Thesis (M. A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The purpose of this study was to explore strategies employed by teachers to develop language proficiency of Grade 4 learners. Qualitative case study was adopted to identify and describe the effectiveness of strategies employed by teachers. Data collection was done using semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations and document analysis. Four (4) Grade 4 teachers who teach EFAL at Toronto Primary School participated in the study. The findings indicated that learner-centred strategies such as group work, peer teaching, scaffolding and discussion were effective in engaging learners in the learning and teaching process. Teachers also employed code switching and individual instruction as remedial strategies to further facilitate better understanding of the content. The findings also showed that sometimes the strategies were not effective due to disruptive behaviour. CAPS training, teaching experience and collaboration of teachers enabled teachers to execute the strategies successfully in regardless of scarcity of resources and overcrowded classrooms. The findings also revealed that teachers experienced challenges such as overcrowded classrooms, lack of resources, lack of teaching aids, time allocated to teach EFAL and lack of support from the parents to teach EFAL effectively and these challenges still need to be addressed to allow smooth learning and teaching of EFAL. Recommendations from the study were made on how teachers can overcome problems they experience in the teaching of EFAL. Key terms: EFAL, Learner-centred approach, Grade 4.

Thesis (M.A. (Language (Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The impact of the switch in LoLT between Grade 3 and 4 has been the subject of much research in South Africa which results in grade 4 low pass rate. What constitutes a problem is that during this transition from Sepedi to English as LOLT, most learners are linguistically not ready to make this leap (Heugh, 2006; Maswanganye, 2010). The change of the language of learning and teaching from Sepedi to English in Grade 4 is problematical because of the challenges in adjusting to the use of English as LOLT (Macdonald, 1990; Alexander, 2005; Heugh, 2006; Maswanganye, 2010). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of English First Additional Language on learners‟ academic performance in Grade 4 at a primary school. A qualitative research approach was adopted in this study due to the fact that this study was explanatory and descriptive in nature. This study used a qualitative case study research design and qualitative interpretive paradigm which allowed the researcher to gather information through observations and interviews. This study was guided by sociocultural theory developed by Vygotsky (1978) because it emphasizes that teachers can use strategies to create classroom conditions that foster learning by modeling, scaffolding and the development of the learners‟ zone of proximal development (ZPD). The study used inductive thematic data analysis method to analyse data collected from observation schedule and interviews. The findings showed that learners‟ hindrance concerning reading and writing in the English language is home based factors because of socioeconomic factors. This study shows that less teacher training also poses challenges to English reading development as they do not have sufficient knowledge on reading strategies to deal with the transition of grade 4 learners from Sepedi to English First Additional Language as a language of learning and teaching. The study recommends training of teachers on how to teach reading and implementation of additive or bilingualism for the subsequent language policy development in South African education system should be considered.

This study takes place within a school situated on the north eastern side of Soshanguve, a township to the north of the capital city, Pretoria, also called Tshwane. The school draws most of its learners from an area that started as an informal settlement. Certain parts of this settlement are now well structured and it is gradually becoming a formal settlement. The children who form part of this study are those whose parents have migrated from neighbouring provinces such as Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga, as well as from neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Owing to this migration, the community around this school is multilingual. Multilingualism has led to phonic, grammatical, semantic and stylistic language interference. This interference has caused language change, which in turn has led to variations that affect the standard form of Sesotho sa Lebowa, the first language of the school. The school selected for this study has achieved very average matriculation results since its establishment in 1994. Although the school generally achieves a 100% pass rate in the subject Sesotho sa Lebowa, marks are generally low despite the fact that the learners are supposedly first language speakers of Sesotho sa Lebowa. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons for the poor quality of these results. Matriculation results over the past four years attest to the fact that something needs to be done in order to reverse the negative trend of these results. / Linguistics / M.A. (Sociolinguistics)

The aim of the study is to provide an account of the present state of Portuguese in the Johannesburg Portuguese community, and to identify factors influencing the maintenance of, and shift from the mother tongue. South African society necessitates a knowledge and daily use of English, and sometimes Afrikaans. Literacy and proficiency in the Portuguese mother tongue is therefore rapidly decreasing, especially amongst the third generation. Despite this decline, certain factors play a role in maintaining Portuguese. The most important factors in the maintenance of the mother tongue are education, cultural activities, contact with Portugal, parental influence and positive attitudes. If measures are not taken, and an awareness created within the community of the need to create a situation of stable bilingualism, the Portuguese language will continue to be eroded. / 0 objectivo desta tese e analisar o nivel actual da lingua portuguesa, na comunidade Portuguesa em Joanesburgo, e identificar os factores que influenciam a manutenc;ao e ou o afastamento da lingua materna. A sociedade sul-africana necessita de urn conhecimento diario da lingua inglesa e, par vezes da lingua afrikaans. Por conseguinte, a capacidade de ler e escrever fluentemente na lingua portuguesa esta rapidamente a desaparecer, especialmente na 3a gerac;ao. Apesar deste declinio, existem ainda determinados factores que contribuem para a sobrevivencia da lingua portuguesa na comunidade. Os factores mais importantes sao: a educac;ao, as actividades culturais, o contacto com Portugal, a influencia familiar - atitudes positivas tomadas pela propria comunidade. Se nao forem criadas medidas pelos portugueses, que garantam a consciencializac; ao da lingua materna e urn determinado bilinguismo, a lingua portuguesa acasani par desaparecer na Africa do Sul. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)

This study explored language practices of trilingual undergraduate students of mathematics as they made sense of an algebraic task. Specifically, the study set out to explore whether, how and why trilingual undergraduate students used language(s) to make sense of mathematics. In this study a trilingual speaker is viewed as an individual proficient in three languages and whose proficiency in the languages is not necessarily equal. The speaker uses the three languages either separately or by switching between any two in ways that are determined by his/her communication needs. Exploring language practices helped me to understand how students position themselves as they engage with a mathematics task using mathematical Discourses (capital D) in relation to their trilingual language facility. This facility involves the use of either the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) (English) or the switching between two or three of the languages they know. These languages were home languages, including Kiswahili of the students. In tertiary institutions, English is the LoLT while the home languages are neither taught nor used in the classroom. The study used a qualitative inquiry process, specifically a case study approach. It was conducted at a public university in Kenya with a focus on first-year engineering students with mathematics in their programme. Data were collected using a students‟ questionnaire, and clinical and reflective interviews. A structured questionnaire was used to gather the baseline data, which was used for the selection of 15 interview participants. The clinical interviews provided information on language use as the students engaged with the task, explaining each step of the process, while the aim of the reflective interviews was to identify, ascertain and confirm various actions and different languages and language practices that were not apparent during the clinical interview. The interviews were transcribed and 11 paired transcripts were selected for analysis. The data were analysed using the methods of Discourse analysis (Gee, 2005). This analysis explored how students used language in tandem with non-language “stuff” in a single language or when switching between any two languages and how and why each was used. The focus was on the activities and identities they enacted through their interpretation of the given task and in part of the solution process. The findings revealed that when students engaged with mathematics, they drew on the LoLT only, or switched between the LoLT and their home languages or between the LoLT, home languages and Kiswahili. Those who switched did so when they were faced with interpretation challenges, when there was need to emphasise a point and due to habitual practices of switching. They commonly switched silently and communicated verbally in the LoLT. The purpose for code switching was to gain understanding of the task. On the other hand, a trilingual student is likely to remain in the LoLT because content has been taught and tasks presented in the LoLT. The key contribution of this study is its focus on the trilingual language context of undergraduate students of mathematics, an area that has not been researched up to now. Furthermore, this study has added to scholarly work in this discipline by establishing that code switching is not the preserve of students who are learning the LoLT; rather, it is a reality for trilingual students who are competent in the LoLT when they engage with mathematics. / Mathematics Education / D. Ed. (Mathematics Education)

The Zimbabwean Education Act of 1987 stated that English was the official language of learning and teaching (LoLT) from grade four upwards. From grade three downwards, the mother tongue was to be used. That Education Act was later amended in 2006, to extend the use of the mother tongue up to grade seven. As a college lecturer, I have observed that there is tension between policy and practice. English and indigenous languages are vying for supremacy as the LoLT from as early as the Early Childhood Development (ECD) level. For the majority of these learners, English is a second language. This research aims to investigate problems emanating from the use of English as a second language (ESL) in learning and teaching Environmental Science (ES) at primary school level. Its objectives are to investigate the usefulness of the language policy currently in use in Zimbabwe as well as to investigate empirically, how grades four to seven teachers and their pupils communicate in class during ES lessons; and identify problems resulting from the use of ESL during ES lessons at primary school level and suggest solutions to these problems. I purposively chose ES because I developed interest in that subject when I taught it at college level where I observed many students teaching it for almost three decades. Most of the pupils these students taught struggled to communicate in ESL. My research was not intended to test existing theory. Therefore I chose an inductive (qualitative) approach. I adopted the phenomenological case study in which I collected data from the natural setting, namely: three purposively selected primary schools. I did my pilot study at the fourth school. I used four methods of data collection, namely: direct observation, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. The participants were grades four to seven teachers and their pupils. Findings of this study show that pupils were not willing to participate in class oral discourse. When teachers asked questions, pupils usually gave one-word answers. Teachers and pupils spoke the same first language (L1). So, when they failed to express themselves coherently in English, they code-switched to their L1. When that happened, most of the pupils were eager to talk. They gave correct responses in their L1. Group discussions were very lively when they were held in the pupils’ L1. But when teachers instructed the pupils to discuss in English, many pupils were silenced because of their limited English proficiency (LEP). It was very evident that ESL was a barrier to the learning of ES for many learners. Pupils faced conceptual and communication problems because most of them were not yet proficient enough to use ESL effectively to learn ES. Participants welcomed code-switching to L1 as a solution to their limited English proficiency. / Educational Studies / D. Phil. (Education)

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--university of Stellenbosch, 2010. / Bibliography

This study takes place within a school situated on the north eastern side of Soshanguve, a township to the north of the capital city, Pretoria, also called Tshwane. The school draws most of its learners from an area that started as an informal settlement. Certain parts of this settlement are now well structured and it is gradually becoming a formal settlement. The children who form part of this study are those whose parents have migrated from neighbouring provinces such as Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga, as well as from neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Owing to this migration, the community around this school is multilingual. Multilingualism has led to phonic, grammatical, semantic and stylistic language interference. This interference has caused language change, which in turn has led to variations that affect the standard form of Sesotho sa Lebowa, the first language of the school. The school selected for this study has achieved very average matriculation results since its establishment in 1994. Although the school generally achieves a 100% pass rate in the subject Sesotho sa Lebowa, marks are generally low despite the fact that the learners are supposedly first language speakers of Sesotho sa Lebowa. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons for the poor quality of these results. Matriculation results over the past four years attest to the fact that something needs to be done in order to reverse the negative trend of these results. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Sociolinguistics)

The aim of the study is to provide an account of the present state of Portuguese in the Johannesburg Portuguese community, and to identify factors influencing the maintenance of, and shift from the mother tongue. South African society necessitates a knowledge and daily use of English, and sometimes Afrikaans. Literacy and proficiency in the Portuguese mother tongue is therefore rapidly decreasing, especially amongst the third generation. Despite this decline, certain factors play a role in maintaining Portuguese. The most important factors in the maintenance of the mother tongue are education, cultural activities, contact with Portugal, parental influence and positive attitudes. If measures are not taken, and an awareness created within the community of the need to create a situation of stable bilingualism, the Portuguese language will continue to be eroded. / 0 objectivo desta tese e analisar o nivel actual da lingua portuguesa, na comunidade Portuguesa em Joanesburgo, e identificar os factores que influenciam a manutenc;ao e ou o afastamento da lingua materna. A sociedade sul-africana necessita de urn conhecimento diario da lingua inglesa e, par vezes da lingua afrikaans. Por conseguinte, a capacidade de ler e escrever fluentemente na lingua portuguesa esta rapidamente a desaparecer, especialmente na 3a gerac;ao. Apesar deste declinio, existem ainda determinados factores que contribuem para a sobrevivencia da lingua portuguesa na comunidade. Os factores mais importantes sao: a educac;ao, as actividades culturais, o contacto com Portugal, a influencia familiar - atitudes positivas tomadas pela propria comunidade. Se nao forem criadas medidas pelos portugueses, que garantam a consciencializac; ao da lingua materna e urn determinado bilinguismo, a lingua portuguesa acasani par desaparecer na Africa do Sul. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)