Effective Implementation of the Text-Based Approach in English Second Language Classrooms

Effective implementation of the Text-based Approach in English Second Language (ESL) Classrooms is a grave component of the educational system. The main aim of this paper was to investigate the effective implementation of the Text-based Approach in grade 10 learners and to propose measures that could enhance its effective implementation. The study adopted an interpretive paradigm embedded in a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were utilised to collect data from 12 conveniently selected participants.Content analysis was used to analyse data, which were categorised into themes. The findings of this paper revealed that factors that hinder the effective implementation of the Text-based Approach are inadequate knowledge of curriculum stipulations, language barrier, misunderstanding of the approach, and the disaggregation of the English language. The authors conclude that there is an urgent need for teachers to have upgraded and relevant language-learning methodologies, thereby recommending that the Department of Education should organise workshops for the teachers to familiarise them with the recent methods of language teaching and learning.

effectively, exchange ideas, and understand concepts in English. 3 Being able to communicate oneself effectively is a necessary component of communication skills, which go beyond linguistic proficiency to include knowledge of expressing oneself appropriately. Accordingly, as argued by Anyienda, the TBA advocates that a variety of texts should be used to explore language structures. A plethora of studies have shown that teachers have inadequate knowledge of the Text-based Approach. 4 Mumba and Mwanza are of the same view to acknowledge that the Text-based Approach incorporates a variety of instructional strategies, which, among others are collaborative learning and co-operative learning. 5 The authors are of the same opinion that as classroom interaction is a very sensitive issue in the learning and teaching situation, literary texts can be seen as valuable material for teaching foreign and second languages.The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that hinder the effective implementation of the Text-based Approach in ESL classrooms. The study aims at answering the question -What are the factors hindering effective implementation, and promotive measures of the Text-based Approach?The study employed an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative approach to understanding the participants' views on the implementation of the TBA. A case study design was used and semi-structured interviews were administered to 12 conveniently selected grade 10 teachers.

LITERATURE REVIEW
This paper recognises a plethora of studies, which have been conducted on the issue of the implementation of the Text-based Approach. In this paper, the main objective is to suggest ways by which the TBA should be implemented. Modern literature shows that TBA to language learning and teaching is widely used in English Second Language (ESL) and English Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. These include primary, secondary, and even tertiary classrooms. Many countries around the world, have revamped their curricula in favour of the TBA. 6 Curriculum practice is based on the notion that literary texts be used as authentic texts for language learning and teaching.
In line with the studies above, Ramah and Pandian conducted a study in Bangladesh, which investigated factors affecting teachers' implementation of the Communication Language Teaching curriculum in secondary schools. The major objective of this study was to explore teachers' perceptions and practices on the implementation of the new curriculum modifications, that is, the adoption of CLT, which replaced the Grammar Translation Method. The findings of the study revealed that the shift from GTM to CLT needed a positive attitude toward factors that needed to be addressed for the effective implementation of the curriculum. These included a variety of elements, such as the requirements for classroom teachers, challenges relating to the incompatibility of the curriculum and assessments, unequipped classrooms, and the quality of the facilities for teacher development. These factors were perceived to have challenged teachers to implement CLT as was intended in the curriculum. 7 Due to their extensive experience with the GTM technique, it is normal that teachers are proficient at teaching using it. Consequently, teachers resorted to using traditional methods of teaching which do not promote communicative competence. Rahman, Islam, Karim et.al, posit that in Bangladesh, curriculum reformulation is a top-down approach. 8 Consequently, teachers are not given the opportunity to articulate their opinions. 9 With the CLT invention, teachers' requirements were overlooked, and to an extent, it was enforced on them.
In Zambia, Mumba investigated teachers' use of the Text-based Integrated Approach (TBIA) to grade 11 learners in teaching English. The major goals were to investigate teachers' perceptions of the TBIA, as well as how they applied it and how they felt about it. The study also investigated whether teachers were given any training on how to adopt the approach. The study employed a mixed methods approach in which questionnaires, interviews and document analysis were utilised to gather data from forty-five post-level one teachers and nine Heads of Departments. The findings suggested that there were several misunderstandings about how to implement the strategy. However, a larger percentage of teachers understood the concept of the approach while some did not even have a slight idea about it. The major finding was that the TBA was, due to several reasons, not implemented by teachers. These included learners' low reading levels and teachers' inadequate training. A major recommendation of the study was that to meet the needs of the changing curricula, teachers need to receive adequate training in the implementation of any curricula. 10 Additionally, Zulu investigated teachers' understanding and attitudes towards the CLT method in ESL Zambia classrooms and found that while other teachers had an elementary understanding of this approach, others held misapprehensions about it. It was alleged that this method endorsed commitment of errors and neglected the grammatical correctness of sentences. 11 During the process, learners may make mistakes as part of their learning. 12 Mistakes may be corrected at a later stage because the emphasis is on communicative competence. There is a strong belief that the fear of making mistakes inhibits learners. However, teachers should note errors committed by learners and deal with them in a non-threatening manner. These misconceptions resulted in the ineffective implementation of the approach.
Rustipha et al., concur with the previously mentioned findings as they also investigated challenges experienced by English Foreign Language teachers in Text-Based Language Teaching during the 'New-Normal' era to achieve communicative competence. 13 The 'New Normal' era refers to the abrupt shift from face-to-face teaching to online teaching caused by the outburst of COVID-19. 14 It includes the adoption of mobile technologies like WhatsApp, Twitter, Skype, Instagram, YouTube videos, and other e-learning modes. Data, which were collected by questionnaires and interviews, indicated that in addition to the challenges of online teaching, teachers' self-written reflections suggested that familiar challenges in adopting text-based teaching included choosing texts, adapting or altering texts, creating tasks, and overcoming students' weariness. Therefore, this is an indication that teachers have inadequate knowledge about the Text-based Approach. This is in line with Ferrari et. al. who contend that technological-pedagogical challenges result in the traditional teacher-centred approach, which is enhanced by online teaching. It was not easy for teachers to adopt the recent learner-centred approaches, which advocate that learners should be active participants in the learning and teaching situation. 15 Henceforth, other studies have shown that the introduction of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 had a negative effect on the implementation of the Text-based Approach. 16 In line with ERT, an investigation on how the alternate schooling system impacted language lesson planning was done, only to find that learning activities in language lessons could not be implemented as planned because of the instability of the schooling system. 17 Language activities, like group discussions, role-plays, and interviews could not be effectively implemented. This undermined the objectives of the Text-based Approach, which stipulate that language skills should be developed in an integrated manner. Therefore, for efficiency in language learning, speaking or oral activities should be considered fundamental.
This study explored the use of the Text-based Approach to language learning and teaching in Senior Secondary Schools. It also looked at the connection between the teachers' subject-matter expertise and their pedagogical expertise in language instruction. It was, therefore, grounded by Shulman's (1986) Theory of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). PCK is an educational theory that was formulated by Lee Shuman in the 1980s. According to Shulman, the approach to teacher education should combine the subject knowledge and pedagogy of instructors rather than treating them as separate things. PCK helps teachers build their knowledge base and directs their decisions and activities in the classroom. 18 Shulman argues that the teacher should first understand content knowledge "with a degree of flexibility and adaptability that enable them to transform that knowledge into forms that are pedagogically powerful to cater for the various learner differences." In a learning environment, this theory, therefore, implies that learners have different learning styles, thus, different learners perceive and process information differently. Some thrive well in discussion activities while others prefer role-play. At the same time, other children learn well by using concrete materials while the rest are good storytellers. This suggests that teachers should be able to organize and present knowledge in ways that will facilitate learner understanding. Shulman advocates that teachers need profound knowledge of their subject to articulate it effectively in instructional material. Sanoto concurs that teaching must conclude with new understanding by both the teacher and the pupils. 19 METHODOLOGY This is the section where authors have tabled research methods that have been in this examination, with indications of research approach, design, participants, instrumentation, and data analysis procedures. 15

Research Approach
This paper utilised an interpretive paradigm embedded in a qualitative approach to determine the effectiveness of the Text-based Approach in ESL classrooms. Paradigms represent the researchers' global views and principles, as well as the way they interpret the world and work within it. 20 In terms of research, the researchers' ideas and opinions towards any subjects investigated would guide their actions. In other words, the paradigm drives the researchers' investigation, which includes data collection and analysis. As a result, the paradigm influences every decision made during the study process. 21 The main objective of interpretivism was to understand the incidences whose meanings are constructed by language teachers in their normal teaching environments Interpretivism relies as much as possible on the participants' views of the phenomenon under study, with the goal to reveal the meaning of an incident for those who are involved in it.

Research Design
A case study design was used by the authors for a deeper examination of the problem under study. This design helped to give a more concise understanding as they investigated the effects of a text-based approach toward English second language learning. Further than that, they obtained an opportunity to probe more by infusing certain follow-up questions intended to obtain rich data from participant responses. 22

Participant Selection
This study comprised twelve conveniently selected participants of the Oliver Reginald Tambo Region in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Etikan et.al. state that convenience sampling is a nonprobability sampling method in which respondents are chosen for their ease of access and geographic proximity to the researcher. 23 Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data with the main question to be answered: What are the factors hindering effective implementation, and promotive measures of the Text-based Approach?

Data Collection Procedures
In this study, the model of data analysis was the interpretive phenomenological analysis. Analysis in the phenomenological analysis is bottom-up. This means that the researcher generates codes from the data rather than using a pre-existing theory to identify codes that might be applied to the data. Data was then categorised into themes. The authors used thematic analysis as this is a method of classifying, analysing and recording themes that have been recognized from the data. Thematic analysis proved useful as it provided guidance in the process of interpreting data, analysing and presenting a detailed report of the research.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Ayob declares that tabling findings relay a clear picture of the outcomes in relation to the investigated problem. From this investigation themes that were divulged include inadequate knowledge of curriculum stipulations, misinterpretation of text-based approach, language barrier together with disaggregation of the English language, all of these thereby were noted to be imparting on language development.

Inadequate Knowledge of Curriculum Stipulations
One of the major challenges in the effective implementation of the Text-based Approach is inadequate knowledge of curriculum stipulations. The Department of Education emphasises the use of the Textbased Approach, alongside Communicative Language Teaching from Grade 4 onwards. Participants' responses below indicate that teachers do not know anything about the TBA. Some participants indicated that they never received training on the implementation of the TBA while others revealed that they learnt about the approach from the CAPS document.
It The responses above indicate that the only teacher who had elementary knowledge about the TBA received such knowledge from the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document. These responses also show that very few teachers consult and follow the contents of the CAPS document. While a number of teachers alluded that they never heard about the TBA, the CAPS clearly states that language teaching methods to be employed in ESL classrooms include the TBA, CLT, Integrated approach, and Process approach.
Indications from participants revealed that teachers do not have adequate knowledge of the TBA. Participants alluded that most teachers, across phases, still use the learners' home language in teaching the target language. Studies have shown that truly little is known by teachers about the TBA. 24 Concerning these findings, the authors argue that changes experienced by teachers in the teaching environment, be it curriculum change, modifications in the legislation, or even the advance of technology, affect the working conditions. Therefore, it is important to keep well informed and develop skills to remain operative. Professional development "is an in-depth understanding of the job one does and how development can be enhanced in that job. It involves improving essential skills to conduct your role as a teacher as effectively as possible and should continue throughout your working life. Effective professional development involves ensuring knowledge and understanding of an area of expertise." 25

Misinterpretation of Text-based Approach
Inadequate knowledge of the TBA has resulted in various misinterpretations, which hinder its implementation. The responses below indicate diverse ways by which teachers view the approach. Other participants mentioned that the TBA is very demanding and that learners struggle to construct their own sentences. Further, responses indicated that teachers have an understanding that there are few activities found in texts. The responses below contradict the aims of the implementation of the approach.
It reduces creativity amongst learners. They struggle to construct their sentences because they would be used to texts that are given to them as if they are machines. The use of texts promotes the simultaneous development of all language skills. Exposure to texts develops reading skills and the active participation of learners. Furthermore, texts provide learners with various linguistic skills including sentence structures, vocabulary development, and syntactic and semantic knowledge. The participants' responses indeed indicated the misunderstanding of the TBA.
Participants' responses showed teachers have a strong belief that teaching language through texts has fewer gains because it becomes impossible to teach grammar explicitly. Others believe that learners are not able to construct their own sentences. Exposure to texts is a strong determiner of explicit grammar teaching. Teaching language structures out of context have severe restrictions on a strong reliance on the teachers' grammatical knowledge, which might have detrimental limitations. Texts are a powerful determinant of vocabulary acquisition, appropriate use, and word relationship in context. Moreover, language aspects like spelling are almost overlooked in language teaching. Through direct word encounters in texts, various aspects of the word can be mastered.
This revealed that teachers misunderstand TBA because exposure to texts assists learners understand how different sentences are constructed. By modelling how sentences are constructed from a text, they can construct their own sentences. Substitution of distinct parts of the text like noun phrases and verb phrases could help them develop their own sentences. Such activities stimulate learners' creativity.
Teaching language structures in context entail using literary texts. Discussion activities should emanate from texts read in class. Sanoto distinguishes between "working on the text" and "working from the text." 26 Learners can work on the text when they are engaged in such activities as filling in blank spaces deleted from a text. Sentences can also be unscrambled, and learners reorganise them. From the texts, learners could discuss such aspects as themes and moral values. Discussion activities facilitate speaking and communication skills. Learners are likely to participate actively in discussions that provoke their interests.

Language Barrier
Responses from interviews showed that the language barrier is another challenge that hinders the effective implementation of the TBA. According to the responses below, although the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) is English, other teachers use the learners' home language even to teach other subjects. The learners are then used to being taught in isiXhosa and then refuse to respond in English even during English classes. The participants' responses below illustrate this response:-Regarding the language barrier, learners can have brilliant ideas but because they are not confident in communicating in English decide to keep quiet. (Participant G) One of the problems is the language barrier. Learners cannot express themselves fluently. Other teachers teach them in IsiXhosa even if their subjects are meant to be taught in English.

(Participant C)
Some learners are keen to participate actively in class, but they are hindered by the language barrier. Others would understand the lesson presented to them but would ask to express themselves in isiXhosa. (Participant I) Such responses indicate that the use of isiXhosa in English lessons hinders the effective implementation of the TBA. The major challenge identified was limited classroom language opportunities for learners to practice the language. Anyienda found that in Kenya, learners' only opportunity to use the English language is limited to the daily 35-min English lesson. 27 Limited exposure to rich language contexts might not be beneficial to the effective implementation of TBA 26 Sanoto, "Teaching Literature in to English Second Language Learners in Botswana Primary Schools: Exploring in-Service Education and Training Teachers' Classroom Practices." 27 Anyiendah, "Challenges Faced by Teachers When Teaching English in Public Primary Schools in Kenya." because learners need to express their ideas and communicate using the language. Although Lwanga-Lumu postulates that learners' primary languages should be recognised as treasures that facilitate learning and teaching. In this paper, the authors argue that multiple exposures to texts written in the target language offer opportunities for learners to recognise how words are used in context. 28 Furthermore, learners need to be given ample opportunities to use the language by engaging them in various activities like group discussions, role-play, and debates. Today's blended learning demands proficient readers and writers of texts to access educational facilities. 29 The Disaggregation of the English language Another challenge that contributed to the ineffective implementation of the TBA is the disaggregation of the English Language. There are distinct reasons put forward by teachers which lead to disaggregation of the English language. Participants' responses revealed that common practice in ESL classrooms is the discrete teaching of language structures and literature. Moreover, these responses indicated that teachers still use traditional methods of teaching language structures in isolation. Other teachers have a feeling that focus might be diverted if language structures are taught in context. These claims are illustrated by the responses below: -Learners are not used to this. These responses showed that teachers are not conversant with the TBA. English is taught as discrete units, that is, language and literature. Language structures are taught out of context. When language structures are taught in isolation, they are meaningless and, thus, cannot be utilised to facilitate comprehension skills and vocabulary development. Various text types employ stylistic features relevant to that text. A stylistic approach enables learners to formulate meanings of words in relation to the contexts in which they are used. Stylistics deals with the close study of texts to reveal the comprehensive meaning of words to show their concrete effect in a text. 30 Therefore, effective implementation of the TBA needs creative and dedicated teachers who can create conducive learning environments capable of stimulating learners' interests and engaging them (learners) in creative activities. Learners need to be actively involved in their own learning by participating actively in class activities. Literary texts should serve as the basis for the teaching of language structures. Some responses indicated that there might be a loss of focus when teaching through TBA. There is also a strong belief that TBA is time consuming. Furthermore, teachers revealed that they have to create their own activities. The reality is that texts are rich in classroom activities that could be performed in class. Mkandawire explains that "working from the text" entails the extraction of discussion activities, role-plays and debates from a text that learners are engaged in within the classroom. Learners participate actively if they discuss texts, which provoke their interests. Mustakim et. al postulates that learners need to respond to texts and give their own opinions about a text. While learners are discussing a text, especially stories, they gain moral values contributing to their personal development. 32 The creation of activities by teachers might be time consuming. Moreover, there is no guarantee that teacher-created activities would be appropriate to the learners' age and academic level. Activities extracted from learners' prescribed texts are suitable because learners are familiar with them.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Although the Department of Education provides clear guidelines concerning the language curriculum, it remains inaccessible to its implementers because they are not informed and capacitated on how it should be implemented. Teachers need sufficient training on the implementation of the TBA to develop teaching and learning. To meet the demands of the fourth industrial revolution, which needs technologically literate teachers, there is a dire need to support teachers and learners for blended learning that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSION
In this paper, the authors investigated factors that hinder the effective implementation of TBA. Among the factors that cause this are: inadequate knowledge of the TBA, misunderstanding of the TBA, and the disaggregation of the English Language. Teachers' pedagogical practices do not support the implementation of the TBA. Teachers still use traditional methods of teaching. There is no balance of power in English Second Language classrooms as teachers dominate the learning and teaching situation. Shulman's (1986) PCK theory was used to discuss the factors that hinder the implementation of the TBA. This paper revealed that teachers do not implement the TBA because of inefficient pedagogical practices. It concludes that for the effective implementation of the TBA, teachers need professional development.