Academic writing in multilingual EHL classrooms: Learners and teachers’ perspectives on feedback, strategies, and challenges in a South African IEB context

Abstract

This article examines how multilingual English home language (EHL) learners and their teachers at an Independent Examinations Board (IEB) school use strategies and feedback to address challenges in developing academic writing. It aims to reflect on learners’ perspectives on teachers’ strategies and techniques for enhancing their academic writing skills, and on whether they felt the assessment and feedback methods were effective in helping them meet the expectations set out in the IEB subject assessment guidelines. The study used a qualitative design to collect detailed insights into classroom writing practices and the challenges encountered, thereby contributing to pedagogy in multilingual English classrooms. Data were collected through analysis of curricular documents and learners’ written work, as well as through focus group discussions with learners and semi-structured interviews with teachers. The findings, which were supported by the autonomous and ideological models as well as the pedagogy of multiliteracies, revealed that learners value both structured support for developing technical writing skills and interactive, socially engaged learning environments. Teachers employed a mix of systematic skill-building techniques and contextual, multimodal approaches to enhance academic writing. However, challenges arose when aligning learner writing proficiency with curriculum expectations, particularly in mastering academic language and critical analysis. The study contributes to applied linguistics by demonstrating how feedback can be reconceptualized as a dialogic, identity-affirming practice rather than mere correction. It provides transferable pedagogical strategies for teachers in postcolonial language hierarchies and argues for assessment frameworks that recognise multilingual repertoires as cognitive resources and support equitable academic literacy development in the Global South.