Teachers in South African multilingual classrooms use code-switching, offering English content but switching to the mother tongue for elaboration and discussion¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr2·q2
Currency · no dated study recorded · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
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q2 i? In South African classrooms teachers switch from English to learners' mother tongue for elaboration and discussions, so learners hardly ever engage in active language production or meaningful discourse in English. → Gobodwana 2024
Evidence¶
Gobodwana 2024¶
Gobodwana, A., 2024, 'The strategies in teaching isiXhosa semantics in Foundation Phase: A systematic review', Reading & Writing 15(1), a493. https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v15i1.493
q2 · i? · review · r2
The review reports, citing Van Staden et al. (2016) on prePIRLS 2011, that teachers use code-switching — defined by Ncoko, Osman and Cockraft as "using two or more languages in the same conversation" — in pursuit of teaching and learning goals.
"Classrooms often offer a mix of English content but switch to their mother tongue for elaboration and discussions. In this way, learners hardly ever engage in active language production or meaningful discourse in English."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- African children are primarily schooled in English from Grade 4 onwards, and the language-in-education policy has failed to promote indigenous African languages — related
- South African Grade 4 reading performance declined between 2016 and 2021, with 81% of Grade 4 learners unable to read for meaning in any language in 2021 — related
- Mead argued that treating the mother tongue as inferior impedes movement between home and school language structures — related
- Bilingual language policy facilitates multilingual and multicultural pedagogical interaction in Indonesian university classrooms — related
- A learner's mother language affects second language acquisition, particularly in production of absent sounds — related
- Failure to use mother tongue as the medium of instruction during at least the fundamental years has lasting detrimental impacts on students — related
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by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-31 |
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