Issues of literacy in the teaching of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences in Togo

ABSTRACT: Academic success in a discipline is conditioned by the acquisition of literacy skills specific to that discipline (Beacco, Fleming, Goullier, Thürmann, Vollmer &Sheil, 2016). This work aims to analyze literacy in the teaching of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. We believe that the literacy specificA to the different disciplines in the social sciences and humanities is due to the pedagogical approach used for the development of the curricula and for the teaching of the said disciplines. This hypothesis is verified by an analysis of the curricula of the teaching of disciplines in psychology and sociology of the public universities of Togo, a case analysis grid of the pedagogical practices of teachers in a teaching situation and a semi-structured interview with seven teacher-researchers. The qualitative analysis of the data collected shows that the curricula and the teaching of the social and human sciences are not made according to the skills-based approach. The different subjects within these sciences obey a specific literacy. However, not all the different linguistic functions and skills related to these subjects have been acquired by the students surveyed. They want to gain experience with professionals before they can adapt to everyday life situations.

KEYWORDS: Literacy, teaching, social and human sciences, linguistic functions, competency-based approach