Abstract:
This study evaluated the application of the ‘process approach’ to writing in secondary
schools in Limpopo Province; The initial plan was to involve two rural and two urban
schools. However, the urban schools did not cooperate as initially promised when
preparations were made. It is for this reason that the sample was made up of two rural
and two peri-urban schools. The study investigated English writing as a basic language
skill that second language learners needed to acquire, in a process writing context.
Related literature was reviewed to develop knowledge in the area of writing as a
process. An exploratory research design was employed and a qualitative approach
was followed to mainly collect in-depth data in a Grade 12 English language classroom.
The Grade 12 learners and their teachers were interviewed and observed in their
writing classrooms. The process that learners followed when engaged in writing an
assigned essay was scrutinized in line with what is required by Curriculum and
Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in order to confirm the teachers’ responses and
the observations made during writing lessons. Thematic analysis was used for the data
emanating from interview responses, an observation checklist and the learners’ essay
marking rubric. The study revealed that the method of teaching writing and the
learners’ writings resembled the process approach. This implies that teachers and
learners implement process writing even though the teachers do so to a varying
degree due to overcrowded classrooms and a lack of resources experienced more in
rural schools than in the peri-urban ones
