Nhlanhla Mpofu is an Associate Professor in Language Education at Stellenbosch University, a South African National Research Foundation-rated researcher, a Fulbright alumna and a member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS). Her research explores second-language learning approaches in second language classrooms where English is the medium of instruction. Through this research focus, she seeks to gain a strategic, epistemological and pragmatic understanding of the nuanced discourse of knowing how to teach in language. She draws her orientation from knowing sciences positioned within the Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP). Drawing from this research foci she explores teaching knowledge from an epistemological repertoire that is contextually embedded and held together by the dispositional and linguistic resources at the control of the practitioner. Her findings are important in dismantling the hegemonic positivist orientation that disempowers the teacher, from the critical role of a knowledge constructor to that of a transmitter.
Experience
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2022–presentVisiting professor, University of Antwerp
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2023–presentAssociate professor, Stellenbosch University
Education
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2016University of Pretoria, PhD, Humanities Education [English]
Publications
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2021Content subject teachers’ views of implementing the English Across the Curriculum (EAC) approach: A study of some South African high schools, Journal of Language and Education
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2021English language skills for disciplinary purposes: what practices are used to prepare student teachers? , South African Journal of Education
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2021English language teaching in teacher education: A personal epistemology account. , International Journal of Language Studies
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2020Examining first-year students’ experience of being tutored: A South African case study., Issues in Educational Research,
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2020Pedagogical practices involved in integrating English language skills in subject-specific learning: a case of high school teachers, International Journal of Education and Practice
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2020What counts as disciplinary literacies instructional approaches in teacher education?, The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern
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2019Reflecting on ESL student teachers’ practice through critical incidents, Journal for Language Teaching
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2018Exploring beginner teachers’ sources of knowledge for teaching Literature in ESL classrooms. , English Teaching & Learning
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2018Embedding values in the South African curriculum: By design or default? , South African Journal of Education
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2018A comprehensive model for assessing student teachers’ professional competence through an integrated curriculum approach, The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa
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2018Exploring the E-Learning Experiences of Academic Staff at a South African University, Progressio: South African Journal for Open and Distance Learning Practice
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2018Exploring the teachers’ experiences of implementing a high school curriculum: A South African view, . Journal of Educational Studies
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2017Reflections on the supervision of postgraduate research: the students' voices in an Open Distance Learning (ODL) context, Progressio: South African Journal for Open and Distance Learning Practice
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2017Connecting the dots: Exploring teaching dispositions in the South African teacher curriculums, Gender and Behaviour
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2017Teaching from the heart: Exploring beginner teachers' attitudinal knowledge, Journal for Language Teaching
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2017Fostering critical thinking in initial teacher education curriculums: A comprehensive literature review, Gender and Behaviour
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2016What can we still offer? Understanding student support in distance education teacher preparation programs, Progressio: South African Journal for Open and Distance Learning Practice
Grants and Contracts
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2019The preparation and experiences of teachers using English as the Language of Learning and Teaching
- Role:
- Lead Researcher
- Funding Source:
- NRF
Professional Memberships
- South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS)
- Southern African Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Society (SALALS)
Honours
Golden Key; Fulbright Alumna; SAYAS member
- Stellenbosch University , Western Cape
- Website
- @mpofunhlanhla
- Article Feed
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For media enquiries,
mpofunhlanhla@gmail.com - ORCID
- Joined
