A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2019. / This study aimed to explore the experiences of educators in using English as the language of learning and teaching for Grade 4 learners. It employed an interpretive qualitative approach. A sample of six teachers teaching Grade 4 were purposively selected from a district in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Data were collected through classroom observations and unstructured interviews. Findings revealed that teachers in rural monolingual community schools find it difficult to meet the policy prescriptions and curriculum demands in terms of the language of learning and teaching. Teachers end up translating into the mother tongue, which is isiZulu, and code-switching to enhance content understanding; this is a strategy that limits both teachers’ and learners’ exposure to English. In addition, learners transitioning from their Home language to English as the language of learning are not sufficiently supported. The findings also indicate that teachers in rural monolingual community schools in King Cetshwayo district find it difficult to meet the curriculum demands in terms of the language of learning and teaching. Grade 3 moves to Grade 4 with little English vocabulary and competence; this makes teaching very strenuous and challenging to teachers. Teachers were also found to be insufficiently proficient in English. The significance of the study relates to the educational issues of rural schools that are ignored by officialdom, including the fact that teachers are not adequately prepared to teach in English. In addition, learners transitioning to the very unfamiliar language of learning and teaching are not sufficiently supported with regard to improving their command of it. Hence, policies need revision to address the linguistic shortcomings of teachers and learners. New policies ought to be designed and implemented if English is to remain the language of learning and teaching in South African schools.

O objetivo deste estudo é instigar reflexões acerca do processo de ensino e aprendizagem, o que muitas vezes serve como instrumento de exclusão. Portanto, é preciso ter uma discussão ampla e aberta de todos os envolvidos neste processo, levantando problemáticas que possam subsidiar a construção de alternativas quanto ao ensino e à aprendizagem da Matemática nos dias atuais. Para tanto, utilizou-se como metodologia a pesquisa bibliográfica e a aplicação de questionários. Portanto, fica evidente que urge uma mudança na imagem da Matemática, não só com vistas a como o aluno a vê, mas como ela é interpretada pelos professores. Há de se repensar o seu processo de ensino, ainda bastante pautado em metodologias arcaicas que visam alimentar o sistema neoliberal vigente. / The aim of this study is to instigate reflections about the teaching and learning process, which often serves as an instrument of exclusion. Therefore, its necessary to build a large discussion of all involved in this process, raising issues that can subsidize the construction of alternatives for teaching and learning mathematics today. In order to develop this purpose, a literature search methodology and questionnaires were used. So, it is clear that an urgent change in the image of mathematics is needed, not only in the way students see it, but how it is interpreted by teachers. One has to rethink its teaching process, still ruled by very archaic methodologies that aim to support the current neoliberal system.