Thesis (MTech. degree in Education.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / The Constitution of South Africa in its Bill of Rights and the Language Policy introduced nine more official languages in addition to English and Afrikaans which were the only languages used as media of instruction in schools before 1994. The other nine official languages now embraced by the Policy as the media of instruction in schools are isiZulu, siSwati, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Xitsonga, and Tshivenda. The purpose of this study was to determine how the Language Policy is implemented in secondary schools in Mpumalanga.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Journalism and Media Studies Centre / Master / Master of Journalism

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

In the Lesotho primary education system, the language policy states that the mother tongue (Sesotho) should be used up to Standard Three (this is the third year of schooling in Lesotho) as the medium of instruction. English is prescribed as the medium of instruction from Standard Four upwards. This sudden change presents enormous challenges for teachers, especially in Standard Four. The purpose of my study was to investigate Standard Four teachers’ curriculum development experiences of the transition from the mother tongue to English as medium of instruction. The study also sought to understand how teachers plan and teach at this level. This was a qualitative interpretive study that adopted a case study methodology. Participants were purposively selected. They were three Sesotho-speaking Standard Four teachers in three different urban schools. In addressing the research questions, data was generated through qualitative methods such as semi-structured teachers’ interviews, classroom observations, document analysis and a personal reflective journal. Data was analyzed and interpreted through an open coding process. The findings revealed that these teachers experienced several challenges in the use of English as the medium of instruction. Teachers were faced with three key issues that they had to deal with, namely, overcoming their own perceptions of their competence in English, their low sense of self efficacy with regard to teaching at this transition class, and the difficulty with teaching pupils in a second language before these pupils had gained proficiency in their mother tongue. Teachers regularly employed codeswitching as a strategy to make meaning in their classrooms. The study recommends pre- and in-service teacher professional development, and a review of the Lesotho language policy in the primary school. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Thesis (M.A.)--Dept. of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, University of Melbourne, 2000. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-122) and appendices.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University, 2005. / Major Professor: Catherine O'Connor. Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-249)

This thesis reports on the relationship between an English-only language-ineducation policy and bilingual practices in secondary schools in Zanzibar. The focus is on language use in the classroom against the backdrop of a top-down and English-only language-in-education policy. The main purpose has been to gain an in-depth understanding of the relationship between the stipulations of the policy which was imposed from above and the judicious bilingual practices which are a commonly accepted as the norm in secondary schools in Zanzibar. The study employed a mixed method approach (QUAL+quant) and embraced elements of ethnography. The data for this study was gathered from two secondary schools which were purposively selected on the basis of parameters that were set in this study. Among other things, these include the secondary schools which have both ‘Ordinary level’ and ‘Advance level’, and the schools which teach the same subject using Kiswahili as the language of learning and teaching at one level, and English as the language of learning and teaching at another level. Data were obtained from multiple sources. On the one hand, through ethnography, classroom observations, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with teachers and students, and interviews with key actors were conducted. On the other hand, students’ test scripts, and students’ test and examination results (scores) were analysed. Both purposive and random sampling were used to get the participants. Drawing from Ruiz’s (1984) seminal tripartite orientations of language planning (language as right, language as problem, and language as resource) thematic analysis, content analysis, and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) were used to analyse data. The findings reveal that the use of bilingual (English and Kiswahili) in English medium subjects is a resource rather than a deficit since an overwhelming majority of students and some teachers cannot function positively in the topdown English-only language-in-education policy. Most significantly, teachers use Kiswahili in English medium subjects as a strategy for teaching terminologies, abstract concepts, and unfamiliar topics, as well as for clarification of ideas and for comprehension check. The study further indicates that the examinations and tests of English medium subjects do not assess what is exactly intended to be assessed (subject matter), but instead they assess English language. In addition, empirical evidence shows that language is a factor for students’ achievements in that students performed considerably better when the subjects were assessed in Kiswahili compared to the same subjects assessed in English. The findings further reveal that Kiswahili is suitable to be used as a sole language of learning and teaching in secondary schools of Zanzibar. Based on these findings, the study recommends that the use of Kiswahili in English medium subjects should be officially recognised and students should be given options of the language of assessment as an urgent step. Furthermore, given the urgency of the need for improving students’ performance, it is now high time to introduce Kiswahili medium of instruction secondary schools in Zanzibar which should co-exist with English medium of instruction secondary schools.

The post-apartheid South African Constitution guarantees the children of this country “the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public education institutions where that education is reasonably practicable” (The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, Section 29 (2)) (Juta’s Statutes 2003). Yet ten years into the new dispensation nothing significant has been done to alter a situation in which the majority of children are obliged to access their basic education largely through the medium of a second or even a third language — English. In contravention of both the intentions and the specific provisions of numerous legislative measures and policy statements, Government has made no serious or effective attempt to promote the use of any language other than English in South African schools nor to encourage language practices most conducive to the cognitive development and academic success of millions of non-English speaking pupils. To make matters worse, most of the children who enter the school system with very little knowledge of English and are expected to make an abrupt transition to that language as a medium of instruction after a totally inadequate three years are from impoverished households and communities still suffering the gravest effects of the discrimination and oppression of apartheid. They are often underprepared and seriously disadvantaged by their background circumstances when they enter the culturally strange and intimidating western-style education system. To heap on top of these disadvantages the burden of language practices in the classroom that hinder rather than facilitate their access to education is indefensible. When Macdonald asks, “ Are our children still swimming up the waterfall?” (Macdonald 2002: 111) she is not exaggerating. In these circumstances and if ineffective language teaching and inadequate use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction can be shown to bar effective access to basic education of an acceptable standard, there are far more serious and far-reaching implications in terms of human rights than just the right to choice of language medium. Linguistic research into medium of instruction has tended to be isolated from evaluative legal approaches to minority language rights, children’s rights, education rights or other fundamental human rights. Insufficient attention has been given to the interrelationship between the various rights and the importance of local conditions and circumstances in any assessment of their relative weight and enforceability. Human rights cannot be seen out of context, and theory from various disciplines, such as politics, economics and linguistics may be invaluable in forming a fresh perspective on the right to mother tongue education and, indeed, to basic education in general. The principle of non-discrimination in education is generally recognised, to be sure, as is the importance of ensuring access to and quality of education (Strydom 1992/93:139), but the dependence of these factors on the most appropriate medium of instruction within the education system does not merit much attention in the literature. The right to basic education tends to be seen as separate from any possible right to choice of medium of instruction and the latter often merely as a question of convenience or preference, at best a qualified right (Oosthuizen and Rossouw 2001: 666), dependent on feasibility, numbers and available finance (Motata and Lemmer 2002: 111). In fact, the case for regarding the right to mother tongue education as a strong positive right in many contexts and countries does not appear yet to have been made. This study is theoretical in nature and constitutes an attempt to fill this gap by examining the findings and views of experts from various disciplines within the framework of current thinking on human rights issues. The development of a coherent framework within which to view the right to mother tongue education and government obligations in connection therewith might be of some value to policy makers in their efforts to plan improvements within the education system. The synthesis and possibly, to a limited extent, the development of theory from the relevant disciplines will be undertaken by means of a survey of the relevant literature, an analysis of not only local but also international legislation and policy documents and the weighing and balancing of conflicting evidence and contrasting viewpoints. Sources and contributions in each area will be discussed under the headings outlined in Chapter 3. First, however, I should like to provide an overview of the educational, political and economic context in which mother tongue education must be considered.