Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84). / Malawi adopted a Free Primary Education Policy in 1994 with the ushering in of a multi-party system of government. Since then primary schools have been flooded with many pupils. The current language policy in Malawi. allows learners to be taught through local languages from Standards 1 to 4 and through English from Standard 5 upwards (Mtenje 2002). Teachers' guides for all subjects from STD 1 to 8 are written in English except for Chichewa as a subject. Teachers write their lesson plans for all subjects in English except those of Chichewa as a subject (Mchazime 1996). However, classroom observation suggests that teachers use Chichewa as a medium of instruction even in classes where they are expected to use English (Standard 5 onwards). Similarly. pupils fail to express themselves in English and they answer questions in Chichewa (Mtenje 2002). As a result. learners fail to participate and contribute fully during lessons. This scenario makes the teachers talk more than the learners: hence the lessons become teacher-centred. Pupils are largely passive in class. Many pupils are absent from school they fail examinations and some drop out from school mainly when they reach the upper classes (Standard 5 to 8) of primary education. This dissertation examines what effect the change of medium of instruction made in Standard 5 from Chichewa to English has on the academic achievement of the learners of Standard 5 pupils in primary schools in Malawi. Specifically. the study examines whether or not the use of English results in better academic performance of pupils and whether this change contributes to pupil attrition (the drop-out rate). To investigate how the change of language of instruction affects the academic performance of Standard 5 learners, I used a case study methodology, with both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis. Then data were collected through questionnaires administered to teachers and Standard 5 learners respectively: by comparing tests results in Mathematics and Social Studies of pupils who learnt through Chichewa in Standard 4 and through English in Standard 5. respectively; through classroom observations; and by interviewing teachers in two primary schools. This work is based on the theory developed by Jim Cummins (1991) which states that learners should acquire a conceptual foundation in their first language to facilitate the acquisition of the second language to positively achieve academic performance. The research came up with the following findings: Firstly, Standard 5 pupils in Malawi performed better in Mathematics and Social Studies when they learnt through the medium of Chichewa than through the medium of English. Secondly, Standard 5 learners lacked the necessary English proficiency to cope with the cognitive demands of Mathematics and Social Studies. As a result the lessons observed were teacher-centred and pupils became passive participants in the learning process. Teachers agreed that pupils participated less in class when they were learning through the medium of English than when the same pupils were learning through the medium of Chichewa. In addition, teachers and learners are not motivated to learn through the medium of English. Furthermore. teachers are not sufficiently trained in how to start teaching Standard 5 learners through English. As a consequence, Standard 5 pupils perform poorly in Mathematics and Social Studies. In comparison, Standard 5 pupils perform at a lower level in Mathematics than in Social Studies when they learnt through the medium of English. From these findings it was concluded that Standard 5 learners, who are taught through the medium of English, are not sufficiently proficient in English to cope with the cognitive academic demands of learning content subjects like Mathematics and Social Studies in Malawi. These results confirm my hypothesis. The results are also congruent with other studies already done in Malawi (Mchazime 2004, Kachaso 1988).

Includes bibliographical references. / In Xhosa with a summary in English. / This research investigates the formation of mathematics concepts and use of existing ones (concepts) in isiXhosa in grade 7. The investigation intends to suggest the possibility of using isiXhosa as a language of learning and teaching mathematics in classes where isiXhosa is a dominant language. Through this investigation concepts that are likely to present teaching and learning difficulties have been identified. After identification of concepts, equivalents are provided, by working from the contextual meaning of the concept in English and then coining an equivalent in isiXhosa. For existing concepts whose equivalents are contained in dictionaries, whether used or not by mathematics teachers, a critical review of the meaning has been conducted to see whether that could be used in a mathematics context. Reasons have been that, most existing equivalents are a result of translation leaving the equivalent vulnerable to many different meanings in isiXhosa.

Bibliography: leaves 110-111. / Cette étude s'est inspirée de la nouvelle voie que l'éducation prend au Mali au premier cycle de l'enseignement fondamental (éducation bilingue). Cette nouvelle voie qui concerne l'introduction des langues nationales à I'école a donné des sueurs froides aux maîtres et aux parents d'élèves. En conduisant cette étude j'espère contribuer à clarifier les points sensibles du programme dont l'amélioration ou la négligence peut conduire à la réussite ou à l'echec de l'éducation bilingue. Ce mémoire a pour but d'explorer les conditions de réussite liées a I'introduction de l'éducation bilingue. A cet effet 5 écoles ont été visitées, dont 3 bilingues et 2 unilingues pour se rendre compte de la performance des élèves dont la langue matemelle est différente de celle de l'école. Cette recherche est faite en Afrique du Sud où l'expérience de l'éducation bilingue s'étend sur des années et où les enfants Noirs ont commencé a fréquenter les ecoles ‘pour Blancs’ don’t la langue d'enseignement est l'anglais après l'abolition de l' Apartheid.

Bibliography: leaves 105-111. / The aims of this dissertation are to examine the situation of foreign, non-English speaking postgraduate students coming to UCT for their studies and to enquire if they have any difficulties in coping with English as the medium of instruction. Postgraduate students from any country, apart from South Africa, for whom English is a foreign language (EFL) have been my targets. I aimed to identify some of the problems if any faced by those students to determine the possible causes and to propose ways to deal with the problems identified. I used an ethnographic approach to gather my data.

The qualitative study described in this research addresses the question of ""how to enhance reading conditions in a grade six class with learners from different language backgrounds, but taught in English as a medium of instruction"". The conceptual framework helps to carve a path through the maze of definitions about reading, independent readers, reading models and Cambourne's reading conditions, which were the focus of the research. The grade six classroom, in which the reading conditions, mainly ""immersion"" and ""engagement"", were to be enhanced, consisted of 42 learners and one teacher. The observation period started in February 2002, but the actual research described in this dissertation lasted two months (August and September 2002), and happened in different phases: the initial phase and the main research period. The latter was made up of the intervention and the final phase. In the initial phase the reading conditions In the classroom layout, the learners' profile, the teaching practices and the attitudes towards reading were explored through observations, field notes and interviews. Other qualitative data was gathered using a reading survey and a cloze procedure test, which were both developed by the researcher. The collected data helped to set up the intervention, in which several challenges had to be faced. During that intervention the physical conditions in the classroom were enhanced to create an encouraging and comfortable space for the learner-reader. A wide variety of interesting and relevant books were brought in the classroom in order to make it a literacy rich environment. At the same time, organising activities based on prediction and sequencing studied the learners' meaning making process. These activities were created to stimulate the learners' engagement in reading. In the final phase possible changes in reading engagement and attitudes were registered through the same cloze procedure test and a second reading survey. Significant results of the research showed that reading became a social experience, an interaction between learners and teacher, in an environment where learners read for pleasure. Even though the intervention took place over a short period of two weeks, the results indicate that there are ways in which teachers can enhance reading conditions and a stimulating environment can be created to engage learners in reading.

This multimodal case study investigates the discourses that emerge in a theatrical performance, constructed and performed by a group of grade seven, Zulu speaking students as a representation of themselves. The performance was set in an ex-model C primary school in Kwa-Zulu Natal and reflects the tensions between the students' identities that are located in the different fields of home, school, traditional settings and urban settings. The study is qualitative in nature, with the performance text being a participatory, creative, multi modal, joint-construction involving the participants and the researcher. The performance was structured so that each scene represents one of the participants' social fields. The analysis of the performance follows this structure and explores the way discourses and identities emerge from the Traditional, Home, School and Urban scenes of the performance. The study draws on the New London Group's Multiliteracies theory, using the concepts of discourse, identity, interest and design, as well as drawing on Bourdieu's notions of field and capital. The study makes use of social semiotic analysis, drawing particularly from Kress and van Leeuwen's visual grammar, to explore the multi modal nature of the performance, analysing the linguistic mode alongside those of the visual, the gestural and the spatial. The study attempts to be consistent with the multimodal nature of the performance and so presents the data through photographs, sketches and video clips integrated with the written text. The study alms to amplify the participants' voice through the richness of their representation. It attempts to contest the notion that marginalised people are powerless in the face of hegemonic discourses, asserting rather that there is always agency.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-75). / Literature is included as part of most English curricula around the world. South Africa is no exception, and students are expected to study novels, poetry and plays as part of their school language curriculum. There are many debates about the best way to teach these texts in the classroom. However what is often overlooked is that reading literature, like reading anything, is primarily a social activity, and as such has been 'learned'. The way we respond to literature depends on the social activities, attitudes and behaviours -what can be called the practices -of our social grouping that holds value for us. What many teachers hold as the 'right' way of reading and responding literature reflects their commitment and participation in a particular set of practices, whereas students come to class from backgrounds that are different from theirs, and with different commitments. This thesis uses a case-study, ethnographic approach to study two teachers' English classrooms in a working class high school to in order to examine how practices around literature were negotiated between teachers and students who came from working class backgrounds. Despite differences in personality and beliefs, both teachers in the study approached literature study in a limited way -the way that examinations prescribe -viewing the text as a given that had to be mediated for the students so that they were able to 'get the message'. The students in both classes were generally unruly, or passive, with about less than half the class focusing on the lesson at anyone time. This may partly be ascribed to this limited approach to literature. However this approach has been used more successfully in other schools, and I argue that the reason for the 'failure' of these lessons lay beyond the classroom walls. Working class students who want to perform adequately at school have to, in some ways, give up something of the values and beliefs of their backgrounds, and develop a new set of understandings of who they are, a new identity that incorporates these practices. It is unlikely that this investment is going to be made without some reward or fulfilment. In the classes in this study, students had no motivation to join this new literature club that might even affect their participation in other domains. They did enough to get by, to pass through the lessons and exams, but were engaged in very little real meaning making in the classroom. Literature study remained a foreign and sometimes puzzling requirement for examination purposes.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-93). / This is an ethnographic study of how learners write about, speak about, depict and value their literacy activities at home and how this links with their performance at school. It also examines the shift in learners' perceptions of literacy through their involvement in the research project. The theoretical framework for the research is drawn from the New Literacy Studies with its emphasis on the autonomous and ideological models ofliteracy (as formulated by Street) and on literacy as situated practice. The data is a series of literacy activities, of seven learner profiles made up of their writing, literacy inventories, photographic depictions, focus group discussions, semi structured interviews, and tasks assessed in the formal academic domain. Critical Discourse Analysis is used as a tool for the analysis of some of the data and traces the similarities and differences in the kinds of literacy activities that learners engage in, ranging from homework to hobbies, cell phones, conversations, computer games and so forth. Interpretation of the data also draws on Gee's theory of primary and secondary Discourses.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-104). / This study used qualitative methodology for an analysis of the conversations of two communication-impaired bilingual elders diagnosed with a mild/moderate stage of Alzheimers's disease (AD). The aim of the study was to investigate the linguistic consequences of cognitive decline on language in English-Afrikaans co-ordinate bilinguals with AD by monitoring the changes in these linguistic outcomes after three months, and to see whether the two languaes are affected by AD in a comparable way. The impact of conversational disorders on clinicians and caregivers needs to be investigated to determine the full impact of a communication disorder such as AD from the perspective of the impaired speaker and the conversational partner, to functionally improve communication, self-esteem and psychosocial well-being. The results are based on observations and audio recordings of conversations with two participants. The results are presented broadly to demonstrate the participants' typical linguistic behaviour and reveal linguistic behaviour as a continuum that includes elements of both languages. Wide use of L1q in conversation domains that were allocated to the L2 was noted. The results show that the severity of AD and language proficiency are major contributing factors for language mixing. As the disease progressed, the conversational partner carried the cognitive responsibility for upholding/maintaining the conversation. Emerging from the study is an enhanced awareness of the need to combine studies in bilingualism with studies in ageing, since research of this nature is still in its infancy in applied language studies and applied linguistics in Africa.

The study aims to investigate whether the difference in the language of teaching in teacher education and the language of teaching in the lower primary phase is a barrier for effective teaching and learning in the targeted institutions. Furthermore, would additional focus on mother tongue education in teacher education benefit educational achievement in the Kavango educational region specifically and in Namibia as a whole?