scholarly journals Language as contextual factor of an education system: Reading development as a necessity

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. S1-S13
Author(s):  
Elize Vos ◽  
Nadine Fouché
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Education System ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Contextual Factor ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Poor Reading ◽  
Mother Tongue Education ◽  
Official Languages

Language is a contextual factor of an education system as it determines the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). In order to provide for diversity in South Africa, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, makes provision for 11 official languages and the Language in Education Policy (LiEP) promotes respect for not only these official languages, but languages in general as well as the preservation of cultural diversity by means of multilingualism. Having measures like these in place creates the assumption that different languages are used as LOLT. However, mother tongue education is not fully realised in South Africa. A large percentage of learners’ LOLT is not their home language. This lack of mother tongue education may cause poor reading ability. South Africa’s government and Department of Education (DoE) has certain strategies available to promote reading, however, the feasibility of these strategies is questionable when the poor reading performance of South African learners is taken into account. To find a solution for the above-stated problem, due to the fact that reading plays an important role within an education system, and the integral part it forms in nation-building, we conducted a literature study to identify current national and international reading strategies. In this article we present a synthesis of these strategies, which we refer to as a reading motivation framework, outlining the responsibilities of various social role players.

Mother-tongue education in South Africa: A highly contested terrain of the 21st century

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-262
Author(s):  
Medicine Magocha ◽  
Davie Elias Mutasa ◽  
Johannes Ratsikana Rammala
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Mother Tongue Education ◽  
Contested Terrain

scholarly journals Children's Rights to Mother-Tongue Education in a Multilingual World: A Comparative Analysis between South Africa and Germany

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Chrizell Stoop (Chürr)
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
Mother Tongue Education ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
South Africa And Germany

The importance of the mother tongue, and, more specifically, of mother-tongue education, is recognised globally. Use of the mother tongue is regarded as one of the most effective ways of acting and performing cognitively, socially and communally. The aim of this article is to encourage and promote the implementation and realisation of mother-tongue education through certain school/education models in order to achieve equality and liberation and to increase the incidence of high-performance education systems in a multilingual world. A comparative analysis of South Africa and Germany will also be undertaken with regard to language policies and the mother-tongue education situation in these countries' school systems. Several other aspects such as the choice of language as a fundamental right, the importance of international instruments, as well as some lessons to be learnt for both South Africa and Germany in respect of mother-tongue education, will be discussed. It will be concluded that, despite the existence of a multilingual world, the crucial importance of the use of the mother tongue and mother-tongue education should not be underestimated and/or ignored.

HCI in South Africa

2006 ◽  
pp. 261-265
Author(s):  
Shawren Singh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
National Level ◽  
International Energy Agency ◽  
The South ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
National Leaders ◽  
Official Languages

South Africa is a multi-lingual country with a population of about 40.5 million people. South Africa has more official languages at a national level than any other country in the world. Over and above English and Afrikaans, the eleven official languages include the indigenous languages: Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho, Tswana, Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Ndebele, Tsonga, and Venda (Pretorius & Bosch, 2003). Figure 1 depicts the breakdown of the South African official languages as mother tongues for South African citizens. Although English ranks fifth (9%) as a mother tongue, there is a tendency among national leaders, politicians, business people, and officials to use English more frequently than any of the other languages. In a national survey on language use and language interaction conducted by the Pan South African Language Board (Language Use and Board Interaction in South Africa, 2000), only 22% of the respondents indicated that they fully understand speeches and statements made in English, while 19% indicated that they seldom understand information conveyed in English. The rate of electrification in South African is 66.1%. The total number of people with access to electricity is 28.3 million, and the total number of people without access to electricity is 14.5 million (International Energy Agency, 2002). Although the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” is narrowing, a significant portion of the South African population is still without the basic amenities of life. This unique environment sets the tone for a creative research agenda for HCI researchers and practitioners in South Africa.

Question Wording Effects in the Assessment of Global Self-Esteem

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Dunbar ◽  
Graeme Ford ◽  
Kate Hunt ◽  
Geoff Der
Keyword(s):  
Reading Ability ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Reading Scores ◽  
Poor Reading ◽  
Method Effect ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Positive Item ◽  
Method Effects ◽  
Best Fit

Summary: Marsh (1996) produced evidence that method effects associated with negatively worded items might be responsible for the results of earlier factor analytic studies that reported finding positive and negative self-esteem factors in the Rosenberg Global self-esteem scale ( Rosenberg, 1965 ). He analyzed data collected from children using a 7-item self-esteem measure. This report details attempts to replicate Marsh 's analysis in data collected from two samples of adults who completed the full 10-item Global Self-Esteem (GSE) scale. The results reported here are similar to those given by Marsh in so much as a correlated uniquenesses model produced a superior fit to the data than the simple one factor model (without correlated uniquenesses) or the often reported two factor (positive and negative self-esteem) model. However, whilst Marsh reported that the best fit was produced by allowing negative item uniquenesses to correlate with each other, the model that produced the best fit to these data was one that contained correlated positive item uniquenesses. Supporting his claim that differential responding to negative and positive self-esteem items reflects a method effect associated with reading ability, Marsh also showed that factors associated with negative and positive items were most distinct among children who had poor reading scores. We report a similar effect among a sample of older adults where the correlation between these factors was compared across two groups who were selected according to their scores on a test of verbal reasoning.

scholarly journals Private retirement resorts in South Africa: Guidelines for wellness and sustainability in the long term.

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries C. Hauptfleisch
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Optimal Profile

Unsubsidised private retirement resorts in South Africa developed during the last three decades present residents with many challenges. There is no existing generally accepted knowledge base or guidelines to serve this sensitive market. The research objective was to establish which elements are experienced by residents of retirement resorts as satisfactory and which as problematic. A literature study was also undertaken. Quantitative as well as qualitative data were obtained by means of structured questionnaires, interviews and a seminar. The results reported pertain to eight resorts in the east of Pretoria, four in Bloemfontein and two in Knysna. The study is currently being extended to other centres. The quantitative data is arranged in order of the priorities set by the biggest group (Pretoria), with the other groups in comparison. So the research was based on the sourcing of quantitative and qualitative data, as well as on descriptive evaluations. The results offer insightful knowledge and guidelines towards establishing an optimal profile for the development of long-term sustainable private retirement resorts. The implications and value of this study are that both developers of retirement resorts and prospective residents are provided with guidelines to better equip them to evaluate a specific retirement resort with regard to the sustainable well- being of residents long-term.

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