The linguistic realities of foundation phase teachers in a single-medium multilingual classroom

Abstract

South African schools have become more multilingual, but teachers do not have the skills to adjust their classroom practice to accommodate multilingualism meaningfully. Thus, implementing multilingualism is a challenge in the South African classrooms. It is, therefore, essential to study how teachers manage their early-grade multilingual classrooms. Much is known about the transition from Grade 3 to Grade 4, where learners move from being taught in their home language in the Foundation Phase; to being taught in the language decided by the school governing body (SGB), which is seldom an African language. Many teachers are unable to teach in their Foundation Phase learners’ home language because they do not speak the language(s) and have not been trained sufficiently to teach in a multilingual context. This study aimed to explore teachers' perspectives on their manoeuvres around linguistic realities they encounter in single-medium, multilingual Foundation Phase classrooms in South Africa. The literature reviewed focuses on the linguistic realities of South African classrooms and the Foundation Phase teacher’s pedagogical knowledge, multilingualism, and translanguaging abilities. Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, the Continua of Biliteracy, and translanguaging ground this study. The research site used was in the Sekhukhune District in Limpopo. A qualitative approach with a case study research design was used to observe and interview four teachers in different classrooms who teach learners who do not understand the medium of instruction - Afrikaans. The study does not provide solutions for teachers who experience challenges associated with a multilingual classroom; rather, it identifies the linguistic realities that teachers encounter. The key findings show that teachers struggle to teach aspects such as phonics to Grade 1 learners who do not understand Afrikaans as a language of instruction. Instead, the teachers resort to translation, classroom print, and strategic seating arrangements. Furthermore, HODs, due to their lack of knowledge regarding multilingualism, provide minimum practical or pedagogical support to teachers. Lastly, teachers struggle due to their lack of pedagogical knowledge of teaching learners who do not understand the language of instruction, thus placing these learners at a disadvantage.