Teaching Xhosa for special purposes to physiotherapy students: A case study

Adults generally find language learning difficult and often do not attain much success. This article reports a case study in which a group of learners English and Afrikaans speaking physiotherapy students at the University of the Western Cape learners were allowed to share in the planning of their Xhosa course. Strategies were used to enhance the learner’s awareness of their specific communicative needs. Students were then involved in reformulating these needs in terms of desired outcomes. This meant that realistic goals were set with the effect that the objective was seen as attainable. Fear of failure was no longer acute. By participating in the planning process the learners claimed ownership of the course: they experienced a sense of achievement is experienced even before the actual learning process started which strengthened the motivation that had originally led the learner to embark upon the learning exercise.