TAKING IT HIGHER: INCREASING THE PROFILE OF CASE STUDIES AT THE TERTIARY LEVEL IN FOUNDATION ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSES

“...Students need to be told less and to discover more...” (Weimer02).Honing in on coherent specific strategies for creating critical thinkers at the tertiary level it is an objective of all universities in the 21st century. But building critical thinkers in the 21st century requires strategies that allow not only the creation of new sources of information but also the utilization of what already exists in new and innovative ways. At the tertiary level, each institution has the responsibility of articulating the specifics of this vision. The mandate is clear, but what is less clear is the process of how to achieve these objectives. Creating this kind of student requires a number of changes in the way that teaching is conceived at the tertiary level in terms of delivery and curriculum. The gains of the case-based approach have been evident in the medical field and also in the field of law, but there has been a general reluctance to extend the gains to other courses. Within this paper, emphasis will be placed on the ways in which the case method of teaching can be extended to language- based courses to not only improve students’ exit skills but also to create the new learner . To do this requires an examination of several aspects of teaching and learning. Traditional concepts of the purpose of education will be explored, together with an analysis of “the lecture” as a traditional mainstay of education at the tertiary level, the pros and cons of the case method as a strategy as well as the findings of science on brain-based learning. The objectives of Language teaching at the tertiary level will also be discussed and the applicability of the case method as one important strategy in creating the new graduate of the 21st century.