Abstract
Language acquisition is an innate ability in the field of psychology. In South Africa, the teaching of languages has been heavily debated. Research on second language acquisition in South African schools is scarce. Given the diversity of our population, more than half the learners in preschool classrooms are taught and learn in their second language, English. Additional concerns were identified in a) the education system's approach to language learning, b) policy regulation implementing Inquiry-Based Learning as pedagogy, and c) the teachers' ongoing professional development. The study aimed to explore and describe Inquiry-Based Learning in teaching a second language in multicultural preschool classrooms at a private school. This inquiry, achieved through a generic qualitative study, investigated the teachers' experiences through semi-structured interviews. The data provided by four research participants were coded and analysed using ATLAS. ti software. Three themes emerged from the data analysis, 1) Implementation challenges of Inquiry-Based Learning, 2) Variations in language learning and 3) Differences in professional development. The results indicate that Inquiry-Based Learning can be integrated into daily activities in preschool classrooms, which promotes language learning. The comprehensible language and mediation employed in Inquiry-Based Learning successfully facilitate second language acquisition.
Key words:
Generic qualitative study; Inquiry-based learning; language learning; pedagogy, preschool learners; second language acquisition