Abstract
D.Ed. (Educational Linguistics)
This study focuses on the language learning patterns and processes of ten English Second Language pupils in a Johannesburg inner-city school. The investigation was undertaken with the aim of describing and clarifying these patterns and processes by means of a case study (monographic study) design which included mostly qualitative methods for data collection. The rationale for the study was that the demographic character of a typical inner-city school presupposes that a substantial number of pupils would not be proficient in the language of instruction. The specific problems encountered by these pupils, in this type of setting, needed a scientific investigation, with a view to identifying and clarifying the nature of these pupils' language learning. The South African urban context, where inner-city schools are being founded at an increasing pace, needed a local study to shed some light on the issue of English Second Language learning for school learning. The literature review consisted of readings in second language learning, the relatedness of language, culture and cognition and the characteristics of the typical inner-city school. The theory framework constructed from the review concluded with the theoretical premise that the inner-city pupil need not be pathologised as a language learner and that poverty, culture, ethnicity, although impacting on learning, can manifest in a variant pedagogy such as proposed by Bartolome (1994). The field investigation, which was conducted over one year, included data collection from three sources or constituents, namely the ten pupils of the monographic studies, their parents or caregivers, and the teacher. These data were consolidated, reduced and clustered, emanating in final empirical findings which were confirmed via the different methods and sources. The categories of data indicated, among others, that the pupils' reading comprehension was limited, that their syntactic knowledqe was undeveloped, that their pronunciation of English and limited vocabulary are obstacles in their communication and that they had a positive attitude towards English as medium of instruction. In the interpretation phase of this study, when the theory framework, with additional reading, was implemented in the clarification of the empirical findings, it was evident that the pupils' progress in English could be related to the role of the home, more than to variables at school. This aspect of the interpretation argument was selected as the focus for the construction of a model for home and English curriculum integration. This model is presented as an implementable and verifiable model for practice firstly, but also as a guideline for policy and research.