ONE NATION, ELEVEN LANGUAGES: IMPROVING LITERACY AND NUMERACY IN SOUTH AFRICA THROUGH MOTHER-TONGUE EDUCATION

dc.creator	MICHAEL LE CORDEUR
dc.date	2012-11-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-08-12T11:16:48Z
dc.date.available	2015-08-12T11:16:48Z
dc.identifier	1567-6617
dc.identifier	1573-1731
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/a28468ccdbb642689713b51cbbb8ccff
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/25869
dc.description	Seventeen years after the acceptance of a new Constitution there is still no progress in implementing a language-in-education policy (LiEP) in South Africa. Systemic research shows that the literacy and nu-meracy skills of South African learners are far below what is required to learn and develop effectively – mainly because the government still believes that the acquisition of basic knowledge is synonymous with learning English as language of instruction. The problem starts in the Foundation Phase, where learners fail to acquire the basic literacy and numeracy skills because very few of them are being taught through their mother tongue, which has a huge impact on learners’ ability to master the curriculum. When South Africa became a democracy in 1994, the government accepted a multilingual language policy with 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, IsiNdebele, Siswati, Setswana, Sesotho, Sepedi, Tshivenda and Xitsonga. Although the Constitution makes provision for the protection of all languages, and declares that where it is reasonably practicable, everyone has the right to receive education in the official language of their choice, language practices in South Africa have not changed since the pre-1994 dispensation. Despite the constitutional principles, South Africa’s indigenous lan-guages are still marginalised.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	IAIMTE
dc.relation	http://l1.publication-archive.com/public?fn=enter&repository=1&article=1451
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1567-6617
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1573-1731
dc.rights	CC BY-NC-ND
dc.source	L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature, Vol 12, Pp 1-23 (2012)
dc.subject	mother-tongue education
dc.subject	bilingual education
dc.subject	language-in-education policy
dc.subject	literacy and numeracy
dc.subject	indigenous languages
dc.subject	Philology. Linguistics
dc.subject	P1-1091
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	DOAJ:Linguistics
dc.subject	DOAJ:Languages and Literatures
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Philology. Linguistics
dc.subject	P1-1091
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	DOAJ:Linguistics
dc.subject	DOAJ:Languages and Literatures
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Philology. Linguistics
dc.subject	P1-1091
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Philology. Linguistics
dc.subject	P1-1091
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Philology. Linguistics
dc.subject	P1-1091
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	ONE NATION, ELEVEN LANGUAGES: IMPROVING LITERACY AND NUMERACY IN SOUTH AFRICA THROUGH MOTHER-TONGUE EDUCATION
dc.type	article