A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of African Languages at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2014 / This research reveals the need of using the mother-tongue in teaching of all subjects as the medium of instruction, especially to the learners from the African communities. Here it is recommended that English be taught for communication. Chapter one introduces the entire research, its aims, problem of language usage, meaning of words, and the research methods. In addition to that it gives the ideas of different writers and the people that are going to benefit from the research. It also displays the outline of chapters and the conclusion. Chapter two focusses on the language usage in the classroom, community and how the eThekwini Municipality communicates with its community through letters. It also reveals the history of isiZulu language. Chapter three displays the language usage in Parliament, how do the educators teach the mother-tongue at schools? The impact of the Western languages due to the ruling party and how that can be balanced. The selection and codification of words in the written documents of the government has an impact of the indigenous people to lose their mother-tongue. Chapter four reveals the fact of richness of mother-tongue because it displays its proverbs and idioms. That promotes the culture of that particular nation. The focus is on the correct usage of the language. Chapter five displays the languages that are commonly used in Social Development Department, Court, KwaMsane Clinic, Ithala Bank, Richards Bay Hospital and Mtubatuba Municipality. Information to support the research was obtained from the questionnaire. Chapter six focusses on the findings, recommendations and conclusion of the entire work done.

My intention with this study was to examine the concepts “mother tongue” and “mother tongue education” and how these concepts are understood by some parents. To reach this goal I’ve conducted a qualitative study, wherein I’ve interviewed eight parents with foreign backgrounds. The study is inspired by hermeneutics in its interpretation of results. From this study I can reach several conclusions. To begin with, all parents had a positive view of the mother tongue concept and mother tongue education. It is very important for their children. They need their mother tongue and mother tongue support to be able to communicate with others who speak the same language, and to strengthen their self confidence and achieve a strong personality and identity. Another thing the study shows is that there are some deficiencies in this area, for instance the insufficient amount of teaching hours, the unsuitable scheduling, large class sizes and mother tongue teachers not speaking the same dialect as the children. A third recurring result is the deficient communication between teachers and the parents in the study. The informants had a desire to improve these aspects to allow for the development of the childrens’ mother tongue.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what a few preschool teachers and mother-tongue teachers consider the influence mother-tongue training has on children. The thesis also looks into how these teachers cooperate and view about the mother-tongue training organization structure and what support mother-tongue teachers get in the concerned preschools. More specifically: What influences do three preschool teachers and three mother-tongue teachers consider that mother-tongue training has on the development of the children? Which support do the three mother-tongue teachers receive from the preschool principals and other preschool pedagogues in their work? - Is there any cooperation between them? In what way do the three preschool teachers and the three mother-tongue teachers think that the mother-tongue training organization structure affect the children’s status in the group? Method: In order to achieve a deeper understanding of the context, a qualitative method based on interviews and observations was employed and relied upon. Three preschool teachers and three mother-tongue teachers from two different preschools in the same municipality were interviewed to acquire answers to the questions concerned. Result: The result of this enquiry shows a direct and explicit comprehension that mother-tongue is immensely important for children’s development. Mother-tongue teachers believes that they are treated and accepted much better today than in foregone years and that there is better cooperation today between different concerned bodies. The result also indicates that the organization structure of the mother-tongue training can and do sometimes create problems in the child group. The child often does not gain entry to an ongoing activity/play when he/she comes back from mother-tongue training vis-à-vis often he/she is reluctant to leave their playmates and go away for a mother-tongue’s lesson. In order to avoid this problem it is imperative that preschools teachers put in a lot of energy and commitment to avert exclusion from play/activity after mother-tongue training. The interviewed teachers to this thesis claim also that the current organization structure of the mother-tongue training can be seen as division of groups just as much as the other division of groups in the regular organization. Children are used to the continuous division of groups in the preschools. The interviewed teachers are quite content and satisfied with the present organization structure but retain that there are certain areas which needs to be looked into and improved.

The UN Charter recognizes the right to culture as a human right and UNESCO mandates the preservation and enhancement of indigenous cultures – reflecting how the international community values cultural diversity. Ignoring the acculturating effects of education in foreign languages in indigenous societies comes in conflict with these mandates. Current research in the instructional languages of primary school education usually revolves around the learning advantages. But the focus on learning advantages has diminished the impact of instructional language on culture to relative oblivion, despite the acculturating effects visibly found in indigenous, multilingual, and pluralist societies; effects that threaten the existence of many indigenous cultures in the wake of globalization. As remarked by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o in his book titled The Future of African Literature, language is “a system of communication” and “the carrier of culture”, therefore, striking a balance between its role in education and culture is essential. Indigenous culture and language should not be sacrificed by education that seeks to educate for inclusion in a world viewed as a global; the latter representative of the western culture and English language. Therefore, a strategy is needed to use education systems both as carriers of indigenous cultures and participation in a global world. This topic requires continuous research. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of mother tongue at the primary school level in the preservation of culture. For this purpose, the relationship of Pukhtunwali culture with Pukhtu language was investigated. This qualitative study consisted of interviews with six primary school teachers teaching grade five social studies curriculum in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. The teachers were asked to share their perspectives on the role of Pukhtu language used as a medium of instruction at the primary school level in the preservation of Pukhtun culture in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. Data analysis identified five themes that showed variations in the perspectives of teachers regarding the role of Pukhtu language in the preservation of Pukhtunwali if used as a medium of instruction in schools. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2013-10-09 13:35:40.547

<p>Syftet med uppsatsen var att utreda romska ungdomars skolsituation i Västerås samt att föra en diskussion om studiens resultat i förhållande till Europarådets ramkonvention om nationella minoriteter. Syftet utreddes dels genom intervjuer med åtta romska elever och tre lärare därefter tolkades resultatet utifrån ett intersektionellt perspektiv. Vidare diskuterades resultatet med utgångspunkt i relevanta delar av ramkonventionen. Studien är kvalitativ och empirin analyserades genom en hermeneutisk tolkningsprocess. Vad som framkom i resultatet är att majoritetssamhällets etnocentrism påverkar unga romers skolsituation i Västerås eftersom romernas särskilda rättigheter i egenskap av nationell minoritet inte beaktas. Skolsituationen försätter de romska ungdomarna i en marginaliseringssituation där de pendlar mellan majoritetssamhällets krav och familjens förväntningar.</p>

This paper investigates the methods used by teachers when teaching elementary mathematics to children with Swedish as their second language. The original mathematical terminology derives from Latin, Greek and Arabic, this terminology is not of great importance in this paper, the everyday language spoken in elementary classes when teaching mathematical concepts and calculations to younger children is. The use of everyday language is an advantage for children with Swedish as their second language as mathematical problems presented in a more plain language is easier to comprehend and solve than problems in mere numerals. Special teachers in home language classes often have the task of clarifying the mathematical concepts, introduced to the children during mathematical lessons, in the pupils first acquired language. A qualitative method was used in this study. The research material consists of interviews and observations. Two teachers and a home language teacher, all from one school, participate in the study. The research results show the importance of ordinary language terminology in mathematics for beginners. The participants of the study are aware of the importance of language in mathematics and actively work with the vocabulary in the languages involved. The various methodologies used to introduce mathematical vocabulary to the students differed among the teachers.

Syftet med uppsatsen var att utreda romska ungdomars skolsituation i Västerås samt att föra en diskussion om studiens resultat i förhållande till Europarådets ramkonvention om nationella minoriteter. Syftet utreddes dels genom intervjuer med åtta romska elever och tre lärare därefter tolkades resultatet utifrån ett intersektionellt perspektiv. Vidare diskuterades resultatet med utgångspunkt i relevanta delar av ramkonventionen. Studien är kvalitativ och empirin analyserades genom en hermeneutisk tolkningsprocess. Vad som framkom i resultatet är att majoritetssamhällets etnocentrism påverkar unga romers skolsituation i Västerås eftersom romernas särskilda rättigheter i egenskap av nationell minoritet inte beaktas. Skolsituationen försätter de romska ungdomarna i en marginaliseringssituation där de pendlar mellan majoritetssamhällets krav och familjens förväntningar.

The Swedish School Board reported in 2007 that students with a foreign background to a larger extent than Swedish students leave school without grades in one or more subjects in the ninth grade. The report also reveals that during the year 2007/2008 17 percent of elementary school pupils had the right to home language instruction. Students with an other mother tongue than Swedish are considered a separate group that doesn’t perform as well in school. My study investigates how eleven Arabic-speaking ninth-graders at age 15-16 perceive the importance of their mother tongue for learning and identity development. To this purpose I have conducted semi-structured interviews – one comprising six students in group and five individual – in a school in one of the suburbs of Stockholms. The theoretic point of departure for this study has been the social constructivist perspective. The result shows unambiguously that the students consider their mother tongue to be important for the learning and development of the second language. It is principally spoken Arabic that is used for attaining knowledge – the written language, which in Arabic is quite different from the spoken language, has its greatest significance in home language instruction. The result of the study also shows two informants identify themselves as arabs since Arabic is their mother tongue, while the rest of the students identify themselves with the Arabic culture, which constitutes a construction of ethnicity and contributes to demarcations between us and them. LyssnaLäs fonetisk Ordbok - Visa detaljerad ordbok

This research project is mainly a study of attitudes towards Afrikaans and its setworks by non-mother-tongue speakers in Grades 10 - 12 in an English Government school. The approach taken to this research was a combined one. This was as a result of gathering information through both qualitative and quantitative methods. Grade 10 - 12 learners completed questionnaires in which they indicated their attitudes which were then arranged according to qualitative research. Focus groups were also allocated that can be viewed as qualitative research. The Grade 10 - 12 learners were questioned in smaller groups as to their attitudes to language and their preferences regarding the teaching of poetry. The main research aims, answered in Chapter 4, are the following: <ul> <li>to determine whether non-mother-tongue learners in Grades 10 - 12 are negative towards the language Afrikaans,</li> <li>to determine the attitude of non-mother-tongue learners towards poetry,</li> <li>to determine the attitudes of non-mother-tongue learners regarding teaching methods, and</li> <li>to recommend which aims are acceptable when teaching poetry within a South African context to non-mother-tongue learners.</li> </ul> The research that involved the learners was completed in July 2006. One hundred Grade 12 learners were involved in the pilot study towards the end of their academic year in 2005. This study required the learners to indicate their feelings regarding their set poems. In 2006, two hundred-and-forty Grade 10 - 12 learners at the same school were involved in answering a more comprehensive questionnaire. This included: the themes they prefer; whether they ever read poetry by choice; and whether the teaching that they received at school, inspired them enough to become life-long poetry readers. The questionnaire also contained an attitude indicator which allowed learners to demonstrate whether they enjoyed something, felt neutral, or did not like it at all. This allowed their attitudes regarding teaching and assessment methods, as well as the compilation of a poetry syllabus with possible themes to be made known. After the information had been processed by the researcher’s statistic analyst, it was found that learners are generally more positive towards the language Afrikaans (61.59%), but are negative towards certain aspects of the poetry syllabus. The learners demonstrated that they did not enjoy group work. This is, however, a problem because this is a prerequisite for the Grades 10 – 12 syllabi. A recommendation was made that the educator must give thought to how he or she is going to implement group work. When learners are led in a meaningful way during group work sessions, they will feel that their interpretation is also validated. A further issue that the research highlighted as problematic are the types of poem that are currently prescribed. Learners did, for example, indicate that they did not enjoy analysing poems about death and war. However, the two poems “Begrafnis van ‘n ouma” and “Foto van man wat val” relating to these themes were positively received during the research. A recommendation is made that educators should not necessarily shy away from themes that learners dislike, but perhaps educators could spend the time looking at the type of poem on these themes that could be set. Chapter 5 suggests a model for the teaching of poetry to non-mother-tongue speakers. It offers questions suitable for Afrikaans First Additional Language and the poems were selected according to popular themes as indicated by learners. This research project suggests that non-mother-tongue learners can be motivated to enjoy Afrikaans poetry. This is dependent on the teaching methodology employed; the type of prescribed poems taught; and learners’ attitudes towards Afrikaans as a language. These factors influence their attitude towards Afrikaans in general. / Dissertation (MA (Afrikaans))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Afrikaans / unrestricted

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Afrikaans in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1995. / The aim of the research was to identify the role of mother tongue influence in the Afrikaans of Zulu speaking pupils. The research was conducted in the Mehlwesizwe and Hlabisa inspection circuits respectively. The results showed that most deviations which could be ascribed to mother tongue influence were syntactic. Followed by lexical phonological and morphological deviations that there was a need for the use of the communicative approach in the teaching of Afrikaans which can result in the pupils being able to communicate in the language . Successful communication would determine whether the language is correct or not. The amount of exposure to Afrikaans as well as the residential area of the respondent did not necessarily determine the measure of proficiency in the language. The results also showed that Afrikaans occupies third place after the mother tongue and English in the research area. So is it fair to teach pupils a second language higher grade syllabus in Afrikaans ? Why not make provision for a second Language lower grade or even a third language Afrikaans sylabus?