Abstract
M.Ed.
The way of life of urban black township students was the subject of this study over a
period of seven months. Particular emphasis fell on the role 'played by the students' first
language in their educational life-world, that is in the totality of their meaningful
relationships with people, ideas, systems, attitudes, self, and everything else in which their
social, cultural and educational background has influence. The selection of the two case
studies was criterion-based. These standard nine female students went to primary schools
which were registered with the former Department of Education and Training. Presently,
one attends a previously Transvaal Education Department high school in Berea and her
curriculum does not offer her first language, Xhosa. The other goes to a school in the
centre of Johannesburg city. This was a DET school and the student takes her L1, Zulu,
together with English and Afrikaans.
The theoretical underpinning of the study is drawn from a number of first and second
language acquisition theories such as those of Piaget, Vygotsky, Chomsky, Krashen and
Cummins. Furthermore a background to the political and socio-cultural aspects of urban
township education and settlement patterns was given. To obtain data for the research,
both qualitative methods (interviews and observation) and quantitative methods
(standardised tests) were used. A link was made between the methods and data was
processed per method. Frequential and holistic coding of data fascilitated and validated
data analysis and interpretation. One of the patterns that emerged from the data was that
the participants lack cognitive and academic proficiency in the medium of instruction
(English). This was found to be largely due to inadequate L1 development at primary
school and the lack of support of English in the township community. The other finding
was that the students and their parents associate the L1 with their culture and the black
community while English is seen as a prestigious and functional language for communication and education. These findings therefore suggest that urban township
students want to attain high levels of English proficiency in addition to, rather than in
lieu of L 1 .
The implications of the study relate to the need for suitable additional bilingualism
programmes at primary school level. African languages need to be further developed so
that there is sufficient quality L1 literature for the development of cognitive and academic
proficiency. Family and socio-economic circumstances were found to be additional
factors that limit the breadth of the students' educational life-world. It was finally stated
that sound home-school links would bring parents into the decision-making process
regarding language and curricular issues, as well as provide a forum from which values
common to home and school are inculcated in the children.