Bilingual teaching practices in South African higher education : making a case for terminology planning
- Authors: Mawonga, Sisonke
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Language and education -- South Africa , Native language and education , Language policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3653 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017894
- Description: When the apartheid government was in power universities in South Africa were segregated according to a race and language. After apartheid, the democratic government came into power and its vision was abolition of segregation. There was also equal and equity of access to public institutions which were set aside for certain people to have access to. Access to universities was equalized and students with different racial, social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds were allowed access to universities which they used not to have access to before. The students‟ access to all universities led to diversity within these institutions. Even though this was the case, there were no changes in the system prevalent during apartheid. English, for example, continued to be the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) while the numbers of students who speak languages other than English (LOTE) as home languages was also increasing. The Constitution of South Africa (Section 6, Act 108 of 1996) acknowledges the previous marginalization of indigenous languages in the country and encourages the development and use of these languages as official languages. The right of access to educational institutions, and accessing education in one‟s language, if that language is one of the official languages, is also encouraged by the Constitution. There are other supporting legislative documents such as the Languages Bill (2011), the Higher Education Act (1997) and the national Language Policy for Higher Education (LPHE) (2002) that support multilingualism, the equal promotion of the official languages as well as use of multiple languages in higher education institutions (HEIs) to support learning. The above mentioned policies and legislations may exist to ensure equality and equity, and even though HEIs have become heterogonous, that does not guarantee that the students enrolled in these institutions have equal access to knowledge offered by the HEIs in SA. This research uses the theories of languages and conceptualization; language and learning as well as language planning to show that the students‟ first languages in learning can assist to facilitate cognition. Terminology development, as part of corpus planning which is the body of language planning is introduced in this study in the form of bilingual glossaries as an intervention especially for students‟ whose mother tongue is not English as language used for learning at university for different disciplines tend to be abstract. The data for this research was collected from the 2014 first year students registered in the Extended Studies Unit (ESU) in the Humanities Faculty at Rhodes University. Research methods such as questionnaires, participant observations, interviews as well as content analysis were used to collect the data. These methods were used to look at the students‟ use and perceptions of bilingual glossaries as additional resource materials which can assist them in learning. A Political Philosophy I module offered by the Political Science department was used for this research. This thesis presents a model which can be used for the development of bilingual glossaries in order to facilitate learning. The thesis recommends the use of corpus extraction tools such as WordSmith Tools (WST) that can be used to generate and extract terms and illustrates the use of this tool by extracting terms from an English Political Philosophy textbook. These terms are defined and these are then translated into isiXhosa to provide a sample of the bilingual glossary. This glossary has been designed to illustrate how the bi/multilingual glossaries with terms and definitions can be developed in order for use by students to facilitate learning them. The study also presents a terminology list which consists of Political Philosophy terms that have been generated during the corpus extraction process. It is recommended that further research looks into the development of bi/multilingual glossaries using the suggested model so that the students who are speakers of LOTE can also be able to understand abstract terms which are used at university
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Mawonga, Sisonke
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Language and education -- South Africa , Native language and education , Language policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3653 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017894
- Description: When the apartheid government was in power universities in South Africa were segregated according to a race and language. After apartheid, the democratic government came into power and its vision was abolition of segregation. There was also equal and equity of access to public institutions which were set aside for certain people to have access to. Access to universities was equalized and students with different racial, social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds were allowed access to universities which they used not to have access to before. The students‟ access to all universities led to diversity within these institutions. Even though this was the case, there were no changes in the system prevalent during apartheid. English, for example, continued to be the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) while the numbers of students who speak languages other than English (LOTE) as home languages was also increasing. The Constitution of South Africa (Section 6, Act 108 of 1996) acknowledges the previous marginalization of indigenous languages in the country and encourages the development and use of these languages as official languages. The right of access to educational institutions, and accessing education in one‟s language, if that language is one of the official languages, is also encouraged by the Constitution. There are other supporting legislative documents such as the Languages Bill (2011), the Higher Education Act (1997) and the national Language Policy for Higher Education (LPHE) (2002) that support multilingualism, the equal promotion of the official languages as well as use of multiple languages in higher education institutions (HEIs) to support learning. The above mentioned policies and legislations may exist to ensure equality and equity, and even though HEIs have become heterogonous, that does not guarantee that the students enrolled in these institutions have equal access to knowledge offered by the HEIs in SA. This research uses the theories of languages and conceptualization; language and learning as well as language planning to show that the students‟ first languages in learning can assist to facilitate cognition. Terminology development, as part of corpus planning which is the body of language planning is introduced in this study in the form of bilingual glossaries as an intervention especially for students‟ whose mother tongue is not English as language used for learning at university for different disciplines tend to be abstract. The data for this research was collected from the 2014 first year students registered in the Extended Studies Unit (ESU) in the Humanities Faculty at Rhodes University. Research methods such as questionnaires, participant observations, interviews as well as content analysis were used to collect the data. These methods were used to look at the students‟ use and perceptions of bilingual glossaries as additional resource materials which can assist them in learning. A Political Philosophy I module offered by the Political Science department was used for this research. This thesis presents a model which can be used for the development of bilingual glossaries in order to facilitate learning. The thesis recommends the use of corpus extraction tools such as WordSmith Tools (WST) that can be used to generate and extract terms and illustrates the use of this tool by extracting terms from an English Political Philosophy textbook. These terms are defined and these are then translated into isiXhosa to provide a sample of the bilingual glossary. This glossary has been designed to illustrate how the bi/multilingual glossaries with terms and definitions can be developed in order for use by students to facilitate learning them. The study also presents a terminology list which consists of Political Philosophy terms that have been generated during the corpus extraction process. It is recommended that further research looks into the development of bi/multilingual glossaries using the suggested model so that the students who are speakers of LOTE can also be able to understand abstract terms which are used at university
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Implementation of multilingualism in South African higher education : exploring the use of isiXhosa in teaching and learning at Rhodes University
- Authors: Gambushe, Wanga
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Language and education -- South Africa , Multilingual education -- South Africa , Native language and education -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa , Language policy -- South Africa , Cytology -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Xhosa (African people) -- Education (Higher)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3649 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017890
- Description: This study explores the implementation of multilingualism at Rhodes University (RU), by examining the teaching and learning practices of lecturers, demonstrators and students within the Cell Biology module, offered by the Biological Sciences and Botany departments at RU. This examination is in line with RU’s Language Policy (2005/2014), which recognises multilingualism and the development of isiXhosa as an academic/scientific language. The study and the choice for the location of the study within RU was motivated by what seemed to be a pattern of under achievement of LOTE speaking students studying Cell Biology. This pattern necessitated a further inquiry into the language aspect of the teaching and learning of Cell Biology. The goals of this research were to investigate spaces where LOTE students use their home languages and the motivations behind their usage of those languages. Due to the varying proficiencies of LOTE students in their mother tongue, this study sought to investigate the language capabilities of LOTE students in their home languages. The perceptions of the main role players in the Cell Biology module were sought, in order to get an idea of what students, lecturers and demonstrators thought about multilingualism in teaching and learning practices in the Cell Biology module. This study has discovered that there is a disparity in achievement between LOTE and English speaking students, with English students outperforming LOTE students consistently in the period investigated. On the language capabilities of LOTE students in their mother tongue, it was discovered that they have enough linguistic capital for a mother tongue intervention to succeed. There were mixed views about the use of LOTE in HE, but students were mostly in favour of the use of LOTE. A number of recommendations are made as to how multilingualism can be implemented in Cell Biology. In this study I argue that there is a need to use the mother tongue of LOTE students in order to support learning, the mother tongue intervention is supported by scholars such as Paxton (2007, 2009; Madiba 2011, 2012, 2014). The use of the mother tongue to support learning should be a short-term measure while the process of the development of African languages is underway, because languages develop as they are used, and form follows function (Madiba 2008). Ultimately, African languages should be developed and use as academic languages in HE not only in order to fulfil the legislative imperatives such as the Constitution and the Language Policy Higher Education but also to increase access and success among LOTE students.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Gambushe, Wanga
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Language and education -- South Africa , Multilingual education -- South Africa , Native language and education -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa , Language policy -- South Africa , Cytology -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Xhosa (African people) -- Education (Higher)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3649 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017890
- Description: This study explores the implementation of multilingualism at Rhodes University (RU), by examining the teaching and learning practices of lecturers, demonstrators and students within the Cell Biology module, offered by the Biological Sciences and Botany departments at RU. This examination is in line with RU’s Language Policy (2005/2014), which recognises multilingualism and the development of isiXhosa as an academic/scientific language. The study and the choice for the location of the study within RU was motivated by what seemed to be a pattern of under achievement of LOTE speaking students studying Cell Biology. This pattern necessitated a further inquiry into the language aspect of the teaching and learning of Cell Biology. The goals of this research were to investigate spaces where LOTE students use their home languages and the motivations behind their usage of those languages. Due to the varying proficiencies of LOTE students in their mother tongue, this study sought to investigate the language capabilities of LOTE students in their home languages. The perceptions of the main role players in the Cell Biology module were sought, in order to get an idea of what students, lecturers and demonstrators thought about multilingualism in teaching and learning practices in the Cell Biology module. This study has discovered that there is a disparity in achievement between LOTE and English speaking students, with English students outperforming LOTE students consistently in the period investigated. On the language capabilities of LOTE students in their mother tongue, it was discovered that they have enough linguistic capital for a mother tongue intervention to succeed. There were mixed views about the use of LOTE in HE, but students were mostly in favour of the use of LOTE. A number of recommendations are made as to how multilingualism can be implemented in Cell Biology. In this study I argue that there is a need to use the mother tongue of LOTE students in order to support learning, the mother tongue intervention is supported by scholars such as Paxton (2007, 2009; Madiba 2011, 2012, 2014). The use of the mother tongue to support learning should be a short-term measure while the process of the development of African languages is underway, because languages develop as they are used, and form follows function (Madiba 2008). Ultimately, African languages should be developed and use as academic languages in HE not only in order to fulfil the legislative imperatives such as the Constitution and the Language Policy Higher Education but also to increase access and success among LOTE students.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Implementation of the national language policy at institutions of higher education
- Authors: Ownhouse, Aileen Lucia
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa , Multilingual education -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- Curricula -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3415 , vital:20428
- Description: This study investigated the implementation progress of the National Language Policy (NLP) of South Africa (SA) by reviewing pertinent research related to Language Policy (LP) initiatives. In particular, the study explored the implications of the NLP implementation on multilingual teaching and learning practices, especially practices aimed at developing proficiency in the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). In particular, the LP implementation initiatives to support a multilingual practice community at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) were overviewed. The study focused on and assessed the AHZ Project multilingual initiative in the Department of Applied Language Studies (DALS) at NMMU. The AHZ Project multilingual initiative included text translation and multilingual tutorial strategies to assist isiXhosa-speaking students understand grammatical concepts. As a result, an aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of the AHZ Project by assessing the perceptions of English Language Studies (LES111) students and lecturers who were responsible for implementing the initiative. Finally, the research aimed to determine reasons for the apparent slow progress of implementing multilingualism as a teaching and learning practice as well as the underlying constraints of implementing the NLP at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). A mixed-method approach was selected to explore the aims of the research study as both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools were used. As the AHZ Project initiative was the study’s data sample, data was collected by conducting three face-to-face semi-structured interviews with two LES111 lecturers and a tutor as well as one focus-group interview with eight student participants. In addition, a LEC online assessment and 284 LES111 reflective paragraphs were analysed. NVivo 10 qualitative software was used for the coding of the data and a descriptive analysis of the interviews as well as the LEC online assessment was employed. To code and analyse the face-to-face semi-structured and focus-group interview transcripts, dominant themes from the study’s literature review, for example, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Mother Tongue (MT) transfer were used. The reflective paragraphs were analysed manually using a quantitative coding approach. From the data coding, the study’s findings were determined and interpreted. The LEC assessment confirmed that the students were not coping with the LOLT. By taking cognisance of the AHZ Project strategies and investigating the perceptions of the participants towards the initiative, conclusions were drawn. These conclusions indicated positive attitudes towards the multilingual language practices as implemented by the AHZ Project initiative. In addition, the perceptions towards identity, language status, mother tongue education and language transfer were articulated. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made to promote the use of African Languages as LOLTs in teaching and learning classroom practices. Recommendations were also made for future research relating to the teaching of African Languages (ALs) in the schooling sector.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Ownhouse, Aileen Lucia
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa , Multilingual education -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- Curricula -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3415 , vital:20428
- Description: This study investigated the implementation progress of the National Language Policy (NLP) of South Africa (SA) by reviewing pertinent research related to Language Policy (LP) initiatives. In particular, the study explored the implications of the NLP implementation on multilingual teaching and learning practices, especially practices aimed at developing proficiency in the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). In particular, the LP implementation initiatives to support a multilingual practice community at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) were overviewed. The study focused on and assessed the AHZ Project multilingual initiative in the Department of Applied Language Studies (DALS) at NMMU. The AHZ Project multilingual initiative included text translation and multilingual tutorial strategies to assist isiXhosa-speaking students understand grammatical concepts. As a result, an aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of the AHZ Project by assessing the perceptions of English Language Studies (LES111) students and lecturers who were responsible for implementing the initiative. Finally, the research aimed to determine reasons for the apparent slow progress of implementing multilingualism as a teaching and learning practice as well as the underlying constraints of implementing the NLP at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). A mixed-method approach was selected to explore the aims of the research study as both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools were used. As the AHZ Project initiative was the study’s data sample, data was collected by conducting three face-to-face semi-structured interviews with two LES111 lecturers and a tutor as well as one focus-group interview with eight student participants. In addition, a LEC online assessment and 284 LES111 reflective paragraphs were analysed. NVivo 10 qualitative software was used for the coding of the data and a descriptive analysis of the interviews as well as the LEC online assessment was employed. To code and analyse the face-to-face semi-structured and focus-group interview transcripts, dominant themes from the study’s literature review, for example, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Mother Tongue (MT) transfer were used. The reflective paragraphs were analysed manually using a quantitative coding approach. From the data coding, the study’s findings were determined and interpreted. The LEC assessment confirmed that the students were not coping with the LOLT. By taking cognisance of the AHZ Project strategies and investigating the perceptions of the participants towards the initiative, conclusions were drawn. These conclusions indicated positive attitudes towards the multilingual language practices as implemented by the AHZ Project initiative. In addition, the perceptions towards identity, language status, mother tongue education and language transfer were articulated. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made to promote the use of African Languages as LOLTs in teaching and learning classroom practices. Recommendations were also made for future research relating to the teaching of African Languages (ALs) in the schooling sector.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
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