Teachers’ perceptions of the influence of Setswana Home Language (SHL) on English writing, pronunciation and spelling proficiency of Setswana Home Language (SHL) Grade 11 learners in South Africa

Abstract

South African learners’ lack of proficiency in English, particularly in Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), is a concern to educators and policy makers. This is considered the cause of most learners’ under-performance. Second language (L2) learners study English as a subject but also use it as the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) from Grade 4 in South African schools. The distance between English and their communities, particularly in rural areas, results in lack of exposure to English; as a result, learners fail to acquire the CALP required for academic success.  This study investigated teachers‘ perceptions of the influence of Setswana Home Language (SHL) on the English writing, pronunciation and spelling proficiency of SHL Grade 11 learners in a rural public secondary school in the Bojanala Education District, North-West Province. The L2 acquisition theory of Cummins including the threshold hypothesis, the linguistic interdependence hypothesis, the common underlying proficiency (CUP) and the concepts of BICS and CALP informed the single case qualitative study. Data were collected through focus group interviews with a small purposeful sample of four Grade 11 English First Additional Language (EFAL) teachers . The findings indicated learners’ poor English language proficiency with reference to poor sound and word recognition and poor writing proficiency; limited English vocabulary; negative attitudes towards English; concurrent use of Setswana and English in the classroom; and solutions to pronunciation and spelling problems. SHL Grade 11 learners require concerted assistance with English writing, pronunciation and spelling; teachers require guidelines for teaching these skills in multilingual classrooms. Key words: English First Additional Language; Language of Learning and Teaching; spelling; pronunciation; writing skills; basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS); cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP).