Writing Competence of Secondary School Students in the Municipalities of Cambulo and Chitato and Teachers' Perceptions

Abstract

This investigation arises from the observation of difficulties in terms of written competence observed in students in the 1st cycle of Secondary Education in the municipalities of Cambulo and Chiato in the province of Lunda-Norte (Angola). Thus, the main premise of this study is to try to understand what is at the origin of certain writing errors (with a particular focus on spelling), so that we can propose forms of pedagogical action in the Portuguese classroom. However, naturally this work takes as a fundamental point of data interpretation the fact that, in Angola, Portuguese has two statuses, second language for some and mother tongue for others, which in many cases has direct impacts on student learning. It was also our interest to investigate the perceptions that teachers themselves have of their students' performance, also taking as a line of reflection the status that the Portuguese language has for these same teachers. Thus, the empirical study is twofold: on the one hand, we analyze written productions by students from these municipalities; and, on the other, we reflect on the results of a survey completed by teachers.