SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Department Of Language and Social Sciences Education
Our graduates have become media moguls, famous actors, film makers and managers of broadcasting entities and corporations
We strive towards excellence in teaching by actively promoting life-long approach to learning.
The Department of Languages and Social Science Education makes a significant contribution to languages and social science education in South Africa in general and Limpopo Province in particular.
We strive towards excellence in teaching by actively promoting life-long approach to learning. We ensure that our students from pre- service to doctoral level receive tuition that is in line with contemporary international trends in language and social science education that will enable our students to develop skills that are
- Acknowledged to be essential for effective language and social science education.
- Appropriate for the educational context of Limpopo Province and South Africa .
​We strive towards excellence in research by ensuring that our research practice and activities
- address important issues in language and social science education in Limpopo province and South Africa .
- lead to national and international publications and conferences by our staff and students, and
- develop capacity to conduct relevant research in language and social science education.
We strive towards excellence in community development by ensuring that our outreach activities
- support existing initiatives in Limpopo Province , and
- provide systematic and holistic framework for the improvement of language and social science education in the province.
The department intends to achieve this through excellence in teaching, research and community development activities and by actively promoting collaboration at regional, national and international levels.
LSSE Programmes
Bachelor of Education – First Degree
B.Ed. First Degree is a 480 credits qualification at NQF level 6. Norms and Standards for Educator (February 2000) specifies that:
The learner will have a strong practical, foundational and reflexive competence to make judgements in a wide variety of contexts.
B.Ed. First Degree in Languages (English, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Xitsonga & Tshivenda) and Social Science (History & Geography) is an initial qualification for teachers at Senior Phase (SP) and Further Education Training (FET) levels. The Department also offers Communication at first level.
Specific Outcomes
B.Ed. SPF in Languages & Social Science:
- Has sound mastery of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the chosen learning areas.
- Can translate theory into practice
- Can design, execute and assess learning activities that reflect processes, acquisition of new concepts and problems solving skill.
- Can carry out action research that will inform ongoing development and improvement of personal classroom practice
- Has a professional thirst for life-long learning.
Key Performance Indicators
- A practical understanding of the role of language, resources and teaching aids within languages and social sciences learning.
- A practical understanding of the learners’ existing ideas, skills and attitudes within languages and social sciences and their influence on the learning programme and process.
- A practical understanding of social constructivist learning approaches and techniques in Senior/FET Phase languages and social science learning.
- An ability to reflect on teaching approaches used and the ability to adjust and change these approaches according to the context (learners, school, geographical area) in which learning takes place.
- An ability to choose appropriate assessment approaches and techniques for different purposes recognising underlying theories, assumptions, strengths and weaknesses.
- An ability to use the results from formative and summative assessment appropriately for administrative purposes, learning programme development as well as feedback to learners, parents and colleagues.
- An ability to design assessment according to requirements of learners, the learning programme and language.
B.Ed. Honours
B.Ed. Honours in Language Education (English) is a 240 credits qualification at NQF level 7 based on Norms and Standards for Educators (February 2000). It develops strong practical, foundational and reflexive competence to make judgements in a variety of contexts.
Specific Outcomes
- Demonstrate a practical and theoretical understanding of effective English education.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge of assessment strategies to school English education context.
- To offer new career opportunities in English Education
- To encourage lifelong learning.
Key Performance Indicators
- An ability to choose appropriate assessment approaches and techniques for different purposes recognising underlying theories, assumptions, strengths and weaknesses.
- An ability to design, execute and assess learning activities that reflect process, acquisition of new concepts and problem-solving skills.
- An ability to continuously assess the learning process.
- An ability to use the results from formative and summative assessment appropriately for administrative purposes, learning programme development as well as feedback to learners, parents and colleagues.
- An ability to access and critically read a wide variety of professional texts on English teaching and teacher education in particular.
- An ability to carry out research that will inform the ongoing development and improvement of personal classroom practice and students’ learning capacity.
- An ability to become effective consumer and user of research in English.
- An ability to keep up to date with developments in the field.
Master in Education - M.Ed.
M.Ed, in Language Education is a 240 credit qualification at NQF level 8 based on Norms and Standards for educators (February 2000). It is done either through coursework of full dissertation.
Specific Objectives
- Demonstrate a practical and theoretical understanding of effective teaching of language education – English.
- Understand theories behind and be able to apply knowledge of assessment strategies of school English or in teacher education contexts
- Demonstrates the ability to be an independent life-long learner, researcher and scholar.
Key Performance Indicators
- An understanding of philosophies and research paradigms related to educational research with emphasis on language education.
- An ability to develop workable and appropriate research questions.
- An ability to develop a practical research proposal, conduct research and write research reports in acceptable format.
LSSE Core Activities
Programmes Core Activities
B.Ed. SPF
English Mr HMM Mathobela, Mr MJ Mona, Mrs ET Ralenala
Afrikaans Rev. S. Seloana
Northern Sotho Dr NS Mogale, Mrs G Rammala
Xitsonga Mr MJ Mona
Tshivenda Prof R. Madadhze
Geography Dr RJ Singh, Mrs ET Ralenala
History Dr AV Dhliwayo, Ms CEA Larkin
Communication Mrs ET Ralenala, Mr D Thokwane
B.Ed Hons
English Mr MJ Mona, Mr HMM Mathobela, Mrs ET Ralenala, Dr RJ Singh
M.Ed
English Mr MJ Mona, Dr RJ Singh
PHD
English Dr RJ Singh
Proposed ways of interacting with Research
Multilingualism needs to be promoted in order to develop the nation. Therefore the department offers three African languages. The department plans to attract more students into its M.Ed. and proposed Ph.D. programmes to encourage cutting edge research in the teaching, learning and assessment in the different languages and the social sciences at Senior Phase and FET level.
Strengths
- Dedicated academic staff who are committed to upgrading qualifications.
- One secretary who is very efficient and multi-skilled.
- Involvement in research and attendance of conferences related to teacher education issues.
- Have a full complement of B.Ed. SPF, B.Ed. Honours and M.Ed. students.
- Students’ evaluations is used in deciding quality of teaching.
- Maintains quality of assessment through internal and external moderation.
- Student research is monitored through constant interaction with students.
- Our students’ retention rate is high.
- Students are given clear procedures to lodge their complaints.

Brief description of degree
The B.Ed (SPF) degree with specialization in languages and social sciences trains students to be teachers of English, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Xitsonga, Tshivenda, Geography and History. There are various combinations that students may choose within this specialization. There is an additional focus on languages and on African languages in particular. This is a four year degree with content and method modules offered in each of the four years. This department is also responsible for training all first year entrants in communication.
Entrance requirements
The entrance requirements for specialization in languages and social sciences is a matric pass with 60% or more in the relevant learning area.
Prerequisites
- Matric exemption.
- Specialization learning areas must be passed at matric level.
Course information
B.ED (SPF) - Year 1
Module code | Module name |
EENG 111 | EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH |
EENG 121 | EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH |
MENG 111 | METHOD OF ENGLISH |
MENG 121 | METHOD OF ENGLISH |
EAFR 111 | EDUCATION FOR AFRIKAANS |
EAFR 121 | EDUCATION FOR AFRIKAANS |
MAFR 111 | METHOD OF AFRIKAANS |
MAFR 121 | METHOD OF AFRIKAANS |
ENSO 111 | EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN SOTHO |
ENSO 121 | EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN SOTHO |
MNSO 111 | METHOD OF NORTHERN SOTHO |
MNSO 121 | METHOD OF NORTHERN SOTHO |
ETSO 111 | EDUCATION FOR XITSONGA |
ETSO 121 | EDUCATION FOR XITSONGA |
MTSO 111 | METHOD OF XITSONGA |
MTSO 121 | METHOD OF XITSONGA |
EVEN 111 | EDUCATION FOR TSHIVENDA |
EVEN 121 | EDUCATION FOR TSHIVENDA |
MVEN 111 | METHOD OF TSHIVENDA |
MVEN 121 | METHOD OF TSHIVENDA |
EGEO 111 | EDUCATION FOR GEOGRAPHY |
EGEO 121 | EDUCATION FOR GEOGRAPHY |
MGEO 111 | METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY |
MGEO 121 | METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY |
EHIS 111 | EDUCATION FOR HISTORY |
EHIS 121 | EDUCATION FOR HISTORY |
MHIS 111 | METHOD OF HISTORY |
MHIS 121 | METHOD OF HISTORY |
COME 111 | COMMUNICATION |
COME121 | COMMUNICATION |
B.ED (SPF) - Year 2
Module code | Module name |
EENG 211 | EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH |
EENG 221 | EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH |
MENG 211 | METHOD OF ENGLISH |
MENG 221 | METHOD OF ENGLISH |
EAFR 211 | EDUCATION FOR AFRIKAANS |
EAFR 221 | EDUCATION FOR AFRIKAANS |
MAFR 211 | METHOD OF AFRIKAANS |
MAFR 221 | METHOD OF AFRIKAANS |
ENSO 211 | EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN SOTHO |
ENSO 221 | EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN SOTHO |
MNSO 211 | METHOD OF NORTHERN SOTHO |
MNSO 221 | METHOD OF NORTHERN SOTHO |
ETSO 211 | EDUCATION FOR XITSONGA |
ETSO 221 | EDUCATION FOR XITSONGA |
MTSO 211 | METHOD OF XITSONGA |
MTSO 221 | METHOD OF XITSONGA |
EVEN 211 | EDUCATION FOR TSHIVENDA |
EVEN 221 | EDUCATION FOR TSHIVENDA |
MVEN 211 | METHOD OF TSHIVENDA |
MVEN 221 | METHOD OF TSHIVENDA |
EGEO 211 | EDUCATION FOR GEOGRAPHY |
EGEO 221 | EDUCATION FOR GEOGRAPHY |
MGEO 211 | METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY |
MGEO 221 | METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY |
EHIS 211 | EDUCATION FOR HISTORY |
EHIS 221 | EDUCATION FOR HISTORY |
MHIS 211 | METHOD OF HISTORY |
MHIS 121 | METHOD OF HISTORY |
B.ED (SPF) - Year 3
Module code | Module name |
EENG311 | EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH |
EENG 321 | EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH |
MENG 311 | METHOD OF ENGLISH |
MENG 321 | METHOD OF ENGLISH |
EAFR 311 | EDUCATION FOR AFRIKAANS |
EAFR 321 | EDUCATION FOR AFRIKAANS |
MAFR 311 | METHOD OF AFRIKAANS |
MAFR 321 | METHOD OF AFRIKAANS |
ENSO 311 | EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN SOTHO |
ENSO 321 | EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN SOTHO |
MNSO 311 | METHOD OF NORTHERN SOTHO |
MNSO 321 | METHOD OF NORTHERN SOTHO |
ETSO 311 | EDUCATION FOR XITSONGA |
ETSO 321 | EDUCATION FOR XITSONGA |
MTSO 311 | METHOD OF XITSONGA |
MTSO 321 | METHOD OF XITSONGA |
EVEN 311 | EDUCATION FOR TSHIVENDA |
EVEN 321 | EDUCATION FOR TSHIVENDA |
MVEN 311 | METHOD OF TSHIVENDA |
MVEN 321 | METHOD OF TSHIVENDA |
EGEO 311 | EDUCATION FOR GEOGRAPHY |
EGEO 321 | EDUCATION FOR GEOGRAPHY |
MGEO 311 | METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY |
MGEO 321 | METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY |
EHIS 311 | EDUCATION FOR HISTORY |
EHIS 321 | EDUCATION FOR HISTORY |
MHIS 311 | METHOD OF HISTORY |
MHIS 321 | METHOD OF HISTORY |
B.ED (SPF) - Year 4
Module code | Module name |
EENG 411 | EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH |
EENG 421 | EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH |
MENG 411 | METHOD OF ENGLISH |
MENG 421 | METHOD OF ENGLISH |
EAFR 411 | EDUCATION FOR AFRIKAANS |
EAFR 421 | EDUCATION FOR AFRIKAANS |
MAFR 411 | METHOD OF AFRIKAANS |
MAFR 421 | METHOD OF AFRIKAANS |
ENSO 411 | EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN SOTHO |
ENSO 421 | EDUCATION FOR NORTHERN SOTHO |
MNSO 411 | METHOD OF NORTHERN SOTHO |
MNSO 421 | METHOD OF NORTHERN SOTHO |
ETSO 411 | EDUCATION FOR XITSONGA |
ETSO 421 | EDUCATION FOR XITSONGA |
MTSO 411 | METHOD OF XITSONGA |
MTSO 421 | METHOD OF XITSONGA |
EVEN 411 | EDUCATION FOR TSHIVENDA |
EVEN 421 | EDUCATION FOR TSHIVENDA |
MVEN 411 | METHOD OF TSHIVENDA |
MVEN 421 | METHOD OF TSHIVENDA |
EGEO 411 | EDUCATION FOR GEOGRAPHY |
EGEO 421 | EDUCATION FOR GEOGRAPHY |
MGEO 411 | METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY |
MGEO 421 | METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY |
EHIS 411 | EDUCATION FOR HISTORY |
EHIS 421 | EDUCATION FOR HISTORY |
MHIS 411 | METHOD OF HISTORY |
MHIS 421 | METHOD OF HISTORY |