Abstract
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
South Africa can be metaphorically described as a quilt – a combination of diverse
languages, ethnicities, beliefs and cultural practices, carefully stitched together and
passed on from one generation to the next. South African children grow and develop
surrounded by the comfort and warmth of this colourful quilt. Although this provides a
rich and dynamic learning environment, we face the challenge of providing equal
quality education and educational psychological services to all our children.
Psychological testing aids with the deeper understanding of an individual’s area of
development and strengths in order to be able to make informed decisions about
appropriate interventions, support and recommendations. However, due to South
Africa’s problematic political past, psychological testing is faced with challenges of its
own such as unavailability of tests that are culturally sensitive.
This study forms part of a longitudinal study which is addressing this challenge by
implementing a localized solution to a local problem, at an affordable cost. The
Junior South African Intelligence Scale (JSAIS) is an instrument which measures the
intelligence of 3- to 7-year-old children, and is currently standardised for Afrikaans and
English-speaking children only. In an effort to eliminate the language barrier and
make it more applicable of our South African population, the JSAIS GIQ-8 was
translated into Sesotho and isiZulu. In previous studies, the translated tests were
administered and a Rasch measure of analysis used to determine the quality of the
items in relation to the ability of the participants. This exploratory qualitative study
focuses on acquiring recommendations from a panel of people experienced in
administering the JSAIS with the aim to improve the quality of the Sesotho JSAIS.
Findings show that the Sesotho used in the initial translation is a pure form of
Sesotho and participants are concerned that children living in townships around the
country may not understand this well. The participants recommend administration to
a wider sample group to learn more about the Sesotho dialects used in different
regions of South Africa. A Sesotho manual needs to be added to guide
administrators in regional word use and in providing standard instructions. The
answer sheets needs to be adapted. Some of the pictures on the picture cards need
to be changed and the Sesotho questions on those picture cards added as
appendices...