MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF BLACK ENGLISH SECOND-

LANGUAGE SOUTH AFRICAN LEARNERS IN EX-MODEL C

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

by

SARAH CHARLOTTE MONYAI

Mini-dissertation
submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for
the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

in the Department of African Languages

at the

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

Supervisor: Prof. V. N. Webb

November 2010

© University of Pretoria

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 DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this piece of work to my late father, Jackson Siyabiza
Chiloane. He always had confidence in me, and wished that I would successfully
complete my studies.

‘Segodi samalekane,
Tau yamariri!’

UNKASHANA KAMENZI!

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My grateful acknowledgement goes to Professor V. N. Webb for his continuous

guidance, assistance, patience, support and valuable contribution to this work. His
availability and encouragement helped me tremendously to complete this mini-
dissertation. His support and caring during difficult times and emphasis on perfection
contributed to the completion of this study.

I would like to especially thank the following people:

 My husband, Raymond, and my two children -- Kagiso and Lethabo -- for their
patience, love and understanding when I could not spend time with them during my
studies.

 My dear mother, Skanania Kate Chiloane, for her encouragement and her trust in
me. She is my pillar of support.

 My in-laws, Nelson and Angy Monyai, for their love and support at all times during
my studies.

 My niece Gloria Chiloane and my helper Sarah Nhlapho, for looking after my children
when I could not do so.

 My brothers for their encouragement and their confidence in me.

 The participants, who have made this study possible by sharing their experiences in
ex-Model C primary schools.

 The SGB, SMT and educators of the school for allowing me to conduct the research
on their premises, and for their availability.

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 My colleague, Irene Birch, for assisting me with information-technology issues and
her expertise during a difficult time.

 Jane Anderson and Kagiso Monyai, who assisted with the typing.

 My editor, Linette Downes-Webb, for being kind and agreeing to edit this study.

 The Almighty God for giving me the strength and courage to persevere throughout
my studies. I praise Him.

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 ABSTRACT

Black South African learners are registered in ex-Model C schools to receive their
education. The language of learning and teaching is English, whilst these learners’
English language proficiency is limited. They come from different townships and rural
areas, and their home languages are indigenous languages. Limited English
Proficiency (LEP) is a serious barrier that hinders the learners’ true potential. The
Department of Education expects the schools to assist the learners by identifying the
gaps in their education early, and by offering support.

The study aims to investigate and describe the challenges facing black, English
second-language South African learners and to meet their needs by offering
suggestions as to how they could be assisted to learn and achieve according to their
full potential. There is a need to heighten the awareness of different stakeholders
who are involved in educating the learner and to stimulate their interest to assist in
meeting the learners’ challenges.

The author has made use of mainly qualitative research methodology, and in some
instances had followed the quantitative method of research. All the participants were
from a specific ex-Model C school in Pretoria. The data were gathered by means of a
literature review, document analysis, questionnaires, and classroom visits and
observations.

The study has revealed that the black South African learners in ex-Model C schools
are faced by numerous challenges owing to their limited English proficiency, and that
they do not meet the requirements to pass their grades. Their inability to cope affects
their self-esteem and confidence negatively. The learners do not take risks to
participate actively during lessons as they tend to avoid embarrassment and being
teased by their peers.

The study further revealed that there are other contributing factors to the learners’
challenges, such as teachers who cannot assist the learners in the language that the
learners understand (indigenous languages), parents’ limited English proficiency,
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learners rising at 05:00 to prepare to get to school, late attendance of classes,
absenteeism, waiting till late in the afternoons to be fetched from school,
unsupervised homework and a lack of appropriate resources at home.

The study resulted in formulating guidelines and recommendations that will help
meet the challenges faced by black South African learners in ex-Model C schools,
and support them.

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 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Language competence 18

Figure 2.2 Grade 1 -- 3: Foundation Phase assessment codes 40

Figure 2.3 Grade 4 -- 6: Intermediate Phase assessment codes and marks 40

Figure 2.4 Grade 7: Senior Phase assessment codes and marks 41

Figure 4.1 Pie chart indicating the percentage of learners’ HLs 69

Figure 4.2 Teachers’ profile chart 75

Figure 4.3 Learners’ responses to the questionnaires and interviews 95

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: PROBLEM STATEMENT

1.1. Definition of the problem 1

1.2. What is the central problem? 2
1.3. What are the limitations of these black learners? 11
1.4. Possible reasons for black learners’ poor proficiency in English 11
1.5. How serious is the problem? 13
1.6. The aims and objectives of the study 13
1.7. Research questions 13
1.8. Research methodology 14
1.9. Literature review 14
1.10. Questionnaires 14
1.11. Observation 14
1.12. Interviews 15
1.13. Definition of key terms 16
1.14. Structure of the dissertation 17

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Introduction 18
2.2 Communicative competence 18
2.3 Language competence 18
2.3.1 Organisational competence 19
2.3.2 Pragmatic competence 24
2.4 Levels of language proficiency 27
2.5 Language acquisition and learning 29
2.6 Factors affecting language learning 32
2.7 The NCS of the Department of Basic Education 37
2.8 Language-assessment proficiency 43

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2.9 Approaches of language learning 45
2.10 Conclusion 51

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 52
3.2 Research methodology 52
3.2.1 Literature review 53
3.2.2 Document analysis 54
3.2.3 Questionnaires 54
3.2.4 Personal interviews 57

3.2.4.1 Interviews with learners 57

3.2.4.2 Interviews with teachers 59
3.2.5 Classroom observation 60
3.2.6 Learners’ work 63
3.3 Data analysis 64
3.4 Research ethics 64
3.5 Limitations, validity and reliability of the research 65
3.6 Conclusion 65

CHAPTER 4: DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION

4.1 Introduction 67
4.2 School files 67
4.3 The headmaster’s responses to the questionnaire 69
4.3.1 Summary of the headmaster’s responses 74
4.4 The teachers’ responses to the questionnaire and interviews 75
4.4.1 English language knowledge 77
4.4.2 The performance and abilities in learning activities 79
4.4.3 The challenges faced by learners with LEP 83

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4.4.4 The factors that affect second language learning 84
4.4.5 Strategies used 86
4.4.6 Assessment 86
4.5 Summary of the teachers’ responses 87
4.6 The parents’ responses to the questionnaires 90
4.6.1 Summary of the interview with the parents 93
4.7 The learners’ responses to the questionnaire and interview 95
4.7.1 The learners and the language 101
4.7.2 Summary of the learners’ responses 104
4.7.3 Class visits 105
4.7.4 Learners’ work examples 108
4.8 Conclusion 111

CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction 113

5.2 The limitations of the research 114
5.3 The summary of the research findings 115
5.4 What needs to be done? 115
5.4.1 The Gauteng Department of Education 116
5.4.2 The school governing body 117
5.4.3 The headmaster and the school management team (SMT) 118
5.4.4 The teachers 119
5.4.5 The parents 123
5.4.6 The learners 125
5.4.7 The community 126
5.5 Conclusion 127

LIST OF REFERENCES 128

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LIST OF APPENDICES 132

Appendix 1 Application letter to the school

Appendix 2 Permission from the school
Appendix 3 Application letter to the GDE
Appendix 4 Permission from the GDE
Appendix 5 General letter to the headmaster, teachers,
parents and learners
Appendix 6 Headmaster’s consent form
Appendix 7 Teachers’ consent form
Appendix 8 Parents’ consent form
Appendix 9 Learners’ consent forms
Appendix 10 Headmaster’s questionnaire
Appendix 11 Teachers’ questionnaire
Appendix 12 Parents’ questionnaire
Appendix 13 Learners’ questionnaire
Appendix 14 Interview schedule
Appendix 15 Lesson-observation form
Appendix 16 GDE: Learners 450 support form

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 CHAPTER 1

PROBLEM STATEMENT

1.1 DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM

Many black parents take their children to ex-Model C schools around Pretoria,
Gauteng, where English is the medium of instruction (MoI). They do so because
they want them to learn English. English is viewed as a lingua franca between
members of different language groups in the country. English is further seen as
the MoI in commerce, industry and education. Parents therefore hope that their
children will be empowered in English and be able to face with confidence the
outside world in the future.

Some of these parents are from outlying rural communities. They send their children
to live with families who work as domestic workers in urban areas. Other children are
from townships close to Pretoria, such as Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, and Soshanguve.
Usually these learners do not know English well enough to cope with the academic
demands of their schooling. Their English Language Proficiency (ELP) is limited.
These learners speak a few words in English during breaks with their friends, and do
not contribute much in the classroom. Their English proficiency is not adequate for
the purposes of formal learning and, as a result, they do not succeed or perform well
in assessment tasks.

The Gauteng Department of Education expects schools to assist learners with

limited ELP. The School-Based Support Team of every school has a special task to
identify learners with learning barriers at an early stage. This process helps to
identify the gaps in ELP early, and to put learner-support structures in place. This
team has an important role in ensuring that learners' learning needs are met by the
school.

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There is a serious need to encourage and promote the attempts to assist learners
with limited ELP. Teachers report that the learners who struggle with English do not
perform well in tasks, tend not to do their homework, do not participate in class
activities and find it hard to make friends and enjoy being outside the class during
breaks rather than being in the classroom. Limited English Proficiency (LEP) has
become a serious learning barrier that also affects the learners' self-confidence. In
this regard, the learners become very shy, cry if they cannot do activities, do not feel
free to share their opinions, are not confident and rely on the teacher or classmates
for assistance.

1.2 WHAT IS THE CENTRAL PROBLEM?

Meeting the challenges of black, English second-language learners in ex-model C

primary schools is vital to enhance the effective learning of the learners. Poor or LEP
affects the academic development and progress of the learners negatively. LEP
learners struggle to do their written work. They further need support to experience
their learning in a positive way, for example by being able to follow instructions, to
communicate with their teachers and classmates, and to complete tasks
successfully.

Examples of written work from learners in an ex-Model C school in a middle-class

suburb were analysed. It was found that they support the statement above. A few of
these examples follow below:

Learners in Grade 1 were required to arrange pictures in a chronological sequence.

They then had to write down the matching sentences from the blackboard. The given
sentences were:

1. Johnny woke up.

2. He brushed his teeth.
3. He eats his breakfast.
4. He is on his way to school.

The following is an example of the response of a Zulu-speaking learner in his

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second year of exposure to English. (He completed Grade R in an English-
medium school).

1. He brushed his teeth.

2. He is on his way to school.
3. He eats his breakfast.
4. Johnny woke up.

The learner placed all the pictures in the wrong order but copied the sentences
correctly. The examples above indicate that the learner could not follow the
instructions because even if s/he was not able to read and understand the
sentences, he/she should have been able to follow the order of events by looking at
the pictures, such as the last picture -- in which Johnny is waking up -- which should
have been the first one. Clearly, there is a language barrier, that is, the learner's
knowledge and understanding of the English language is not adequate for learning.

In another task, learners in Grade 1 were expected to write down words that the
teacher dictated to them. The words were as follows:

 lad, had, bad, mad, pad, dad, sad, is, the, this
 The lad is bad.
 Dad is sad.

The words below were a Xhosa-speaking learner's response to the dictated

words. He is from Soshanguve, where he completed Grade R in a township
pre-school.

_; ant; pha; mph; _; pta; sh; nra; nea; nat; hat; idr, and _; -- all incorrect.

The learner was not able to recognize the dictated words. He wrote –mph
instead of mad; and idr instead of this. His spelling skills are patently non-
existent; and he could not recognize the initial sounds. For example, he wrote
–ant instead of had. His letter-formation skills further needs attention as he is
not clear about the difference between, for example, n and h.

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Grade 2 learners were given a text about a dog. They were expected to do a
comprehension activity, read the questions, find the answers from a paragraph,
write the correct answer and add the correct punctuation marks. The questions
follow below:

 Question 1: What was the greedy dog's name?

The learner simply copied the first few words that the teacher had given them as a
guideline to answer the question. He also added a question mark to his answer.

 Question 2: What did Spot like to eat?

The learner could not even add one word that forms the core of the story, namely
"meat".

 Question 3: Where did Spot run to with the meat?

The learner's response was, ‘Spot ran to the with the meat?̓ The correct answer
was, ‘Spot ran to the river with the meat’.

 Question 4: What did Spot see in the water?

The learner answered, ‘What did Spot meat’. The correct answer was, ‘Spot saw a
dog in the river with some meat’.

The next example shows that the learner does not really understand what is being
taught, and can neither do comprehension activities nor use the punctuation marks
correctly.

Example

 Read the first part of a sentence,

 describe the emotions that are expressed and
 complete the sentence with personal experiences.

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 1. I feel happy when ______________________
2. I feel excited when _____________________
3. I feel sad when ________________________
4. I feel proud when ______________________
5. I feel angry when ______________________
6. I feel loved when ______________________

The responses of a Zulu-speaking learner, who had been exposed to English

since Grade R, were as follows:

1. I feel happy when “esmyybfdw”.

2. I feel excited when “my bruthe hs mey”.
3. I feel sad when “I do sifiron”.
4. I feel proud when “I do “sifirut”.
5. I feel angry when “smacmw”.
6. I feel loved when “I siyswmnau”.

This learner does not have basic writing skills. She gave as answers a combination
of the letters of the alphabet that is meaningless. It is not possible to correct the
sentences as one cannot actually determine what the learner had wanted to write.
She could not even personally describe in writing how she feels. The reader should
note that in Grade 2 learners are expected to be able to build words and
sentences.

Grade 3 learners were expected to give the plurals of words that were written on
the blackboard. The words follow below:

child - _; goose - _; loaf - _; knife - _; woman - _; mouse _; louse - _; calf - _;

tooth - _; bird - _; story - _; and scarf-.

The following are the responses by a learner in Grade 3 whose home language is
Xhosa, had been exposed to English since Grade 1, and lives around Sunnyside
(an urban area in Pretoria) in a flat where he is further exposed to many other
people who speak English.

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First, the learner could not transcribe words from the blackboard. He copied the
words as follows:

 Birst for bird,

 store for stor,
 sirll for scarf,
 lofw for loaf,
 gois for goose,
 mors for mouse,
 caref for calf and
 towfe for tooth.

This learner did not understand the instruction. He made serious errors in this
exercise, copying approximately 95% of the words incorrectly, as illustrated above.

Second, the activity shows that the learner has a very limited vocabulary and
cannot spell English words correctly. He simply wrote meaningless forms such as
mors, towfe, sirll, gois and caref rather indifferently. He did not even notice that
these words were strange and unfamiliar because he does not understand the
English language.

Last, the learner did not perform the task that was to be assessed, namely to give
the plurals of the words written on the blackboard. As he answered most of the
questions incorrectly, it is patent that the vocabulary and understanding of the
language of this learner is far below the expected level.

The next example is based on the Learning Outcomes (LO) according to the
National Curriculum Statement (NCS). According to the NCS, by the end of Grade 7,
learners must be able to do the following:
 Listen carefully to instructions, for information and enjoyment and respond
confidently and effectively to a wide range of situations,
 read and view for information and enjoyment and respond critically to
texts,

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  use language to think, reason, access, process and use information for
learning and
 use the sounds, words and grammar of the language.

Learners in Grade 7 were given a listening activity. They were expected to do the
following:

 Listen to a story about Anne Frank on a CD player;

 discuss the story in a group; and
 use sounds, words and grammar appropriately to answer the questions.

They had to answer the following questions:

1. Where was the Frank family going?

2. Who was Margot?
3. Who were the two people mentioned in the story who helped the Frank
family?
4. What was the first thing that Anne put into her satchel?
5. What was the item that Anne took with her?
6. Who was Mr Goldsmith?
7. At which time did Anne’s mom wake her the next morning?
8. Which items did the Frank family manage to take with them, and who
helped them?
9. To which religion did Anne and her family belong?
10. At what time did the Frank family leave?
11. What was the name of Anne’s cat?

A learner from Limpopo, who had been exposed to English for a year, obtained 3/15
for the test because he struggled to extract the correct information and to present
the information correctly. For example, he did not know the following: Where the
Frank family went, who the two people mentioned in the story were, at what time
the Frank family left or what the name of Anne’s cat was.

The learner clearly did not listen carefully or did not understand the story. He
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struggled to give even one-word responses that are easier to do than writing out full
sentences. The learner struggled to think, reason, process, and use the information
for learning.

In a Grade 2 Mathematics lesson, learners had to label shapes. The names of the
shapes were given up front. It was difficult for some learners to complete the task
successfully. As an example, a learner who had been exposed to English since
Grade 1 labelled a cube as a triangle, a circle as a diamond, a prism as a cube, a
square as a pentagon, an oval as a triangle and a pentagon as a cylinder. The
learner obviously struggled to label the shapes with the correct, given words. There
is no indication of knowledge and understanding of the relationship between the
name and the shape itself.

In a Technology task, Grade 5 learners were expected to complete sentences by

giving suggestions on what shopping malls could do to ease shopping for the
disabled. They were asked to offer three new ideas. A specific learner's response
was as follows:

1. Mint bump her know ket Teis

2. he fight with her
3. I suggestion just

This example illustrates that the learner struggled to interpret the question. It was the
first year that he had been exposed to the English language. His answers did not
make sense and the words he used were not even closely related to the question.

Grade 5 learners -- in another instance -- were expected to match the corresponding

terms in the two columns in a Technology task as set out below:

1. The rising of the sun a. Water energy

2. Internal or inherent power b. A lever

3. The waves rolling up onto the beach c. Heat energy

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 4. A bar that rotates around a fixed point d. Energy

A Sepedi-speaking learner, who completed Grade 4 in a township school, gave the

following answers:

1. A;
2. B;
3. C; and
4. D.

She simply copied the letters before the list of options as answers. The learner
was unable to link the correct definition with the correct concept. This is an activity
that offers the learners clues if they know and understand the English language.
Examples of these clues are as follows:

 Sun is linked to heat.

 Waves are linked to water.

 Power is linked to energy.

 A bar is linked to a lever.

The learner had all the answers wrong. The cited examples show that the
learner's poor performance is due to limited English proficiency.

The cited examples show that these black, English second-language South African
learners in an ex-model C school have an inadequate knowledge and understanding
of English. Their lack of English proficiency results in poor performances in their
English language activities. This also negatively affects their performances in
Technology, Natural Science, Economic and Management Sciences, Social
Sciences, and Life Skills. The reason is that all the other learning areas are mediated
through the medium of English. It makes sense that the learners have to know and
understand the medium of instruction.

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The challenges that are faced in the school where the research was conducted are
rather numerous:

 The L1 and L2 learners are placed in the same classes and one
standard lesson is presented to the whole group.
 L1 and L2 learners cannot be placed in separate classes to teach them
at the appropriate level (second language) as that could be perceived
as inappropriate and as a sign of racism. The L2 parents are aware
that their children are struggling to meet the grade requirements.
Placing those children in a separate class could indirectly mean that
the children do not fit in the school, are given a lower level of education
as compared to other learners or receive unequal treatment. People
are aware of their rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa Act 1996, namely a right to equality (9): ‘…
everyone has a right to equality before the law and has a right to
protection and benefit of the law.’ To protect this right, people tend to
generalise and offer formal equality. Formal equality ignores the
specific ways in which people experience their lives, in this case being
LEP. Provision of substantive equality (acknowledging that a L2 learner
comes from a township, has no English background, no English grade
R, has no one to help with homework and needs more support) can
help to resolve the problem. Carrim (2004:16), states that “ … to
generalise and universalise human identity is to ignore the specific
ways in which people are positioned, the particular ways in which they
experience their human identity and the varied ways in which they
encounter violations of their rights as specific individuals in very
particular ways.”
 Most of the learners with LEP have other languages that they have
learnt as second, third or fourth language, so English is not their SAL.
 Most teachers do not know the learners’ HL to assist them in the
languages that they do understand.
 Some learners with LEP start school with very limited English. They
come from townships like Mamelodi, Atteridgeville and Soshanguve.

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 Some -- from rural areas like Limpopo, Mpumalanga or the Eastern
Cape --start with very little or no English.
 Some learners with LEP register to start Grade 1 in school and have
done Grade R in township pre-schools where the LOLT is not English.
These learners find themselves in an unknown environment in which
they are expected to learn English and to perform well when tasks are
given.
 Learners with LEP feel the pressure of not being able to meet the
requirements as their L1 peers do.
 There is limited time for teaching, the teacher-learner ratio is high and
the focus is on correctness rather than meaningful interaction.

In the Intermediate and Senior Phases of schooling, learners have to move from one
teacher to another for eight LAs. Teachers have different teaching styles and
expectations and that can be confusing for the learners.

1.3 WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS OF THESE BLACK LEARNERS?

These black South African learners possibly know English well enough for basic,
interpersonal communication such as asking for the toilet, playing with friends during
breaks, asking for help from the secretaries and reporting incidents to the teachers.
However, their English proficiency is not adequate for the learning process.

1.4 POSSIBLE REASONS FOR BLACK LEARNERS' POOR

PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH

There is too little sustained and meaningful exposure to English outside the
classroom for most of these learners. They play with learners who speak different
indigenous African languages at home. When they do try to speak in English, their
township friends call these learners “coconuts”. This insult means that they are black
and live in townships, but pretend to be white because they go to ex-model C
schools. They do not have an opportunity to improve their command of spoken
English, as they are scared of being teased about it.

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The school admits, teaches and assesses them as English first-language learners.
This poses a problem as their English first-language peers use only English and not
any other language at home and at school.

Poor English teaching is also a possible factor in second-language South African

learners’ poor proficiency in English. The learning and teaching support materials,
syllabuses, teaching and assessment methods and procedures play a significant
role in the teaching and learning process. In the case of LEP learners, the teaching
of English can be too general to cater for their specific needs because of time issues
and deadlines that needs to be met by teachers. This might be the case in the ex-
Model C primary school where the research was conducted.

Another possible reason could be a limited culture of reading, and a lack of an

environment of academic support. Some learners are raised in families where
members of the family are simply not interested in reading books or magazines.
Learners from such families tend to perceive reading as “homework” and visiting the
library as “punishment”. Lack of support in this regard, specifically a lack of a
reading culture at home from the other members of the family can be discouraging
as the child will not see any point in taking time to revise what had been done at
school on that day. Revision helps to reinforce concepts that had been missed or
misunderstood at school.

Some children are from families where English does not play a significant role. The
parents use indigenous African languages to explain homework or conduct
conversations. The way in which things are done is different to what is expected in
Western-orientated schools. Some black learners use English only at school and do
not have resources such as English magazines or books at home. Most of the
teachers are white and do not know or understand any of the Bantu languages
adequately. They are unable to assist the learners in the languages that these
learners understand better than English such as, for example, Sepedi, Zulu, or
Xhosa.

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1.5 HOW SERIOUS IS THE PROBLEM?

It was discovered that LEP learners who use English as a language of learning and
teaching, suffer the following serious effects in the learning situation:

1. Poor academic achievement;

2. a poor foundation for cognitive development and academic progress;
3. a poor self-image and lack of self-confidence; and
4. emotional insecurity/anxiety.( Lemmer 1991:169)

Essentially, LEP learners are not unintelligent. They contribute to classroom

discussions when there is a learner who can communicate with them. This becomes
difficult when they are expected to read, understand and answer the questions in
written English. They simply cannot cope with the medium of instruction. Some tend
to behave in a negative way as they talk whilst lessons are presented, do not want to
try when given a chance to do so and do not do the written work in class.

The learners with LEP sometimes end up in trouble while trying to be seen as "being
cool". They need help to cope with the demands made by the school. The researcher
is of the opinion that the problem is very serious and requires in-depth research.
These children need urgent help to feel in control of their learning and development.

1.6 THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of this study is to investigate the nature of challenges and barriers
experienced by learners with a limited proficiency in English and for whom the
language of learning and teaching is not their mother tongue.

The study also aims to meet the needs of the second-language learners by offering
suggestions as to how these learners could be assisted to learn and achieve
according to their full potential.

1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research and literature overview as well as the questionnaires used, aim to
address mainly two major research questions. The first is to recognize and address
13
the challenges and barriers facing black, English second-language South African
learners in ex-Model C schools and, in so doing, to help these learners reach their
full academic potential.

The second is to offer recommendations on what will be needed to meet or

overcome the challenges facing these learners in the ex-Model C schools.

1.8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The researcher will undertake a literature review on the management and guidance
of different learners who have a limited English proficiency. In addition, data will be
collected from various people in the ex-Model C primary school who are actively
involved in the learning of learners. The instrumentation of this study will include:
action research, analysing documents, interviews with teachers and learners;
questionnaires to be completed and classroom observations. The participants will
not be forced to participate. Should they give consent to participate, they will remain
anonymous and the information collected will be kept confidential.

1.9 LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature survey will cover the challenges and barriers faced by LEP learners for
whom English is the MoI.

1.10 QUESTIONNAIRES

Questionnaires will be handed out to the headmaster, all the teachers; and to 12
parents and 12 learners with LEP, participating in the research (see Appendix 10,
11, 12 and 13). The participants' identity and information will remain confidential (see
appendix 5).

1.11 OBSERVATION

Learner behaviour during lessons will be observed to see how these learners take
part during discussions, answer questions, put their ideas on paper (writing skills),

14
and apply what they were taught when they completed assessment tasks. The
question is whether they understood the topic that was presented during lessons.
The researcher will further observe a meeting between a teacher and the parent of a
learner who is not proficient in English. S/he will note how the teacher reports his/her
findings to the parents; which intervention strategies are planned to support learners;
and which tips are given to the parent to assist their children at home.

Finally, the researcher will determine how the parent responds to and follows up on
the intervention, whether s/he acknowledges the teacher's findings or whether s/he is
protective about the matter. The researcher will determine whether the teacher
discusses the positive or negative symptoms of the intervention. Should the
intervention signs be negative, the researcher would like to determine whether an
alternative plan is put on the table to assist the learner and whether a date is set for
a follow-up meeting or review on the issue.

1.12 INTERVIEWS

The researcher opted to conduct group and individual interviews with the following
individuals on the following basis:

 Six English teachers: three in the Foundation Phase; two in the

Intermediate phase; and one in the Senior Phase,
 Thirty-one teachers of other learning areas in the school,
 Twelve learners with LEP in each phase: two in the Foundation Phase,
five in the Intermediate Phase; and five in the Senior Phase and
 Twelve parents of learners with LEP in each phase.

15
1.13 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Additional Language AL
Assessment Standard AS
Basic Interpersonal Communicative skills BICS
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency CALP
Community Language Learning CLL
Communicative Language Teaching CLT
Department of Education DoE
First Additional Language FAL
First Language L1
Foundation Phase FP
Gauteng Department of Education GDE
Head of Department HOD
Home Language HL
Intermediate Phase IP
Language of Learning and Teaching LoLT
Languages-Learning Outcomes LLOs
Learning and Teaching Support Material LTSM
Learning Area LA
Learning Outcome LO
Limited English Proficiency LEP
Medium of Instruction MoI
National Curriculum Statement NCS
National Education Policy Act NEPA
Revised National Curriculum Statement RNCS
School Based Support Team SBST
School Governing Body SGB
School Management Team SMT
Second Additional Language SAL
Second Language L2
Senior Phase SP
South African Schools Act SASA
16
 Subject, Verb and Object SVO
Total Physical Response TPR

1.14 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION

Chapter 1: Problem statement

The problem statement and the purpose of the study will be dealt with in this
chapter.

Chapter 2: Conceptual framework

The author will describe the following basic concepts relevant to this study:

 The nature and levels of language knowledge

 Linguistic demands/requirements of the school, such as Cognitive
Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)
 The assessment of learners’ LEP, and how the assessment is done
 Language-teaching didactics and the English teacher's contribution to the
acquisition of English

Chapter 3: Methodology

The author will discuss the research methodology used in the study.

Chapter 4: Research data description, analysis and interpretation

Chapter 4 will deal with the description and discussion of the data collected, which
will then be analyzed and interpreted in this chapter.

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations

The focus will be on linking the research findings with the research questions
discussed in the first chapter. A summary of the research findings, limitations and
recommendations and a conclusion will be provided for further research.
17
 CHAPTER 2

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter covers the theoretical framework of this study. Further, the various
processes and concepts relevant to this study will be discussed. Among others, the
researcher will address communicative competence, language knowledge, the levels
of language proficiency, types of language acquisition, factors that influence the
learning of an additional language and language competence assessment. The NSC
of the Department of Basic Education and the didactics of language teaching will
also be covered.

2.2 COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

Brown (1994:227) says, “… the term communicative competence was coined by Dell
Hymes and is that aspect of our competence that enables us to convey and interpret
messages and to negotiate meaning interpersonally within specific contexts”.
According to The Pocket Oxford Dictionary (1978:162), the term competent is
defined as “… having adequate ability, knowledge, power, and qualifications, etc;
sufficient, effective”. Therefore, communicative competence can be defined as
having an adequate ability to use language for communication functions in all
domains, for all functions and at all levels. Communicative competence comprises
two categories of language competence. These are organisational competence and
pragmatic competence. These categories will be discussed in the next paragraph.

2.3 LANGUAGE COMPETENCE

What do we mean when we say that we know a language? Knowing a language

implies far more than only knowing its grammar. To know a language, is to be able
to use it for communicative functions.

18
Bachman (1990:87) demonstrates the components of language competence in the
following way:

Figure 2.1 Language competence

LANGUAGE COMPETENCE

Organisational competence Pragmatic competence

Grammatical Textual Functional Sociolinguistic

competence competence competence competence

Vocabulary Cohesion Ideational functions Dialect

Morphology Rhetoric organisation Manipulation functions Register
Syntax Heuristic functions Naturalness
Phonology/Graphology Imaginative functions Culture

2.3.1 Organisational competence

Organisational competence is divided into two sub-categories, namely grammatical

competence and textual competence. These two sub-categories have their own
sub-components.

Canale and Swain (1980:29) define grammatical competence as the “…

knowledge of lexical items and rules of morphology, syntax, sentence-grammar
semantics, and phonology”. It involves mastering the grammatical aspects of a
language. It deals with joining parts of a language into grammatical wholes, for
example: sounds into words, words into sentences, sentences into phrases and so
forth.

Phonemes are sounds that differentiate words from one another. The sound [b], for
instance, is different from the sound [d] in English: the word ‟buck″ is different from

19
the word ‟duck″. A word can be meaningless if the sound [m] is reversed to [w], for
example: mat / wat. Some learners struggle to differentiate between [m/w, b/d, n/h,
t/f, i/j, s/c, and p/d].

With regard to vocabulary, learners must know the words of a language and their
correct meanings. The following sentence will illustrate the point:

The boy- a particular male child or young man,

is kicking- is forcibly stricking with his foot,

the ball- a solid or hollow sphere used in games.

Vocabulary therefore means learning a list of words in a language individually and

understanding their meanings.

Syntax is the study of the structure of sentences. A sentence is a group of words

arranged in a way that conveys a particular thought. The position of words in a
sentence is important.

It is not only important to know the meaning of a word but also to know how it fits
into the sentence, for example:

S V O
(The dog) (eats) (meat.)
Subject: (The dog)
Verb: (eats)
Object: (meat.)

20
The learner learns the basic order of an English sentence, that is: subject, verb and
object (SVO). Using the example above, it is important for learners to note that, in
the Passive Voice, the object will become the surface subject and that the action is
still done to it, for example:

O V S
(The meat) (is eaten by) the dog.
Object: (The meat)
Verb: (is eaten by)
Subject: (the dog)

It is important for learners to further know that sometimes the word order changes,
for example, the verb faint can only occur with grammatical subjects such as Mary,
John, and Kate: Kate fainted, John fainted, or Mary fainted. Such sentences never
have objects. It would be incorrect to say, ‘Mary fainted Kate’.

Morphology refers to the study of the structure of words. Learners must know how
words are formed. One can add a prefix or a suffix to the root word in English to
change its meaning, for example:

Root word: cycle

 cycle = ride a bicycle

Prefixes are elements attached to the beginning of the root word. Examples follow
below:

 Recycle = convert waste material to be re-used

 Bicycle = two-wheeled bicycle
 Tricycle = three-wheeled bicycle
 Unicycle = one-wheeled bicycle

21
Suffixes are elements attached to the end of the root word, as indicated below:

 Cycling = riding a bi/tricycle (verb)

 Cyclone = a wind that rotates around a calm central area (noun)
 Cyclist = a person who is cycling (noun)

The knowledge of lexical elements and the rules for organizing linguistic elements
into larger linguistic wholes are important, for instance:

 /b/ + /u/ + /k/ = book

 book + s = books
 book + shelf = bookshelf
 I see books in the bookshelf.
 The books that are in the bookshelf belong to my teacher.

Textual competence, according to Brown (1994:228), “… is the ability we have to

connect sentences in stretches of discourse and to form a meaningful whole out of a
series of utterances”. It is associated with simple conversations and different written
texts, for example books, articles, greetings, and jokes.

Learners must be capable of putting sentences together into an effective text and to
use these to conduct conversations and to interact socially. The following example,
in which a learner greets a teacher, is an example:

Learner: Morning, teacher.

Teacher: Morning, John.
Learner: How are you?
Teacher: I am fine, thank you.

22
Putting sentences together can be applied when telling or writing a joke, as
illustrated in the following example:

The teacher asked Mary to fetch a letter for him from the pigeonhole. Mary
ran to the trees near the playground area. She looked up but could not see
a letter or the pigeonhole. She asked one of the cleaners. The cleaner told
her that there were wooden boxes with holes in the staffroom, and they are
called pigeonholes. Mary laughed and ran back to the staff room.

The paragraph above shows how the learner can put sentences together to form
a text.

A learner must learn the rules that one follows when constructing texts, and be able
to interpret them. Two excellent examples are the layout and style of a business
letter, and a friendly letter.

The business letter

In a business letter, one has to follow the steps as set out below:

 Write one's address on the top right-hand corner,

 add the date,
 skip a line and
 write the name and address of the person to whom one is writing on the
left-hand side.

The friendly letter

In a friendly letter, one must:

 write one's address at the top of the letter,

 add a date, but
 one need not write the address of the person to whom one is writing.

23
A learner must also be able to organize the sentences into paragraphs in a letter to
form a meaningful text. A business letter is formal. One cannot write about personal
issues that do not relate to the purpose of writing the letter. In business letters, one
would therefore write on topics such as applying for admission to a school or for a
scholarship. In an informal or friendly letter, the writer can write about personal
matters such as how s/he is finding being in a new school and the like.

The second-language learners come to their classes with no grammar, no texts,

no functional knowledge and no socially appropriate language behaviour.

Grammatical competence would include correct spelling and punctuation, good

vocabulary, coherent writing, correct sentence construction and showing an
understanding of contextual questions. The second-language (L2) learners have
to be competent in the subject matter that they learn from their teachers to be
successful.

Webb and Kembo-Sure (2000:306) state that “… the contributing factor to the
general lack of proficiency in the ex-colonial languages in Africa is the use of
inappropriate teaching methods ... Western approaches, inappropriate to African
conditions, are followed in teaching these languages”. Teaching English as a second
language is often done in the same manner in which home languages are taught.
The focus is on grammar rather than on the development of the communicative
abilities of learners. When learning a language, the focus should not only be the
grammatical aspects, but should also address the sociolinguistic, textual and factual
aspects of the language. To demonstrate textual competence, learners need to be
able to write texts that are coherent and cohesive.

2.3.2 Pragmatic competence

Pragmatic competence is divided into two aspects, namely functional and

sociolinguistic competence. The functional aspects of a language perform functions
such as asking questions, answering, defining, discussing, describing, and
explaining. Functional competence involves sending and receiving meaningful
information in conversations. Sociolinguistic competence deals with the knowledge
of the socio-cultural rules of using a language and discourse.
24
Learners can use language to express their feelings, describe an incident and
persuade a teacher to take action. The following is a good example:

We were playing at first break and I put my lunchbox on the grass. The
Grade 3 boys came running and kicked my lunchbox open. My food was all
over the grass. I called the boy but he ran away and said that I must leave
him alone because I cannot even read. I then started crying. I felt sad. I did
not have food to eat during second break. The other children helped me to
clean my bread. It did not help. I am disappointed. This is not right. The
boy must be punished. He is very rude. He is a bully.

Sociolinguistic competence involves being able to use the language appropriately in

different social settings. The following are examples of words, among others, which
can be used when speaking to adults:

 Yebo! instead of Ja!;

 Cha! instead of Hhayi!;
 Timer instead of ubaba;
 Ou Lady instead of umama; and
 icherry instead of intombi.

Loudness of voice is part of sociolinguistic competence. One cannot, for example,

raise one’s voice when speaking to older people, but can raise it when joking or
arguing with friends or siblings. In Zulu, a child cannot talk to an adult standing, or
simply turn down an adult's request or suggestion. When talking to an adult, a child
is expected to carefully select the words to be used and to squat in front of the adult
if it is a boy, or kneel before the adult if it is a girl.

The abovementioned rules are demonstrated in the following example:

Dad: Jabu!
(Jabu comes running and squats in front of his father.)
Jabu: Yes, Dad?
25
 Dad: I want you to go and fetch your grandmother in Pietersburg
tomorrow morning.
Jabu: (In a very polite voice.) Yes, Dad, I understand. It seems that
there will be a slight problem.
Dad: Which problem?
Jabu: I have to attend my extra English class tomorrow from seven to one
o'clock at school.
Dad: Oh! I remember.
Jabu: If Dad does not mind, I can go after my classes.
Dad: That's fine, my boy. I will ask your sister to go.
Jabu: Thank you, Dad. I am sorry that I could not help.
Dad: It's fine, don't worry.
(Jabu stands up and leaves.)

In this example, Jabu could not do as his father had asked, but he presented
himself politely to his father. Jabu did not say that he could not help his father.
He chose his words carefully to remind his father about his classes. He also
remained squatting until the end of the conversation. This shows respect to his
father, who is giving him a command or an order.

The conversation between Jabu and his Dad would have been different if it had
taken place between Jabu and his sister. Jabu would use different words to tell his
sister that he could not go to fetch his grandmother, and remind her about his
classes by, for example, using the following words: ‘Have you forgotten that I have
my extra English classes tomorrow’?

If Jabu had answered his father in the way that he would have answered his sister, it
would be unacceptable. His father would use his linguistic knowledge to prohibit him
from saying certain things. For example, he would raise his voice and say:

 That is not the way I raised you!

 You don't talk to your father like that!
 You have forgotten your place, boy!
 Boys don't stand whilst talking to adults!
26
  Mind who you are talking to!
 I am not your friend, boy!

The father’s comments aim at correcting what the boy is doing or saying. This is a
way of ensuring acceptable socio-cultural norms and standards in a community. The
sociolinguistic aspect deals with respect, politeness and formality. Gradually, the
speakers of a language accept what was demonstrated above as part of the
knowledge of their language.

Western norms and standards are usually set. In a Western culture, for example, a
child stands up when greeting or talking to a teacher; and looks the teacher in the
eyes when s/he is talking. Failure to comply with these norms in a Western culture is
viewed as disrespectful, whilst these behaviours are unacceptable in the Zulu
culture. Savignon (1983:37) states that “Only in full context of this kind can
judgements be done on the appropriateness of a particular utterance”.

In learning English as a second language, learners will need to be competent in

grammar, put sentences together to form texts, learn socio-cultural rules and learn
the functional aspects of language. There are different levels of language
proficiency.

2.4 LEVELS OF LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Cummins (1979), proposed that there be a distinction between communicative

proficiency that the learner needs in daily life situations outside the classroom, to
which he refers to as Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS), and
language proficiency that children need in the classroom for learning and
understanding exercises and tests, called Cognitive Academic Language
Proficiency (CALP). Cummins (1981, in Brown, 1994:227) revisited the issues of
BICS and CALP, and modified the two terms based on the context in which
language is used.

27
He considered the interpersonal, face-to-face communication with people (BICS) as
context embedded. Conversational fluency is an ability to engage in a conversation
in a familiar situation by using simple grammatical constructions and high-frequency
words. Speakers can use expressions, intonations and gestures to support what
they mean. As an example, a learner will feel more comfortable in taking part in a
family debate because s/he can argue and support his/her facts easily when he/she
is questioned. S/he knows the background and it is easy to use the language to
participate in the conversation. There is no high need to think of how to use grammar
and how to put the sentences together so that they make sense. Such a task will be
cognitively undemanding for the learner.

The language used at school for learning purposes (CALP), is regarded as context-
reduced. It includes organizing words into sentences to provide meaningful texts,
and writing assessment tasks that require higher-order thinking skills. Clark (1996: 4)
highlights that “language is the medium in which we encode reality”. Language is the
medium of communication and it plays an important role in educational
development. The learners with LEP do not have the tools to assist them to
demonstrate their full potential in learning.

Learners are expected to perform challenging functions, such as naming,

discussing, classifying, evaluating, processing data, and so forth. The
communication and tasks in the classroom are cognitively demanding, and learners
cannot continuously interrupt the teacher by asking for explanations from their
classmates or stop the teacher every time they do not understand a word or an
instruction. CALP includes low-frequency academic words, reading textbooks, doing
research, writing tests, exams, and comprehension tasks. Learners need to write
complex sentences and texts. Other tasks demand children to motivate answers or
give their views on the questions set, and to use the language in formal situations
like debates, speech festivals, role-playing, and public speaking.

Learners can acquire or learn a language. Bialystok (2001:19) asserts that

“language is most effectively acquired at an early age.” This factor normally has an
effect on the learners’ academic performance as it depends if the LoLT is the same
as the learner’s Home Language and if not, at what age are the learners with LEP
28
exposed to the LoLT.

2.5 LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LEARNING

There are different ways in which a language can be acquired or learnt,

namely the Home Language (HL), first-additional language (FAL), and second-
additional language acquisition (SAL). According to the Department of
Education (2002:4), from Grade R up to Grade 9 Schools, language learning
should be approached as follows:

Children learn their home language first and automatically. It is acquired, not taught.
Chomsky, in (Lightbrown and Spada, 1993:7), claims that “… children are
biologically programmed for language and that language develops in the child in just
the same way that other biological functions develop”. Walking and talking are
essential development stages for all children and children learn to do it without being
taught. The environment should be favourable to allow the development. The same
applies to learning one’s HL. There is no formal teaching that takes place at home.
The children use their home language daily to converse, to express their feelings,
and to communicate their needs. The child starts school being able to speak and
understand the language his/her HL. The teacher's duty in HL study is to teach the
child to expand the skills acquired at home, for example:

 The learner may be aware that one uses a formal letter to apply for a
sponsorship, but does not know how to write it.
 The child may be aware that, at school, there are tests that are written, but
may not know how to answer questions that demand explanations,
motivation and discussions.

Learners use the language at CALP level to do tasks that are cognitively demanding.
It is therefore the teacher's duty to teach the learner how to write a formal letter. The
teacher teaches the child the functional usage of his/her HL.

The FAL is the language that the learners learn formally after they have acquired
their home language. The learners with LEP who are sent to ex-Model C schools
29
often have a limited or no knowledge or background in English. These learners have
an indigenous language as their home language. They have very limited exposure
to English, and hence must be taught to develop an ability to understand and speak
English. FAL learners must be assisted by the teachers to gain organizational
competence, for example grammatical knowledge, namely: the Present and Past
Tense, vocabulary, word and sentence order, negatives, the Passive and Active
Voice, as well as textual knowledge, such as writing formal letters, writing tests and
exams, and writing cohesive and coherent texts.

Pragmatic competence can also be developed by improving functional knowledge,

such as reporting an incident, giving information, justifying statements, arguing,
explaining, and taking part in a conversation and sociolinguistic knowledge, such as
using appropriate language behaviour, how to address young and old people, how
loud one’s voice should be, appropriate body posture and eye contact. Learners
must be assisted to relate the new concepts that they are taught in English to their
home language. They should also be helped to gain confidence in expressing
themselves in English, which is their FAL.

The SAL is a language that learners may never have heard before. Such a language
can be taught as a SAL. This language is rather strange to learners. The teacher
must teach the learners the very basics of that language. At school level, SAL is
intended for learners who wish to learn three languages. It can be an official
language of South Africa, or a foreign language. The SAL should only be introduced
in Grade four, and it should be allocated less learning time when compared to their
HL and FAL. Learners are expected to learn SAL for general communicative
purposes. Language learning involves a natural and a formal process, as discussed
in the next paragraph.

(a) Natural or non-formal process

According to Lightbrown and Spada (1993:69) “… most people would agree that
learning a second language in a natural acquisition context or on the streets is not
the same as learning it in the classroom”. In natural acquisition, learning takes place
at home orally, and in a non-formal way. There is no systematic plan of discussions.
30
The situation is context embedded, cognitively undemanding and oral knowledge
and skills are developed naturally. The learner has the background on what family
members are discussing, such as their elder daughter's birthday party. The learner is
further exposed to a wide variety of vocabulary and structures, such as question
formation, which deals with: when, where, at what time, and who should be invited.
Their vocabulary will grow to include, among other words, celebration, guests,
invitations, venue, reservations, and so forth.

In a natural process, learners hear adults using language in an appropriate manner

most of the time and participate in conversations with them. As an example, the
learners can persuade their parents to include him/her in the wedding programme as
a speaker (functional knowledge), s/he will practise his/her speech (textual
knowledge -- organising ideas), s/he will give an appropriate speech and raise
his/her voice to be heard by guests (sociolinguistic knowledge in wishing his/her
sister a happy birthday. The activities in the natural or non-formal learning situation
are oral and could be extended at school level through formal processes.

(b) Formal process

In a formal process, learners bring the knowledge that they have gained at home in a
natural way to be extended by the teacher in the classroom at school. Learning is
formal, cognitively demanding, context reduced; written knowledge and skills are
developed. The lesson is planned and structured. Contact with proficient speakers is
limited. Learners are taught to read from textbooks, to analyse texts, to answer
questions in writing, write tests and exams, do comprehension tests and do research
and projects.

The learners should be able to construct complex sentences and texts, for example,
by discussing and writing a letter of application for a bursary (grammatical and
textual knowledge), writing an essay of l 000 words explaining and motivating why
his/her application should be considered (functional knowledge). The format of the
letter should be official and the forms of address should be appropriate
(sociolinguistic knowledge). Teachers should motivate learners to keep on practising
to improve their writing skills.
31
The Department of Education (2002:5) recommends the following:
 The learner's HL should be used for teaching and learning wherever
possible.
 Where learners make a transition from their HL to an additional language
(AL) as a language of learning and teaching, this should be carefully
planned.
 The AL could be introduced as a subject in Grade 1.
 The home language should continue to be used alongside the AL for as
long as possible
 Teachers and other educators should make provision for special
assistance and supplementary learning of the LA.

Even if the abovementioned recommendations can be challenges to schools,

provision should be made to assist the learners with LEP to achieve to their full
potential. Different factors can affect language learning and more support should be
offered by teachers. This will help to minimize the level of language shock and
anxiety and boost their self esteem and confidence.

2.6 FACTORS AFFECTING LANGUAGE LEARNING

In L2 learning, it is important to understand how learners feel and respond to

different situations. Teachers should establish if the learners believe and value what
they are learning. There are factors that affect second-language learning, such as
self-esteem, motivation, attitude, anxiety, empathy and risk-taking. A few of these
factors affecting language learning will be discussed in the next paragraphs.

According to Malinowski (1923, in Brown 1994:136) “… personality development

universally involves the growth of a person's concept of self, acceptance of self, and
reflection of self as seen in the interaction between self and others”. People develop
a sense of self-esteem from their experience, tasks and activities that they come
across in their lives. Malinowski (1923, in Brown 1994:137) divided self-esteem into
three categories:
32
 1. Global or general self-esteem that is considered to be stable in mature
adults and cannot be changed except by extended therapy;
2. situational or specific self-esteem that refers to one's appraisal of oneself
in different events; and
3. task self-esteem that relates to specific tasks in a specific situation.

In this study, global or general self-esteem refers to the learners' general inability to
cope with the requirements of learning areas owing to their lack of English
proficiency. The learners see themselves as failures in general because they
struggle throughout. Learners can overcome this difficulty by additional support from
all stakeholders and relevant, extended therapy. Situational or specific self-esteem
refers specifically to their difficulty in acquiring a second language. In general, they
feel that their specific reason for not coping is their lack of proficiency in the medium
of instruction, which is English. Task self-esteem relates to particular tasks within
specific situations, such as spelling in English, painting in art, designing in
Technology, multiplying in Mathematics and problem-solving in Life orientation. In
task self-esteem, the learners with LEP may refer to their inability to cope with
specific tasks in the different LAs, such as presenting a product that they have made
in Technology, passing tests and exams in Natural Sciences and writing coherent
and cohesive texts in English.

Bailey and Nunan (1996:164) believe that “establishing a good relationship with
students is extremely important in creating a conducive learning atmosphere in the
classroom”. The learners need to take responsibility to learn when the teachers fulfil
their right to learn by teaching them. It is discouraging for teachers to keep on
teaching if they do not get an indication from their learners if they understand or not.
The teachers must also motivate their learners to indicate if they do not understand
and that there is nothing wrong about it.

McCoy (1979:187) refers to this kind of discussion as “cognitive restructuring” and

trusts that this process creates trust between the student and the teacher. The
teacher gets an opportunity to deal with his/her learners’ problem of anxiety
immediately. The learners gain confidence and trust the teacher if they feel that s/he
33
understands their lived experiences. This could further boost their self esteem and
make them relax during lessons. Crookall and Oxford (1991:144) states that if the
learners and teachers would “consider themselves as a partnership... then neither
would see the other as a source of difficulty, and both could work together to deal
with the common problem”.

There is still no proof that a high self-esteem contributes to success in language

acquisition. According to Heyde (1979, in Brown 1994:138), “... teachers can really
have a positive and influential effect on both the linguistic performance and the
emotional well-being of the students”. Teachers therefore need to encourage,
motivate and support learners with LEP because they often end up being anxious
about every task that they are given.

Bailey (1991:90) hypothesized that “language classroom anxiety can be caused and
or aggravated by the learners’ competitiveness when he sees himself as less
proficient than the object of comparison.” Brown (1994:141) says, “… anxiety is
associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension or
worry”. Scovel (1978:134) agrees, stating that “… anxiety is a state of apprehension,
a vague fear ...” learners with LEP feel anxious when they are faced with complex
tasks. They tend to doubt their abilities and worry whether they will succeed. Some
learners with LEP worry about a particular or specific task, such as giving a speech,
writing an essay on a topic, or writing an exam because they know that their English
is limited and they will probably not achieve good marks when compared to those of
their L1 peers, but they do not mind working in groups or doing research. Some
learners with LEP are generally worried about everything that is in their second
language-learning package. They are nervous about every task, be it speaking,
reading or writing. Anxious learners try very hard to avoid embarrassment,
humiliation, criticism and to preserve their self-esteem.

Bailey (1983, in Brown H. D.1994:142), found in self-analysis that “… while

competitiveness sometimes hindered her progress, at other times it motivated her to
study harder”. Some learners with LEP panic when faced with complex tasks whilst
others feel motivated to try very hard to meet at least the minimum requirements.
Teachers have to identify learners who are anxious about particular tasks, and those
34
that are anxious about everything in L2. They should support them to take
responsibility of their learning and try harder to succeed.

Anxiety is not always a negative state. Learners tend to feel anxious before writing
an exam or presenting a speech. Becoming nervous before such activities is a good
sign that indicates that the learners are interested in their learning and wish to
perform well rather than being relaxed and not bothering to prepare. Scovel
(1978:139) termed this type of tension “facilitative anxiety”. Negative anxiety may
cause the learner with LEP not to learn effectively. Poor performance in English can
cause them to skip tests, absent themselves unnecessarily, miss class sessions,
hide their books, or often ask to go to the bathroom. Scovel (1978:139) terms the
latter as “debilitative anxiety”.

Risk-taking is considered a good characteristic of successful learning of a second

language. Beebe (1983:41) claimed that “… persons with a high motivation to
achieve are ... moderate, not high risk- takers. These individuals like to be in control
... They do not take wild, frivolous guesses or enter into difficult situations”. Phillips
(1990:541) found a “negative relationship between several measures of anxiety and
the quality and quantity of foreign language speech”. The language that is used
tends to be the barrier for communication and causes the level of anxiety to rise and;
as a result learners become reluctant to speak in class. Risk-taking yields positive
results for learners with LEP but they do not always want to embarrass themselves
by making wild guesses. They often listen to what their peers are saying without
arguing or supporting them.

In second-language learning, some learners do not take any risk that will make them
appear “stupid” and be laughed at by their peers. This may cause them to make
mistakes as they always remain silent and are not sure whether what they are
thinking is correct, relevant or wrong. The worst part is that the teacher may not even
know what is happening in their minds and hence may not to be able to assist them if
what they are thinking is not appropriate or relevant.

There are some learners with LEP who are overly high risk-takers. They can
dominate the class by taking risks that mostly place them in no-win situations, which
35
wastes teaching and learning time. Teachers need to take care of these learners and
control their actions. Sometimes teachers encourage and motivate learners to guess,
which is quite acceptable. Yet it should not be overdone as it could confuse learners
who are not competent in English.

Guiora and his colleagues (1972:142) define empathy as “a process of

comprehending in which a temporary fusion of self-object boundries permits an
immediate emotional apprehension of the affective experience of another”.
Communication fails when false assumptions are made about the other person’s
state. Brown (1994:143) states that “… empathy is the process of putting yourself
into someone else’s shoes, of reaching beyond the self and understanding, and
feeling what another persons’ understanding or feeling is.” Teachers need to feel for
the learners with LEP and understand that they come to school with no background
in English. They are not to assume that the L2 learners will cope as time goes on,
but should guide them through their learning by giving them simple and clear
instructions, teaching them how to read and interpret questions, how to write
cohesive texts and how to present appropriate speeches. When the school admits
the learners with LEP, it takes the responsibility to help the parents to cater for the
educational needs of those learners.

Hogan (1969:309) is of the opinion that “… there are two necessary aspects to the
development and exercising of empathy: first, an awareness of one’s own feelings
and second, the identification with another person.” Communication breaks down
when the teachers simply assume that they are aware of the learners with LEP’s
state and feelings. It is important that the teachers should acknowledge the learners’
LEP and living with the feeling of being incompetent. The teachers can imagine how
difficult it can be if they are forced to learn an indigenous language to help their
learners with LEP in the language that these children understand. This will help the
teachers empathize with their learners with LEP if they also feel what one goes
through in learning an additional language.

According to Littlewood (1984:53) “... motivation is the crucial force which

determines if a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it,
and how long he perseveres”. Self motivation contributes a lot to any learning and
36
learning a language gives a learner a means of communication. Learning a second
language can take place at different levels of motivation, namely those of global,
situational, and task-orientated motivation. High global motivation takes place when
learners with LEP want to learn the English language, low situational motivation
takes place in different situations during an English lesson, such as during self-
assessment on the work done in class and moderate task motivation takes place
when learners with LEP aim to achieve good marks in written tasks such as tests
and exams. A learner can be successful when s/he is motivated. Teachers therefore
need to motivate and support learners with LEP to persevere and to keep going to
achieve the levels stipulated by the Department of Basic Education (DoE) (Circular
22/2002:15).

2.7 THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF

BASIC EDUCATION

Learners are expected to achieve a number of skills and knowledge as set out by the
Department of Basic Education in the form of learning outcomes (LOs) and
assessment standards (ASs). The LOs and the ASs are set out in such a way that
they describe what the learners should know and be able to do, how conceptual and
skills development can take place and how conceptual progression offers a link
between different grades.

The LOs have different ASs that are carefully planned to cover the different skills,
knowledge, values and attitudes necessary. The Languages Learning Outcomes
(LLOs) are divided into the following activities: listening, speaking, reading, viewing
and understanding, writing, thinking and reasoning and language structure and use.
The LOs for English HL, Grades R -- 9 are defined as follows in the Department of
Education (2002:12-13):

 Listening: The learner will be able to listen for information and enjoyment,
and respond appropriately and critically in a wide range of situations.

Even though the learners with LEP can demonstrate appropriate behaviour during
listening tasks, they sometimes do so without fully understanding the task or
discussion. This becomes clear when they are supposed to use the language to

37
perform a function, such as: retelling the story, explaining how they feel about the
story, suggest solutions for the problems identified in the story, or give the sequence
of events. They normally do not manage to respond appropriately to such questions.
The learners with LEP usually lose marks in listening activities as often the level at
which the story is narrated is higher than their level of understanding and lack of
prior knowledge in relation to the discussed topic.

 Speaking: The learner will be able to communicate confidently and

effectively in speaking in a wide range of situations.

The learners with LEP battle in this regard because they are too shy to communicate
in the target language and especially so, in front of an audience. This shyness stops
them from demonstrating even the little understanding that they have because they
cannot communicate appropriately in English, as for example reciting a poem, giving
a speech, telling a story, debating, playing a game involving language, in role-plays,
describing a process, or recounting a sequence of events. The learners with LEP are
hesitant to speak in front of their L1 peers if they are not specifically asked to do so
because they are hesitant to take a guess and expose themselves to laughter.

 Reading and viewing: The learner will be able to read and view for
information and enjoyment, and respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural
and emotional values in texts.

 The L2 learners struggle to read and, as a result, do not answer the

questions correctly. This does not apply to English lessons only, but to all
the learning areas. They fail their written tasks because during a test or an
exam as they cannot continuously ask the teacher or invigilator to explain
the work. Their inability to read and understand questions leads them to
fail the tasks owing to their lack of reading skills, even if they do know the
answers.

 Writing: The learner will be able to write different kinds of factual and
imaginative texts for a wide range of purposes.

The learners with LEP write words and sentences that do not make sense because

38
they are not able to read. Some simply re-write the questions without any
understanding. They pretend that they are writing so that no one can ask them why
they are not writing. Their work is full of spelling errors. They cannot write cohesive
and coherent texts.

 Thinking and reasoning: The learner will be able to use language to think
and reason, as well as to access, process and use information for learning.

Some learners with LEP have difficulty in using language to think and reason
because their English is limited. When the learners with LEP are given research
activities, they can get some assistance in the computer or media centre -- with their
parents’ support. They can gather information but they fail to interpret or process the
information in the correct way. They cannot answer complex questions, such as
‘After reading the passage, re-write it in your own words and write a conclusion in a
paragraph that explains your feeling about the story’.

 Language structure and use: The learner will be able to use the sounds,
words and grammar of the language to create and interpret texts.

Some learners with LEP are unable to use correct grammar in English. They end
up losing marks because they confuse sounds, use the wrong word order and do
not have enough vocabulary to carry out tasks correctly.

It is the responsibility of English-medium primary schools to make sure that they

empower their learners with LEP to achieve these outcomes and, where the
learners experience barriers, the school must support them to succeed. It is
possible for learners to cope in some learning outcomes, but not in others. A
learner could, for instance, achieve good results in listening and speaking, but
battle to read and comprehend an assignment in which s/he is expected to answer
questions by giving reasons in writing. Limited English proficiency could be a
disadvantage for second-language learners in all learning areas.

Teachers are expected to support all learners who are not coping with the minimum
requirements by giving them expanded opportunities. These will help the learners
revise the concept that was taught and possibly improve their marks. Learners who
39
struggle to meet the abovementioned requirements in the MoI -- in most cases --
are also in danger of struggling in all the other learning areas. Problem areas must
be recorded on a learner’s support form by the teachers who teach individual
learning areas, and the parents must be continuously updated on their child's
growth (or lack of) and development. The Department of Education (2002:11)
Circular 22 has set tables (see figure 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 below), providing methods to
convert marks achieved by learners during formal assessments into various levels.
Teachers are to use the information in the table to provide feedback to parents. The
tables follow below as in the Department of Education (2002:11):

The table in figure 2.2 represents the codes that are used by the teachers in the
Foundation Phase (grade 1, 2 and 3) to report on the learners’ performance. The
learners with LEP will normally score 1’s in Literacy and Numeracy.

CODES DESCRIPTION OF COMPETENCE

1 Not yet achieved
2 Partially achieved
3 Achieved
4 Outstanding/ excellent achievement
Figure 2.2 Grade 1 -- 3: Foundation Phase assessment codes

The table in figure 2.3 represents the codes that are used by the teachers in the
Intermediate Phase to report on the learners’ performance. The learners with LEP
will normally score 1’s (0 - 34%) in English, Mathematics and other learning areas.

CODES DESCRIPTION OF COMPETENCE MARKS (%)

1 Not yet achieved 0 -- 34%
2 Partially achieved 35 -- 49%
3 Achieved 50 -- 69%
4 Outstanding/ excellent achievement 70 --100%
Figure 2.3 Grade 4 -- 6: Intermediate Phase assessment codes and marks

40
The table in figure 2.4 represents the codes that are used by the teachers in the
Senior Phase to report on the learners’ performance. The learners with LEP will
normally score 1’s and 2’s (0 - 39%) in English, Mathematics and other learning
areas.

CODES DESCRIPTION OF COMPETENCE MARKS (%)

7 Outstanding achievement 80 -- 100
6 Meritorious achievement 70 -- 79
5 Substantial achievement 60 -- 69
4 Adequate achievement 50 -- 59
3 Moderate achievement 40 -- 49
2 Elementary achievement 30 -- 39
1 Not achieved 0 -- 29
Figure 2.4 Grade 7: Senior Phase assessment codes and marks

The learners with LEP struggle to achieve a satisfactory level of proficiency in the
second language because the realities of their teaching do not allow for adequate
language acquisition. They have very limited or no exposure to a second language
at home. Teachers who educate and support the learners with LEP when they
experience problems in their learning are most of the time not in a position to
communicate or assist these learners in their mother tongue.

In formal-language learning classes, a teacher is not a figure of authority, but a

facilitator. S/he determines the programme of the learning session, such as what is
taught, for how long, when to ask questions and what can/cannot be said. In some
cases, the focus is placed on correctness rather than on appropriateness.

Frequently, the latter is given more attention than the attempt to explain why the
answers given are incorrect and, as a result, some learners give up and do not risk
answering questions. This depends on individual teachers. Some teachers feel that
it is confusing to give the learner all the finer details of a lesson as the learner can
easily get confused, whilst others feel that learners need thorough and detailed

41
information about the lessons that are presented so that the learners can
understand the information in their own ways of learning.

Brumfit (1984, in Webb and Kembo-Sure, 2000:294) state that “… the knowledge,
skills, aptitudes and motivation of the teachers, their experience and training are
also factors.” The kind of attitude that the learner displays in learning a language
can be an added factor in acquiring English. The learners with LEP who are well
behaved try to follow the rules. They avoid wasting time by always being in trouble,
and being called for interviews instead of being in the classroom learning. Learner
interest and dedication in the acquisition of a second language allow the learners
with LEP to remain motivated, to keep on trying and not to lose hope. They have to
work extended hours when compared to L1 learners.

According to Ellis (1985:103), “… students will inevitably have very different views
about the kind of teacher that they think is the best for them”. According to Stevick
(1980, in Ellis 1985:103), some children prefer a teacher who “creates space for
them to pursue their own learning paths”. Others prefer a teacher who “structures the
learning tasks more tightly”. Bailey (1980, in Ellis 1985:103), emphasizes “a definite
preference for a democratic teaching style”. Learners have different abilities and
should be given multiple opportunities to learn in ways that they choose for
themselves.

Studies were conducted on the attitudes of students about teachers.

McDonough (1978, in Ellis 1985:103) further comment on “… problems of having to
abide by someone else's teaching plan.” However, Pickett (1978, in Ellis 1985:103),
reveals that “… some learners want a teacher to act as an ‘informant’ but others
praised teachers who were logical, clear and systematic, that is: impose a structure
on the learners.” Stevick (1980, in Erhman and Dörnyei 1998:2) claims the following:

Success in second-language learning depends less on material,

techniques and linguistic analysis, and more on what goes on inside and
between the people in the classroom. The relationship between the
participants determines the quality and quantity of the interaction
necessary for task involvement.
42
The teacher-learner ratio also widens the gap, as the teachers cannot attend to
every learner’s needs, but resort to group activities to save time. Unfortunately, the
high noise level makes learning and concentration impossible and other classes are
disturbed. The teacher learner ratio and high noise level during group discussions
are some of the contributing factors to the difficulties faced by black learners when
taught in English as a medium of instruction.

In a learning environment, there are different activities that take place. The
learners with LEP are not only expected to learn the grammar of the target
language, but also to use it appropriately, that is: what to say, to whom it can be
said, when, where and how to say it. Teachers have a responsibility to assess
learners and report to relevant stakeholders.

2.8 LANGUAGE-ASSESSMENT PROFICIENCY

The school and teachers are responsible for the assessment of learners and to
establish a team to develop and facilitate the implementation of the assessment
programme. Every school must have an assessment plan that should be made
available to parents at the beginning of the year. The activities that are in the
assessment plan are based on the assessment standards representing the
knowledge, skills and values that the learners should demonstrate to achieve the
LOs that are set for a grade. Through the assessments, the teachers can tell if a
learner is coping with the requirements of the grade or not. The assessment
should also help learners to make good decisions about their performance.

According to the Department of Education (2002:134), “… assessment is a

continuous, planned process of gathering information about the performance of
learners measured against the Assessment Standards of the Learning
Outcomes.” Teachers use different strategies to gather the information, give
constructive feedback to learners and report to parents. The assessment should
be continuous and should support the growth and development of learners.

According to the Department of Education (2002:136) Languages -- English

Home Language, ‘… assessment standards are the language knowledge, skills
and values that learners must be able to demonstrate what they know or can do

43
by the end of a particular grade. The assessment standards form the basis of the
activities that are done in classes'. The following are examples:

Grade 1-- LO1: AS2 We know this when a learner demonstrates

appropriate listening behaviour by listening without interrupting, showing
respect for the speaker, taking turns to speak, and asking questions for
clarification.

Grade 5 -- LO3: AS2 We know this when a learner shows understanding

of fiction text, discusses central idea, plot, setting, atmosphere and
characters.

Grade 7 -- LO2: AS2 We know this when a learner communicates ideas,

facts and opinions clearly and with some accuracy and coherence, using a
limited range of factual oral text types.

Furthermore, the Department of Education (2002:126) states that the types and
purposes of a variety of assessments cover the following:

 Baseline assessment checks the learners' prior knowledge.

 Diagnostic assessment helps to identify problems that cause barriers to
learning. Teachers can then give support and put intervention
strategies in place.
 Formative assessment monitors and supports the process of learning
and teaching.
 Summative assessment gives the overall picture of the learners at a
given time.

There are different ways that the school can use to assess the learners’ knowledge
and understanding. These could be class work, spelling tests, tests, oral
presentations, projects, essays, comprehension tests, examinations, discussions
and role-plays. The length and complexity of the activities differ, and this is normally
displayed in the form of a rubric. Rubrics give the criteria used by teachers to assess
the learners work and to indicate their abilities during an assessment.

44
Teachers should keep records of all the assessments. Different codes are used to
report on learners' progress. Reports should give information on the learners’
performance for each term, the areas of competence, lack of progress, the support
needed and they should further provide constructive feedback. Should a learner not
meet the requirements for the grade, and after discussions with the parents and the
DoE, they may repeat the grade.

Brown (1987:219) explains that “… a test measures a person’s ability and

knowledge. Care must be taken in any test to understand who the testees are”. The
learners with LEP bring limited English knowledge to ex-Model C schools. There is
no culture of being read English stories at bedtime, no educational games and no
puzzles to do. They hear English only during news times on television and in movies.
After considering a learner’s background, the teachers can then determine whether
the test is appropriate for the learners with LEP ability, for example:
 the instructions should not be ambiguous,
 the learners should be able to understand the questions,
 the teachers read the paper to the learners at least once,
 Enough time allocation (extra time),
 Using a dictionary,
 how should the marking done and
 the interpretation and summaries of scores or results.

2.9 APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE LEARNING

Learners approach tasks in different preferred ways. There are visual learners who
learn by seeing things, aural learners who hear a thing once or twice before they
know and those who need to physically do things before they understand them. If
learners were allowed to choose their preferred learning strategies, they could learn
better. Teachers can help them by planning differentiated lessons and by presenting
their lessons in such a way that they cater for all learning styles. An example could
be as follows:
 A lesson on animals can be presented by using pictures,
 by bringing animal toys to class,

45
  playing animal sounds on a CD player and letting the learners identify the
animals,
 bringing a DVD or video on animals; and
 allowing learners to role-play certain animals by showing their
characteristics.

At the end of the lesson, many learning styles would have been covered.

Teachers complain that this method is time consuming. There are different
approaches and methods that can be followed in language teaching. Some claims
are made by teachers about different language-teaching methods, such as that
learners can easily discuss topics that are not relevant to the set topic; they do not
get to do the assessment on time to hand in the marks; and some children are easily
confused by other children’s contributions to the discussions. Yet, irrespective of the
claims, the methods form part of language-teaching history as they give ideas and
guidelines when one is teaching languages.

According to Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979, in Brown, 1994:70), when following the
audio-lingual method, ‘… new material is presented in dialogue form and there is
dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases, and over-learning’. Teachers
carefully choose the linguistic items that they want to present to their learners. A
teacher can then tell a story or conduct a dialogue that contains new words whilst the
learners are listening. Thereafter, learners are expected to memorize the story or
dialogue.

Learners are expected to pronounce words correctly and to make sure that their
speech does not contain mistakes. A teacher can help the learners by guiding and
supporting them when they learn how some grammatical rules work. Learners are
given expanded opportunities to practise what they have learnt.

After enough practice in using different audiovisual learning and teaching-support

materials, learners are then motivated to retell or role-play the story that they the
teacher had told them. If the learners succeed to convince their teacher that their
production is correct, they are deemed to have developed adequate linguistic and
46
pragmatic knowledge (Kumaravadivelu 2006:106-107).

In the grammar-translation method, little attention is given to teaching languages for

oral communication. According to Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979:3), the following
are some of the characteristics of the grammar-translation method:

 Classes are taught in the mother tongue ...;

 grammar provides the rules for putting words together;
 reading of difficult classical texts is begun early;
 exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language
into the mother tongue are done; and
 little or no attention is given to pronunciation.

The grammar-translation method is popular because it does not require the teacher
to be a specialist. The translation- and grammar-rules tests are easy to compile.
Learners are simply exposed to a number of activities whereby they learn through
rote learning and translating texts that do not encourage them to communicate in the
target language. Learners tend to develop good reading skills in the second
language when this method is used but Richards and Rodgers (1986:5) indicates
that “it has no advocates and it is a method for which there is no theory.”

Following the Community Language Learning (CLL) method that was developed by
Charles Curran, the teacher and learners stand together, form a community that
values every individual and no one is seen as a leader or more important than the
others are. The group members are free to communicate and the support in the
group is huge. Brown (1994:96) states ‘… the group of clients (learners), having
established in their native language an interpersonal relationship and trust, are
seated in a circle with the counsellor (the teacher) on the outside of the circle’.

Learners say words in their HL (Zulu, Xhosa or Sepedi); the teacher says the words
in the target language (English); and the learners repeat what the teacher had said
as accurately as possible. The conversation could be taped for later listening the
learners are encouraged to overhear what is repeated as La Forge(1983:45)states
that “the result of the ‘overhear’ is that every member of the group can understand

47
what any given learner is trying to communicate.

As time goes by, the learners become familiar with the target language and the
teacher starts to give fewer translations until the learners become independent. The
learners' confidence is built and their anxiety is lowered. They are sure that no one
will laugh at them when they make mistakes because they support one another in
their learning.

The Suggestopedia method promotes the usage of human brainpower to learn a

language. Lozanov (1978:2) claims that “There is no sector of public life where
suggestology would not be useful.” This method is helpful for both academically
gifted and less gifted learners. The most important feature of Suggestopedia is the
centrality of music and musical rhythm to learning. During the soft playing of
Baroque music, one can take in tremendous quantities of material, due to an
increase in alpha brain waves and a decrease in blood pressure and pulse rate.

Music forms the basis of this method. Learners are provided with comfortable chairs.
They are to be ‟childlike” as much as they can be, and all the authority is given to the
teacher. During role-plays, learners assume the roles and names of the native
speakers of the foreign language. The learners are apparently relaxed, not anxious,
and communicate freely with one another.

Caleb Gattegno devised the Silent Way that is characterised by the approach of
solving problems. Learners discover concepts instead of memorizing and repeating
them. Learners use the learning and teaching media to solve the presented
problems. The teacher is expected to only guide the learners and not to spell out
everything for the learners even if they are tempted to do so. The learners as a team
must cooperate, be independent, responsible, and solve the problems.

The Silent way is similar to other learning methods and Richards and Rodgers
(1986:99) state the following about Gattegno’s work:
 Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than
remembers and repeats what is to be learned.
 Learning is facilitated by accompanying physical objects.

48
  Learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned.

In the Silent-way method, ‘… small coloured rods of different length and colourful
wall charts are used to present pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, syntax, verbs,
single words, short phrases and sentences once or twice and thereafter, the learners
are to refine their understanding and pronunciation with little corrective feedback
from the teacher’(Brown 1994:98). Even if the teacher is not always available to
encourage the communicative atmosphere, the learners' grammatical and textual
competence is developed.

James Asher, the founder of the Total Physical Response (TPR) approach, wished
to devise a method that was as stress-free as possible because language learning
can create anxiety. In TPR activities, learners do much listening and acting. Asher
(1977:43) says that “The instructor is the director of a stage play in which the
students are like actors.” The teacher gives the verbal and non-verbal instructions
and the learners carry them out. Below are some examples of such instructions:

 Raise your hand (non-verbal);

 stand and tell us where you come from (non-verbal and verbal);
 draw pictures of all the things you see in the class (non-verbal);
 what is this? (question); and
 wait for your turn to speak.

Learners are free to respond to instructions and ask questions without feeling
intimidated. Krashen and Terrell’s (1983) combined effort brought up the Natural
Approach which promotes the traditional approaches to language teaching,
implementation and classroom procedures. According to Brown (1994:99), “… the
Natural Approach is aimed at the goal of basic interpersonal communication skills,
that is, everyday language situation -- conversations, shopping, listening to radio,
and the like”.

Learners are given a chance to delay production until their speech is developed.
Cole (1931:58) states that in this method, “The study of grammar was reserved for a
still later period.” The teachers must support the learners by ensuring that their
49
learning environment is relaxed and stimulating, and by using the language that they
understand, or that is just slightly above the learners' level for discussions and
repetition exercises. The learner may remain silent during the silent period until s/he
is ready to communicate. They should not be rushed into writing activities until they
can speak the foreign language.

Brown (1994:245) offered the following interconnected characteristics as a definition

of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach:

 Classroom goals are focused on all the components of communicative

competence and not restricted to grammatical or linguistic competence.
 Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic,
authentic, functional use of language for meaning purposes. Organisational
language forms are not the central focus.
 Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying
communicative techniques. At times fluency may have to take on more
importance than accuracy.
 Students ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in
unrehearsed contexts.

The CLT builds fluency, but fluency is not over-emphasized at the cost of clear and
unambiguous communication. Teachers can guide the learners in unrehearsed
situations and not control the lesson. Learners communicate spontaneously in the
communicative classes. Teaching- and learning-support materials such as
computers, DVDs, CD players, videos and television could be used to simplify
learning and teaching.

The aforementioned methods and approaches each have their strengths and their
weaknesses, and a combination that suits different situations can help to make
learning a second language fun. Teachers come from different institutions with
different backgrounds to teach different learners with different backgrounds.
Learners have different learning styles, and if the teachers could use a combination
of approaches of teaching that could help the learners with LEP to better adjust to
the ex-Model C environment. The CLT method of teaching seems to be the
50
appropriate approach to the problems dealt with in this study.

2.10 CONCLUSION

The theoretical concepts that are important for this study were discussed in this
chapter. Communicative and language competence was discussed, as well as the
different levels of language proficiency. There are different approaches to language
acquisition and factors that affect language learning. The LOs and ASs were
discussed as set out in the NCS of the Department of Basic Education, and different
approaches that could be used to facilitate second-language learning were
illustrated.

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 CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the research methodology used to obtain the information necessary
to respond to the research questions will be discussed. Data will be collected in
different ways, for example: literature review, analysing the school documents,
questionnaires will be given to the headmaster, teachers, parents and learners.

Personal interviews will be conducted with the respondents. The learners’ examples
of work will be perused to identify gaps and learners will be observed in classes
during lesson presentations to deal with the problems identified in this study. The
research ethics, limitations, reliability and validity of the research will also be
discussed in this chapter.

3.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research of this kind has not yet been conducted in this school, the only school on
which the researcher will focus. It is an affluent, ex-Model C school in Pretoria.
There are two methods possible to use to collect information on the problems
identified in the study, namely the qualitative and the quantitative methods. The aim
of qualitative research is to provide a detailed description of a group of people and
their real-life situations. Locke (1998:123), describes qualitative research as ‘…
being interpretative and critical … it is rich in meaning and collects non-numeric
information.’ The aim of quantitative research is to quantify classified features and to
use statistical methods to explain the relationship between the features.

It is therefore important that the researcher determine the method of gathering data
that are available and relevant to the proposed study. This study will mainly follow
the qualitative method as the information needed will be collected through analyzing
documents, a literature review, interviews, observations, questionnaires and

52
checking the L2 learners’ work.

3.2.1 Literature review

According to Mouton (2003:86), “… it is essential that every research project begins

with a review of the existing literature”. This will help the researcher to establish what
has been done in his/her area of study, and to learn from the work of other scholars.
The information gained during the literature review will assist the researcher to avoid
duplication and unnecessary repetition of the content of previous studies.

For the purpose of this study, the literature reviewed covered the following concepts:

 communicative competence,
 language knowledge,
 levels of language acquisition,
 types of language acquisition,
 the factors affecting language learning,
 language-competence assessment,
 the implications of the NCS of the DoE and
 the didactics of language teaching.

The research questions of this study were formulated following the literature review.
They were set out in Chapter 1, and can be summarized as follows:

 Which challenges or barriers to learning face black, English second-

language South African learners in ex-Model C schools, and prohibit the
achievement of their academic potential?
 Which policies and interventions can be recommended to meet or
overcome the challenges facing black, English second-language South
African learners in ex-Model C schools?
 In the following paragraph, different methods to help answer these
questions are discussed.

53
3.2.2 Document analysis

The important documents of the school will be perused such as the electronic data-
archive files; promotion schedules- to see how the learners with LEP perform as
compared to the other learners in the same grades and retention schedules- to see
the learners that are in danger of failing the grade. The learners’ class works, tests,
projects, essays and comprehension tests will also be perused to determine the level
at which they are performing.

The GDE support forms and mark books will be accessed to establish how many L2
learners attend the school. The researcher will further analyze how these learners
perform when compared to their L1 peers -- that is, what their marks are in English
and in all the other learning areas as English is the only LOLT in the school. The
researcher will establish whether they are on the 450 Support forms which is a
special form on which the following information is recorded:

 the names of all the learners in the school who experience learning
difficulties,
 the areas in which support is most needed,
 the support that is provided by teachers,
 the outcome of the interventions and
 parent notification and support.

3.2.3 Questionnaires

According to Dörnyei (2003:8), “… questionnaires can yield three types of data about
the respondent: factual, behavioural and attitudinal information.” Questionnaires are
used to collect data that can be represented in graphs or pie charts and tables.
Questionnaires can also give factual data (such as age, and level of education),
behavioural data (what the respondents are doing or have done) and attitudinal data
(what the respondents think).

54
By making use of a questionnaire, researchers can save quite some time as the data
can be processed rather fast.

In this specific study, the factual questions will cover the following aspects:

 The demographic information about the participants -- their age, race and
gender.
 The behavioural questions about the participants' life-style and habits,
such as which language the learner uses after school at home.
 The attitudinal questions about the participants' and their parents’ beliefs,
opinions, interests and values, such as whether the parents deem it
important that they communicate in English with their child/children after
school.

The results of the languages spoken by the learners in the school will be presented
in a pie chart in the following chapter.

Four different sets of questionnaires will be issued to parents, learners, teachers,

and the headmaster to complete. The questionnaires will be accompanied by a letter
explaining the aims of the study and the importance of their participation, and will
express gratitude for their cooperation (see Appendix 5).

The researcher will make it clear to the participants that participation is voluntary and
that no information collected for the study would be used for other purposes.
After the researcher has analyzed the responses, some participants will be
interviewed on responses that raised matters of interest or that were not clear to the
researcher.

The headmaster's questionnaire (see Appendix 10), requires information on the

awareness and interventions of the school regarding the problem being researched.
It further poses questions about the future plans on how the school intends to deal
with using indigenous languages in the school.

55
The teachers' questionnaire (see Appendix 11), addresses the school and classroom
factors related to the linguistic barriers experienced by the learners. This
questionnaire will serve the purpose of preparing the teachers for an interview that
will follow. All the teachers in the school (from Grade 1 to Grade 7; in all learning
areas) will be given the questionnaire to complete and return to the researcher.

The researcher will select twelve learners who experience learning problems
because of LEP. They are from Grades 2 to 7. These learners did not achieve good
results in 2008 and in the first term of 2009. These learners must have GDE support
forms (see Appendix 16), that the teachers complete when they identify problems in
the academic development of these learners'. The parents should have been invited
to meetings to be informed about their children's learning barriers.

The learners' questionnaire (see Appendix 13), is drafted in simple English and the
learners will respond by making ticks next to the questions because reading and
answering questions in writing may be a problem for them. Interviews with learners
will be conducted to clarify questions or to follow up on issues following on their
responses.

The parents' questionnaire (see Appendix 12), addresses the parents’ experience of
their LEP children’s learning in an ex-Model C school. For most questions, parents
have to tick the appropriate block. The purpose of this is to accommodate parents
who are not fully literate. Follow-up interviews will be conducted to give parents an
opportunity to explain in detail what their ticks mean should they want to do so.

The researcher will analyze the languages spoken by the learners in the school, and
use the information collected to support her findings.

56
3.2.4 Personal interviews

A personal interview is a face-to-face situation in which the researcher asks the

respondents questions about their experiences. The researcher could further ask
follow-up questions, clarify questions or responses, and obtain precise information
from the respondents. The participants could be requested to elaborate on their
responses. However, participants may not be willing to give honest answers in a
personal interview. In such a case, the researcher must reassure them that their
responses would be treated as strictly confidential.

3.2.4.1 Interviews with learners

Twelve learners out the seventeen that had to repeat the grades in 2009 were
selected. The researcher will select a boy and a girl with LEP and who have scored
the lowest marks according to the retention schedule of each and every grade.
Informed consent to participate will be requested from their parents first, only the
parents of the identified learners will take part in the research. If the parents agree to
participate then they will give consent for both themselves and their children (see
appendix 8). The researcher will then give the learners their specific consent forms
to complete (see appendix 9).

The twelve learners will initially be divided in phase groups namely learners in the
Foundation Phase, the Intermediate Phase, and the Senior Phase. A group session
where the questions will be explained will take place. This will help to minimize the
anxiety because each learner will realize that they are not in trouble as other
learners are also involved. Their parents will have given consent for them to
participate and irrespective of their parent’s consent to participate in the research,
they can still not participate if they are not interested. The learners that are interested
will then be interviewed individually in different sessions.

Learners will be informed that they are not forced to participate in the interviews. The
researcher will determine whether their parents have informed them that they had
given permission for them to partake in the research. Should a learner initially not be
willing to participate, the researcher can motivate the learner by explaining the
57
importance of his/her taking part in the research. If that does not help, parents will be
informed of the issue, and another learner will be selected.

During a group interview, the researcher will read the questions and discuss these
with all the learners as they may not understand them because of their language
barrier. This will assist the researcher to make sure that the learners understood the
questions before answering.

Making notes as learners are discussing their responses may be intimidating to shy
or less confident learners, yet it can at the same time encourage the outspoken or
confident ones to dominate the discussion with the researcher. The group interview
will help to make the learners not feel insecure or intimidated by the questions that
are asked. The learners that are less active can be interviewed later in individual
sessions.

Every learner will have a questionnaire where they can tick their preferred
responses, after discussing what a question means. The following symbols appear
on the questionnaires (and a description of what they mean is in brackets):

 (means happy, easy, fun or enjoy)

 (means middle – not good and not bad, not sure, do it to avoid trouble, do it just
because they are expected to do so) and
 (means that the learners see it as a punishment, it’s not funny, unhappy or
difficult).

The group interview session (where they go through the questions with the help of
the researcher) will help them to assist one another in interpreting the questions.
They can add to each ones idea or ask for clarity. Learners can easily learn from
each other. The researcher will explain the questions that may be confusing to
learners. The questions deal with, among other issues, the following ones:

 how the learners experiences their L2 learning,

 whether they are shy or not,

58
  how they feel about doing homework,
 who at home is helping them with their studies,
 which expectations people (parents or teachers) have of them,
 which language they prefer for different functions and
 their general feelings about learning a language.

The researcher will take note of learners who do not participate in the discussion and
have another interview with them individually. They will also be notified of the aims of
the study to motivate them (the recommendations of the study may contribute to
changing their problem of LEP). The interview will give the researcher a better
understanding and knowledge of the learners' lived experiences and perceptions.

3.2.4.2 Interviews with teachers

The teachers will be interviewed individually, depending on their availability.

Teachers have different commitments besides teaching. It is therefore essential that
the researcher arrange an appointment that will suit them. It will further help to obtain
the teachers' individual points of view, which would not be influenced by what other
teachers, the heads of department, or the headmaster may think, say or feel.

The researcher will give the teachers a copy of the questionnaire in advance. This
will help save time as the teachers can prepare themselves for the interviews. All the
questions will then be answered as the teachers could also refer to their school
documents before the interview. This will lessen the ‘I am not sure about that
question’ responses). Teachers can also communicate freely as they will be aware of
what is expected of them.

The teachers will be interviewed individually, depending on their availability. The

researcher will interview the three language teachers, the languages head of
department and three foundation phase teachers. The selected teachers are
teaching the twelve learners that are selected and they know their barriers and have
had meetings with the parents of these learners. Teachers have different
commitments besides teaching. It is therefore essential that the researcher arrange

59
an appointment that will suit them. It will further help to obtain the teachers' individual
points of view, which would not be influenced by what other teachers, the heads of
department, or the headmaster may think, say or feel.

The teachers' responses are very important as they are the ones who see what the
learners with LEP experience every day, and should be willing to support them to
overcome their learning barriers. The researcher will then make an appointment with
the teachers to execute the observations.

3.2.5 Classroom observations

Classroom observations will take place with reference to the framework to which
Hymes (1972:277) referred to as the phenomenon SPEAKING + T. Hymes
(1972a:277 in Webb and Kembo-Sure (2000:247), states that, “… we have then to
account for the fact that a normal child acquires knowledge of sentences, not only as
grammatical, but also as appropriate. He or she acquires competence as to when to
speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what
manner”.

Hymes (1972, in Webb and Kembo-Sure 2000:247) identifies various contextual

variables that can have an effect on the language used in a speech event. They are
as follows:

 setting,
 participants,
 ends,
 acts,
 key,
 instrumentality,
 norms,
 genre and
 topic.

60
According to Webb and Kembo-Sure (2000:247-251), “… the setting [author’s
italics]) relates to the physical circumstances of the speech event, such as time and
place.” Other factors related to this statement can be the language used, the
furniture, and seating arrangements. In a school situation, the venue is the
classroom. One can further look at the number of learners in the class, at which time
the lesson starts and ends, and how long the periods and cycles are. It is further
important to observe how the learners are seated, and to monitor the direction of
their communication, to note whether there are class rules, and where the teacher's
desk is.

The participants in the classroom speech-event are the learners and the teacher.
The role and relationship between the participants are also important: learner to
teacher, and teacher to learner, how they relate to one another, and which language
is used during the lesson. The general goal of any classroom activity is for teachers
to be the facilitators, and the activities to be learner centred. Learners should listen in
class, take part in discussions, do their homework and projects, and gain more
knowledge through research work.

The ends are the general goals and aims of the speech event. In L2 learning, in the
researcher’s subjects, the general aim is to understand the topics that are taught in
their classes by their teachers. The aim of every learner would be to show
understanding of the material taught by achieving good marks for different topics, or
to discuss topics, ask questions, and argue about issues where necessary.
Particular speech acts can be used to realize the abovementioned aims. Learners
can ask questions, discuss, compare, criticize, explain, justify or analyze. Teachers
need to assist the learners with LEP to understand what these kind of question
expect them to do to answer the question.

The key is the same as the concept “register”. The tone, manner, approach and spirit
of the speech act are also important. These can be friendly or intimidating, tense or
humorous, formal or informal. The key in the classroom is expected to be formal:
learners should take turns in speaking, respect the speaker, raise a hand to talk and
be polite.

61
Different instruments are used at school to ensure that learning takes place through
speaking, namely when doing speeches or discussing issues, writing essays, tests
and exams, and body language.

The norms relate to the importance of following the rules for appropriate behaviour
that accompanies a language in this particular context. The way in which the
participants express themselves is important. Examples are, for instance: how the
teacher poses questions, how the learners indicate that they would like to answer to
a question, the loudness of their voices, eye contact and body posture. Learners
may not shout, insult, tease one another, or make jokes during learning time in the
classroom.

The features of what takes place in the classroom situation should be appropriate to
a certain genre, such as explanations, debate, questions, answers, listening to
stories read by teachers, speaking when discussing or giving feedback on aspects,
reading from books, writing, reasoning and viewing. These activities will be guided
by the topic with which the learners are dealing.

The topic is what is discussed. It affects the vocabulary that is used. The context
determines the appropriate language to express appropriate meaning. Learners are
taught three learning programmes in the Foundation Phase, namely: numeracy,
literacy and life skills. In the Intermediate and Senior Phases, the eight learning
areas are, among others, mathematics, natural science, technology and the like.

Researchers differentiate between visible and hidden observation. Visible

observation means that participants are informed about the researcher's presence.
In this instance, the learners who will be observed should know when the researcher
is coming and what s/he will be observing. Hidden observation means that the
participant is unaware that observation is taking place. In this instance, the
researcher will observe a learner without informing the learner that s/he is being
observed or what is being observed.

Hidden observations can raise ethical issues concerning the privacy of the
participants. The study will involve three parties, namely the researcher, the school,
62
and the participants. The researcher is expected not to overstep the other parties’
individual privacy, for example: participants could refuse to answer certain questions
and should not be pressurized to do so. The information about personal matters that
are disclosed to the researcher should be kept confidential. If there are conflicting
issues about behavioural expectations between the parties, ethical problems may
arise.

Visible observations will take place to circumvent ethical issues. The teachers and
learners will be informed in advance about the observer's presence. The researcher
will only observe if the teacher has indicated that s/he is ready for the observation.
The researcher will then observe how the teacher presents the lesson based on the
framework developed by Hymes (1972:277).

3.2.6 Learners’ work

The researcher will ask the teachers to provide him/her with the examples of the
learners' work for perusal during observation. Copies will be made if required or
necessary for future reference. The learners will remain anonymous and their
examples of work will be used for this study purposes only. The researcher will
analyzed the learners’ work to establish how they perform in written activities.

It is important for the researcher to differentiate between primary and secondary

data. Primary data are data gathered and assembled specifically for the research at
hand directed by the research problem and research questions. This data are aimed
at meeting the current needs of the researcher. As an example, the researcher could
peruse the worksheet that the learners had completed whilst s/he was observing the
action in the classroom. This would help to determine whether the learners had
followed the instructions and answered the questions correctly.

Secondary data are data that had been previously collected and recorded before the
research had taken place. This data had already been gathered, such as the
learners with LEP's work from the beginning of the year (existing class work, tests,
speeches, comprehension tests and projects).

63
3.3 Data analysis

Once the author has collected the necessary information, the data will be analyzed
by reading through the responses to every question and making notes. The author
will use the information gathered to refresh the teachers' awareness of the learners'
linguistic problems that prevent them from performing according to their abilities.

Recommendations to better the situation will be made available to parents, learners

and teachers. After a certain period of time, feedback will be expected from all
participants to check whether there had been any improvement following the
implementation of the recommendations. The feedback could be used to do research
in the future, if necessary.

3.4 Research ethics

In a research there are different parties, namely: the headmaster, teachers, parents
and learners. Each party expects certain rights and feels certain obligations towards
the other parties. The researcher will not overstep the boundary of the
abovementioned individual’s privacy.

No respondent will be forced to participate in this research or to answer certain

questions if they are feeling uncomfortable to answer them. The information that will
be disclosed in this research will be guarded from all people other than the
researcher.

The right to privacy and confidentiality binds the researcher to protect the anonymity
of the respondents. Informed consent means that the participants understand the
reason for the research and waives his or her privacy when he or she agrees to
participate in the research.

The participants in this research will be given consent forms that contain an option to
either agree or disagree to participate in the research (see appendix 5, 6, 7, 8 and
9). Privacy and confidentiality will form the basis of this research.
64
3.5 Limitations, reliability and validity of the research

The limitations, reliability and validity of this research are related. The researcher will
have to be aware of some factors that can affect the interview and observation
results. The researcher will set the questionnaires to gather the information needed
from the respondents. The questionnaires should be easy to understand and
relevant to get the correct valid results.

The researcher’s position as a friend, a teacher, a colleague, a deputy principal, a

parent, a supervisor or a subordinate need to be fair and neutral to make sure that
the results are valid. Some respondents might not give their honest opinions about
issues they are asked about because of being scared that they will be victimised or
seen as not cooperative by their leaders. The researcher will encourage the
respondents not to be scared to give their honest opinion because of his or her
status.

Some LEP learners that may be reserved and not take part during group discussions
may not answer immediately to questions that are posed by the researcher. Should
such a situation arise, the researcher will follow up with the reserved learners to find
out if they have different ideas but will not force them to answer if they do not want
to.

The researcher should also guard against the more active learners who may
dominate the interviews by asking them to give other learners a turn. The teachers’
workload and pressure to meet the due dates, parents’ feelings about the school’s
operational requirements, how their children perform, the learners’ emotions, fatigue
and diet may affect the research results.

3.6 Conclusion

The qualitative method will be followed in this research whereby the instrumentation
will include literature review, document analysis, conducting interviews with teachers
and learners, filling in questionnaires, classroom observations and perusing the
65
learners’ work. The researcher will keep all the information gathered safe and
confidential. Above all the researcher should keep the anonymity of the respondents
and use the data only for the research purpose. The data collected will be analyzed
in Chapter 4.

66
 CHAPTER 4

DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

The data collected during the research process as well as the questionnaires1 and
interviews will be described, discussed, analyzed and interpreted in this chapter.

4.2 SCHOOL FILES

The researcher commenced the data analysis by going through the electronic files of
the school. The files were perused to establish how many learners in the school had
indigenous languages as their HLs in 2009, how many were on the 2008 possible
retention schedule (a list of possible failures) and the number of those who were
actually retained in 2008. She also looked at the mark books to see what the
progress of these learners was in 2009.

The records revealed that, except for learners who have English as a HL, and those
having English as a second language because their mother tongues are indigenous
languages, there are many more other HLs in the school, among others Afrikaans,
Portuguese, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa (the latter being three Nigerian languages),
Shona (a Zimbabwean language), Italian, Greek, and the like.

According to the 2008 retention schedules, 13 out of 17 learners who had to repeat
their grades in 2009 were learners who had an indigenous African language as a HL.
The 2009 possible retention schedule (a list of learners who experience severe
learning difficulties and have documented proof of support programmes that were
put in place to support them and there is still no improvement) reflects that there was
a possibility of retaining indigenous mother-tongue speaking learners. Their English
marks were less than 34% (Code 1), and they did not pass most of the other LAs,

1
Permission to use these questionnaires in DBE schools was granted by the DoE [see personal e‐mail in this
regard in the Appendix].
67
either. This indicates that the learners with LEP were not coping with the demands of
the grades, and scored less than 40% in Grade 7.

The researcher noted that these learners with LEP did not only struggle in English as
a LA, but also in all the other LAs such as Technology, Natural Science,
Mathematics, Social Sciences, and the like. In the LAs where they did pass, it was
with additional support (Code 2), which means partial achievement of the minimum
requirements in a LA and is the code used for reporting in learners’ report cards).
This means that they had to put more effort in those LAs in the following year again.

The learners with LEP repeating a grade were reported to continue struggling, even
though they had been given an opportunity to progress. The workload become too
much for them. Their poor achievement could be language related, but there are
other factors such as psychological and emotional issues that could also be
hindering their progress.

Amongst these learners with LEP, some started their schooling with no knowledge of
English. They further do not have enough support from their parents because their
parents are either illiterate, or work till late at night, or do not have the time or have
limited resources at their homes to extend the concepts that are taught in the
classroom.

Five out of the 12 learners with LEP on the retention schedule have tutors who help
them with their school work. This situation is different from that of their L1 peers who
come to class with pre-existing knowledge of English. They come to school to learn
formally. By the time the L1 learners are registered, a culture of learning already
exists.

English as a MoI can be confusing for learners with LEP as, except for hearing it on
radio or on television. They are officially introduced to it only when they start school.
The expectation that they perform well academically is stressful as they cannot
perform some of the functions that are schoolwork related.

68
4.2 THE HEADMASTER’S RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE2

The headmaster was given the questionnaire on the same day that the other
teachers had received theirs. The following paragraph states briefly how he
responded to the questions posed.

The headmaster confirmed that there were learners who were experiencing
difficulties owing to the use of English as a MoI. Learners from many embassies from
across the world attend the school, hence different languages and cultures form part
of the school community. There are 841 learners in the school, 498 of whom are
English HL speakers, 59 speak Afrikaans, 37 speak Zulu, 57 use Sotho, three speak
Ndebele, 46 are speakers of Tswana, 22 speak Xhosa, three speak Venda, two
speak Swati, nine speak Tsonga, 26 use only Pedi and then there are 79 learners
who speak other languages(from other countries). All these learners receive their
tuition in English and take Afrikaans as a FAL because it is one of the additional
languages that the feeder high schools of the school offer.

Home languages of learners

Afrikaans
Zulu 7%
5% Other
9%
Xhosa Sotho
3% 7%

Tswana
6%
Venda
0%
English
Tsonga Swati 59%
1% 0%
Pedi
3%
Ndebele
0%

Figure 4.1 Pie chart indicating the percentage learners’ HLs

69
The pie chart demonstrates the actual percentages of HLs that the school has
sourced from the school documents survey that are based on information received
from the parents. There is a possibility that there are more learners with indigenous
languages (rather than English) as HLs, but the learners are confused by the fact
that they are encouraged to continuously communicate in English and then regard
English as their HL.

According to the records, the breakdown of 17 learners with LEP who repeated
grades in 2009 is as follows: eight in the Foundation Phase, six in the Intermediate
Phase, and three in the Senior Phase (8 + 6 + 3 =17). These learners scored one’s
on a four points scale in grade one to six and on a seven point scale in grade seven (
four and seven being the highest score) in most of their LAs, which means that their
performance did not satisfy the LA requirements for the grade.

The assessment is based on a variety of activities that offer an opportunity to

learners who do not cope well in written activities to score better marks in activities
during which they discuss topics given by the teacher, such as role-play,
demonstrations, designing or constructing bridges and machines, and the like.

At the end of each year, all the marks are added. Learners are then given an overall
performance mark. Should the mark be a “one”, the learner must repeat the grade. In
other cases, the departmental officials assess the schedules as the learners are not
promoted based on English only but on all LAs.

Should the assessment team from the District Office of Tshwane South feel that the
learners needs to be given a chance, they send the learner through to the next
grade, but with additional support. Such a decision leads to many challenges and
even problems as the learners with LEP normally struggle more in the next grade
since they had not met most of the requirements for the previous grade.

The teachers are sent to different courses that are organized by the GDE on
curriculum-related matters. Guest speakers are also invited to address the teachers
as part of their development, for which the school carries the costs involved. The
70
teachers are encouraged to plan multi-level lessons to cater for learners with
different abilities, especially the ones who are not achieving satisfactory results.

Individual support is given to motivate the weaker ones not to lose confidence. They
are guided until they complete some tasks. As an example: The teacher would read
the questions one by one to the learner and, when the learner struggles to answer
questions, the teacher will give the learner clues for the answer.

When the learners with LEP are doing a comprehension test, the teacher would
guide them by asking them to read the sentences that contain the answers. This
guidance allows them to feel that they can do the work, although such guidance is
not always possible because of the numbers of learners in the classes.

The learners with LEP do not always get enough time to practice, highlight and
explain difficult words. Teachers are expected to record the learners’ areas of need
in a GDE 450 Support Form with the type of intervention that was given. Teachers
set appointments with parents to discuss the findings and ways in which the parents
can help.

The support forms are kept as confidential in the learner’s profile and, at the end of
the year, the forms are forwarded to the teachers who teach the next grade. This is
done to make sure that the teachers are aware of the learners’ barriers, and that
they would support them.

Two teachers facilitate remedial classes (as extra-mural classes) in the Foundation
Phase. The school offers English adaptation classes to learners who do not know
English. In this class, learners with no English are taught how to communicate in
English, but they still attend their normal English classes. Parents pay a fee for this
service. The school further offers the Readers are leaders Programme at no cost to
help learners with LEP. It is a computer program that helps learners to improve their
spelling and comprehension.

Learners are taught in English as a HL. Those who do not cope are referred to
classes for extra lessons by their teachers. Reading is compulsory every morning,
71
quizzes are done, and learners are encouraged to communicate in English when
they are in and out of the classroom. Teachers attend weekly grade meetings to
discuss and find ways to solve the difficulties experienced by learners in learning
English. They further use teaching and learning resources to make teaching and
learning easy.

The school has a language policy that was drafted before the headmaster’s time in
the school, but maybe parents as a community were invited to a meeting to discuss
the language matters with the governing body of the school. The Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996, the Language in Education Policy in terms
of section 3(4) (m) of the National Education Policy Act 27 of 1996, and the South
African Schools Act 84 of 1996 are the relevant documents that were used to draft
the policy. The policy is reviewed continuously, or as the need arises.

The LOLT is English and it is stipulated in the admission forms so that the parents
know which LOLT is used by the school before the parents enrol their children. The
annual general meetings, grade meetings and newsletters are in the MoI as well. It is
not clear if the parents do not attend some meetings because of other commitments
or because of a lack of interest in listening to the same ‟lack of progress story”.

The school follows the requirements set by the GDE. Assessment is continuous and
comprises different types of tasks. Parents are given a chance to view the scripts of
their children and sign them. Learners are marked on a scale of Level 1 to 4 that can
be converted into percentages. Marks are recorded in mark books and controlled by
heads of departments.

Reports on performance are sent to parents on a quarterly basis. Parents are invited
to view their children’s papers, but more often the parents with children who have a
LEP do not attend the meetings until they are individually invited to discuss their
children’s lack of progress.

Continuous assessment is used and if the learner’s overall performance is below the
minimum requirements and the learner struggles to cope with the minimum demands
of the grade, such a learner has a LEP. The teachers help the learners through
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individual support, remedial classes, graded activities, extra classes, re-teaching and
using resources to simplify the concepts. Parents are informed of barriers during
progress interviews or meetings, they are invited to attend meetings during which
they peruse and sign tests and formal tasks, by writing letters or making telephone
calls. Parents are allowed to ask questions if they do not understand the work in their
children’s books.

The support team discusses the problems identified by the teachers, offers advice on
the interventions to support learners who experience difficulties in learning, and
ensures that the interventions take place continuously. Should there be no progress
the learner is referred to a speech therapist, occupational therapist or an educational
psychologist for an assessment. The results and recommendations from the
specialist(s) are used to develop an intervention plan for the learner.

The children of supportive parents tend to improve because their parents take the
advices and help them at home. Other parents blame the lack of improvement of
their children on the teachers and expect miracles to happen. In some cases, there
is not enough help from home.

If parents are planning to send their children to English-medium schools, the children
should be exposed to English at an early age. They should, for example, send them
to English-medium pre-schools. Normally parents complain that the latter are
expensive and, if they are from the townships, they have to pay for transport to
school as well.

The school is in the process of AL research. Parents have requested that Pedi be
introduced in the school. No decision has yet been made as to whether it should be
taught as a subject or as an extra-mural activity. Maybe Pedi should run parallel with
Afrikaans as a FAL, but currently English is taught as the HL (LOLT), and Afrikaans
as the FAL. Several meetings have taken place between the representatives of the
parents, the teachers and the representatives of the GDE to discuss the possibilities
of introducing Pedi in the school.

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If Pedi was to be a subject, it will be presented as a FAL or a SAL, depending on the
choice by the parents. A mother-tongue facilitator will have to be employed by the
school, and it will depend on the number of learners who choose the language and
whether there is a classroom available for it in the school.

4.3.1 Summary of the headmaster’s responses

The headmaster indicated that the school faces a challenge to provide education to
black South African learners using English as a LOLT. The parents register their
children, knowing very well that English is the LOLT, and that their children
experience difficulties because the LOLT is not being their HL. The learners with
LEP are able to use English (BICS) to communicate about everyday life events, for
example discussing: soccer games, the Readathon Week, dressing up as a
character and the Big-Walk Fun Day. The learners with LEP find it difficult to use the
English language for academic purposes (CALP).

The learner with LEP’s conversational proficiency is normally confused with their
academic language proficiency and, as a result, parents and teachers expect them
to cope with the educational demands. As all learners are unique, teachers are to
support every learner to cope as an individual without comparing him/her to other
learners.

The challenge is that ninety-nine per cent of the teaching staff cannot speak or
understand an indigenous language (see figure 4.2). They cannot explain the work
in the learners with LEP’s mother tongue if they do not understand what is taught in
English. Parents have requested the school to offer an indigenous language as one
of the LAs.

According to the headmaster, discussions and research are currently taking place on
how to introduce Pedi in the school. According to the pie chart, the L2 learners
comprise an average number of the school population, and their needs should be
taken into consideration.

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It is imperative that the school make sure that if the school decide to offer Pedi, it
should be taught according to the LOs and ASs of the level chosen: FAL or SAL,
unless it is offered as an extra mural activity. The implementation should not take
place for the sake of quietening the parents or pleasing them. Time allocations
should also be adhered to and receive respect like any other language. This might
be helpful to learners who would like to take Pedi at high school.

4.4 TEACHERS’ RESPONSES TO QUESTIONNAIRES AND INTERVIEWS

There are 38 teachers in the school. Twenty-four are English home language
speakers; 13 are English first additional language speakers, and one is a second
additional language speaker of English. Since this study is not only interested in the
performance of the learners in English only. The researcher has attached a table in
which the teachers’ profiles are captured. In this table there will be an indication of
the grades and LAs that a teacher is teaching, their home language, the years of
teaching experience, their race and gender.

Grade/s Learning areas Home Years Race Gender

taught language of
teachin
g
experie
nce
Grade 1 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills English 12 years White Female
Grade 1 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills English 20 years White Female
Grade 1 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills English 20 years White Female
Grade 1 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills English 7 years White Female
Grade 2 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills English 36 years Coloured Female
Grade 2 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills Afrikaans 9 years White Female
Grade 2 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills English 23 years White Female
Grade 2 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills English 15 years White Female
Grade 3 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills Afrikaans 36 years White Female
Grade 3 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills Afrikaans 37 years White Female
Grade 3 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills Afrikaans 28 years White Female
Grade 3 Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills English 16 years White Female
Grade 4 English and Life Orientation English 26 years White Female

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Grade 4 Technology and Social Sciences English 15 years Indian Female
Grade 4 Natural Sciences and Afrikaans Afrikaans 7 years White Female
Grade 4 Mathematics Afrikaans 28 years White Female
Grade 5 English English 25 years White Female
Grade 5- 6 Social Sciences Afrikaans 40 years White Male
Grade 5 Natural Sciences and Afrikaans Afrikaans 14 years White Female
Grade 5 Mathematics English 18 years White Female
Grade 6 English and Life Orientation English 1 year White Female
Grade 6 Mathematics English 9 years Indian Female
Grade 6 Economics and Management Afrikaans 2 years White Male
Sciences and Afrikaans
Grade 6- 7 Technology English 10 years White Female
Grade 7 English and Life Orientation English 24 years White Female
Grade 7 Social Sciences and Afrikaans Afrikaans 3 years White Female
Grade 6- 7 Natural Sciences English 22 years White Female
Grade 7 Mathematics English 16 years White Female
Grade 1- 7 Music Afrikaans 18 years White Female
Grade 1- 7 Art English 2 years White Female
Grade 1- 3 Junior computers English 2 years White Female
Grade 4- 7 Senior computers Afrikaans 24 years White Female
Grade 1- 7 Physical education: English 3 years White Male
Grade1-7 Sports coordinator English 12 years White Female
Grade1 -7 English adaptation: English 3 years White Female
Grade 4- 6 Economics and Management Sciences Afrikaans 17 years White Female
Grade 5 Technology Northern Sotho 19 years Black Female
Grade 5 Life Orientation and media centre Afrikaans 29 years White Female
and 1- 7
Figure 4.2 Teachers profile of the grades and learning areas taught, home languages
years of experience, race and gender.

The interviews were conducted after a questionnaire had been handed out. All the
staff members participated in the research by completing a questionnaire3. The
researcher analyzed the completed questionnaires and where there were concerns,
or the responses were not clear, the researcher followed up with an interview. Both
teachers of English and other LAs, such as Natural Science, Mathematics and

3
See Footnote 2.

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Technology, participated. The following paragraphs give a summary of the teachers’
responses.

The words ‘they” and “their” in the questions refer to the learners with LEP.

4.4.1 English language knowledge

The teachers responded that the learners need to be able read and write words,
sentences and paragraphs. They should be able to use the language appropriately in
different situations and know the language structure of the English language. The
learners with LEP battle to construct meaningful texts because of their LEP.

For the Mathematics, Economics and Management Sciences, Life Orientation,

Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Technology LAs, all the teachers indicated
that most of the aforementioned skills, including being able to use the specific
vocabulary or terminology for specific LAs - such as design, evaluate, ascending,
descending, chronological order, length, width and thickness, income, budget, profit,
tax, expense, friction, force and energy - are challenges to learners with LEP. Their
inability to interpret the questions and use such words correctly causes them to lose
marks.

The general feeling was that the learners with LEP differ in the way in which they
experience difficulties at different levels. They try to build simple words and
sentences in lower grades but find it hard to construct compound and complex
sentences.

As an example, The cat sat on the mat will be easier to write than, The learners who
are participating in the speech festival must practise. This will assist them to be more
fluent and audible. Judges expect the speaker to show some facial expressions and
the tone of voice is important.

The school sent the teachers who teach English as a subject to attend the Teaching
Handwriting Reading and Spelling Skills (THRASS) Course where they were taught
a different method to teach sounds and vocabulary. Vocabulary is taught by using
77
dictionaries. Learners are also taught how to divide words into syllables, and
sentences into words. Spelling tests are written every week, and learners are tested
on Fridays for spelling and vocabulary. Quizzes are also set to increase the learners’
knowledge and vocabulary. These are some of the attempts that teachers make to
help the learners, yet they struggle very much with building words and constructing
sentences.

The learners with LEP do not always pronounce words correctly, but they do
respond well to corrections by the teachers or their L1 peers. The teachers use the
common mistakes made by learners as examples of how to pronounce words
correctly. Some examples are as follows: bad, bed, and bird. Learners often do not
place the stress on the correct syllable of a word. They confuse vowel sounds such
as a, e and ir. The learners with LEP end up guessing where the stress should fall
and then read the words incorrectly.

The teachers indicated that the learners with LEP’s vocabulary ranges from non-
existing to average and some improve as they are in the school where they receive
support. The newly admitted learners with LEP are the ones who battle, some with
no vocabulary at all. A good example is that of a new learner in Grade 5, taught in
Xhosa, and having English taught as a subject, who struggles to spell words used
every day. A few of his efforts follow:

 corrections > coretins,

 important > impotat,
 quickly > qwikli,
 quiet > qwayt,
 principal > principle and
 children > chirin.

The learners with LEP do not know the relationship between words, such as the
agreement between nouns and pronouns, and the subject concord. Examples are as
follows:

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  Lindiwe is doing her homework.
 Sipho is kicking his ball.
 All learners are expected to do their best.

The learners with LEP should be encouraged to use English continuously in class,
with their peers, and at home when doing homework.

The teachers commented that the learners with LEP often do not know the difference
between proper and common nouns, and cannot identify prepositions, verbs or
adjectives. A Grade 7 teacher indicated that little understanding of content is
demonstrated because the learners with LEP can briefly tell a story in their own
words but find it difficult to interpret and answer questions correctly.

The use of tenses and punctuation are often problems, for example: We written a
exam at the end of the term > We wrote an exam at the end of the term. They
sometimes focus on an important word and disregard the other words in a sentence,
and this influences their understanding of the questions. An excellent example is the
following written instruction:

Write the baking steps that you follow when you bake biscuits. The learners with LEP
tend to read only the first part of the question, namely, Write the baking steps, but
then ignore the rest of the question, which normally determines the essence of
meaning of the first section of the question, namely, when you bake biscuits.

The question above can be altered in many ways by changing only the last part of
the question, such as Write the baking steps that you follow when you bake biscuits /
a cake / muffins / bread.

4.4.2 The performance and abilities in learning activities

The teachers indicated that texts depend on different LAs. In Mathematics, for
example, learners can write a number, a word or a full sentence to answer a
question, in Technology they can rewrite the research design in their own words, and
in Natural Science how digestion takes place. In English, the learners with LEP
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should be able to write 250 to 350 words in essays, letters, creative paragraphs,
diary entries, recipes, advertisements, stories and book reports.

Teachers reported that the learners with LEP partially understand the work taught
once concepts have been thoroughly explained. Questions are predominantly at
content level. Learners participate more during discussions and try to answer verbal
questions correctly when compared to how they answer in writing.

They demonstrate a better understanding when the teacher or their peers lead them
by follow-up questions. Occasionally, learners are required to analyze the meaning
of texts and are given higher order questions, such as Analyze Trevor’s situation and
suggest three ways in which he can solve his problem. They struggle to write with
coherence and cohesion, and then perform poorly.

According to their teachers, the quality of the learners’ written answers is often poor.
They are careless, use poor sentence constructions, incorrect spelling, write
incomplete sentences and use no punctuation. The teachers check on every aspect
of their texts, and these errors show their work to be incomplete and untidy.

During computer projects -- owing to their lack of understanding and frustration --

some learners simply cut and paste texts to which they are referred by their
teachers. They lack the skills to interpret the information to which they are referred. If
they cannot find an answer, the learners with LEP would just leave blank spaces
without making any further attempts to complete the task.

Teachers reported that the learners with LEP mainly score one (1)and two (2)
according to the national assessment codes, which means that they (1) do not
satisfy the requirements of the learning outcomes for the grade at all, or (2) that they
only partly satisfy the requirements for the learning outcomes for the grade. The
learners with LEP generally perform at a lower level in assessments, probably owing
to the poor quality of their written work and their inability to interpret the questions
correctly.

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Some learners with LEP who perform poorly in languages do well when they work
with numbers. As soon as language contains numbers, the learners become
confused because they do not understand what they are reading. Word problems,
comprehension tests and creative writing activities are all challenges for the learners
with LEP.

Some teachers feel that the standard of English in the school is dropping because
the learners with LEP’s teachers present the work at an easier level to cater for
those who lack the ability to study, understand and interpret questions correctly. In
many cases, there is limited or no parental support or guidance for these learners
with LEP. Their limited vocabulary hinders their progress; they fail the tests and
exams; and their true abilities are not reflected.

Teachers replied that the foundation for learning requires much reading and
listening, followed by group discussions conducted in the classes. Learners have to
discuss the topics that they are given. When given a text to discuss, they struggle to
select the important information and end up reading word for word and not
discussing the topic. They occasionally mispronounce the words and do not fully
comprehend the text.

According to teachers, the learners with LEP try hard to describe situations clearly,
but their descriptions are full of gaps, and the sequence of events is often incorrect.
The teachers guide them to follow the correct order to make sure that what they say
makes sense. The learner with LEP’s ability to communicate verbally is usually
better than their ability to communicate in writing. They often lack the vocabulary to
substantiate what they are saying, and choose to remain silent rather than
embarrass themselves in front of their L1 peers by risking an answer.

According to the teachers, this aspect is a huge problem. Some learners are eager
to take part in class activities but cannot find the right words to use. They therefore
end up using words that they hear in the media, which sometimes have inappropriate
meanings in English. Examples of these are as follows:

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  girl > cherry,
 boy > laity,
 Father > Timer,
 friend > chummy and
 Mother > Ou Lady.

They are often misunderstood by their L1 peers and sometimes get into trouble. The
learners with LEP sit back and only try to explain or argue a point when it affects
them personally, for example if a learner has to defend himself after being accused
of playing on the jungle gym without supervision. In his defence, the learner with LEP
will try to use all the words he knows to explain the situation.

The teachers stated that the learners with LEP normally find it difficult to criticize or
to argue matters. They are able to find faults in texts and in problem situations, but
find it difficult to offer solutions to these. The learners with LEP often prefer to agree
with situations at hand to avoid arguing or giving more information. They cope well
with the concept of identifying right and wrong behaviour. However, they struggle to
explain why an action is wrong and to offer suggestions on how to correct the wrong
situation.

The teachers indicated that the learners are expected to participate in different class
discussions during prepared and unprepared speeches. They prefer to take part in
smaller groups rather than to present speeches in front of their peers. Some are shy
but learn how to do it. Often, they are the last ones to present a speech if the teacher
has not used the class list to call them. Their participation also depends on the
relevance of the topic of discussion to the learners with LEP, as well as their
knowledge.

The teachers continuously guide and support learners to participate in discussions.

The level of the learners’ confidence plays a major role in this regard as the learners
with LEP have to be encouraged to keep on trying even if their responses are often
not correct. The L1 peers are encouraged to help the learners with LEP with spelling,
pronunciation in English.

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Learners are mixed in discussion groups to help them to contribute to the
discussions and present their findings without feeling threatened by the topics and
class audience. Teachers let them view one another’s work so that they can learn
from one another. Some learners with LEP consult with their teachers afterwards to
check if they had understood the concepts or topics that they were taught or to ask
for explanations regarding the work.

The teachers reported that the learners with LEP use their mother tongues when
they are alone with their L2 peers in their own social settings. Their L1 peers report
incidences during which the L2 learners gossip or swear in their HLs, so the L2
learners land in trouble for so doing.

Other learners who understand the indigenous languages further reported cases to
the teachers during which the L2 learners actually used foul words in their HL. This is
one of the reasons why the teachers do not always trust that the L2 learners speak
properly and decently in their HLs as they do not understand what they are saying.

4.4.3 The challenges faced by learners with LEP

The learners with LEP do not work fast enough and, as a result, their work is often
marked as incomplete or marks are deducted. They lack comprehension of the
material and give incorrect answers. The learners with LEP experience difficulty in
expressing themselves in written and oral tasks. These tasks are challenges.

A lack of vocabulary forces them to produce work of poor quality as they cannot do
as well as their L1 peers who know English vocabulary do. They do not understand
idioms, proverbs and expressions, such as, for example: Jump the gun (idiom); or All
work and no play make Jack a dull boy (proverb).

Teachers responded that the following may be reasons for the LEP of the learners:

 A lack of exposure to English and parental support. They hear English

only at school, not at home.

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  A lack of the practical use of language.
 A poor work ethic; homework is often not done.
 Poor examples of language usage.
 They do not read or listen to stories enough.
 They do not have a habit of self-correction.

4.4.4 The factors that affect second language learning

According to the teachers, motivation has an enormously positive effect on the

progress of the learners with LEP. Interesting content or texts can be used to teach
English. The teachers should set an example by sharing their love for the language
with the learners by reading, speaking and writing English in an appropriate way.
Positive comments and encouragement are vital for the learners’ progression.
Interestingly, L1 learners also need motivation to carry on working hard.

The learners with LEP’s exposure to English need to be unlimited. It should happen
at school in the classroom, with their peers on the playground, and at home with their
families. English newspapers, magazines, television and radio programmes can be
useful in this regard. Extra-mural activities such as reading competitions, speech
festivals, debates, and computer and drama classes in English should be promoted
to expose the learners with LEP more to English.

The teachers reported that the learners seem to prefer oral activities (discussions) to
written activities (tests and exams). The learners prefer to memorize the information
after the concepts had been introduced. Some learners prefer to simply listen to
what other learners or the teacher is saying. This makes it difficult to judge whether
they understand the discussion or not.

The L2 learners who start Grade1 in the school and have done grade R in an
English-medium pre-school do not normally have serious problems with their studies.
There are gaps in their learning, but the teachers manage to support these learners.
However, there are learners in the same (Grade 1) classes who had not been in
English-medium pre-schools.

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These learners are exposed to English only via the television or radio programmes
and when their parents speak to English-speaking people. They find being taught in
English most challenging. The younger the learners with LEP (in the Foundation
Phase), the better, because they have a chance to still learn sounds, while the
learners with LEP in the higher grades are faced with more formal and challenging
tasks, such as writing a report or a diary entry.

There is a link between intelligence and second language learning, for example:
performance on reading, dictation and writing activities. There are L2 learners that
are high achievers and that are performing at the same top level as their L1 peers.
English as second language and LoLT seem not to be a challenge to them.L1
learners were reported to normally cope easily with the English language, have a
better work ethic, and learn at a faster rate as a result of the pre-knowledge that they
bring from home.

Some educators highlighted that the latter statement may not be completely true or
valid as some learners with LEP might know the answers in their HLs (indigenous
languages) but do not know the English words and vocabulary to express their
thoughts. The number of LAs in the school is more than eight and all are taught in
English. The learners with LEP therefore struggle more, especially if they had not sat
for the Foundation Phase classes in the school.

The teachers stated that learners with positive attitudes achieve positive outcomes
academically. They usually display an enquiring mind and are eager to explore new
things. They are not shy to make mistakes whilst learning. They have more
confidence than those with negative attitudes. These learners display opposite
tendencies than those of the learners with positive attitudes. They do not attempt to
investigate a matter or ask if they do not understand a concept. They usually sit back
and wait for others to participate. They sometimes, owing to their lack of English
proficiency, withdraw from discussions even if they do know the correct answers.

According to the teachers, the learners with LEP with positive attitudes perceive
learning English as an opportunity to develop their skills and cope with their learning,
whilst the learners with LEP with negative attitudes perceive learning English as
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punishment and a burden, especially when they have written assignments. These
attitudes hinder their progress.

Other teachers commented that it is necessary for educators to remember that these
learners with LEP are in need of help and encouragement on what constitutes a
good attitude. It is possible that the way in which they are treated as individuals with
language barriers and how they are supported in this regard, could be beneficial.
The learners with LEP are aware that they are not coping and do not need to be
continuously reminded each time they make a mistake.

4.4.5 Strategies used

The teachers reported that the learners with LEP prefer to start by with oral tasks
before they have to do written work. One of the HODs commented that they try to let
learners use their senses by listening, observing, and making drawings before
writing. The problems often arise when teachers are requested by the District Office
to provide evidence of tasks completed. Practical tasks take more time to do but give
the teacher an opportunity to assess and support the learner.

There is not always enough time to try the teaching tricks that might help. The
learners with LEP are therefore, encouraged to ignore what their peers may think of
them. The teachers encourage them to attempt to do the tasks and to ask for help
when they have problems. Extra support and remedial classes are offered by the
school to revise the basic concepts that are taught.

4.4.6 Assessment

Formal and informal tasks are used to assess the learners in the form of tests,
exams, class work, projects, assignments, research, interviews, and the like.
Teacher-, peer- and self-assessment is used. Each learner receives a rubric with all
the expectations so that they know what is expected of them in various activities.
Marks are recorded in mark books to track progress and barriers. The teachers
complete the GDE support forms, and inform the parents during meetings with them
about learning problems and areas that have improved.
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During these meetings, intervention strategies are discussed. At the end of every
term, parents receive reports on their children’s progress or lack thereof. At the end
of the year, they receive summative reports from the school. However, in the case of
learners with LEP who experience severe learning barriers, the teachers forward
their names to the District Office during the third term of each year as possible
retainees.

The District Assessment facilitators discuss these cases with the teachers and take
a decision on which learners on the list could be retained at the end of the year if
there had not been satisfactory progress or improvement in the fourth term, or who
to send on to the next grade, with additional support, if there had been some
improvement.

4.5 Summary of the teachers’ responses

The teachers indicated that the learners with LEP experience problems in their
learning because English is used as the LOLT. The learners with LEP lack
competence in grammatical aspects of the language, they confuse words, or use the
wrong spelling. Owing to the incorrect spelling, their work is incorrect, but the answer
to the question remains correct, for example: He is iting brakefas > He is eating
breakfast. The learners with LEP lose marks owing to numerous grammatical errors
in their work. They sometimes end up discussing issues that do not apply to the
question.

The learners with LEP struggle to write meaningful texts as a result of being unable
to put sentences together in the right way. As mentioned and demonstrated in
Chapter 1, they lack textual competence. The following example was used in that
chapter, but could once more serve as an illustration. The learners with LEP struggle
to put at least four given sentences, as these below -- into the correct chronological
sequence:

1. He brushed his teeth.

2. He is on his way to school.
3. He eats his breakfast.
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 4. Johnny woke up.

The learners with LEP cannot follow the rules of constructing texts, such as, for
example, the correct format of a business letter, or others in the same category.
Often the address; salutation; or greeting is left unwritten. Using the English
language for functional purposes is a further challenge to these learners. They
struggle to use the English language to ask questions in class.

The natural process of learning a language usually happens automatically and

learners acquire the socio-cultural rules of using language and discourse. Using the
language appropriately in different social settings, however, is a challenge for the
learners with LEP. They come to school with a different background and culture than
those of their peers. The learners with LEP come from homes where English is not
often used by their parents when discussing topics.

Their L1 peers attend school to extend and formalize what they have learnt at home.
The learners with LEP further face the challenge of behaving in the appropriate way
according to Western culture. Their actions that are appropriate in their indigenous
cultures are often mistaken by their teachers and L1 peers for rudeness, or for being
inappropriate in English, as is demonstrated below:

 Zulu: Children need to speak softly when talking to an adult (teacher).

 English: The learners with LEP lose marks if they are not audible during
their presentations.
 Zulu: One cannot look an adult (teacher) directly in the eyes.
 English: The learners with LEP lose marks if they do not keep eye contact
with the teacher or the audience.

The learners with LEP’s lack of English proficiency affects their general self-esteem
because they struggle in all the other LAs, and their lack of competence is related to
their lack of proficiency in English. Teachers need to assist and motivate the learners
with LEP to approach their learning with a positive attitude until they gain confidence
and overcome the feeling of self-doubt and anxiety when faced with class tasks.

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Teachers need to plan their lessons in special ways so that they cater for the needs
of the L2 learners. Planning and preparing for different lessons is time consuming for
teachers but beneficial to the L2 learners especially the learners with LEP. New
words can be introduced through story-telling.

When the learners with LEP listen to the teacher pronouncing the words correctly,
they could memorize the words and read the story afterwards. This is sometimes
difficult to do owing to the size and composition of the class. Further, the L1 learners
could become bored since they already know the words that the teacher is
explaining to the learners with LEP.

The learners need to see the teacher as one of them and not as an authoritarian
person who is waiting to pick on their mistakes -- that causes anxiety. The learners
with LEP could be given a chance to express themselves in their HLs, but
unfortunately the teachers do not understand the indigenous languages, so they
cannot give translations to the learners (Community Language Teaching). This
means that the supportive community that is formed by the individual learner, the
peers and the teacher is not effective.

The learners with LEP’s grammatical and textual competence can be developed if
the teacher guides the learners and does not control the lesson to promote a
communicative atmosphere in the group. Learners can use learning different media
to solve problems presented by their teachers. In such instances the teachers should
follow the “Silent Way” and merely guide them, not give them all the answers.

The challenge is that, for learners to succeed, parents believe that the teachers
should stand in front of the class teaching. Leaving the learners with LEP to mostly
communicate with one another could be interpreted that these learners are being
ignored by their teachers because they do not understand English and are not
coping with it as the LOLT.

Teachers need support by means of intervention from the Department of Education,

and meetings with parents and support educators to be able to help the learners with
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LEP. Parents and teachers must communicate more often to bridge the gap in the
learners with LEP’s learning. The challenge is that sometimes the parents do not
agree with the teachers’ findings in the classroom. The child whom the parents have
at home is often not the child whom the teacher sees in the classroom, perhaps
because the parents can explain certain concepts in their HL when their children do
not understand the English ones.

For the purpose of this study, most of the illustrations of grasping concepts are taken
from the language classroom. It has been proven by Clark(1996:4) that the lack of
language knowledge affects learning in general as learning is done through
language. The learners with LEP perform badly in other learning areas as well.

They struggle to read and interpret word sums in Mathematics, they cannot
comprehend and interpret what the questions are asking for in Social Sciences,
Afrikaans and Natural Sciences. They struggle to write paragraphs about personal
feelings and experiences in Life Orientation. It is impossible for them to write a
design brief for a problem statement in Technology or to follow specifications to
design items. The learners with LEP achieve between 0 and 39% in most LAs and
do not qualify to progress to the next grades. Learners cannot be retained based on
their English performance only. Evidence is needed to proof that they are weak in all
or most LA’s to be retained.

4.6 PARENTS’ RESPONSES TO QUESTIONNAIRES AND INTERVIEWS

All the parents completed the questionnaires (see Appendix 12: Parents’
Questionnaire) and returned them to the researcher. They were individually invited
by the grade teachers to discuss their children’s difficulties in learning. The progress
meetings (as they are called by teachers) took place in the classes in the afternoon
after the learners had gone home. The interviews took place between the teachers,
the individual parents and learners where necessary. The parents were interviewed
by both the teachers and the researcher (as the researcher is the member of the
support committee).

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It was noted that the parents were already aware of their children’s problems and
had been informed about the barriers to learning on an on-going basis by the
teachers via letters, messages in diaries, telephone calls, reports, and progress
meetings.

It appeared as if all parents were committed to helping their children to overcome

the language problem. The parents had made other arrangements for their children
to get extra support in English from private groups, such as the Tina Cowley Reading
Centre4, and Kumon5.

During the individual meetings (interview) with the parents on the progress of their
children, some points of concern were raised. Some of the parents are mere
guardians who do not have much knowledge about helping with school work. Others
work till late and their children are then left till late at school.

This is unfortunate because by the time the parents are available to help their
children with school work or revision, the children are tired and want to sleep. The
issue of travelling a long distance to school was discussed as the learners from
Atteridgeville, Mamelodi and Soshanguve always look tired because they leave
home early.

The amount of work given as homework and preparation for speeches and tests are
sometimes challenges for learners who must cope with the language and the
content. It takes a long time to get a learner with LEP ready for such activities. Extra
lessons offered at school, such as remedial classes and adaptation classes in
English are valued by parents, who would like to get continuous feedback from the
teachers.

It was reported that some learners do not attend the extra classes. They rather play
with friends whilst their parents are under the impression that they are receiving
4
The Tina Cowley Reading Centre support learners with reading problems, learning problems, dyslexia, brain
training, and learning disorder.
5
Kumon is a Mathematics and English programme that helps to motivate learners to achieve more and to
reach their true potential.

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extra lessons. Parents highlighted the fact that they do not have enough resources to
help their children to do the work, such as Internet access, magazines, and relevant
textbooks.

Most of the parents mentioned that they prefer that their children remain in the
school and keep trying to master the work. They were happy that their children are
taught in English, which they regard as an international language. They would further
like them to know and understand their HLs, as well. It is unfortunate that some
parents withdraw their children from the school for different reasons, such as that
teachers pick on their children all the time due to lack of progress, they are bullied, or
they want to send them to boarding schools to be more independent, and send them
to other schools instead of addressing the learning problems.

Parents commented about the negative effect of the lack of English proficiency on
other LAs. Their children’s marks go down because they do not always understand
or manage to interpret the questions. When tests or formal assessment papers are
written, the questions are not usually read or interpreted by the teachers. Parents
perceive this as a barrier to learners with LEP.

The teachers could support the learners with LEP by reading through the question
paper at least once before they start writing so that they can hear the questions and
may then understand it better when they read it for the second time. That would
cater for the learners’ different learning styles. During comprehension-test exercises,
there are learners with LEP who actually do not even read the questions carefully
because they are so anxious and all that they worry about is finding the answers
from the passage.

Parents see the reading, spelling and writing homework as an opportunity to learn
English, but as a barrier when there are other projects, tasks and research that their
children must also do for other LAs. They frowned upon the fact that their children
get discipline slips for English homework that is not done. Parents feel that the
teachers can at least find out why the homework had not been done. Sometimes it is
because the parents lack an understanding of tasks, the time allocated to complete
the task is not enough or they do not have the resources to support their children.
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Parents mentioned that a further contributing factor is that the teachers move very
fast with the teaching of concepts, and their learners with LEP move on without
understanding the previous concepts that had been taught. They suggested that it
would be better if the tasks are typed out, the learners paste them in their diaries and
least two to three days be allocated to collect the information and complete the task.

4.6.1 Summary of the interview with the parents

The learners with LEP’s parents register them at school to get formal teaching. They
register them knowing that the language of learning and teaching is English and that
English is not their home language. The learners with LEP come to school knowing
their HL, which is an indigenous language that they have acquired automatically at
home.

The parents of learners with LEP see English which is used at school as the
language of learning and teaching being a challenge. Irrespective of the latter
feeling, the parents register their children because they want to give them a better
quality education. English is therefore a first, second or third additional language to
the learners with LEP who come to school with little or no English as compared to
their L1 peers.

Most learners with LEP have been exposed to English in grade1 and they have done
their preschool in township preschools. The learners with LEP attend school with
little ability to communicate in English with their peers outside the classroom and no
ability to communicate in class.

The learners with LEP attempt to have conversations during this kind of
communication because they use simple, high-frequency words. This is referred to
as Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills in Chapter 2. Basic Interpersonal
Communicative Skills do not enable the learners with LEP to cope with the demands
made in the classroom, for example writing paragraphs, presenting speeches,
discussing topics, and the like.

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The Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency is however required for higher-order
thinking skills. The learners with LEP often fail their assignments, tests, exams and
written assessments because of an insufficient background in English. The Cognitive
Academic Language Proficiency includes low-frequency academic words, and they
are expected to write sentences and texts. Knowing a language does not mean that
one has to know its grammar only.

The learners with LEP are expected to practise the concepts with which they
struggle as homework. This is not always possible as their parents either have
limited English proficiency, or do not understand the work themselves. The teaching
and learning material -- magazines, dictionaries, pictures and storybooks -- can be
used to help explain concepts. Some learners learn easily when they see objects.
Functional competence is a challenge. When a learner is expected to prepare a
speech, the parents will need to help the child to pronounce the words correctly and
keep the order of events correct.

During assessment, the teacher actually expects more than just the correct
pronunciation and order of events to give a learner a reasonable mark. Marks are
allocated for aspects such as facial expression, tone of voice; gestures, eye contact,
and the like. The learners with LEP who for instance: speaks Zulu as a home
language, can easily lose marks in this type of assessment. S/he will not keep eye
contact with the teacher as that is disrespectful in his/her culture.

The learner with LEP will also focus on presenting the speech by using the
expected, correct English vocabulary and pronunciation, and forget about facial
expressions and gestures. In this way, they score lower marks when compared to
their L1 peers who already have the vocabulary from their home background and
only prepare their expressions, tone and gestures but do not struggle with
pronunciation. Teachers and parents need to work together to motivate the learners
with LEP to persevere and work hard.

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4.7 LEARNERS’ RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND INTERVIEW

The selected learners completed a questionnaire and a general interview was

conducted afterwards. Twelve learners answered the questions in the questionnaire
by marking their choices with a cross, and participated in the interview that was
conducted in the afternoon after school in the Technology Centre.

Learners in the Foundation Phase were guided to complete the form whilst learners
in the Intermediate and Senior Phase managed to do so individually. Figure 4.2
below indicates their responses to each question.

  
Questions Happy Middle Unhappy
1. Learning in English is exciting. 7 3 2
2. I am proud of my English work. 4 1 8
3. I take part in class discussions. 0 4 8
4. I am not shy of standing in front of the class to
do a presentation. 5 5 2
5. How do you feel about these types of
homework:
a. Learning words for spelling 11 1 0
b. Reading 7 1 4
c. Preparing speeches 4 6 2
d. Writing paragraphs 4 3 5
e. Thinking and reasoning activities 3 5 4
6. I have the following people who help me:
a. My parents 12 0 0
b. My tutor 2 1 9
c. My teachers 10 1 1
d. My friends 4 5 3
7. I visit the media centre after school hours. 4 3 5
8. I have magazines, textbooks and educational
games at home. 9 2 1
9. I enjoy giving a speech in class. 7 5 0
10. I enjoy listening to my classmates talking. 8 4 0

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 11. How do you feel about expectations from the
following people?
a. Teachers 3 6 3

b. Parents 8 4 0
c. Friends and peers 2 3 7

Figure 4.3 Learners’ responses to the questionnaires and interviews

More than nine learners with LEP found learning in English exciting. During the
interview, they indicated that it was a good opportunity that their parents had given
them. They also felt that it would be easy for them to face the outside world if they
knew and understood English. Some three of 12 learners with LEP felt that they did
not enjoy being taught in English because it was difficult to understand and answer
questions correctly, but they understood that it is a good opportunity that their
parents were giving them.

Four of the 12 learners with LEP were happy about the quality of their work and
marks. The learners with LEP tried hard to do what they were requested by their
teachers. One of 12 learners indicated that it was disappointing to give his/her best
in an activity and to then obtain 1 as a mark= (1 = has not satisfied the
requirements) whilst his classmates obtained 4s and were smiling.

The other children responded that they were proud of their work even if they did get
low marks because that was the best they could do. The other (seven of 12) learners
with LEP said that they were not proud of their work but that they were trying hard.
They said that they did not always understand what was required of them. They
sometimes felt that they did well in a test but when the scripts were returned, they
were always disappointed.

Most (eight of 12) of the learners with LEP did not always take part in class
discussion. Their reason was that if they did understand the task or question, they
did take part, but if they did not understand, they waited for their L1 peers to lead the
discussion and then followed. Four of 12 learners with LEP replied that it depended
on whether they had knowledge of the topic or not. If they had been exposed to
96
situations related to the topic, they actively joined and contributed. Standing in front
of the class was not easy as they were not always sure that what they had to say
would be correct.

When their L1 peers laughed at them, they told them that English was not their
mother tongue and they were at school to learn it. The learners with LEP also
reported that there were L1 peers who were kind and offered to help when
necessary. They further said that their peers did not openly laugh at them as their
teachers always expected the audience to respect the speakers.

Two of 12 learners with LEP did not like to stand in front of the class to do a
presentation. Five of 12 said that they were shy. Five of 12 said that they liked it and
did well when expected to do so. The challenge was that they did not score good
marks as their L1 peers did. The learners with LEP perceived doing presentations as
an easy way to collect marks and found it actually easier than writing tasks.

Most learners with LEP (11 of 12) stated that they enjoyed learning words for
spelling because they had enough time to learn them. They achieved good marks
when they wrote spelling tests. Another learner with LEP (one of 12) found it very
hard and did not like spelling tests because even if he tried, the teacher dictated the
words too fast and he ended up mixing the words. The problem was further that he
was marked wrong even if he wrote the correct spelling of a word in the wrong place.

More learners with LEP (seven of 12) liked reading because they did it daily and their
teachers helped them. One of 12 learners with LEP indicated that it was good
because they learnt how to read questions in other subjects, as well. Some learners
with LEP (four out of 12) did not like reading tasks because they sometimes read
without understanding and failed to answer the comprehension-test questions.

Some learners with LEP (four of 12) enjoyed preparing speeches because they were
given time to prepare, and their parents could help them. Six of 12 Learners with
LEP were not sure whether they liked it as sometimes they prepared their speeches
and the teachers found them too short or irrelevant. Sometimes the teachers asked
them which mark they thought they deserved for their speech, which they found
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embarrassing. Two of 12 learners with LEP did not like preparing speeches because
their parents did not know how to help them with the work.

Five of 12 Learners with LEP did not like writing paragraphs because they struggled
with the spelling and sentence construction. They sometimes knew and understood
the tasks, but their grammatical incompetence made it hard to construct sentences
correctly, which brings down their marks. They apparently struggled to write down
their ideas in the correct way.

Four of 12 learners with LEP saw writing paragraphs as an opportunity to develop

their writing skills. They first made sure that they understood what they are expected
to do before starting to write. It was not easy as the teachers did not always have
time to re-explain tasks to them. Three of 12 learners with LEP were not sure if they
would do well in the upcoming exams as they struggled with paragraph questions.

Five of 12 Learners with LEP were not sure whether they liked thinking and
reasoning tasks because it depended on whether the topic was easy or complicated.
Four responded that they did not like this kind of activity because they did not always
know how to put their facts it they would satisfy or be acceptable to the teacher.
Three learners with LEP liked such activities because it offered an opportunity to
give their opinions. There was no right or incorrect answer, as long as one could
support his/her statement.

All the L2 learners stated that their parents helped them with their studies.

Nine of 12 learners with LEP did not have tutors to help them with their homework
and projects in the afternoons. Two did have tutors whom they loved because they
were university students, had good ideas for projects, helped them do the work,
simplified the work, and explained activities to them. One learner with LEP was not
sure whether her learning problems would improve if she were to find a tutor as her
mother was capable of helping her, yet she did not achieve good results.

Most of the learners with LEP responded that their teachers were of great help to
them and guided them when they asked for help. They further indicated that when
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their teacher explained or asked who did not understand the work, they sat quietly
and pretended that they understood even though they did not because they were too
shy or did not like to be seen as stupid or wasting time.

One learner with LEP was not sure whether his teacher was always helpful, as the
teacher would sometimes explain the concepts, and at other times s/he would tell
him that he should listen carefully when she explained. The other learner felt that the
children laughed at him when he asked questions all the time and thought that he did
not qualify to be in that grade. He thought that they perceived him to be stupid, but
he simply did not understand all the questions.

Five of 12 learners with LEP indicated that they were not sure whether their L1 peers
really wanted to help them because they helped them when they were in class but
teased them about it later on. Four responded that their friends were helping them,
even in the absence of the teachers. Three did not like the help of their peers
because they later expected favours from them or made fun of them.

Five learners did not visit the media centre after school hours because they were
rushing for transport. Four did visit the media centre when they had projects but did
not go for fun reading. Three learners responded that they were not sure because
they had other extra-murals to attend and did not attend because they did not want
to do so.

Nine responded that they had resources at home but they sometimes struggled to
use them correctly. Learners claimed that sometimes their parents worked until late
and hoped that when they had the resources prescribed for the homework, they
would manage to do the work correctly themselves.

Two learners stated that it would be helpful for them to have someone to guide and
assure them that they were on the right track when they used their resources for
their homework. One learner with LEP felt disappointed to sit for hours doing their
homework, only to find the next day that they had not answered the questions
correctly.

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Most learners with LEP (seven of 12) enjoyed giving a speech in class. They found it
easy because the teachers told them exactly what should be covered in their speech
(rubric), and they were given enough time to prepare themselves. Five were neutral -
- they did not like giving a speech, especially if they were chosen to start because
they did not get a chance to compare what they had prepared with that which their
L1 peers were going to say.

The learners with LEP did not mind because it was an opportunity to grow and
develop. They only wanted to avoid embarrassment. The general consensus was
that one would not ever know whether one understood the work unless one tried to
do so. Learners stated that it caused them stress to carefully choose what they were
saying and make sure that they pronounced the words correctly at the same time. It
made them feel nervous and sometimes they simply forgot some of the information
that they had prepared and froze in front of their classmates.

Eight learners with LEP enjoyed listening to their peers talking because they learnt
from them and felt motivated that they could also speak well. Four of the learners
with LEP did not mind listening to their L1 peers but felt nervous afterwards when
they were expected to present a speech, as well.

Three learners with LEP said that the expectations from their teachers were
reasonable and that they understood that teachers wanted the best for them. Six
learners feel that it was fine that teachers had high expectations of them but also felt
that their teachers should understand them and their backgrounds as they
sometimes felt that they were drowning in deep waters of expectations as they were
taught by more than eight teachers in the Intermediate and Senior Phases.

The learners with LEP said that they then chose to absent themselves from school,
and later claimed that they had been ill. The learners with LEP absented themselves
to take a break from school to alleviate the pressure, but this did not help either as all
the teachers expected them to catch up the work they had missed during their
absence as soon as they were back at school.

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Eight stated that they were happy about their parents’ expectations because they
wanted the best for them and encouraged them to work harder. Other learners
mentioned that their parents always feared that, should they fail a grade, they would
have to pay the school fees for two years for one grade.

Four stated that their parents are worried about their lack of progress and sometimes
blamed them for not working hard at school because they seemed to understand the
work when their parents helped them with their homework, but they fared poorly in
their class assessments.

Seven of the learners with LEP complained that the expectations of their L1 peers
were very high, especially when they were doing group work. The L1 learners
sometimes expected miracles from them, and did not always at least appreciate
what they had collected for a task. The learners with LEP wished that their L1 peers
would at least understand their LEP problem and be careful with their comments.

4.7.1 The learners and the language

1. My favourite TV channel is _____________________________.

The learners watched different programmes on different television channels. Most

learners chose cartoons, robots and sport on English-medium channels as their
favourite programmes. One learner with LEP indicated that she watched an
educational programme -- Thabang Thabong -- on SABC 2. She said that her
parents had told her that it would help her with her schoolwork.

2. I speak in _______________________ [language] to my parents.

Learners speak their mother tongue to their parents because they know and
understand it very well. They added that sometimes they did try to communicate in
English at home because their teachers had advised their parents to help them
practise it in the hope that it would improve their confidence in English and speaking
the language.

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3. I speak in _________________________ [language] to my friends.

Learners speak English to their friends because English is recognized as being cool;
and makes one feel part of the group; and one feels confident. They added that their
L1 peers felt intimidated when they (the L2 learners) spoke their mother tongues,
and reported them for swearing or gossiping in their HL even if they had not been
doing it.

The L2 learners felt that their L1 peers should understand their HL as that was one
of the ways that would help them to connect as learners. They suggested that
teachers should discuss the language issue in class and guide all learners about
language issues during assemblies. They also said that there were indigenous
games that they would like to play but they were not allowed to do so as their L1
peers felt ignored and that was against the school rules.

4. I speak in _____________________ when I answer the telephone.

Most learners use English when they answer the phone at home. Eight learners with
LEP indicated that their parents always insisted on their answering the phone in their
mother tongue, as it might be their rural relatives or their grandparents calling, and
they might not understand English or feel that they had lost their language and
culture. They further explained that the above happens because some words that
are polite in English may sound impolite in Zulu, Xhosa or Sotho. Examples are as
follows:
 Hallo, Grandfather > Sawubona, mkhulu; or
 No, Grandpa > Cha, akunjalo mkhulu.

5. I wish that my teachers could understand the ______________ language.

All learners wished that their teachers could understand their mother tongues so that
they could help them when they struggled in English. The researcher asked them
whether they thought that it would be possible for the teachers to understand all the

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languages that they were speaking. The response was that they should at least
understand a few indigenous languages.

6. I feel motivated when _______________________________________ .

Some learners felt happy when they achieved good marks for assessment tasks,
and the teachers praised them. Other said that they did well in sporting activities and
that it made them happy about themselves because there was something that they
could do better than some of their L1 peers. One learner indicated that she liked it
when her classmates corrected her mistakes because she was learning from them.

7. I feel discouraged when _________________________________ .

Most learners feel discouraged when their peers make jokes about their mistakes
and laugh at them because of their inability to cope in class. They indicated that they
felt embarrassed to read out their low marks, but that some teachers were kind and
allowed them to come to the teacher’s table if they did not want to read out their
marks. Some teachers simply read out the names and marks to the entire class. The
learners with LEP think that the teachers are trying to motivate them to get a better
mark but it actually breaks their spirits to persevere and keep on trying so hard.

8. I wish to let you know that _______________________________.

Learners wished to achieve excellent result as their parents were paying a lot of
money for them to be in such a good school. They wanted to make them proud, and
get awards at the end of the year like their L1 peers do. The learners with LEP
further mentioned that they did not choose to struggle in English.

Every time that they try to explain that English is not their mother tongue, they are
referred to their other, fellow black South African learners in the school who do not
have a sufficient English background but are coping in English, maybe because they
had early exposure to English.

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These learners would like to have free English remedial and adaptation classes. The
researcher reminded them that there were language classes in the afternoons, and
the teachers reported that some learners were referred to attend those classes, but
chose not to do so.

One learner replied that maybe those were the learners who ignored the fact that
they were not coping with the requirements, or were avoiding the embarrassment of
having their friends tease and laugh at them. She said that she was attending the
″Readers are leaders Programme”; that it had lead to a huge improvement in her
studies; and she had gained confidence to at least participate in class discussions,
as well.

4.7.2 Summary of the learners’ responses

The learners with LEP experience difficulties with their written tasks. Their
grammatical and textual competence is limited and this causes them anxiety
because they cannot meet the school’s requirements. The learners with LEP’s
spelling and vocabulary are limited, so they cannot build coherent sentences and
paragraphs to write a meaningful text. If a text is not coherent, it causes the learners
with LEP to lose marks as the text will be meaningless.

Tasks like tests, assignments, exams and projects, which challenge them to
demonstrate their textual competence, are challenges. The learners with LEP often
perform poorly in their assessment tasks, which makes them feel inferior to their L1
peers who are coping. The language used at school requires them to be able to
answer questions that need them to explain, suggest, solve, discuss, analyze,
comprehend and justify aspects of the work. Their CALP is context reduced, and the
tasks are cognitively demanding.

BICS is often confused with CALP as more often BICS is taken to assume CALP,
that is: if a child converses well, s/he can also do well academically. The latter
causes more pressure on the learners with LEP to perform in their academic studies.
The learners with LEP are often anxious about their performance and not in favour of
taking risks to answer questions because of the fear of embarrassment. They have a
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low self-esteem because they see their L1 peers’ answers as their guidelines at all
times unless they are called to present first.

The learners with LEP have English resources but do not always use them correctly
to do their assignments and projects and, as a result, their attempts end up being
marked as ‘irrelevant’. They have access to the media and computer centre but
cannot always go, sometimes because of extra-mural activities, or owing to rushing
for transport.

English is the learners with LEPs’ FAL and it is used as the LOLT. This causes
problems because, according to the school requirements, learners with LEP are
expected to come to school with some English language background that will then
be formalized at school. Learners learn easily when they are instructed in their HLs,
but this is not the case with the learners with LEP.

4.7.3 Class visits

The researcher visited the teachers and the learners in their classes to observe how
the lessons were presented and how the learners behaved during the presentation.
Several language barriers were identified.

The classrooms are situated in an ex-Model C School that is in an affluent suburb in

Pretoria. The MoI (LOLT) is English, whilst Afrikaans is the FAL. The school starts at
7:40 and ends at 13:30, Mondays to Fridays. Different extra-mural activities and
meetings take place daily in the afternoon. There are 32 to 34 learners per class and
one teacher.

The teachers’ desks are often in the front of the class near the blackboard, and the
learners’ desks are arranged in groups so that less time is wasted when organizing
groups for discussions. In other classes, the desks are in straight lines as some
learners copy from others and that makes it difficult for the teachers to judge the
individual learner’s actual potential. The learners are seated in alphabetical order to
avoid possible racial or discriminating remarks, such as, Black learners aside / white
learners aside, or Clever, average and slow group.
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The alphabetical-order seating does not apply to the learners who are experiencing
problems in LAs. It is the school’s support strategy to offer all the learners that need
support and learners with LEP front seats or offer them seats close to the teacher’s
desk. This strategy helped the teachers to keep an eye and offer support to the
learners with LEP. The school follows a six-day cycle, and each period lasts 30
minutes.

The school starts at 7:40 with a reading period daily, but some of the L2 learners are
often late and miss out on this opportunity. The learners with LEP have to wake up
early in the morning and be ready to come to school. If they do not oversleep, they
experience transport problems and traffic jams, and get to school late. School ends
at 13:30, after which the extra-mural activities start.

The learners with LEP often stay late at school in the afternoon because they have
to wait for their parents to finish work at 17:00 and, by the time they go home, it is
late, the homework is not done and they are tired. The learners with LEP who are
fetched straight after school, said that their parents could not help them with
homework before 19:00, because they were still helping at their employers’ houses.

There are class rules -- learners are given three chances for misbehaviour. A first-
level offence slip is issued if they break the rules, and they are warned three times.
Two first-level offence slips mean a detention on a Friday afternoon. The learners
with LEP said that the rules make them feel safe because they know what is
expected of them, for example: If a learner is absent, it is his/her responsibility to
follow up with the teachers to find out what they had missed when they were absent.
No apology is accepted for homework or assignments not done on the due date
owing to being absent.

The learners communicated freely with their teachers. The teachers are
approachable, strict, but fair. There are multi-opportunities for the learners who want
to see the teachers. Learners are free to do so before or at the end of a lesson,
during the register period, during breaks, or straight after school.

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During the class presentation, the teachers as facilitators shared the topics with the
learners and asked questions to lead and guide them. The learners with LEP
struggled to ask the teacher questions but kept on fidgeting as though they were
writing or taking notes.

A learner in Grade 3 kept on asking an L1 learner sitting next to him to translate or

explain what the teacher was saying. The teacher said that it often happens. Yet she
does not mind because when she checks why they are talking, the reason is related
to the lesson that is presented and the lack of understanding experienced by the
learner with LEP.

The learners and the teachers use English to communicate and that is a challenge
for the learners with LEP as they are not always sure what they want to ask or say
and sometimes do not understand the topic. After the presentation, the learners are
expected to quietly do their class work.

The teachers try to strike a balance but it is not always possible to keep the lessons
learner centred as some learners think that group discussion is a joke and a time to
relax, especially in the lower grades. The teachers work hard to make sure that the
learners do not lose focus of what needs to be discussed by walking around and
listening to what the learners say. The teachers offer guidance and support where
necessary.

Work that is not complete should always be completed as homework. The teachers
reported that it is time-consuming to leave the learners to carry on for too long with
discussions because of the other requirements by the school, such as a test that is
due in a week’s time, mark books to be submitted to HODs, and marks to be entered
in the mark sheets. The teachers’ goal is to educate and support the learners as they
want to see them progressing. The learners with LEP want to learn English and
produce as good results as their L1 peers do.

The teachers encourage all the learners to take part in the discussions but the
learners with LEP become inactive when the teacher moves on to the other groups
in the class. Different activities are offered during the lessons, such as discussions,
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presentations and evaluations. The learners with LEP give their opinions during
discussions but struggle when chosen as scribes, and panic because of their LEP
when they are asked to report back to the class on group discussions.

The learners with LEP lack CALP to criticize, explain or justify their answers, which
makes them lose confidence. Learners wait for a turn to talk by raising a hand until
they are chosen by the teacher to talk. They may not shout out the answers. The
learners are not allowed to laugh at or tease a learner who makes a mistake, but the
learners with LEP do not want to risk asking or answering questions and be
embarrassed. Learners are encouraged by the teachers to be helpful and to assist
one another, and to ask questions rather than keeping quiet because they will not
learn. Both learners and teachers address one another with respect and friendliness.

The school has different resources to simplify learning and make it easy. They use
posters, pictures, magazines, DVDs, textbooks, television sets, overhead projectors,
computers and books. The learners with LEP enjoy conversational activities more
than written activities, even if they have resources to use for these.

The teachers read the learners stories. They listen, discuss topics, get pictures from
magazines and newspapers, do computer searches, and the like. The learners with
LEP struggle because they cannot apply what they have heard or read by writing.
The learners just copy what is in the book when they have to re-write a story in their
own words -- they lack the textual competence to do so.

4.7.4 Learners’ work examples

During the visit, the researcher asked to see the learners with LEP’s books and
realised the extent of the language problems that cause them to perform poorly.

The grade 1 learners with LEPs work was characterized by numerous spelling
errors. In some cases, the incorrect spelling caused the learners with LEP to lose a
mark, and the words became meaningless. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the teacher
dictated the following words: lad, had, mad, pad; and the learner wrote: ___, ant,
pha, and mph.
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The learner with LEP was marked wrong as had and ant does not mean the same
thing. Should the teacher have asked the learners to build sentences by using the
dictated words, the learner would still have the sentences incorrect.

The researcher noticed that this above barrier caused the learners to lose more
marks in questions where they were asked to complete sentences and paragraphs.
The Grade 5 learners with LEP wrote any word as an answer. Some examples are
as follows:

 Proteins enryg and stengt our bodies > Proteins build and repair our
bodies.
 Another name for a squatter camp is Stan. > Another name for a squatter
camp is informal settlement.

The words that the learners used were wrong and meaningless and, as a result, they
failed the assessment task.

In the interpretation of questions, the researcher noticed that the learners did not
understand questions that require higher levels of thinking. For example: A learner
with LEP who was given a problem in a story and requested to suggest three ways in
which the problem could be solved, copied the problem from the passage and wrote
it down as an answer. The learner did not show any sign that s/he had understood
the question.

The researcher further noticed that teachers set questions to see if the learners read
the questions completely and carefully. The learners with LEP were confused by this
type of question. An example is as follows:

 Name the six (6) strategies to study that you need to apply when you study
for the exam. Write them in the correct order.

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The learners with LEP answered without reading the whole question. They read only
the first part of the question. They knew the strategies, but could not place them in
the correct order.

The teachers assess the learners’ work and give them corrections. In assessing
class activities, the teachers write comments such as:

 Your spelling errors are far too many,

 This is shocking,
 Incomplete work,
 Careless errors,
 Write full sentences,
 I cannot read your handwriting,
 I will not mark such sloppy work again,
 You did not listen to instructions,
 Did you read the question?
 You can do better,
 Come and see me,
 Work not done; and the like.

Comments can encourage or discourage a learner. The learners with LEP are aware
of their inability to perform academically. They lose hope if they try hard to do the
work and then receive comments such as those mentioned above.

The learners with LEP are faced with a challenge to understand English, read with
comprehension, listen to instructions, read the questions correctly, construct correct
sentences and write neater. Above all the learners must ensure that their texts are
meaningful. The learners with LEP become anxious when they are faced with tasks
due to the academic pressure that they experience.

As a result, they choose to write in short sentences to avoid making too many
spelling errors. They complain that writing neatly slows down their work pace. They
end up with incomplete work or cannot think of better ideas to present themselves

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until they run out of time. Of course, some learners with LEP choose to write in short
sentences because they are too lazy to try harder.

Meetings are arranged where parents are informed of their children’s slow progress.
The learners with LEP tend to struggle with written work (CALP). The ‘Readers are
leaders Programme’, remedial classes, and English adaptation classes are in place
to support them. Parents get tips from teachers on how to help their children to, for
example, read daily, practise spelling words, check the diary for messages and sign
daily and join Kumon.

After discussing an activity with their child, parents are encouraged to let the child
write a short paragraph to re-explain what the parent had said in his/her own words;
draw up a study timetable, supervise homework, and play educational games. Both
the teachers and parents have to check to see if the intervention had been effective
or not.

At times, parents feel that their children are doing much better than what the
teachers say. It may be that this is due to the confusion between BICS and CALP.
Parents tend to judge their children’s progress based on their conversational fluency
and not on considering their ability to use the language at school for learning
purposes. The parents often become defensive and do not co-operate with further
suggestions by the teachers to assist the learner. However, there are parents who
acknowledge the teachers’ findings and seek help.

Some parents become angry with their children and blame them for not taking
responsibility of their learning and not appreciating their efforts of registering them in
ex-Model C schools. In addition to their children’s linguistic difficulties, parents
mention that they are further faced with financial problems to obtain more academic
support for their children.

4.8 CONCLUSION

In this chapter, the researcher presented the data collected. It was discussed and
interpreted. The finding was that black South African second-language learners in
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ex-Model C schools face numerous challenges, and that they seriously need
stakeholders’ support. Their teachers and parents meet continuously to discuss and
find ways to support them.

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 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

In Chapter 1, the researcher stated that the main aim of this mini-dissertation was to
investigate the nature of the challenges and the barriers experienced by learners
with LEP and for whom the LOLT is not their mother tongue. The study further aimed
to determine the needs of the learners with LEP, and to offer suggestions about how
they could be assisted in developing their LEP and thus to learn and achieve
according to their full potential.

The researcher started the research by looking at the retention schedules and
checked the number of learners with LEP who were supposed to repeat their grades
in the following year. She then gave the headmaster, the teachers, the parents and
the learners questionnaires to complete so that one could determine their
experiences in relation to learning in English, and teaching learners who do not
speak English as a home language.

She further interviewed the parents, teachers and learners with whom she had
wanted to clarify some points that had appeared in their responses on the
questionnaire. The researcher observed lesson presentations to investigate the
learners’ behaviour and difficulties when lessons were presented in English. After the
lesson observations, she requested to peruse learners’ work to see what the status
of their written work was, and which marks the teachers had been given or which
comments they had made.

The researcher would like to state her findings regarding the challenges that the
learners with LEP face, and suggest ways in which they could be assisted by the
different stakeholders to overcome their learning barriers and achieve according to
their full potential.

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According to the retention schedules, the learners with LEP struggle in all the LAs.
They score very low marks (Level1) in the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior
Phases. This means that they are not meeting the requirements for their grades, and
are thus retained. They repeat the grades, which has an impact on the learners, as
they feel like failures, incompetent, and not clever.

The parents are frustrated when they have to pay the same fees, if not more, for an
extra year in the grade. The teachers thus have to put into place a support
programme to assist the learners with LEP who are repeating their grades to
improve their studies. These factors make it clear that the parents and teachers must
support the learners with LEP to cope as they form part of the school community.

5.2 THE LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

The limitations of this study relate to validity and reliability. The researcher’s position
in the school as a superior, a subordinate, a head of department, a teacher, a
colleague, a school based support team coordinator and as a friend might have an
effect on the results of the interviews and class observations.

People react in different ways when they are put on the spot. The quiet learners may
easily be dominated by the outspoken learners. Even though the researcher has
assured the participants that all the findings will only be used for the research
purpose, some participants might have not given their honest feelings because of
doubt that they might be perceived as negative, not working hard enough or as being
impossible.

Factors such as anxiety, fatigue and emotions could also have played a role on the
validity of the results. The learners with LEP were informed in advance about the
times and days when the interviews will take place but they were still anxious. They
wanted to know if they will be able to answer the questions, what would happen if
they could not answer, what would happen if they fail the interviews and what were
they suppose to study to prepare for the interviews.

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The interviews took place in the afternoons and some of the learners with LEP
looked tired already as they wake up early to come to school. Some learners brought
an afternoon snack to eat before the interviews and some did not have. Some
learners were in a hurry to go and meet their friends in the waiting area or take part
in extra murals even if they have committed to sit for the interviews.

Parents kept on saying that they do not want to sound as if they do not appreciate
what the school is doing for their children but they had some concerns as stated in
chapter four. The fear to be mistaken could have make them to withhold some
information about how they experience being parents of learners with LEP.

5.3 THE SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS

The findings indicate that the black South African second-language learners in ex-
Model C schools face numerous challenges, and that they urgently need support
from all the stakeholders.

The learners with LEP come from different areas to be registered in this ex-Model C
school, with different backgrounds, and speaking different languages. These
learners have conversational fluency but struggle with CALP. Their work is often full
of errors and is therefore meaningless. The learners with LEP are not confident to
take part in class discussions and to do class presentations. They cannot risk being
laughed at by their peers if they make mistakes. The learners with LEP struggle to
cope with the minimum requirements of the grades in which they are placed, and
thus fail their grades.

The main reason for their incompetency is that the LOLT is not their mother tongue,
and that some of these learners with LEP do not have an English-medium Grade R
background. This makes learning in English difficult for them. Teachers prepare
different activities to assist the learners with LEP. It is sometimes difficult to do so as
the teachers have more administrative work to do, and the number of learners in
class is a negative factor in this regard. Parents need to be supportive even though
some of them are illiterate.

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The L1 learners help the learners with LEP during discussions in the classroom.
Different meetings are held to discuss the learners’ progress, and to find strategies
to assist them. The learners with LEP’s inability to cope make them lose confidence.
Teachers find it difficult to assist the learners with LEP in the languages that they
understand, as the teachers do not know the indigenous languages.

5.4 WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

The recommendations will focus on which actions the different stakeholders should
follow or take to assist the learners with LEP to meet the challenges in English as the
LOLT in ex-Model C schools:

5.4.1 The Gauteng Department of Education

As employers, the GDE expects the teachers to deliver good quality education. This
is often not possible because of the amount of administrative work that needs to be
done by the teachers is too much. Teachers focus more on the administrative work
than on teaching the learners. If the GDE could ensure that there is less paper work,
the teachers would be enabled to give more attention to teaching and support the
learners who are not coping.

According to the GDE policy, the FAL (Afrikaans) could be introduced to the learners
in the Foundation Phase level. The researcher would like to recommend that the
learners with LEP rather be given more time to be exposed to the English language,
that is, from Grades 1 to 3. They should focus on the LOLT (English) throughout.
Once the learners with LEP understand English, it will be easier for them to cope
with the requirements of the other LAs.

The L1 learners could be given more challenging activities (expanded opportunities)

to learn more as they already know English. The FAL could be introduced only in
Grade 4 when learners are used to the English language. The first two years in the
intermediate phase (Grades 4 5) should be spent on building up only vocabulary,
basic reading and spelling. In Grades 6 and 7, the learners can be expected to start
writing basic sentences and do more reading at different levels in the FAL.
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5.4.2 The school governing body (SGB)

The Schools Act states that the SGB may determine the language policy and may
choose the LOLT of the school. The SGB needs to check and evaluate the language
policy to cater for the needs of the learners who are admitted to the school. The
policy should promote the value of multilingualism and acknowledge that there are
many languages and cultures represented in the school. All languages should be
respected and be protected.

The introduction of a Grade R class on the premises could be an advantage to the

Foundation Phase, as it will mean that there will be fewer learners with no English in
Grade 1. The teachers in Grade R will need to make sure that they equip their group
with the necessary linguistic skills to cope in Grade1. The learners with LEP will get
an extra opportunity to be exposed to English for a longer period than only hearing it
on the radio and television. The SGB can assist by budgeting for the building of the
classrooms and pay the Grade R teacher. If funds are available, the teachers must
prioritise and buy the teaching and learning material for the classes (from the grade
or LA budget).

The school could employ more teachers who speak indigenous languages to help
the learners with LEP when necessary. Such teachers could help the learners who
need more clarification about the conducted lessons or the topics discussed, as well
as those who do not adequately understand the English language. Support teachers
can help to supervise the learners’ homework in the afternoon for one hour straight
after school, before the extra-mural activities and extra classes start. If the learners
could overcome the language barrier concerning English, it would be easier for them
to access their learning.

During the interview with the teachers, they reported that the learners with LEP
experience linguistic problems and it is sometimes difficult for their parents to believe
as they know their children to be conversational competent.

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The researcher suggests that the school employ an educational or school
psychologist to assist in identifying the academic problems experienced by the
learners and use his/her expertise to assist the teachers, parents and learners with
recommendations on how to cope with the teaching and learning barriers that face
them.

5.4.3 The headmaster and school management team (SMT)

Considering what the headmaster stated in his responses to the questionnaire that
he had completed, parents register their children with LEP in the ex-Model C school
because they want to offer them a better educational opportunity. However, the
learners do not benefit from the situation owing to the learners with LEP’s lack of
proficiency in English and the academic requirements that go with it.

The researcher further recommends that the school introduce a system to ensure
that the newly admitted learners with LEP attend bridging classes in English for the
first year. The classes should be compulsory (a condition for admission) and at no
cost, because if a fee were to be charged, only a handful of learners with LEP who
could be supported by their parents would attend. In addition, parents would be
faced with a greater financial challenge to make it possible for their children to attend
these classes.

The abovementioned classes should be conducted as extra-mural classes (in the

afternoon) and should not take up the learners with LEP’s formal contact time.
During these lessons, the learners with LEP must be motivated to use the language
to communicate (BICS) by telling the others about themselves; discussing the school
rules; ask questions about things that they had found out during school time; find out
about the homework that they do not understand, and the like. The learners with LEP
will gradually gain confidence in their conversational competence by practising in
front of a smaller group; experiencing the same barriers; and having a teacher to
facilitate the process.

By the time the learners with LEP are faced with topics to present in front of the
whole class, it would be less intimidating and they will be aware of what is expected
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when they are to present a speech. They would, for example, have learnt about eye
contact, body posture, and voice projection. However, it is important that the learners
have an opportunity to attend extra-mural activities, as well.

The researcher also suggests that, before the learners write an exam, the school
should allocate a compulsory revision week during which the teachers could revise
the work with the learners, give them an opportunity for group discussions and to ask
questions if they are confused about any aspect of the work. During the exams, the
teachers could read the question papers with the learners as, by the time that they
had first read the questions by themselves, they would have heard them from the
teachers, as well, which would help them to learn to read the full question before
answering.

During assemblies, learners could be educated on the importance and value of

multilingualism. L1 and L2 learners need to know that the school is diverse and that
every language is important and should be respected. Learners should not be
allowed to use their home languages to say mean things about their peers and
teachers when they think that the other learners would not know what they had said.
It leads to conflict. Learners should speak to people in the language that they
understand. Different holidays could be celebrated at school, allowing learners from
other indigenous cultures do presentations for the whole school.

Learners should further not laugh at one another when they are referred for extra
classes. Learners refuse to go to extra classes owing to teasing by their peers, and
often ask their parents to write the school letters of excuse to allow them not to
attend the classes. Learners who make fun of those who attend extra classes should
be sent for detention.

5.4.4 The teachers

The learners’ written work that the researcher analyzed, was characterized by
numerous grammatical errors such as spelling, punctuation and poor sentence
construction, and the teachers had made numerous comments when marking these
activities.
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The researcher suggests that, as a continuation of what is done in the English
bridging class (BICS), remedial classes should be introduced for all grades, and that
the learners with LEP should attend these classes at least twice a week. In these
remedial classes, the learners should be helped with activities that improve their
grammatical, textual, functional and sociolinguistic competence.

During the remedial classes, the teachers could further explain to the learners with
LEP how to approach different questions. They could, for example, learn what is
expected if the question demands that a learner define, explain, suggest, compare,
tell in your own words, criticize, evaluate, discuss or describe aspects (academic
competence).

If the learners with LEP understand what is expected of them, as explained above,
their basic knowledge could help them answer the questions correctly. This will also
help them to write coherent and cohesive texts. Teachers should be careful not to
assume that the learners already know how to approach the questions. The learners
with LEP could be taught later how to conduct themselves in different situations, for
example during speech festivals, storytelling and role-play.

During the remedial lessons, the learners with LEP need to be taught reading skills
(sight-words reading) so that they are able to read and interpret the questions
correctly. During the reading period, once a week and possibly on the Friday after
the test on Thursday, the teachers could pair L1 with learners with LEP and
encourage them to review question papers of the previous week and discuss them.

The general corrections lessons should be discouraged because the learners simply
copy the corrections without understanding them at all. Instead, the teachers could
provide learners with memoranda, summaries of textbook notes, or spider diagrams
of essay questions and discuss the memorandum systematically before letting the
learners copy the corrections.

The learners should understand where they went wrong so that they do not repeat
the same mistakes in future tests. Reading through the test and exam papers could
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benefit the learners, as they would hear exactly what the content is and what is
asked before they read these on their own.

Spelling tests should not be left to the parents to deal with as some parents are
guardians, some work until late and some are illiterate, especially in English.
Teachers can go through the list with the learners and let them hear the correct
pronunciation before trying to pronounce the words at home. The learners could then
practise the words or sentences afterwards and their parents could assist them with
writing write the words correctly, or supervise them.

This will minimise the cases whereby parents only sign the diary even if the work
has not done because they do not know how to assist their children. More often, the
problem is that parents do not have the time to help their children because of work-
related reasons, and the children are tired in the evenings.

The researcher believes that, as soon as LEP is addressed, the learners with LEP
will improve in the other LAs as well, because they are also taught in English.
Content teachers (Mathematics, Social Sciences and Technology) should also give
attention to the standard of English used in their subjects.

It is every teacher’s responsibility to keep his/her learners motivated to learn. Hence

the teachers should try to motivate the learners by making positive comments in the
learners’ books as some of the learners feel discouraged when they study and
prepare for the tests but fail, and get a negative comment about their work. The
learners with LEP lose confidence when they receive discouraging comments on
their work and become reluctant to try harder the next time.

The learners with LEP wish that their teachers could understand that they also like to
do better such as their L1 peers, who understand the English language, do. The
researcher recommends that, should a teacher want to tell a learner how s/he feels
about the quality of work that the learner produces, it must be done with love and
respect. This discussion could take place in private at the teacher’s desk, at the end
of the lesson, or at break, but not in front of the class. The learners feel embarrassed

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when the teacher calls out the low mark that the learner obtained for a test or an
exam.

Lesson planning should be done to cater for different English language learning
styles. The terminology from different learning areas should be taught and should
form the basis of the different lessons. Teachers from all the LAs could attend
workshops and developmental courses to be empowered to use different ways in
which to assist learners with LEP to perform according to their potential.

School matters (practices) should not take preference over quality teaching.
Teachers should further ensure that the learners have understood the concepts
taught before testing them. The problem is that, if timeframes are set by the GDE/
school, there is very little that the teachers can do except rush through the work so
that they can set the papers and write the test. The SMT can be helpful in solving the
timing aspect.

It is essential that the teachers be required to acquire the major African language for
the region, which, in this case, is sePedi. In this way, teachers would be able to
assist the learners with LEP to understand their schoolwork as they could do so in
the learner’s HL.

The parents indicated that they wanted the best for their children but could not help
them owing to different reasons. For example: Parents’ LEP, working until late, not
being sure of the questions asked by the teachers and the level thereof, are
challenging to them. Home is often seen as an extension of school but that does not
help if the support from home is inappropriate or inadequate.

A good example is that the parent would teach the child the letters of the alphabet,
whilst the teacher expects the child to sound the letters. The amount of homework
frustrates the learners when they have to do projects and prepare for tests, as well. It
is difficult for the learners with LEP to learn the language and the content at the
same time as compared to their L1 peers.

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The researcher suggests that the teachers ensure that homework that is sent home
has been explained to the learners and that they know what to do. Teachers can
also avoid sending home tasks that will be marked as formal tasks, because those
tasks are often completed by the parents, or a learner gets naught because the
parents did not understand what the teacher was asking or requested the learners to
do. New concepts could be dealt with in class, and extension or incomplete work
could be sent home as homework.

Formal tasks should be done during class time. Teachers can ask the learners to
collect the information at home, such as to cut out different pictures at home, and to
do the task in class so that the true potential of the child can be identified. If that
does not happen, the learner should be assisted immediately. Homework could
mainly be given by the English and Mathematics teachers. That would give the
learners enough time to prepare for other tests as learners with LEP struggle with
both the language and the content of subjects at the same time.

During meetings with parents, teachers should remember to state the strengths of
the learners as well as their weaknesses. They should further give the parents tips
on how to assist their children at home.

5.4.5 The parents

The parents have the responsibility to pay their children’s school fees or to arrange
for assistance in this regard, such as being exempted from payment if they have
financial problems. The funds collected for school fees will enable the SGB to
appoint support teachers, buy teaching- and learning-support materials, and
construct Grade R classes.

If parents would like to register their children in ex-Model C primary schools, they
need to ensure that those children attend English-medium Grade R classes. This will
give them some English background before they go to Grade 1.

If the parents are illiterate, they could arrange for a tutor who could help the child at
least three times a week, but that is rather expensive. Regular attendance of extra
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classes is important. Parents should discuss the afternoon class timetable with their
children and arrange where they would meet one another outside the class to go
home. This arrangement would ensure that the children would attend the extra
classes as their parents will meet them outside those classes. Parents should further
talk to the learners to enquire what that had learnt in class, and perhaps arrive about
five minutes early to fetch them and wait at the classroom. With such actions in
place, the learners will know that they are firmly under the teachers’ and parents’
supervision, which would make them feel supported.

Parents need to make sure that their children are collected on time after school so
that they can have a break before they do their homework. The homework needs to
be supervised. Parents should listen to their daily reading. However, they must not
take over the work and do it for their children as the children would not learn to do
the work themselves.

Parents should further ensure that their children are always present at school as they
miss so much work when they are absent. When they are back at school then, they
struggle to deal with the day’s work and would have to catch up all the work that they
had missed when they were absent. Having a proper breakfast in the morning and
healthy food in their lunch boxes will help to improve their concentration in class.

Parents should preferably attend the school meetings when invited and not assume
that they already know what the teachers will say. They should further follow up on
the recommendations of the teachers regarding their children’s work and
communicate by letters, diary messages, calls to the teachers, or appointments with
them if they are not sure what they need to do. This would be an opportunity for
parents to tell the teachers about their experiences at home, and what they hear
from their children if they are not sure of events or messages. Parents should avoid
making negative statements about teachers in front of their children when matters
are not going well.

Parents could use English when they help their children to do school work or allow
them to watch English television programmes. Learners must further be allowed to
use their home language in their family environment, and be proud of it.
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5.4.6 The learners

The learners with LEP have a right to education but need to take responsibility and
learn by doing their work as expected by the schoolteachers. The learners with LEP
need to take part in discussions and overcome their fear of speaking up as they will
not learn if they do not ask questions or discuss matters in class. They should attend
the programmes to which they are referred as the school has bought the supportive
programmes to help them. It is meaningless for teachers to stay until late, waiting for
children who do not arrive to attend these programmes. It is a waste of human
resources.

L1 learners need to understand that learning a new language is not easy for the
learners with LEP. They need to respect and support one another. They could work
together in groups and correct the learners with LEP when they make mistakes.
Some learners learn easily from other learners. The L1 learners should show
appreciation when they are corrected and not make funny comments about it. Such
comments are rude, and further make the other learners laugh at the learners with
LEP, which then lower their self-esteem.

The L2 learners should write down their homework in their diaries and make sure
that they do it daily. They need to be involved in their learning so that the teachers
can establish whether they are lazy in not doing their work, or whether they find
difficult. In the latter case, they could assist them. The learners with LEP need to
study hard every day and prepare for the formal tasks.

The learners with LEP should join at least one extra-mural activity to take a break
from their schoolwork. Often the teachers get an opportunity to see the other side of
the learner. Some children struggle in class but are good at sport. Parents need to
support them in this regard so that they could gain confidence from being part of the
school activities and would motivate them to try harder in class.

Peer tutoring could further take place during the reading periods twice a week.
Learners can learn better from one another. The learners with LEP could ask
125
questions about the work that had been done in class previously if they had not
understood it. The L1 peers could also ask the learners with LEP questions to test
their understanding. By so doing, the L1 learners will also benefit because they will
be revising their work.

5.4.7 The community

It takes an entire community to educate a child. The school needs to make contact
with the University of Pretoria and request that students help as language therapists.
The speech therapists would not only focus on the articulation of words, but would
further help with extra vocabulary and the construction of different types of
sentences.

Drama students could help to make afternoon classes fun. The learners could be
taught how to use body language and facial expressions during a speech
presentation. The learners with LEP will not forget the scenarios that they have
dramatized in this way. It would be easier when they are asked to present speeches
in front of their peers because they would have had guided practice in presenting
speeches or public speaking.

The school is situated in an area where most of the residents are well educated
A group of volunteers from the community could adopt groups of learners with LEP
in the school. The volunteers would then take turns to read the learners stories and
discuss the stories with them. They could also do different comprehension tests with
them.

5.5 THE FUTURE RESEARCH PROSPECTS

Great emphasis of future research should go into investigating the following:

 Policy issues in relation to language adaptation in the curriculum.

 How to authentically cater for the individual needs of learners with LEP in
bigger mixed abilities classes.

126
  How to empower the teachers that teach mixed abilities classes and are not
remedial trained.

 A need to assist the parents that are illiterate to support their children with
LEP.

5.6 CONCLUSION

The researcher believes that, if the GDE, the SGB, the headmaster and the SMT,
the teachers, the learners, the parents and the community work together to assist the
learners to understand the LOLT, the learners could produce better results as
compared to how they are currently performing. The learners will be exposed to L1
English speakers and the English language, and will obtain relevant assistance,
coaching, guidance, and supervision.

It is surprising that some parents put the blame on teachers and they claim that
teachers do not do enough to help their children. The fact that the learners with LEP
sometimes bunk the support classes is a contributing factor as teachers cannot
always chase them, especially after school hours. To be honest, I think by the end of
the day these learners need a break and do not want to be in the class anymore.
Their parents must join hands with the teachers in the endeavour to assist their
children.

127
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Littlewood, W. 1984. Foreign and Second Language Learning: Language Acquisition
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131
Appendices
 Appendix 1

Application letter to
the school
 Departement Afrikaans
Geesteswetenskappe
Tel : (012) 420-4075
Faks: (012) 420-2349
E-posadres: hein.willemse@up.ac.za

14 April 2009

The SGB and Headmaster

Waterkloof Primary School
306 Milner Street
Waterkloof
Pretoria
0181
Dear Sir

REQUEST TO CONDUCT THE RESEARCH AT WATERKLOOF PRIMARY SCHOOL

My name is Charlotte Monyai, I am a student at the University of Pretoria and am currently enrolled as
a Masters student in African Languages Studies.
I have completed the coursework part of my study and now have to submit a mini-dissertation as part
of the requirements. I am supervised by Professor V. N. Webb. My research deals with the challenges
facing learners with Limited English Proficiency in ex-model C schools.
My research methodology will include observations, interviews, questionnaires and the perusal of
relevant documents, for example: learner profiles, mark schedules, learner’s books and support
forms. The findings of this study will be used to develop recommendations for the school. Such
recommendations may be useful in assisting Limited English Proficiency learners to achieve
according to their potential.
Privacy and confidentiality are basic ethical issues when conducting the research. As a researcher, I
pledge to respect the participant’s rights, needs, interests, beliefs, attitudes and values as well as the
good name of the school.

Your co-operation will be appreciated.

Yours faithfully
Mrs S. C. Monyai (082-297-4774
Universiteit van Pretoria Telefoon : 012 420 2360 gwdekaan@up.ac.za
Pretoria, 0002 Faksimile : 012 420 4501 www.up.ac.za
Suid Afrika
 Appendix 2

Permission from the

school
See the attached letter
that was received from
the school.
 Appendix 3

Application form to
the GDE
See the attached
application form
 Appendix 4

Permission from the

GDE
 See the letter that
was received by the
researcher.
 Appendix 5

General letter to the

headmaster,
teachers, parents
and learners.
 Fakulteit Geesteswetenskappe
Kantoor van die Dekaan
Departement Afrikaans
Geesteswetenskappe
Tel : (012) 420-4075
Faks: (012) 420-2349
E-posadres: hein.willemse@up.ac.za
3 June 2009

Dear ……………………………………….

REQUEST FOR CO-OPERATION IN RESEARCH WORK

My name is Charlotte Monyai, I am a student at the University of Pretoria. I am currently enrolled as a

Masters student.

I have completed the coursework part of my study and have to submit a mini-dissertation as part of
the requirements. I am supervised by professor V. N. Webb. My research is on meeting the
challenges of black English second language South African learners in ex-model C school.

The findings and recommendations of this study will assist in meeting the challenges faced by the
abovementioned learners. My research methodology will include observations, interviews,
questionnaires and the perusal of documents. Please read the attached consent form and decide if
you would be willing to contribute to the success of this study.

Privacy and confidentiality are basic ethical issues when conducting research. As a researcher, I
pledge to respect your rights, needs, interests, beliefs, attitudes and values. The following ethical
assurances are applicable:

 The researcher must have your written consent.

 The participant has the right to accept or decline the request.
 The participant may choose to withdraw at any stage.
 Measures will be taken to reduce any distress that may be experienced.
 The participant will remain anonymous.
 Participants will be given a summary of findings and recommendations.
 Participants may give any suggestions that may contribute to the success of this study.
 All the data collected will be kept confidential and will not be used for any purpose other than
this study.

If you are willing to co-operate, please complete the relevant section in the attached form.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. It will be a pleasure to work with you in this study.

Yours faithfully

Monyai Sarah Charlotte (012-460-3221)

Universiteit van Pretoria Telefoon : 012 420 2360 gwdekaan@up.ac.za

Pretoria, 0002 Faksimile : 012 420 4501 www.up.ac.za
Suid Afrika
 Appendix 6

Headmaster’s
consent form
 Fakulteit Geesteswetenskappe
Kantoor van die Dekaan
Departement Afrikaans
Geesteswetenskappe
Tel : (012) 420‐4075
Faks: (012) 420‐2349
E‐posadres: hein.willemse@up.ac.za
3 June 2009

HEADMASTER’S CONSENT FORM: PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH

I……………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………,
Headmaster of the school where the research is conducted have read and understand the contents of your
letter requesting me to participate in your research study on Meeting the challenges of black English second
language South African learners in ex‐model C schools.

I understand that I will be expected to complete the relevant questionnaire and if necessary participate in a
follow‐up interview. My decision is as follows:

Option A

I AGREE to take part in the research.

Signature: …………………………………………… Date: ……………………………

Address: ……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Option B

I DO NOT AGREE to take part in the research.

The reason for my decision is as follows:

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Signature: …………………………………………… Date: …………………………

Universiteit van Pretoria Telefoon : 012 420 2360 gwdekaan@up.ac.za

Pretoria, 0002 Faksimile : 012 420 4501 www.up.ac.za
Suid Afrika
 Appendix 7

Teachers’ consent
form
 Fakulteit Geesteswetenskappe
Kantoor van die Dekaan
Departement Afrikaans
Geesteswetenskappe
Tel : (012) 420‐4075

Faks: (012) 420‐2349

E‐posadres: hein.willemse@up.ac.za
3 June 2009

TEACHER’S CONSENT FORM: PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH

I,………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

teach in Grade ……………… and have read and understand the contents of your letter inviting me to participate
in your research on Meeting the challenges of black English second language South African learners in ex‐
model C schools.

I understand that I will be requested to complete a questionnaire, if necessary participate in a follow‐up

interview and that official school documents (like textbooks, other booklets, examples of learners’ work, mark
books, etc.) will be perused (with my permission). My decision about your request is as follows:

Option A

I AGREE with consent to take part in the research.

Signature: …………………………………………… Date: ……………………………

Address: ……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Option B

I WILL NOT take part in the research.

The reason why I do not want to participate in this research is as follows.

………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………

Signature: …………………………………………… Date: …………………………

Universiteit van Pretoria Telefoon : 012 420 2360 gwdekaan@up.ac.za

Pretoria, 0002 Faksimile : 012 420 4501 www.up.ac.za
Suid Afrika
 Appendix 8

Parents’ consent
form
 Fakulteit Geesteswetenskappe
Kantoor van die Dekaan
Departement Afrikaans
Geesteswetenskappe
Tel : (012) 420-4075
Faks: (012) 420-2349
E-posadres: hein.willemse@up.ac.za
14 April 2009

PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH: CONSENT FORM OF PARENTS AND LEARNERS

I…………………..…………………………………………………………………………..(name and
surname)

parent of ………………………………………………………………………………………. (name of

learner)

in grade ……………… have read and understand the contents of your letter requesting me and my
child to participate in your research study on Meeting the challenges of black English second
language South African learners in ex-model C schools.

I understand that I will be expected to complete a questionnaire and return it to you, that you will
interview my child and observe him/her in the classroom. I have decided as follows:

Option A

I agree and give consent that my child and I will take part in the research.

Signature: …………………………………………… Date: ……………………………

Address: ……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Option B

My child and I WILL NOT take part in the research.

The reason why I do not want to participate in the research is as follows:

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Signature: …………………………………………… Date: …………………………

Universiteit van Pretoria Telefoon : 012 420 2360 gwdekaan@up.ac.za

Pretoria, 0002 Faksimile : 012 420 4501 www.up.ac.za
Suid Afrika
 Appendix 9

Learners’ consent
form
 Fakulteit Geesteswetenskappe
Kantoor van die Dekaan
Departement Afrikaans
Geesteswetenskappe
Tel : (012) 420‐4075
Faks: (012) 420‐2349
E‐posadres: hein.willemse@up.ac.za
14 April 2009

Dear ...................................................................................................

My name is Mrs Monyai. I am a student at the University of Pretoria. I would like you to help me with
my project. You will be expected to answer questions. I will discuss the questions with you. Our
discussion will be used for the project only.
OPTION A
I agree to take part in the research.
Name of learner

Date of birth

School

Grade

Home language

OPTION B
I do not agree to take part in the research.
Name: .............................................................................................. Date:.................................

Thank you for reading my letter.

Yours faithfully
Monyai S. C.
012 460 3221

Universiteit van Pretoria Telefoon : 012 420 2360 gwdekaan@up.ac.za

Pretoria, 0002 Faksimile : 012 420 4501 www.up.ac.za
Suid Afrika
 Appendix 10

Headmaster’s
questionnaire
 HEADMASTER’S QUESTIONNAIRE

TOPIC: Meeting the challenges of black English second language South African
learners in ex- model C schools

General instruction

Thank you for taking your time to answer this questionnaire.

This is not a test.

There is no right or wrong answer.

Answer the questions according to your best knowledge.

The information gathered will be kept confidential and be used for research
purposes only.

Please add any information that will help to make this research a success.

Headmaster

Name: ________________________________________________________

Gender: _______________________________________________________

Highest education: _______________________________________________

Where was it obtained: ___________________________________________

When was it obtained: ___________________________________________

Did you do English didactics in your training: _________________________

What do you teach: ______________________________________________

Years of teaching experience: ______________________________________

Home Language: ______________________________________

1. Are there learners that are experiencing difficulties because English is used as
the language of learning and teaching?

2. If the answer to Q.1 is yes, shortly describe how this is a problem?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

(a) Amongst your learners:

 How many are English Home Language speakers? ________________

 How many are English First Additional Language learners? ________
 How many are English Second Additional Language learners? ______

(b) Amongst your teachers:

 How many are English Home Language speakers? ________________

 How many are English First Additional Language speakers? ________
 How many are English Second Additional Language speakers? ______
(c) How many learners with Limited English Proficiency are in your school?
_____________________________________

3. What initiatives do you take to empower your teachers to assist LEP learners?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

SCHOOL LANGUAGE POLICY

4. What is the language policy in your school?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

5. When was your school’s language policy developed?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

6. Who was involved when the policy was drafted?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
7. What was the procedure that was followed?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

8. What are the documents that inform your language policy?

_________________________________________________________________

9. When do you review the language policy?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

10. How do you inform the parents about the language policy?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

ASSESSMENT

11. Learners must be assessed. What is the assessment procedure in your

school?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
12. How is determined that a learner has Limited English Proficiency?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

13. Are there any expanded opportunities given to these learners by your teachers
and how does this happen?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

14. How do you inform the LEP learners’ parents about any learning barriers?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

SUPPORT

15. What are the functions of your school based support team= SBST?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

16. Are your English L2 learners’ parents supportive when discussing barriers?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

CHALLENGES

17. What are your challenges with learners with LEP?

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

18. What is your feeling and attitude about the abovementioned problem?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

19. Should an indigenous be introduced in your school:

(a) Will it be a LOLT or a subject? ______________________________________

(b) If a subject, at what level will it be represented? (HL, FAL or SAL)

_______________________________________________________________________________
 Appendix 11

Teachers’
questionnaire
 . TEACHERS’ QUESTIONNAIRE

TOPIC: Meeting the challenges of black English second language South African
learners in ex- model C schools.

General instructions:

Thank you for taking your time to answer this questionnaire.

This is not a test.

There is no right or wrong answer.

Answer the questions according to your best knowledge.

The information gathered will be kept confidential and be used for research
purposes only.

Please add any information that will help to make this research a success.

Teacher

Name: ________________________________________________________

Gender: _______________________________________________________

Highest education: _______________________________________________

Where was it obtained: ___________________________________________

When was it obtained: ___________________________________________

Did you do English didactics in your training: _________________________

What do you teach: ______________________________________________

Years of teaching experience: ______________________________________

Home Language: ________________________________________________

1. What English knowledge do learners need to have at the level of the grade that
you are teaching?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

2. What is their level of word building and sentence construction?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

3. How do the learners with LEP pronounce English words when they are speaking
or reading?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

4. What is their level of vocabulary and do they know the relationship between
words?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. What is their understanding and knowledge of the position of words in a
sentence?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

6. What are the different texts that they are expected to write?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

7. What is their ability to use the texts to conduct conversations?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

8. What is their ability to use the texts to conduct conversations?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

9. What is the quality of their written work?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
10. What is their level of using the English language to describe a situation?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

11. How does their level of English language knowledge affect their attempts to
explain or argue in a class?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

12. What is their ability to criticize things or situations?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

13. How do they act when questions are asked in class?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

14. How do they perform in tests and formal assessment tasks?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
15. What is their level of participation during class discussion?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

16. What is their ability to of using language at different social settings?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

17. What are the difficulties that they are facing because of their LEP?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

18. What are the reasons for learners LEP?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

19. What are the reasons for learners LEP?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
20. What exposure do they need to improve their situation?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

21. What are the preferred learning styles used by the learners with LEP?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

22. What are the preferred learning styles used by the learners with LEP?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

23. What is the relationship between the intelligence of the learner with LEP and
English language acquisition?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

24. How does the personality of the learner with LEP affect his/her English Language
Proficiency?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
25. What is the role of learner’s attitudes to the acquisition of English Language
proficiency?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

26. What strategies do you use to help learners to overcome their LEP?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

27. What methods and procedures do you use to assess English language
proficiency?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
 Appendix 12

Parents’
questionnaire
 PARENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE

TOPIC: Meeting the challenge of black English second language South African
learners in ex-Model C primary schools.

General Instruction

 Thank you for taking your time to answer this questionnaire.

 This is not a test.
 There is no right or wrong answer.
 Answer the questions according to your best knowledge.
 The information gathered will be kept confidential and be used for research
purposes only.
 Please add any information that will help to make this research a success.

PARENT:

Name: ___________________________________________________
Gender: _____________________________________________________
Highest Education: _________________________________________
Contact No: _______________________________________________
Home Language: ___________________________________________
In which Grade was your child first exposed to English? __________

CHILD

Name: ___________________________________________________
Gender: ___________________________________________________
Grade: ___________________________________________________
A. Answer the following questions by ticking under the correct column.

STRONGLY AGREE
STRONGLY

NOT SURE
DISAGREE

AGREE
1 I know my speaking language (speaking, reading
and writing).
2 My level of education enables me to help my child
to do his/her homework.
3 I communicate with my child in English at all
times.
4 My child is coping with English as a language of
learning and teaching.
5 Learning in English is an exciting activity for my
child.
6 I am pleased with my child’s progress in English
as a subject.
7 I am pleased with my child’s progress in the other
learning areas (subjects) that are taught in English
(eg: Tech, Maths, SS, EMS, LO)>
8 I have enough time to help my child with his/her
homework.
9 I have enough resources to help my child to do
his/her homework (textbooks, magazines etc.)
10 My child is confident in doing his/her homework by
him/herself.
11 My child is receiving extra help from the teachers.
 12 Educational psychology assessments assist in
identifying learning problems.
13 Discussing my child’s progress with teachers is
helping.

B. Please  in the relevant block, for example:   

How do you feel about the following:

  
1 Extra English classes offered by the school
2 Weekly spelling words
The reading homework
3a
b The writing homework
c Preparing speeches for presentations
4 Weekly tests
5 Readers are Leaders school computer programme
6 Remedial classes by teachers
7 Child assisted by a tutor
8 The amount of English homework given
9 Punishment given for not doing English homework
10 Being called to school to be informed about your child’s
progress
11 Given tips on how to help your child
12 Knowing in advance about what your child will be
assessed on
C. 1. My child is taught in English which is not his mother tongue:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

One thing I do not like about that is:

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

I wish that:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

2. If you were offered an opportunity whereby your child would be taught in an

indigenous language, which languages you would choose in order of preference:
a) _______________________________________________________
b) _______________________________________________________
c) _______________________________________________________

D. If there is any question that you feel that should have been asked, please add it
in the space provided and answer it.

Question: ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Answer: __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
 Appendix 13

Learners’
questionnaire
 LEARNERS’ QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: __________________________________________________
Grade: __________________________________________________
Boy/Girl: ________________________________________________

No. Questions   
A1 Learning in English is exciting
2 I am proud of my English work
3 I take part in class discussions
4 I am not shy of standing in front of the class and reporting
back
5 How do you feel about these types of homework:
i) Spelling words
ii) Reading

iii) Preparing speeches

iv) Writing paragraphs

v) Thinking and reasoning activities

6 I have people that help me:

i) My parents
ii) My tutor
iii) My teachers
iv) My friends

7 I visit the media centre after school hours

8 I have enough resources at home
9 Having to give a speech in class
10 Listening to class mates talking
11 Expectations from:
 i) Teachers
ii) Parents
iii) Friends and peers

B. 1. My favourite TV channel is _____________________________

2. My favourite radio programme is ___________________________
3. I speak in _________________________ language to my parents.
4. I speak in _________________________ language to my friends.
5. I speak in _____________________ when I answer the telephone.
6. I wish that my teachers could understand the ______________ language.

C.

1. I feel motivated when ____________________________________________

2. I feel discouraged when __________________________________________

3. I wish to let you know that _________________________________________

________________________________________________________________
 Appendix 14

Interview schedule
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
Dear participants
As stated in the general letter that I have sent you, part of my research will be to
conduct interviews and observations. Kindly complete the following section by
indicating the date, time and the convenient venue where you will be available to be
interviewed.
The interview period will be from ............................................... to
.......................................................
Name Date Venue Time

Yours faithfully
Monyai Sarah Charlotte
012 460 3221
 Appendix 15

Lesson-observation
form
 LESSON OBSERVATION FORM
Teacher’s name:
...............................................................................................................................
Class:
.......................................................................................................................................
Date:
.......................................................................................................................................
Learner:
.......................................................................................................................................

Setting:

Participants:
Ends/ Goals:

Acts:

Key:
Instrumentality:

Norms:

Genres:
General:
 Appendix 16

GDE: Learners 450

support form
See the attached
support form