Let The Research Begin . . .

Back Again . . . 

Monday was the start of school, and NWU campus quadrupled in size.  There were students everywhere on campus.  I finally got to see what it was like with students here.  I took some pictures because it started to look like a college campus (a much smaller one than UMD) with all the students roaming around and populating the buildings, the stores, and restaurants on and near campus. Many of the first-year students belong to a Hostel (dorm) and they wear the jackets (we just got t-shirts) that they get during initiation throughout the year (see three girls pics).    School is back in session in Potchefstroom!

Just imagine . . .
The classroom where all the English for Education classes takes place is quite large (in comparison to the rooms where I teach my classes) with 12 tables set up with 8 chairs at each table.  The classroom is shaped like a rectangle so it is long and narrow.  It is one of the warmest rooms I have been in because there is carpeting and the heaters are constantly on high.  At the front of the room is a projector, computer, desk, and a chair. The projector screen is huge since the classroom extends so far back.  The room is equipped with a microphone for the instructor so the he or she can be heard in the back of the room, and each table has microphones so all students can be privy to what each one says or answers (no need to scream).  Honestly, we complain in 463 about 30 students, I can't imagine having 50 (third-year) let alone 120 (first-year)!

As for the research . . .

 On Monday, I met with Maryna (pronounce ma-ray-na) who is teaching ENGE 321, which is a third-year class.  There is about 50-60 students normally in the class.  But because some students did not do well the semester before they are allowed to sit for their exams (in any of their classes) again on the first day of school to try to improve their original grade.  This is one of the ways that students are weened out of the program.  Therefore, there were only 30 students in the class that Maryna was teaching.  Anyway, she gave me the first 15 minutes to explain my research, why I was there, who I was, and what I was asking.  Honestly, I was a bit nervous but students appeared to be receptive.  I passed out the consent forms and went over them with the students.  I told them where to initial and sign as well as the add their email/phone number so I could get in contact with them if they had opted to be part of the interview.  I forgot that even though I was in an English for Education class, English is the second language for a majority of the students, so on the consent form it says, "Subject Name," and many of the students thought that meant the subject that they were in.  I totally had forgotten that it might be taken out of context and a couple had to cross that out and write their names. In the end, 30 third-year students agreed to take part in the survey and 6 of those agreed to do the interview.  The third-year students are not as diverse (from what I saw, only three boys,one Tswana girl, and the rest White Afrikaans girls) but I think that will prove interesting, in the end.

On Tuesday, I walked into Mariletta's (pronounced Mary-Letta) class of first-year students, ENGE 122.  The first-year students are the largest group because this is before they are weened out of the program due to grades and poor performance on exams.  All but two of the tables were filled with students.  Mariletta teaches a linguistics class but uses The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy as a way to show linguistics in literature (very different).  I have not see what she does yet in class but I am going to observe a few of her classes because I am very interested.  Anyway, she had to do some housekeeping at the start of class and then it was my turn.  I actually had to use the microphone (which is weird because I am so loud anyway) in the classroom because the students in the back could not hear me without it.  This time I went through the consent form in more detail and made sure to be more explicit.  Yet, like all students there were some that listened and some that did not (that crosses cultural and linguistic boundaries it appears).  I got some consent forms without email addresses and a few just filled in their first name where it says "Subject Name."  After everyone had signed the forms, I had 86 students that class agreed to do the survey and 20 of that 86 who were willing to be interviewed.  I won't be interviewing them all but will ask the teacher to suggest a few that she thinks would be best.

Today I went into Mandie's class, ENGE 221, which is all 2nd-year students and did the same talk again.  Mandie had mentioned to me that the 2nd-year students were the most diverse because there were Tswana speaking students as well as Muslim students in the class (they make up a 1/3 of the class).  There was also supposed to be up to 60 students in that class but because of failure rates the numbers might have dropped.   I thought I was more explicit and clear this time (3rd times a charm right?) but I still had some students who didn't write out their full or name or leave contact information.  Needless to say, 38 students agreed to take part in the survey and of those 11 agreed to interviews.

Next Week . . . 
My goal next week is to go back into all those classes and do the surveys as well as observe the professors.  After the surveys have been completed, I will set-up interview times for the students and begin those!

As For The Weekend . . .
I am headed to a weekend Camp for the 3rd-years in the English for Education Program.  The instructors and professors (4 total) take the students away for the weekend (leaving Friday afternoon- returning early afternoon Sunday) to do some bonding within the student group but also to do some extra classroom lessons that they can not get to throughout the semester (i.e. some poetry, intro to a novel, strategies, etc).   I have to admit this would never be done at home (and honestly not sure if I would want to do it) but I am curious to see how it goes.  I was invited and as I said before, since I am here to learn and be a part of things, I said yes, having no idea what I was getting into.  From what I understand, we are staying in cabins and it is very, very cold so I have to dress warm and be prepared! I will report more on Monday!