FACTORS THAT AFFECT FOUNDATION PHASE ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS ...

462 Pages·2016·3.68 MB·English

FACTORS THAT AFFECT FOUNDATION PHASE ENGLISH SECOND
LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ READING AND WRITING SKILLS

by

RADHAMONEY GOVENDER

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for
the degree of

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

in the subject

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

at the

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR AJ HUGO
FEBRUARY 2015
R. Govender

DECLARATION

Student Number: 3164-860-6

I declare that Factors that affect foundation phase English second language
learners’ reading and writing skills is my own work and that all the sources that
I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of
complete references.

___________________ February 2015
Radhamoney Govender
(Researcher)

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this thesis to

my parents:

MR A. GOVENDER AND MRS S. GOVENDER
who have consistently supported me throughout my studies

&

my siblings:

my brother Seelan and my sister Saras
who financially and morally supported me in my endeavours

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my most sincere gratitude to:
 My supervisor, Professor AJ Hugo for her expert guidance, consideration, support, and
inexorable quest for excellence and perfection throughout this study. I acknowledge her
outstanding professional and academic expertise that enabled me to benefit immeasurably
from her exceptional supervision.
 My parents and my brother for being my strong support system. Also, my sister for her
financial support which enabled me to successfully complete this study.
 The National Student Financial Aid Scheme for providing me with a bursary for the 2014
academic year.
 The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education for permitting me to conduct my research
at the five schools in the Port Shepstone region.
 The principals and the School Governing Bodies of the five schools for granting me
permission to conduct my research at their schools.
 The foundation phase educator and learner participants for their enthusiasm and
willingness to participate in my study.
 The parent respondents for sacrificing their precious time and for their invaluable
contributions.
 Mr D Moodley for the sponsorship of children’s story books that were presented to all the
educator participants for their classroom library corners.
 Mr R Moodley for editing my thesis and for his assistance during this study.
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 All my friends who have supported and encouraged me during this study.
 All whose names are not mentioned and who have contributed to this study.
 Above all, to God almighty who has endowed me with the competence, motivation, and
perseverance; despite several challenges to successfully complete this study.

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ABSTRACT

During the 1990s, many low-income countries were committed to the United Nations Education
for All (EFA) goals of ensuring universal access to primary education and learners’ completion
of all primary grades (Gove & Wetterberg 2011:1). Since then some countries, including South
Africa, have made impressive strides towards expanded access to schooling. Much of the
progress has stemmed from additional inputs such as classrooms, educators, and textbooks and
this has created the assumption that with sufficient inputs, learning will naturally flow.
However, increases in enrollment rates alone have not always translated into high quality
education or even basic learning.
Additionally, South Africa’s unique politically burdened history has had profound effects on the
education system. Due to its multifarious population and the amalgamation of various sectors,
including education, the Department of Basic Education was and still is faced with the daunting
challenge of providing quality education to its diverse citizens. This has resulted in the
establishment of multiracial, multilingual, and multicultural schools. The corollary is that
schools have become more inclusive. However, the ability of South Africa to educate its
learners cannot be measured by access to schooling or enrollment rates alone, but rather by its
ability to impart to learners the knowledge and skills necessary to function as literate and
numerate members of the broader society.
Within the context of EFA several international organisations began to conduct early grade
reading assessments in many developing countries in Africa and Asia. These studies include
SACMEQ, PIRLS and prePIRLS, EGRA, and ASER. The aim of these assessments is to
facilitate the expansion of quality education by providing the necessary data to monitor
educational quality, and by improving the research capacity and technical skills of educational
planners.
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Within the context of major transitions throughout the world, the organisations mentioned above
perspicaciously focused on countries that encounter major challenges in literacy. The extensive
studies on reading and writing that were conducted by some of these organisations amplify the
crisis in education and the plight of early grade learners. Nationally and internationally the
situation appears to be relatively bleak, especially for L2 learners.
Literacy, specifically reading literacy, forms the backbone of scholastic success at primary,
secondary and tertiary levels and research consistently shows that learners who are good readers
also tend to perform well academically (Pretorius & Machet 2004:129). Emanating from the
above, this study focused on the factors that affect foundation phase English second language
learners’ reading and writing skills. The study was conducted at five English medium primary
schools in Port Shepstone.
A literature study on second language acquisition and the factors that impact on the English
second language learners’ reading and writing achievements was undertaken. Furthermore, the
expansion of the English language, the significance of the primary language in second language
acquisition, insights and issues focusing on bilingualism and multilingualism, theories on second
language acquisition, reading and writing in the home language, and factors related to English
second language learners’ reading and writing achievements were examined.
A mixed-method research design was utilised. In order to obtain an in-depth perspective both
quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to collect data from foundation phase
educators, and the parents of isiZulu-speaking foundation phase learners. Survey questionnaires,
which were the main research instruments for gathering data, were distributed to the parents of
isiZulu-speaking learners and the educators. Additionally, individual interviews were conducted
with educators and reading and writing observations were also conducted. Quantitative data
analysis was done by means of tables, frequencies, and graphs. Qualitative data was subjected to
analysis by means of an eclectic approach.
This study found that cultural, psychological, social, cognitive, school, and developmental
factors do indeed affect the second language learners’ reading and writing skills. It was found
that the learners’ home language background significantly affected their pronunciation of words
in English, their ability to use phonics to read and write, and their ability to differentiate between
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male and female when writing sentences. Moreover, no specific model of acculturation was
found to be apparent in this study. However, the processes of integration and separation did play
a role in the learners’ acculturation. On the other hand, the processes of assimilation and
maginalisation were not found amongst isiZulu-speaking learners.
Two prominent psychological factors, anxiety and motivation, were apparent in this study. This
study revealed that isiZulu-speaking learners do experience reading and writing anxiety but do
not experience writing test anxiety. It was also found that isiZulu-speaking learners do enjoy
reading in English and they demonstrate relatively positive attitudes towards reading. Their
attitudes towards writing in English were somewhat varied. Although integrative motivation and
instrumental motivation were seen to play a dual role in the learners’ experiences, the parents’
views were strongly influenced by instrumental motivation.
IsiZulu-speaking learners have good social relationships with their peers. Educators affirmed
that these learners interact relatively well with both their English-speaking peers and their
isiZulu-speaking peers. The amiable relationships were also observed by the researcher during
the classroom reading and writing observations. None of the isiZulu-speaking learners
experienced social isolation or alienation at any of the five English medium schools.
IsiZulu-speaking learners’ ability to speak and understand isiZulu is relatively good. However,
their ability to read and write in isiZulu is generally poor. IsiZulu-speaking learners usually cope
well with conversational skills in the English language. However, their ability to read English
texts fluently with understanding and to write simple stories in English ranges from fair to poor.
Generally, at the five schools similar approaches were used to teach reading and writing. The
dominance of the phonic approach was observed during several reading lessons.
In general, educators expressed their absolute dissatisfaction with the CAPS document and the
CAPS English home language workbook. They were not content with the manner in which the
phonics is structured in the CAPS workbook and document. Educators asserted that CAPS is too
challenging for most isiZulu-speaking learners, too much of emphasis is placed on assessments,
and due to the large learner/educator ratio educators experience frustration when teaching
reading and writing.
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Educators emphasised the significance of Grade R attendance and the Grade R curriculum.
Furthermore, they asserted that learners who enter Grade 1 at the age of five are not ready for
formal schooling and they generally experience reading and writing difficulties. Moreover, this
study reproduced those found in literature that showed that generally girls significantly
outperform boys on reading and writing tasks.
There were various reasons for the parents wanting their children to learn to read and write in
English. Two of the prominent reasons advanced by the parents were: parents want their
children to learn more than one language and learning English at school will help their children
to continue their studies at colleges or universities.
Overall, this study has demonstrated that the English language has significantly impacted on all
aspects of the isiZulu-speaking foundation phase learners’ lives, and more especially has
considerably influenced their reading and writing achievements at English medium schools.

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ABBREVIATIONS

 ANA Annual National Assessment
 BICS Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills
 CALP Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
 CAPS Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement
 CPB Chalo Parrho Barrho
 DIBELS Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills
 DST Dynamic Systems Theory
 EFA Education for All
 EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment
 ELU Early Literacy Unit
 ESL English Second Language
 FAL First Additional Language
 FET Further Education and Training
 GET General Education and Training
 HLE Home Language Environment
 ICT Information and Communication Technology
 IEA International Association for the Evaluation of Educational
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