Language and academic achievement: Perspectives on the potential role of indigenous African languages as a lingua academica

Madiba, Mbulungeni

doi:10.5785/28-2-528

Cited by 14 publications
(11 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Instruction in a home language (or mother tongue) optimalises cognitive reception, expression and development; is instrumental in identifying and integrating with a culture of origin; and forms the basis for literacy acquisition as well as understanding and logical memory (Cakir, 2000;Heugh, Siegrühn & Plüddeman, 1995;Louwrens, 2003). In this regard, there is a move to study the role of African languages within education (Madiba, 2012). Strategies to address these limitations in the foundation phase in South Africa include policy to ensure a reception year (Grade R) in primary schools, and for Grade R-3 teachers to teach in the local mother tongue (with gradual exposure to an additional language -mostly English -as part of instruction) (Moodley, Kritzinger, & Vinck, 2014).…”

Section: Acquiring a Sense Of Policy Place For Effective Educationmentioning
confidence: 99%

Making sense of place in school-based intervention research
Ebersöhn
¹

2015
Contemporary Educational Psychology
11
3
4
0
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The commentary made here by this intervention researcher arises from a "place" in which schoolbased interventions are used to build knowledge, and thereby to bring relief to a young democracy -at once highly diverse and in transition -with aspirations for eradicating inequality. I use the concept of place as a theoretical lens to argue that intervention researchers, whose task it is to consider the meaning of intervention findings in different contexts, require a cognisance of pluriversality and geopolitical variance as a result of unequal development. In this study, I deliberately and reflexively integrate familiar education-place descriptions in my commentary. By means of this representation, I substantiate the argument that intentional reporting of place (rather than assumptions of school-places as normative) informs quality when adapting interventions. I frame my commentary around activism and engagement, ideology and politics, identity culture, and connectedness, which all influence sense of place in school-based intervention. I first show that using activism and engagement to make sense of place may denote emancipatory research in the case of one place, and theory-derived, hypothesis testing in another. I then explain how ideology and politics mean that marginalisation is embodied in high risk schools. Within high risk school settings, randomised control trials become unlikely, and interventions require both fluidity to adapt to crises, and extended time for implementation. I explain that identity culture requires interventions that promote effective literacy instruction in multilingual spaces, and that compel multiple implementation languages. Lastly, I discuss the benefits of partnerships that connect researchers and teachers to an intervention. I conclude that besides the evidence that shows that place variability requires consideration for quality intervention, commonalities also exist across intervention research, irrespective of place. Sharing descriptions of strategies to overcome common challenges in school-based inquiry can be used to plan and implement interventions with a high level of integrity.

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Section: Acquiring a Sense Of Policy Place For Effective Educationmentioning
confidence: 99%

Making sense of place in school-based intervention research
Ebersöhn
¹

2015
Contemporary Educational Psychology
11
3
4
0
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“…Reading forms the cornerstone of academic language. If African languages are to be used as linguae academica (Madiba 2012), children must be able to read fluently in them and texts themselves must be perceived as legitimate sources of knowledge, visible and accessible in classrooms and school media centres. In order to make PLE policy work for our schools, there needs to be a shift from the dominant oral approach to learning in the classroom to a much stronger literate base so that children can become literate in their home languages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%

Failure to launch: matching language policy with literacy accomplishment in South African schools
Pretorius
¹

2015
International Journal of the Sociology of Language
10
0
6
0
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This article argues that the education crisis in South Africa stems largely from a literacy problem. The prediction that use of the primary language is beneficial in formal schooling is not unambiguously met in the South African context when examining evidence from large-scale literacy assessments. Understanding the reasons for this is critical for improving the use of African languages in early schooling. This article examines the Zulu and English reading literacy skills of a Grade 4 cohort of learners after three years of schooling in their home language. The research reveals low reading levels in both languages, suggesting a mismatch between language policy and literacy accomplishment. It is suggested that one of the primary reasons for the poor results in schools that have African languages as initial LoLT lies in the oral orientation to classroom practices in these schools. A more fully specified language in education model is proposed where an emphasis on literacy in the primary language may help to shift the focus where it belongs.

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“…Previous studies have shown that translanguaging has the potential to enhance cognitive abilities of multilingual learners (Baker, et al, 2012;García, et al, 2007;Madiba, 2012). However, there has been paucity of research on the effects of translingual techniques in reading trajectories among isiXhosa-English bilinguals in elementary grades.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%

The effects of translanguaging on the bi-literate inferencing strategies of fourth grade learners
Mgijima
¹
,
Makalela
²

2016
PiE
23
0
15
0
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Previous research suggests that enhanced cognitive and meta cognitive skills are achieved when translanguaging techniques are applied in a multilingual classroom. This paper presents findings on the effects of translanguaging techniques on teaching grade 4 learners how to apply relevant background knowledge when drawing inferences during reading. It examines the efficacy of simultaneously using the learners' home language and second language in reading development among bilingual XhosaEnglish readers in a rural school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design where the participants attempted pre-tests in the targeted languages and then after an intervention were provided interventions using translanguaging techniques, thereafter they attempted post-tests. The findings indicate improved performance in terms of learners' use of background knowledge when drawing inferences, instead of heavily relying on the reading text. The researchers argue for a literacy model that integrates skills and practices drawn from all accessible linguistic repertoires of learners when dealing with reading development at elementary grades since this helps learners develop a sense of self, which in return allows them to be active participants in their learning.

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Language and academic achievement: Perspectives on the potential role of indigenous African languages as a lingua academica

Cited by 14 publications

References 24 publications

Making sense of place in school-based intervention research

Making sense of place in school-based intervention research

Failure to launch: matching language policy with literacy accomplishment in South African schools

The effects of translanguaging on the bi-literate inferencing strategies of fourth grade learners

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