition, this thesis employs 
a stance-taking analysis to analyse the ways in which students position themselves in relation 
to a topic of discussion, as well as to each other. 
During the face to face interactions with both the entry-level students and the lecturers, 
participants elaborate on their literacy and language practices as learners at school and as first 
year students. The second part of the analysis focuses on the online interviews with the presentday teachers (former students) and explores both current literacy and language challenges in 
their school classrooms, as well as their memories of their own educational experiences of four 
decades ago at the same University of the Future. This part of the analysis also includes entrylevel students’ views on the educational challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, 
the data analysis explores online debating practices as a literacy enrichment intervention. 
vi
Through debating practices, participants are able to engage with collaborative learning, acquire 
critical thinking and literacy skills, use their abilities to make decisions based on factual 
resources, and improve their ability to express their ideas (orally) in English. 
This project seeks to add to the body of literature on language and literacy in higher 
education through a) using a stance-taking analysis to evaluate students’ positions, and b) 
introduce debating as a literacy intervention. In this thesis, I argue that debating enables 
students to engage in higher ordering thinking in ways which engage their full linguistic 
repertoires and CALP skills (Cummins, 1980), which are so important for academic learning 
and success. I therefore recommend that debating should be included in teacher education 
programmes as a means to enhance learners’ academic performance in different educational 
contexts.}},
  author       = {{Strauss, Stuart}},
  keywords     = {{multilingualism,education,stance-taking,south-africa,literacies}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{XXII, 396}},
  publisher    = {{Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy ; University of the Western Cape}},
  school       = {{Ghent University}},
  title        = {{Exploring the literacy and language practices of student-teachers at a South African university : a stance-taking analysis}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}