Learning through the medium of English in multilingual South Africa: enabling or disabling learners from low income contexts?

Desai, Zubeida

doi:10.4324/9781315122151-6

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Popular youth culture was a factor that caused Brazilian youth to feel more solidarity towards English language speakers. These findings are mirrored in other postcolonial contexts such as South Africa (Desai, 2016), India (Vaish, 2008) and the Philippines (Sicam & Lucas, 2016).…”

Section: Theoretical Considerations and Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 61%

First Language Loss and Negative Attitudes Towards Dhivehi Among Young Maldivians: Is the English‐First Educational Policy to Blame?

Mohamed

2020

TESOL Quarterly

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This article focuses on the inequalities of an educational policy that favours English over the national language and the resulting impacts on young people. While the constitution identifies Dhivehi to be the official language of the Maldives, and the National Curriculum recognises both Dhivehi and English as languages of instruction, English has been the dominant language in education for several decades. This English‐first policy was initiated to modernise and develop the small island nation, limiting the space for Dhivehi in the curriculum. Following a sequential explanatory mixed‐methods design, the study investigates three aspects of this dual‐language context. It examines students’ attitudes towards Dhivehi and English, compares their language attainment, and considers the extent to which the curriculum fulfils students’ linguistic needs. The findings indicate that students’ attainment in Dhivehi lags behind their attainment in English and that many students feel inadequate and unprepared for the real‐world demands of both their languages. Furthermore, while young people recognise the uniqueness of Dhivehi and are proud to be affiliated with the language, they have a much higher regard for English because it is viewed as being more useful for their upward mobility. The implications for policy and practice are explored.

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Section: Theoretical Considerations and Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 61%

First Language Loss and Negative Attitudes Towards Dhivehi Among Young Maldivians: Is the English‐First Educational Policy to Blame?

Mohamed

2020

TESOL Quarterly

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“…For Afrikaans-speaking students (for example, at the universities of the Free State, Pretoria, and Stellenbosch), the use of English as the main medium of instruction is regarded as a compromise because it prevents them from accessing knowledge through their home languages. Yet this critique is not the case for black students who do not have the privilege of learning through the medium of their home languages at all (Desai, 2016).…”

Section: Implications For Transformation In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After decades of colonial independence, the colonial languages (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish) continue to dominate in various formal domains such as business and education (Alidou, 2004;Alidou & Mazrui, 1999;Bamgbose, 2005;Chumbow, 1990;Prah, 2006). On this continent, the negative effects of the use of colonial languages are widely documented, especially in relation to English and French as the main languages of learning and teaching in basic and higher education (Chumbow, 1990;Desai, 2016;Molosiwa, 2005;Nomlomo & Vuzo, 2014;Prah, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar language trends and challenges are manifest in South Africa. While it is a multilingual country with 11 official languages, South Africa's language practices in basic and higher education still reflect the colonial and apartheid legacy after two decades of democracy (Desai, 2016). The democratic Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) and the Language in Education Policy (Department of Education, 1997) promoted language equality and equity in education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the Language Policy for Higher Education (Department of Education, 2002) requires higher education institutions to devise appropriate strategies for promoting multilingualism and the development of all the official languages as academic languages. However, there is a disjuncture between policy and practice as English and Afrikaans remain the main languages of knowledge production and circulation in education although more than 76% of the South African population are speakers of African languages (Alexander, 2005;Desai, 2016;Heugh, 2003;Prah, 2006). The nine African languages that were accorded official status after 1994 are still marginalised in education (Alexander, 2005;Desai, 2003;Heugh, 2003;Kaschula & Maseko, 2014;Nomlomo, 2007;Prah, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linguistic imperialism in English assessment: The case of an historically black university in South Africa

Ntombela¹

2018

Educ. res. soc.

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This paper reports on the findings of a research project that investigated first-year students' experiences in using multilingual glossaries. They were enrolled in an electrical engineering course at a higher education institution in the Western Cape, South Africa. Data were collected by means of questionnaires and focus group interviews with isiXhosaspeaking students to gain an insight into how the glossaries facilitated or constrained their epistemological access to concepts in the field of engineering. Drawing on the concepts of epistemological access, multilingualism, and biliteracy to establish a framework, we argue that the use of multilingual resources (e.g., glossaries) does not necessarily guarantee students' epistemological access to knowledge if their biliteracy skills (reading and writing) are underdeveloped in one of the targeted resource languages. This paper concludes that multilingualism is a necessary transformative approach, but that students' (bi)literacy development in African languages as targeted languages for transformation should also be prioritised and strengthened to facilitate better learning all round.

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Language learning and teaching in South African primary schools

Wildsmith-Cromarty

Balfour

2019

Lang. Teach.

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South Africa's history of segregation and the privileging of English and Afrikaans as the only languages of teaching and learning beyond primary schooling, make the post-apartheid period a complex one, especially in light of the Constitutional commitment to multilingualism in the 11 official languages. Research on literacy and language teaching contextualises the impact of curriculum and language policy initiatives aimed at improving learner performance. We review research concerning the transition from the study of first additional language (FAL) as subject, to the use of FAL as the language of learning and teaching (LoLT). Also considered are major studies on learner performance nationally and South Africa's comparability globally. The impact of home language (HL) literacy development on performance in English as the LoLT links to research on language development in teacher education programmes, and shows connections between the capacity of teachers to develop languages for literacy and LoLT and learner success. Research on the development of early childhood literacy in the HL demonstrates the positive impact on literacy development in the LoLT.

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Learning through the medium of English in multilingual South Africa: enabling or disabling learners from low income contexts?

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

First Language Loss and Negative Attitudes Towards Dhivehi Among Young Maldivians: Is the English‐First Educational Policy to Blame?

First Language Loss and Negative Attitudes Towards Dhivehi Among Young Maldivians: Is the English‐First Educational Policy to Blame?

Linguistic imperialism in English assessment: The case of an historically black university in South Africa

Language learning and teaching in South African primary schools

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