South Africa Grade 8 Home Language Course Entries

Listening and Speaking

Listening and speaking skills are developed through various activities, including:

• Active listening exercises to improve comprehension and empathy.
• Formal and informal discussions on a range of topics, including debates and presentations.
• Giving and following directions and instructions.
• Participating in dialogues, conversations, interviews, and panel discussions.
• Practicing prepared and unprepared speeches, including storytelling and reporting on events.
• Analyzing oral texts, including speeches and media presentations, for language use, tone, and persuasive techniques.

Reading and Viewing

Reading and viewing skills are developed through engagement with diverse texts, such as:

• Intensive reading of shorter texts for comprehension, summary, note-taking, and critical language awareness.
• Formal study of literary texts, including novels, short stories, folklore, drama, poetry, and film.
• Analysis of multimodal and visual texts, including advertisements, cartoons, graphs, and diagrams.
• Extended independent reading for pleasure and research.
• Identifying and interpreting persuasive, emotive, and manipulative language, bias, prejudice, and stereotyping.
• Distinguishing between facts and opinions.
• Understanding the logical sequence of information.
• Making judgments and providing evidence.
• Making assumptions and predicting consequences.

Writing and Presenting

Writing and presenting skills are honed through various activities, including:

• Process writing, encompassing planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, and presenting.
• Producing various text types, including narrative, descriptive, argumentative, reflective, and expository essays.
• Writing transactional texts, such as letters, emails, reports, advertisements, posters, and reviews.
• Creating literary and media texts, such as personal recounts, dialogues, poetry, and newspaper articles.
• Using language structures and conventions correctly and appropriately.
• Developing an identifiable voice and style.

Language Structures and Conventions

Knowledge of language structures and conventions is reinforced through:

• Correct use of punctuation, spelling, and grammar.
• Understanding and applying parts of speech, including nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
• Developing vocabulary, including synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homophones, and figurative language.
• Demonstrating critical language awareness, including identifying bias, prejudice, stereotypes, and manipulative language.

Assessment

Assessment in Home Language is both informal and formal. Informal assessment includes daily observation and feedback. Formal assessment includes oral and written tasks, tests, and examinations, covering listening, speaking, reading, viewing, writing, presenting, and language structures and conventions.