scholarly journals Home Language versus First Additional Language Instruction: A Comparison of Grade 3 Rural Learners’ Reading Comprehension in South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 07 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madoda Cekiso
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Grade 3

Using research to enable teachers in the foundation phase to understand why their learners could struggle to develop home language abilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-303
Author(s):  
Anna Hugo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Home Environment ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Grade 3 ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Right

Home language abilities are important upon entering school, when children learn now concepts and skills such as reading, writing and mathematics. The home language also lays the foundation for the development of a second language. In terms of the Constitution ofthe Republic of South Africa, the use of the 11 official languages of South Africa has to be advanced and thus the right to be taught in one’s home language from Grade R to Grade 3 is protected in the South African policies. The author opines that children’s home languages are not always developed correctly and according to the standardised form of the various home languages. The importance of home language development will be discussed in this article and also the factors to be found in the home environment and in the school situation that could hinder and delay home language development. Keywords: home environment, home language, home language development, parents’ influence, school environment, standardised  form of a language, teachers.

Can Virtual Replace In-person Coaching? Experimental Evidence on Teacher Professional Development and Student Learning in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus Cilliers ◽  
Brahm Fleisch ◽  
Janeli Kotzé ◽  
Nompumelelo Mohohlwane ◽  
Stephen Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Oral Language Proficiency ◽  
Virtual Coaching ◽  
Negative Effect

Virtual communication holds the promise of enabling low-cost professional development at scale, but the benefits of in-person interaction might be difficult to replicate. We report on an experiment in South Africa comparing on-site with virtual coaching of public primary school teachers. After three years, on-site coaching improved students' English oral language and reading proficiency (0.31 and 0.13 SD, respectively). Virtual coaching had a smaller impact on English oral language proficiency (0.12 SD), no impact on English reading proficiency, and an unintended negative effect on home language literacy. Classroom observations show that on-site coaching improved teaching practices, and virtual coaching led to larger crowding-out of home language teaching time. Implementation and survey data suggest technology itself was not a barrier to implementation, but rather that in-person contact enabled more accountability and support.

scholarly journals The Contributions of Language Skills and Comprehension Monitoring to Chinese Reading Comprehension: A Longitudinal Investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiping Zhao ◽  
Ying Guo ◽  
Shuyan Sun ◽  
Mark H. C. Lai ◽  
Allison Breit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Orthographic Knowledge ◽  
Comprehension Monitoring ◽  
Chinese Reading ◽  
Syntactic Knowledge ◽  
Comprehension Skills ◽  
Grade 3 ◽  
Reading Comprehension Skills

This study examined how vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and orthographic knowledge are related to comprehension monitoring and whether comprehension monitoring mediates the relations between these language skills and reading comprehension. Eighty-nine Chinese children were assessed on their vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, orthographic knowledge, and comprehension monitoring in Grade 1. Their reading comprehension skills were assessed in Grade 1 and Grade 3. Results showed that in Grade 1, comprehension monitoring mediated the relations between vocabulary and syntactic knowledge and reading comprehension. For Grade 3 reading comprehension, syntactic knowledge in Grade 1 was the only significant predictor. These findings indicate that multiple language skills make direct and indirect contributions via comprehension monitoring to Chinese reading comprehension, and the relations would change as children’s reading skills develop.

scholarly journals Exploring Grade 6 mathematics teachers' use of the language of learning and teaching in assessment for learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sizwe B Mahlambi ◽  
Ailwei S Mawela
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Assessment For Learning ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Learning And Teaching

In this study, we aimed to explore Grade 6 mathematics teachers' use of English, the language of learning and teaching in assessment for learning in selected primary schools in Alexandra Township, South Africa. From Grade 4, English is the language of teaching and learning for most learners, despite English being the home language of a minority of learners. Results of studies have shown that in South Africa, in Grades 1 to 3, in which learners are taught using their home-language performance appears to be better than in Grades 4 to 6 where English as a First Additional Language (EFAL) is used for teaching and learning. Guided by qualitative case study design, we used semi-structured interviews and non-participatory observation to collect data from nine purposefully sampled Grade 6 mathematics teachers. In conjunction with the literature reviewed and the theory underpinning the study, we used themes to analyse, interpret, and discuss the data we collected. This research revealed that learners in Grade 6 struggle to understand English as the language of learning and teaching, so, to augment concept development and understanding, teachers and learners use code-switching. In the classrooms observed, this practice has become the norm to improve the performance of learners with limited language proficiency. However, because of the differences between the home language of learners and that of teachers in mathematics classrooms, code-switching is often not enough to ensure understanding.

A Jesus Community in South Africa: Self-Actualization or Need for Security?

1980 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Stones
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
The Self ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Jesus Movement ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Personal Orientation Inventory ◽  
Self Actualization ◽  
Personal Orientation

22 members of the Jesus movement in Johannesburg, South Africa, were presented with Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory, to assess perceived changes in self-actualization as a function of their religious conversion. The control group, comprising 22 mainstream-church denominational members who had not undergone rapid and emotional conversions, was matched with the Jesus People for age, sex, home-language, and occupation of father. The self-perceptions of the Jesus People were significantly mote self-actualizing than were those of the members of the control group in the before-conversion condition. Perceived self-actualization decreased as a function of their religious experience. It is also suggested that the reported changes may be due to a “rising expectations” effect.

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