A central concern of education internationally and in South Africa is to develop children's literacy skill. However a literacy crisis exists in spite of efforts to counter this. Some researchers have explored the issue of literacy focusing on second language learners‟ spelling in English as Additional Language. There is, however, insufficient literature that looks into spelling experiences of isiXhosa background learners in English First Additional Language. Hence this study investigated the nature of spelling errors of Grade three isiXhosa background learners in English First Additional Language. In understanding the nature of spelling errors of Grade three isiXhosa background learners, the features of words that learners find difficult to spell and the features of words that learners find easy to spell were investigated. Moreover, learners' barriers in acquiring spelling skills in English First Additional Language and teacher practices for teaching spelling were examined. In exploring these issues the study adopted a qualitative approach in order to ensure reliability and validity of the study. The data gathering process was in the form of semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and document analysis. One isiXhosa medium primary school in a Black Township in Buffalo City Municipality in the East London District was purposively selected to form the context of the study. In this school English is taught as a subject in grade three. Participants were eight grade three learners and one Grade three class teacher who teaches these learners. The findings of the study revealed that learners with an isiXhosa background seemed to be struggling with understanding basic English words and terms. This is exacerbated by the fact that the learners seemed to struggle to understand the rules of the English language. The words that learners find difficulties in to spell in English Second Language were diagraphs. Barriers to spelling were influenced, among other issues, by learners' pronunciation and their heavy reliance on their mother tongue.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufh/vital:16175 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Mpiti, Thandiswa |
| Publisher | University of Fort Hare, Faculty of Education |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, M Ed |
| Format | 163 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | University of Fort Hare |
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