**3. Methodology**

The study was qualitative in nature and was grounded in the philosophy of Interpretivism. Qualitative researchers study phenomena in their natural settings, attempting to make sense and interpret them in terms of the meanings people bring to them [36, 37] assert that binding the case may ensure that the study remains reasonable in scope. The study was a descriptive case study, focused on selected undergraduate 3rd and 4th year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree students specialising in EFAL in the Intermediate Phase.

The sampling strategy was purposive. Purposive sampling occurs when individuals are selected as they possess the attributes of interest to the study [36]. A list of Ekurhuleni North District B.Ed. student teachers was requested from the teaching practice office. The researchers focused on the 3rd and 4th year student teachers who were undertaking EFAL teaching practice in the Intermediate Phase during the third term. Of the eleven 3rd and 4th year student teachers on the list, six were selected as they were practising teaching in the township schools while the others were in the former model C schools. Three student teachers were male and three females. Three of the participants were in the 3rd year of the B.Ed. degree, and the other three in the 4th year. These student teachers were selected as they were placed in a disadvantaged area and the purpose was to determine how they use the interactive teaching strategies and the support they received from UNISA. Arrangements for observation and interview visits were scheduled with the student teachers and relevant school principals. To ensure anonymity, pseudonyms were used to identify participants.

Data were collected through observations, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Creswell [38] explains that observation is the process of gathering open-ended, first-hand information by observing people and places at a research site. The designed observation protocol contained the aspects to be observed during EFAL lesson presentations by the student teachers. Semi-structured interviews, a qualitative method of inquiry that combines a pre-determined set of open questions (questions that prompt discussion) with the opportunity for the interviewer to explore particular themes or responses further [39], were also used for data collection. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for EFAL document [10] was also analysed during the document analysis phase. Creswell [38] affirms that documents are ready for analysis without the necessary transcription that is required with observational or interview data.

*Strategies Used by UNISA Student Teachers in Teaching English First Additional Language DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99662*

Thematic data analysis was used through the process of coding in six phases to create established meaningful patterns [39] and themes were clearly defined. The researchers read and allocated codes to the raw data. From the developed codes, themes emerged, and these were refined by checking for data coherence. The themes were also named, and clear definitions were presented. This was followed by a narrative discussion related to the themes.
