Experiencing language challenges in a rural school : implications for learners’ life aspirations

Abstract

This article reports on the influence of communication skills on rural students’ resilience and well-being. Purposive sampling was used to retrospectively select 40 (f: n = 20; m: n = 20) Grade 9 students in a rural school that were involved in a larger youth project that aimed to deliver pathways towards resilience in rural schools through cross-cultural measures for assessments, career guidance andtherapeutic interventions. The project aimed to provide academic service learning opportunities for the second-year Master’s in Educational Psychology students. Secondary data analysis was employed to explore and analyse the data. From the findings, the most frequently indicated challenges the students faced included limited expressive and receptive skills in English. Although they have dreams and hopes for the future, the students’ lack of language proficiency hinders their career aspirations and life beyond school. Future research should focus on ways to enhance their communicative competences.