The purpose of this study was to investigate how African heritage language learners in Grade 3 constructed their language identity in a culturally diverse urban classroom. The data reflects the Grade 3 learners’ beliefs and feelings toward being educated in an English-medium school instead of attending a school where they were taught in their home language. A theoretical framework, based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system informed my study. The framework provides a holistic picture of how the Grade 3 learners constructed their language identity, as it did not only focus on the learners as such. The ecological system examined the unique aspects of the learners within their microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. In this exploration of multiple cases studies from a social constructivism perspective, the researcher collaborated with two Grade 3 teachers, seven parents and six Grade 3 African heritage language learners, to create a mosaic by using semi-structured interviews, documents, observational field notes, narrative reflections, photographs, drawings and a reflective journal. Participants’ perceptions of attending an English-medium school revealed how the Grade 3 learners constructed their language identity through assimilation. The findings revealed that the Grade 3 participants did not favour their home language or heritage culture as much as they favoured the Western culture. The following factors influenced the construction of the Grade 3 learners’ language identity: their environments, the school setting, their teachers’ attitude toward teaching in a culturally diverse classroom, their parents’ attitude toward their attending an English-medium school and lastly their friends. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/65483 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Cronje, Lelanie Marié |
| Contributors | Van Heerden, J.C., lani@global.co.za |
| Publisher | University of Pretoria |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Rights | © 2018 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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