Language Teaching in Increasingly Multilingual Environments: Research to Practice

1. Teaching struggling readers to readin the multilingual Environment of Stellenbosch, Western CapeMichael le Cordeurmlecorde@sun.ac.za Language Teaching in Increasingly Multilingual Environments: Research to Practice University of Warsaw, Poland. 16-19 Sepember 2010

2. The current status of literacy in South Africa Young people do more reading today – on paper and on line – than ever before. South Africa accepted an outcomes-based approach to education in 1996, just after democracy. Yet we are not succeeding in achieving the only outcome that really matters: to READ. Systemic research by GTZ and the National Department of Education, show that the literacy skills of learners in South Africa are far below what is required to learn and develop effectively. Only 18% of all learners in grade 3 and grade 6 in South Africa achieved the required 50% in 2008.

3. The status of literacy in the Western Cape A report by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED 2009) confirms this opinion. Only 34% of all the Grade 3 learners in the Western Cape whose reading ability was tested in 2008 met the basic requirements for Grade 3. Only 44% of all Grade 3 learners in the Stellenbosch district,performed at an international acceptable level in 2008.

4. Where is the Western Cape?

6. Where is Stellenbosch?

7. Stellenbosch is well known for its wine farms

8. Problem Statement For many South African children, a successful career remains a dream – mainly because the government still believes that the acquisition of basic knowledge is synonymous with learning English as language of instruction. South Africa’s reading problems are rooted in the country’s multilingualism nature.

9. Aim of this Paper This paper reflects how a former disadvantaged school in Stellenbosch, Western Cape overcame their multilingual problems and turned their literacy results around. The paper investigates the possible causes why the majority of South African learners in primary school experience reading problems. The intent is to alert teachers and parents of the characteristics of a struggling reader so that the problem can be identified and addressed early. The paper gives an overview of the intervention conducted at St Idas Primary.

10. Multilingualism in SA Since South Africa became a democracy the new constitution accepted 11 official languages, i.e English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Swati, Tswana, Sotho, Pedi, Venda and Tsonga. This meant that in South Africa a lot of emphasis was put on mother-tongue education

11. Defining mother-tongue education UNESCO defines mother- tongue education as “education which uses as its medium of instruction a person’s mother tongue, that is, “the language which a person has acquired in early years and which normally has become his natural instrument of thought and communication”

12. The Constitution & mother tongue education According to Section 29(2) of the Constitution “all South Africans are entitled to tuition in an official language or languages of their choice permitting it is reasonably done.” It is important to note that the section don’t specify mother- tongue education per cé but refers to language of choice. Because learners are not competent to take such a decision, legally the choice lies with the parents. In this case the parents opted for Afrikaans as LoTL.

13. Methodology Literature review: The ways in which reading problems manifest themselves, are described. Followed by a discussion of various types of reading problems: poor reading comprehension inadequate reading fluency a lack of vocabulary and a negative attitude toward reading Remedial strategies for struggling readers are presented and implemented at St Idas.

14. Terminology Reading problem problems that learners experience with reading that have no bearing on their intellectual ability Peer and Reid (2001:65) Struggling Reader Lenski (2008:38):struggling readers ‘can be defined as learners who have experienced difficulty with school-based reading. Caskey (2008:170) is of the opinion that ‘struggling readers are learners who grapple unsuccessfully with written text’.

15. Multilingual landscape in South Africa

16. Language distribution in SA

17. Multilingual landscape in the Western Cape Official Languages Afrikaans – 55% isiXhosa - 23 % English - 19%

18. Multilingual landscape at St Idas Primary Afrikaans – 60% English - 0% isiXhosa - 40%

19. MANIFESTATION OF READING PROBLEMS BIOLOGICAL MANIFESTATION MOTOR MANIFESTATION OTHER MANIFESTATIONS reading comprehension remembering instructions Problems with scanning Omission or addition of words Omission or re-reading of a line Highlighting the central idea of a paragraph

20. POSSIBLE CAUSES OF READING PROBLEMS LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL LEARNING NEEDS READING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION MOTIVATION TO READ DIVERSE CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS MULTILINGUALISM SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS A CULTURE OF NEGLECT

21. Assessment results of St Idas in literacy • 2002 (3%) • 2004 (28.6%) • 2006 (Intervention started) • 2008 ( ? %) • At a meeting with all the relevant stakeholders: staff, principal, governing body, and circuit team the general feeling was that an intervention that would improve the levels of literacy at St Idas was urgently called for.

22. The Intervention at St Idas Primary School It was decided by all the stakeholders that the school’s Language of Instruction would be Afrikaans because It was the language spoken by the majority; The school has a history of Afrikaans tuition Parents chose to send their kids to an Afrikaans school because of the nearby Stellenbosch University where Afrikaans has a minimum tuition basis of 60%.

23. The site and the population The School is situated in Stellenbosch. The school was founded in 1896 by the Catholic Church of South Africa, and is still located on the church grounds. Poverty index: this predominantly rural school is classified as a very poor school. The school population comprises learners who come from families who are all workers on the wine farms with a low socio- economic status. The LoTL is Afrikaans, with English being taught as the first additional language.

24. The demographics of the learners 231 learners, all coloured or black , were enrolled at St Idas, a school providing instruction from Grade 1 to 7. The school only have one class per grade. Children come to school hungry, a School Feeding Scheme provided at least one meal per day to each learner. 80% of the learners were the children of single parents who work on the wine farms and who were largely illiterate. Only two learners attended pre-school at the church. It is understandable why many of the learners were struggling to learn to read, and why, it had taken the teacher six months to teach them the basic alphabet.

25. The demographics of the teachers The School has 7 teachers, one for each grade 1 to 7 . Each teacher was responsible for teaching one grade. All the teachers had Afrikaans as their mother tongue, which played a pivotal role in the success of the intervention. Teacher commitment: During three years of intervention, there was no staff turnover and no teacher absenteeism. All teachers adequately qualified to teach respective grades, some decided to further their studies. No concerns about the teachers’ own levels of literacy, and ability to apply reading strategies. Teachers received training, which enabled them to apply new approach and new strategies.

26. Nature of the intervention The staff received training in capacity-building, as the adoption of a positive attitude towards the intervention was considered essential to the success of the intervention. The parents were made co-responsible for the day-to-day management of the school and accepted responsibilities, such as ensuring that children regularly attended school. The teachers received intensive in-service training from departmental officials (see the details in the next section). All parties consented to signing an agreement of commitment. Intervention started with the beginning of the school year in January 2006, and the new Grade 1 learners were taught literacy by using strategies mentioned before.

27. The composition of the circuit team The circuit manager accepted overall responsibility for the intervention. His suitability for the role was due to himself having previously conducted research into literacy. The subject advisor for literacy had 14 years experience: Her role was to develop and provide the necessary learning support material concerning the teaching reading. The school was allocated a qualified learning support teacher at the start of the intervention in 2006. She gave individual attention to learners who were falling behind. The teacher attended the in-service training, and enrolled for a degree at a local university so that she can become better equipped to teach literacy. Her positive attitude, helped to set the scene for a successful intervention.

28. Development of comprehension strategies Struggling readers require assistance in the development of comprehension strategies. Caskey (2008:170) and Taylor et al. (1995:224) agree that purposeful instruction in the use of comprehension strategies is needed so that readers will know exactly what the strategy is, why it is important and how it can be implemented. They must be taught how to monitor their own progress in reading comprehension and when it is necessary to stop and apply alternative strategies.

29. Strategies to improve comprehension Extensive reading Tapping into prior knowledge Teaching vocabulary. It is important to note that successful comprehension instruction depends on the thoughtful selection of approaches to fit the context (Taylor et al. 1995:27) .

30. Strategies to improve reading fluency INDEPENDENT READING opportunities to read for their own purposes TEACHER MODELLING read first paragraph using appropriate pace. ASSISTED READING reading a text while simultaneously hearing it read to them by fluent readers COACHING individual feedback to learners

31. VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION A vocabulary programme needs to include several facets of word learning. This includes more exposure to written texts (in reading or listening mode) as it can foster the learning of new Tier II words. In addition, content-area teachers need to focus on direct instruction of selected words. To facilitate learning in chemistry learners need to be taught the vocabulary of chemistry.

32. Improving attitude towards reading A reading culture must be cultivated in schools and at home, as struggling readers seldom have a positive attitude towards reading. When reading, the cognitive (the intellect) as well as the affective (the emotions) are involved. The functioning of one’s cognitive domain is strongly influenced by the affective domain. If learners have no desire to read, no intervention would have any effect on their reading ability. The cultivation of a lifelong interest in reading should be high on the hierarchy of reading instruction (Hugo 2001:138).

33. The Test The test was conducted in October and November of 2008. Aimed at investigating the literacy levels of all Grade 3 learners in the province and is conducted on biennually. The 2008 test part of fourth round of testing since 2002. The intention of the Grade 3 assessment is to measure the performance of, and to track the progress made by, learners towards achievement in literacy (WCED, 2008). The test was administered by the WCED[i] and was based on the standards set out in the Benchmarks for Literacy and Numeracy and the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). This meant that the assessment was suited to the linguistic and cultural diversity reflected in a South African classroom. The learners sat for the 120-minute long test on 14 -10-08, with officials of the Joint Education Board as invigilators.

34. The Nature of the Test The learners were given 40 minutes to complete each of the three parts of the 120-minute test and consisted of : Part One: Reading (Comprehension) learners were given an Afrikaans story to read. After reading the story, learners were expected to answer questions independently. Part Two: Writing the composition of a simple story by the learner, with the story making sense to the reader and showing a basic understanding of the writing task; Part Three: Spelling learners were asked to write another adventure story about a legendary creature to see whether the learner attempted to spell accurately a relatively wide range of words.

35. The Results of the Test after Intervention The results of the WCED assessment test for Grade 3 were published on 6 March 2009. 2002 (3%) 2004 (28.6%) 2006 (intervention started) 2008 (100 %) On the question of whether the interventions had been successful, Donald Grant, Education Minister in the Western Cape, reacted as follows: “The results of these interventions have shown that we are making significant progress in literacy” (WCED, 2009c).

36. Closure The paper draws the conclusion that if identified early, and with the necessary support, learners experiencing reading problems can become successful readers provided teachers are committed, And learners decided on a LoTL in grade 1 and then stick with it. This case proved that English is not the only solution in a MLE.