Die keuse van 'n taal van leer en onderrig in die verdere en hoër onderwys in Suid-Gauteng

Abstract

The research problem addressed in this study, is the tendency, of especially African Language speakers, to reject the mother-tongue as a language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in favour of English in the Further and Higher Educational Phases. In spite of the right, as stated in the South African Constitution, to receive instruction through the language of choice at public educational institutions, there is, with the exception of Afrikaans and English speaking learners, a general rejection of the mother-tongue in favour of English. A quantitative empirical investigation was done among Grade 10 educators in the Sedibeng-East and West districts which can be regarded as representative of the Southern Gauteng region. The questionnaire was completed by 1 161 Grade 10 educators in order to determine their attributes (perceptions and abilities) regarding the use of all eleven official languages as languages of learning and teaching. The respondents can be seen as representative of the language demography of the specific region. The study indicates that the use of the mother-tongue as LoLT is beneficial to the development of the language and the intellectual capacity of the learner and that switching to an additional language too early detrimentally influences the acquisition of the additional language. In a study of the historical background of the issue it was found that in the length century there was already strong opposition against efforts to use the African languages as LoLT in schools and that the present rejection of mother tongue teaching cannot only be attributed to the opposition against the language policy during the apartheid regime. It was further found that the proposed system of structured bilingual education was a compromise-proposal to reconcile the advantages of mother-tongue teaching with the general preference for English. As for the attitude of the Grade 10 educators towards the Constitutional Right of instruction in the language of choice, the Afrikaans speaking educators significantly differed both statistically and practically from other language groups in their insistences on mother-tongue teaching until Grade 12.