9. Tertiary Educators’ Reflections on Language Practices that Enhance Student Learning and Promote Multilingualism

Mashiyi, Nomakhaya

doi:10.21832/9781783091669-011

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…English is estimated to be the fourth most widely spoken language with less than 10% of the population claiming it as their home language (Statistics South Africa, 2016;van der Walt & Evans, 2017). Although South Africa is not unique in its cultural and linguistic diversity, it is unusual because its indigenous people do not constitute a minority, and the role of English here is complex with some viewing it as the language of power and prestige (Evans & Cleghorn, 2014;Mashiyi, 2014) and others disputing its place as the lingua franca, based on a mismatch between perceived status and actual usage (van der Walt & Evans, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond lip service: Towards human rights-driven guidelines for South African speech-language pathologists

Pascoe

Klop

Mdlalo

et al. 2017

International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

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Developed with a strong awareness of past injustices, South Africa's progressive constitution emphasises a full spectrum of human rights. While the constitution celebrates many languages and cultures, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) face challenges in translating these values into practice with a diverse clientele. Similarly, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights focuses on freedom of expression in one's language of choice, but is often perceived as a "Cinderella" right (i.e. one that is frequently neglected). This paper presents a literature review undertaken in association with the Health Professions Council of South Africa to produce guidelines to support SLPs in their practice with diverse linguistic and cultural groups. The aim was to identify key points for inclusion in a set of human rights-driven guidelines. Specific objectives were to critique: (1) current guidelines for SLPs working with diverse cultural and linguistic groups; and (2) equivalent guidelines for related professions. Content analysis of the datasets revealed key themes which formed the basis of an initial skeleton, to be further developed through a consultative process and discussion, ultimately aiming to provide supportive, practical guidelines to better equip South African SLPs to serve all the people of the country.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond lip service: Towards human rights-driven guidelines for South African speech-language pathologists

Pascoe

Klop

Mdlalo

et al. 2017

International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

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“…This correlates with the caution provided by Gardner (2005) to the effect that favourable attitudes to their own language contributes to less willingness to support integrativeness. Previous studies conducted in South Africa among Africans show positive attitudes towards indigenous African languages by members of society at different levels (Mashiyi, 2014;Ndimande-Hlongwa & Ndebele, 2017;Ngcobo, 2013;Sebolai 2017). Makumane (2009) is of a premise that teaching/learning a foreign language includes exposure to the target culture.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward the teaching of Mandarin in South Africa

Ngcobo

Makumane

2020

PiE

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The Constitution for the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) embraces language as a basic human right and multilingualism as a national resource. One latest foreign language to be given recognition by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in 2015 is Mandarin, a Chinese language, for incremental implementation as a non-official optional language from 2016 in primary schools. One of the stakeholders at the centre of the implementation of this latest foreign language to be recognised, whose voice has not been heard, are teachers. The methodology adapted in the collection of data is quantitative in that pre-service teachers completed a questionnaire. The results indicate mixed attitudes with more appearing to be not entirely supportive of this move by the DBE. Teachers do not share the same sentiments that are expressed at political level about the significance of Mandarin for trade and globalisation. The findings suggest a need for the DBE to rethink this plan and training proportional to the minimum training requirements for the teaching of a foreign language to be provided to teachers. There would need to be some consultation to ensure a greater teachers' support as the project continues to be piloted and implemented in more schools across the country.

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“…In the same vein, Makalela (2016) refers to translanguaging as an educational approach that recognises language alternation as a norm in contemporary societies, which he calls Ubuntu (humanity). However, in a South African higher education context Boakye and Mbirini (2015) and Mashiyi (2014) did not find this thinking among lecturers. The contradiction was that while the lecturers acknowledged the role of African languages in promoting effective teaching and learning they also insisted that students use English only.…”

Section: Translanguaging and Biliteracy Developmentmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…This suggests that 'ideas about literacy held by the participants' are not as neutral as educational policy perspectives may attempt to describe such learning and practices (Street, 2011: 61). It has been found that lecturers' ideas about translanguaging (Boakye and Mbirimi 2015;Mashiyi 2014) contradict the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) as well as related language policies alluded to at the beginning of the article, and this may be the case for students too. Of significance to the current study is that the ideological model approach is not focused on the 'impact' of literacy but rather on how participants 'take hold' of (Street, 2011) or 'uptake' (Canagarajah, 2011) the new communicative practices being introduced to them.…”

Section: Translanguaging and Biliteracy Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was done in both English and isiZulu activities. The approach adopted by participants was expected in the light of previous studies in South Africa that indicate that the use of L1 in making sense of the curriculum is common among students learning in an L2 (Mashiyi, 2014;Paxton, 2012). The interesting contribution made by the current findings is that L2 is also acknowledged by participants as useful in making sense of L1.…”

Section: Translanguagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Translanguaging as an approach to address language inequality in South African higher education: summary writing skills development

2016

CriSTaL

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Literacy challenges among the majority of African-language speaking students learning through the medium of English impact on unequal throughput in South African higher education. To address this social injustice issue, academic literacy practitioners have a critical role to play in the inclusion of linguistic diversity in higher education. This requires that the curriculum be revised in such a way that classroom activities and assessments give recognition to students' African languages. In this paper, we outline how translanguaging as a teaching and learning approach promises to develop literacy in both the students' African languages and English. The paper describes a summary skills development teaching approach and its accompanying activities which enable the students to move between isiZulu and English. The summary writing activities are followed by a guided reflection note from students on their perceptions and experiences of the new communicative approach that has been introduced to them. The majority of participants express positive perceptions of this approach as they find it familiar to what they are used to doing when learning on their own. It is hoped that the translanguaging approach would contribute to the promotion of equality in language and literacy development in the South African higher education sector.

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9. Tertiary Educators’ Reflections on Language Practices that Enhance Student Learning and Promote Multilingualism

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Beyond lip service: Towards human rights-driven guidelines for South African speech-language pathologists

Beyond lip service: Towards human rights-driven guidelines for South African speech-language pathologists

Pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward the teaching of Mandarin in South Africa

Translanguaging as an approach to address language inequality in South African higher education: summary writing skills development

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