Developing first year part-time students' academic competencies in an academic literacy module

Abstract

The transition from high school to university for many students all over the world has never been very easy and this is also true in the South African context. At the University of the Western Cape the majority of students, particularly part-time students, come from previously disadvantaged institutions of learning. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that most tertiary institutions in South Africa, including The University of the Western Cape, use English as the official language of instruction even though more than three quarters of students entering into institutions of higher learning in South Africa are second or even third language English speakers who do not have the language competence level required in the medium of instruction to successfully negotiate academic curricula.