The current research investigated the ways language was used by mainstream primary school teachers and language learners whose native language was other than the official language of instruction. The setting of the study was the island of Cyprus, where the mainstream population’s language, Standard Modern Greek, is taught as the educational first language to native speakers of the Greek Cypriot dialect. At the same time, Standard Modern Greek is taught as an additional language to non-native Greek speakers. The main aim of the study was the investigation of the teachers’ and language learners’ use of language in the multilingual schools, to provide information regarding the way participants managed to ‘get along’ socially and academically. Upon examination of this use, the existence of the sociolinguistic phenomenon of bidialectism (the coexistence of two varieties), presented a further complication. The investigation was set within a sociocultural framework, following a neo-Vygotskyan perspective. The investigation was approached through a multiple case study conducted in three first grade primary school classrooms in Cyprus, in which ten language learners and three mainstream teachers were observed for more than 1500 minutes in the classroom and in the playground area. The study was also supported by interviews with the teachers and the GAL learners. In addition, interviews using the young learners’ drawings and persona dolls were conducted to investigate the perspectives of the children. The originality of the study was reflected in the variety of the research methods used, the inclusion of young children in the research, the consideration of bidialectism, the reflection upon both socialising and educational purposes through the use of language and, finally, the different settings where the participants were observed. The results of the study revealed that the instructors used the various linguistic varieties to achieve educational goals through the communication process, in that way prioritising communication over a preferred language. It also became clear that the teachers’ use of language was shown to prioritise communication rather than language learners’ socialisation in a preferred language culture. Moreover, teachers seemed to use the unofficial variety more often than any other linguistic variety as one of the most powerful means of communication they had with the language learners. Similarly, language learners were observed using the unofficial variety almost exclusively while the official variety use was observed only inside the classroom and only in activities that were related to written texts. Also, the playground area was observed to allow young learners to use language more freely, without worrying about mistakes and thus a much more extensive use of verbal speech was noticed. Finally, language learners seemed to use the language first and foremost to become equal members of their school and their class, while their use of language for educational purposes through communication was not a priority as it was for the teachers. None of the previous studies reviewed in the field managed to apply such a rich methodological design, include young students’ voices and examine the language use taking into account the bidialectal phenomenon.

The educational changes brought about by the South African Constitution and the Language in Education policy has resulted in the emergence of multilingual classrooms in South Africa. The focus of the inquiry was to find out how teachers make sense of teaching in such classrooms. Much of the current literature regarding second language teaching focuses on either the recommendation of different methods of teaching a second language or describing the experiences of second language learners. There are not many studies that try to understand the phenomenon from the teacher’s point of view. This study describes the lived experiences of six Intermediate Phase teachers, teaching second language learners in multilingual classrooms. The research context was an ex-Model C school in Gauteng where each of the official languages are represented as home languages among the learners. The research design was qualitative in nature and data collection techniques included interviews, observation and document perusal. The findings from the data reflect that teachers found teaching in multilingual classrooms both challenging and difficult. The inability to communicate with second language learners or speak other official languages was cited as contributing to the challenge. A lack of adequate training in language acquisition and a need for support in teaching multilingual classes was expressed by the teachers. The study concludes that teachers in multilingual classrooms need support and recommendations were made of how this could be accomplished. The results of this inquiry show that further research in this area pertinent to the South African context is indicated. / Mrs. J.V. Fourie

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis is concerned with Language in Education Policy (LiEP) and literacy acquisition in multilingual Uganda with the urban district of Kampala as the case study. Specifically, the study investigates the implementation of a monoglot LiEP for early literacy acquisition in a multilingual situation. The thesis analyses three LiEP instruments for Uganda, namely; (i) The 1992 Government White Paper on Education, (ii) The 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and (iii) The Uganda Education Sector Strategic Plan 2004-2015. After that analysis the study presents views and perceptions of LiEP Stakeholders in Uganda; Policy makers, Curriculum developers, Literacy researchers, NGO Officials, Head teachers, Literacy teachers and Parents/Guardians. The study is mainly prompted by the LiEP which recommends English as the Medium of Instruction (MoI) but not the common language to be used throughout the Primary School cycle. The thesis trys to shed light on the following aspects; principles of a LiEP in a multilingual setting, a relevant LiEP model for multilingual situations, multilingualism as a resource for literacy acquisition, appropriateness of a bilingual LiEP in Kampala with a local language, classroom and home literacy practices and lastly, literacy acquisition. The research question is to find out the extent to which the current LiEP in Uganda provides for literacy acquisition in multilingual settings.

The dissertation, of limited scope, reviewed existing research on multilingualism in challenging educational contexts. The aim was to explore and determine the state of research in the area of multilingualism in educational contexts that are considered challenging, over the time period 2010 to 2020. In addition, the dissertation of limited scope also explored the benefits of multilingualism and how the current state of research influences future research through the identification of trends and gaps. The research was collected and identified through a rigorous process whereby specific search strategies were used with particular keywords. Distinct databases such as JSTOR PsycARTICLES, Academic Search Complete, and Linguistic Collection as well as other journal and Internet resources were used to obtain 34 studies relevant to the research questions of the dissertation of limited scope. The results showed that 1) research related for multilingualism in challenging contexts of education is centred around the trends of pedagogical practices of learning, first language as the language of instruction, academic achievement and the resourcefulness of multilingualism, 2) multilingualism in 3) there is great opportunity for future research in this linguistic and academic area due to the lack of research and visible gaps in the literature over the last ten years. As there has been no previous overview, the findings provide a theoretical contribution to research on multilingualism in challenging contexts. They both encourage future research in a South African context and also indicate that research in other similar global contexts should be conducted. The findings provide an overview of relevant information for any parties that may be interested in this area of multilingualism and serve as a reference point for further research. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

The purpose of this literature study is to take a closer look at whether and how the intercultural approach can contribute to an inclusive classroom environment and how the intercultural approach affects multilingual students. In order to be able to answer these questions, we analyzed six different international articles that deal with intercultural learning from different perspectives. The research has been conducted in Australia, USA, Ecuador, Turkey and Norway. The results show that the intercultural approach has a strong positive impact in multicultural classrooms, as it can strengthen the community and thus create a more inclusive classroom environment. Research shows that empathy is an important part of intercultural awareness, along with mutual curiosity and respect. The literature shows that language and identity are strongly connected. The intercultural perspective sees multilingualism as an asset, and therefore this mindset can strengthen the students´ linguistic self-esteem, and give them a higher status in a linguistic varied environment in a society where a monolingualism norm prevails.

Diese Ausgabe präsentiert 6 Artikel, die sich mit der linguistischen und kulturellen Diversität in der Republik Uganda befassen. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt der Frage, wie sich Sprache, Sprachvielfalt und Multilingualismus in öffentlichen und kulturellen Bereichen des täglichen Lebens widerspiegeln. Die Artikel basieren auf Daten und Erfahrungen, die im März 2003 in Uganda gesammelt wurden.

The salience of English as the main language of instruction at tertiary institutions across South Africa has not been without critique. At the University of Cape Town, henceforth UCT, conversations surrounding language and academic success have become bolstered by the rhetoric of decolonisation, necessitating a review of policy and practice. This in turn has opened up research opportunities pertaining to student and staff experiences of language at the institution. This thesis is a response to the urgent need for ethnographic focus on the language situation at UCT and higher education institutions countrywide, where increasingly light falls on the language question within quests for decolonisation and social justice. Focusing the language question within frameworks of decoloniality, glocalisation, translanguaging and the development of African languages in education, this thesis distills ethnographic data to argue that language borders need to be reevaluated in a quest for conviviality informed by the universality of incompleteness, where fluidity, interconnection, and interdependence are prioritised over the current dominance of English. Grounded in rich ethnographic evidence in the form of student interviews and reflections, meeting at the intersection of social and linguistic anthropology, this thesis grapples with the critical questions: “What is language at UCT? And what does language do?”

The promotion of Kiswahili is one of the main goals of the policies of the East African Community. However, only a limited amount of research has been conducted on the perception and application of the language outside of the traditionally Kiswahili-speaking countries of Tanzania and Kenya. Especially in Uganda, the third largest country of the region, there is a lack of understanding for the role of the language in public communication. This article presents data on the use of Kiswahili in everyday communication and discusses the language attitudes and language ideologies of the people in Northern Uganda’s largest city. It shows that, despite generally positive attitudes towards the language, there is little to no use for it in public communication. The results of the study, combined with perceived negative attitudes from other parts of the country towards the implemented policies, question the effectiveness of the proposed measures for promoting Kiswahili within the present parameters of the specific context’s language ecologies, as well as the country in general.

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA in Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 20 June 2018 / This study explores the relationship between multilingualism and working memory. Multilingual advantages in various executive functions have been established, but little is known about whether multilingual advantages extend to working memory capacity and functioning, or about the effect of speaking more than two languages. In a sample of 189 multilingual young adults in South Africa, this study used a multiple regression design in which numerous aspects of multilingualism - balance in proficiency across and within languages, the age of acquisition of additional languages, and speaking a third language - could be compared with one another while controlling for socio-economic status. Four aspects of working memory (verbal storage, verbal processing, visuospatial storage and visuospatial processing), measured using the Automated Working Memory Assessment (Alloway, 2007), acted as the dependent variables in respective regressions while independent variables measuring multilingualism, including the continuous measures of balance in reading, speaking and understanding proficiency across languages, were based on self-report information from the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAPQ; Marian, Blumenfeld, & Kaushanskaya, 2007). Balance in proficiency emerged as a strong predictor of the verbal processing component of working memory, while no aspect of multilingualism significantly predicted visuospatial working memory. Combined with other results, this finding suggested that the effect of multilingualism on working memory may not follow the pattern observed in other tasks where multilinguals are advantaged in domaingeneral executive functions (like inhibitory control) but disadvantaged in linguistic tasks. Multilinguals’ experience in storing and processing linguistic information may lead to advantages (possibly through managing attention) that are specific to this kind of information. Keywords: bilingual advantage, executive function, multilingual advantage, trilingualism, working memory ! / GR2019

In the Rwandan multilingual context, an overwhelmingly dominant language of everyday communication (viz.: Kinyarwanda) is vying for space on the national linguistic market with three co-official languages. Of these, two (viz.: English and French) are influential internationally and one (viz.: Kiswahili) is influential regionally. This is a rather unique context of language use; and the present study set out to examine how “Translanguaging” as a teaching/learning strategy is likely to foster subject content learning and language competence development at the secondary school level. In this endeavor, the study specifically aimed (1) to describe the nature of Translanguaging as actually practiced in this particular context; (2) to ascertain the way in which it enhances subject content learning; and (3) to determine how it is likely to improve students’ language competence. The following findings were thus reached. With regard to the nature of Translanguaging; the study found that the aspects of the practice referred to as “Integrated Use of Languages” and “Centre Stage to Home Language” were extensively and usefully harnessed, especially through English-Kinyarwanda/KinyarwandaEnglish codeswitching. At the same time, however, the study found that a most important aspect of Translanguaging, the “Integrated Language Use Planning and Activity Structuring” was not observed, and this represents an crucial defect in the practice. As concerns the way in which Translanguaging facilitates Subject Content Learning, the study found that knowledge is effectively delivered and accessed, even though appropriate expression of that knowledge in the academic context is likely to be a big challenge. Finally with respect to how Translanguaging enhances Language Competence Development, the study found that; of all the “linguistic varieties (Franceschini 2011)” most likely to be used in the context under study; only one (viz.: Kinyarwanda-English codeswitching) is sure to develop rapidly, whereas the other varieties (English, French, Kiswahili, and Kinyarwanda) are likely to be learnt and/or developed moderately, owing mainly to the above mentioned “Integrated Language Use Planning” defect. Overall, it has appeared from the present study that; to a certain extent; it is good for secondary school education that teachers and students have intuitively adopted “multilingual practices” as a teaching/learning strategy. However, it would be highly recommended that the practice be consciously planned and systematically monitored and evaluated. Only in that way, it is suggested, multilingual practices can be fully and beneficially harnessed for concomitant advancement of subject content learning and language competence development / MT 2019