The Department of Basic Education has published its Status of the Language of Learning and Teaching Report.

Choices and practices around the language of learning and teaching in schools have a significant impact on educational development and outcomes in multilingual societies like South Africa.

Evidence shows that teaching children in their home language, especially in the foundation years, is linked to improved educational outcomes. Learning in one’s own language holds a number of advantages – not just improved academic performance, but also increased access to education, reduced repetition rates and lower drop-out rates. Encouraging children to reject their home language undermines their personal and conceptual foundation for learning.

The link between teaching in home language and improved academic achievement means it is important that children are taught in their home language, especially in the foundation years.

The Language Education Policy in South Africa seeks to maintain the use of home languages, especially in the early years of learning, while providing access to additional languages. The National Curriculum Statement prioritises the teaching of African languages from Grade 1.

This report analyses the patterns and shifts in the status of language in schools.

In 2007, for the majority of learners, isiZulu was the home language; isiXhosa was the language at home for 20% of learners and 10% spoke Afrikaans at home and 7%, English. Despite this, the majority of learners (65%) were taught in English in 2007 and the second most common language of learning was Afrikaans (12%). This was followed by isiZulu at 7% and isiXhosa at 6%.

This trend, however, does not hold true in the foundation phase where the results are more encouraging. 23,4% of learners were taught in isiZulu; 21,8% in English; 16,5% in Xhosa; 9,5% in Afrikaans and 8,3% in Sepedi.

In fact, between 1998 and 2007, the number of Grade 1 learners being taught in English declined, while those learning in Zulu and Afrikaans increased. Grade 2 and 3 patterns are similar but English as the medium of instruction is marginally higher at 23,8% than isiZulu at 21,7%.

The conclusion to be drawn is that between 1998 and 2007 the status of English as the Language of Learning and Teaching amongst foundation phase learners decreased and isiZulu and Afrikaans increased. However, English still remains the dominant medium of instruction in Grades 2 and 3.

In 2007, approximately 80% of foundation phase learners were learning in their home language, and increase from 55% in 1998. 76% of African home language learners were taught in their home language; however this left 26% of African home language learners in the foundation phase being taught in another language. In 2007, more than 600 000 foundation phase learners were taught in a non-home language.

In addition, less than 5% of learners in the foundation phase actually study one additional language subject, contrary to the curriculum policy of introducing a language subject at the additional level in the foundation phase. This means that the majority children learning in an African home language do not study English or Afrikaans as an additional language in the foundation phase.

The big question raised by the report findings is: Seeing that almost 80% of foundation phase learners are studying in their home language, why has there not been a corresponding improvement in learning?

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Status of the Language of Learning and Teaching Report