A paradigm is a way of observing the world. I decided to conduct this research from the perspective of the interpretive paradigm. Nieuwenhuis (2007:47) describes a paradigm as a set of assumptions or beliefs about fundamental aspects of reality which gives rise to a particular view of the world – it addresses fundamental assumptions about ontology and epistemology.
This implies that paradigms serve as lenses by which reality is interpreted. According to Lincoln and Guba (2002 in Barnes, 2011:36) there are three concepts that help define a paradigm: ontology, epistemology and methodology. Each of these concepts is briefly explained below:
4.2.1 Ontology (belief system about the nature of reality)
According to the ontological position, we accept that the individual’s subjective understanding of the social world exists independently and it is only accessible via the participant’s interpretation which may be further interpreted by the researcher (Taber, 2007:37). Therefore I relied on the participants to help me to understand their context
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and ultimately their needs, in order to enhance CALP for ESL learners in secondary schools.
4.2.2 Epistemology (the relationship between knower and known)
When dealing with this concept in this study, the following questions is asked, “What is the nature of our knowledge?” and “How can that knowledge be acquired?” (Taber, 2007:37). The nature of knowledge in this study was the eliciting of the participants’ own values, skills, and knowledge of enhancing CALP. The most critical values, skills, and knowledge were acknowledged, in order to develop “provocative propositions” that completed the sentence: “In order to enhance CALP successfully, educators should demonstrate the values of…the skills of…and the knowledge of…”
Through the process of AI participants and I were knowledge makers instead of knowledge users and through a process of continuous reflection and collaboration, the participants developed knowledge pertaining to enhancing CALP in secondary schools.
4.2.3 Methodology
The question asked in relation to this concept is “How best possible can the desired knowledge and understanding be obtained?” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006:9). Through the AI research approach I was able to get a better understanding of the good support strategies that already exist in two astoundingly performing secondary schools in Ekurhuleni North and a positive way forward to enhance the CALP of Grade 8 and 9 ESL learners could be developed.
The interpretive paradigm is targeted to understand a phenomenon, a process or a particular point of view from the perspective of those involved (Ary et al., 2006:463). The central purpose of the interpretive paradigm is to understand the world or experiences of the participants. In this case the aim was to know what support strategies can be used to enhance CALP of Grade 8 and 9 ESL learners.
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In this study, qualitative research has been used to understand and explain the phenomena of good support strategies to enhance the CALP of ESL learners in Grade 8 and 9 in South African secondary schools. According to McLeod (2001), qualitative research provides the researcher with the potential to discover and obtain new insights into problems.
Description, understanding and interpretation are the main focus of qualitative research (Merriam, 1998:6) and it allowed me to explore the success stories of the participants (educators) in the study. In this research I wanted to discover and explore the good support strategies related to enhancing CALP of learners in Grade 8 and 9 in order to provide ESL learners with effective support to achieve their true potential and overcome the language barrier they experience.
Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers understand people and the social and cultural contexts in which they live (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006:315; Pillay, 2004:294). Qualitative research is further viewed as scientific research that consists of an investigation that seeks answers to questions. The researcher systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the questions and collect evidence. Findings are produced from data analysis that is not predetermined and that is applicable beyond the immediate boundaries of the study. Qualitative research involves the use of qualitative data obtained from interviews, documents, participant observation, and the researcher’s impressions and reactions to understand and explain the social phenomena (Nieuwenhuis, 2007:51; Pillay, 2004:294).
The search for qualitative data is on-going, and the relationship between the researcher and participant is reciprocal. According to Govender (2003:111), the best way to do qualitative research is to become an active observer. The researcher observes the effectiveness, limitations, opportunities, shortcomings and improvement possibilities. The ultimate aim of qualitative research is to offer a perspective of a situation and to provide a well-written research report that reflects the researcher's ability to illustrate or describe the corresponding phenomenon. One of the greatest strengths of the qualitative
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approach is the richness and depth of explorations and descriptions. The researcher wants to provide a well-written rich and in depth research report that can explore the phenomenon in great detail. The major purpose of any research is to provide principled areas for knowing, to guide practice and to advance methodology (Freebody, 2003:20; Loots, 2006:41). Qualitative researchers accept and acknowledge their own role in constructing the social realities that they describe in research reports (Gall, Gall & Borg, 2005: 14). Therefore, I will include my own experiences in the research report.
According to Merriam (1998:6-8) the essential features of qualitative approaches are:
Researchers develop an understanding of the meaning participants have constructed around the research problem.
Researchers are the primary instrument of data collection and analysis. Researchers are continually engaging in fieldwork.
Researchers use inductive research support strategies to build and link abstractions, concepts, hypotheses or theories.
Researchers produce rich descriptive analysis to data.
This research project was qualitative in the form of AI, where the focus was on the good support strategies that already exist to enhance CALP. By acknowledging and spreading these support strategies to other educators, it will hopefully lead to more good support strategies in more schools.