Language-learning strategies of English second-language learners participating in peer tutoring Petronella

Abstract

This study aims to identify, explore and elucidate the language-learning strategies used by African English second-language learners participating in peer tutoring in Gauteng province, South Africa. Informed by pragmatism, this study was situated in a constructivist epistemology and a relational ontology. Consistent with a constructivist epistemology, Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory was utilised and adapted for the purpose of this study to reflect a hybridised model which is more suitable for studying the language-learning strategies used by indigenous learners. Using a convergent mixed methods design, a total of 137 second-language learners in Grades 8 and 9 from seven different peer tutoring programmes were purposefully sampled to be part of this study. The data collection methods used for this study were: a quantitative as well as a qualitative questionnaire, focus group discussions and non-participant observation. The findings of this study show that learners use a range of conventional strategies at a high frequency (metacognitive, social, cognitive and affective) while compensation and memory strategies were used at a medium frequency. The qualitative results show that the use of conventional strategies took place in a collectivist manner, which relates to the relational ontology of this study. A significant insight derived from this study is that African second-language learners use a range of indigenous strategies for L2 learning. These strategies include various art forms such as dance, music, poetry and word games. Consistent with the use of humour by many African literary scholars, learners in this study also used humour for downplaying their second-language mistakes, managing emotions and for critical thinking. The use of strategies was shown to be affected by learner motivation, gender, resource availability, identity, home language knowledge and the context in which learners learn. The peer tutoring learning context was shown to be an effective method for scaffolding second-language learning by allowing learners to be taught within their zone of proximal development. I theorise that the use of a hybridised framework that combines both conventional and indigenous knowledge systems should be considered to aid the learning of a second language. This framework lends support for strengthening learners’ home language(s) through translanguaging practices and by valorising learners’ translingual identity. Therefore, it is recommended that policymakers should ensure the inclusion of indigenous knowledge systems in the curriculum and put measures in place for monitoring the effective implementation of these indigenous knowledge systems in the South African curriculum.