Abstract:
In this article we report and reflect on the responses to a questionnaire survey administered to
600 parents/caregivers, whose Foundation Phase children attend a former Afrikaans-medium
primary school where English is now the sole medium of instruction, although English is not
spoken as home language by either teachers or learners. We explored reasons why parents chose
this particular school, especially in the light of available alternatives as well as their views of
mother tongue/English instruction. At present, many parents favour an approach that also
nurtures the home language, even while support for an English-only approach is strong. It may
be that well-established research findings on the pedagogical and social benefits of maintaining
home/local languages are being heard, at least among younger and better educated parents.
