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In South Africa, many children learn to read and write in a second language making it more difficult to acquire literacy skills in the early stages of formal education. While national language policy is sound, the practice is questionable. It is clear that urgent interventions are required if our economy is to gain the necessary academic and social skills which only come through literacy.
Learning to talk appears to be a basic human function which occurs roughly between the ages of one and four. Some studies on ‘wolf children’ indicate that if a child has no language by the time he or she is six, it is probably too late to learn. Reading and writing are an extension of language - and similarly, if a child does not acquire basic literacy skills at an early age, it is difficult to catch up later in life.
Sound policy for sound foundations
The Education Department’s Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) of 2005 recognises that ‘language … shapes our identity and knowledge’. However, learning how to read and write is different from the assimilation of language and most children require some formal teaching before they become literate.
In our multi-lingual context, formal teaching is often conducted in a language that may not be the home language of the learner or educator, or both. The RNCS emphasises the well-researched premise that if children are taught to read and write in their dominant home language they lay down a strong literacy foundation, which, besides enhancing their own ability to comprehend and to express themselves, enables them to use this foundation as the basis for all other learning.
If this first foundation is shaky - which most frequently happens if children learn to read and write in a language which is not their dominant home language - literacy in any language, including in their home language, is not firmly rooted. Then the ability to express ideas in writing or to comprehend written language is never as sound as it could be. This affects learning in all areas of the curriculum.
The national language policy: key points (Revised National Curriculum Statement, 2005)
- The learner’s home language should be used for teaching wherever possible, particularly in the Foundation phase where children learn to read and write.
- Where learners have to make a transition from their home language to an additional language as the language of learning, this should be carefully planned:
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- The additional language should be introduced as a subject in Grade 1,
- The home language should continue to be used alongside the additional language for as long as possible,
- Teachers and other educators should make provision for special assistance and supplementary learning of the additional language, until such time as the learner is able to learn effectively.
Reality in the classroom
While we have a good language policy, poor literacy ‘outcomes’ suggest that the practice in South Africa’s classrooms has some way to go. A national Department of Education survey into literacy in 2003 has shown that less than 40 percent of all children were literate in Grade 3 (9 year olds). It appears likely that the results of testing again in Grade 6 (12 year olds) in 2005 will not show significant improvements.
Disturbingly, this suggests that unless children learn to read and write at the right moment, at six or seven years of age, they are unlikely to learn later on.
So where are we going wrong?
Home-grown reading culture
Research shows that the more often babies and very young children are exposed to stories, pictures and books the easier they find the process of learning to read and write when they get to school. Alarmingly, 90 percent of young children (in what age group?) in South Africa have no access to any books at all. Many children grow up in homes where parents are not literate. Not only are these children far less likely to have access to books, but they are not immersed in a culture of reading where literacy is modelled as a meaningful activity from an early age. South African children are also deeply disadvantaged because there are so few books written for very young children in their own language and with illustrations from their own context.
The Isiqalo – First Words in Print project of the Centre for the Book is one of the very few non-didactic programmes which ensures that very young children have access to mother-tongue storybooks. The Department of Education has made it clear that it is as interested in books for pleasure for this very young age group as it is about books for the Reception and Foundation phases in formal schooling. But there are still too many children who reach Grade 1 without even having held a book.
Starting with stories: Since 2003, the Centre for the Book’s Isiqalo – First Words in Print programme has provided 40,000 disadvantaged families with eight South African picture books and storybooks for ages birth to six, all written in the family’s dominant home language with bright and recognisable illustrations. An evaluation of the pilot phase of the project showed a remarkable level of interest and enthusiasm from the children themselves and later research indicates that grandmothers and siblings, in particular, love to read and tell the stories to the children. Isiqalo is now doing a longitudinal study which will trace the school careers of the children who have books with a control group of children who have not had any access to books.
Breaking down the barriers to learning
Once children reach school, there are many factors which may inhibit their learning process – and for those learning in a second or even third language, the challenges are even greater. There is still widespread demand from parents for English-medium instruction. This is largely because parents are not well informed about the reasons why reading and writing are best taught in the child’s dominant home language. A partnership of understanding and working together between educators and parents is vitally important to support a child’s learning process.
Make formal learning fun too
In many cases, however, there is little understanding from teachers and principals that reading and writing are co-dependent and will only become integral to children’s lives when they are so deeply ingrained that they are like breathing. If reading and writing are pleasurable exercises which develop a child’s sense of colour and imagination and fun they are easy to develop. Once children can read the skill must be nurtured and can be done so through the provision of fun books in every classroom. The Ministry of Education is vigorously campaigning for 100 books in every classroom. Reading for pleasure in the classroom must become paramount in the daily time-table - and educators, who are often not readers themselves, will have to be trained to prioritise this activity.
“I would like to suggest a policy engraved in stone that for 30 minutes in every classroom, in every school, everyday, everybody from the principal to the cleaner to the youngest child, is reading a book for pleasure.” Elisabeth Anderson, Centre for the Book
The language question
In South Africa, our educators are trained in English or Afrikaans. Often those who have been trained in a second language find it difficult to teach children how to read and write in, say, isiXhosa even though it may be their first language. This oversight in training could easily be remedied – and would make an enormous difference to the transfer of knowledge in all areas of the curriculum at every level of learning.
It is widely accepted, for instance, that language proficiency is a major indicator of maths and science performance. And academics at South African Universities are quite clear that they cannot accept students into higher degree courses in the sciences even if their mathematic and scientific aptitude is excellent, unless they have a sound grasp of language and can both read and write English fluently. By that stage it is too late to gain the essential foundations of literacy. Current academic language is in English.
From story-telling to knowledge
Not so easy to remedy is the status of creative writing. Every year, the Centre for the Book holds workshops to train teachers on how to teach children creative writing but this training is not going to back to the children. There seems to be a belief among educators that creative writing is taking up time which should be used more productively on ‘hard facts’ teaching. Principals and educators require a deeper understanding of ‘Learning Outcome 4: Writing’ in the RNCS which states that: “The learner will be able to write different kinds of factual and imaginative texts for a wide range of purposes.” Not much will change until educators, with the support of principals, realise that being able to write with ease is fundamental to the ability to internalise and then use the information taught in all subjects of the curriculum. Only then is there knowledge.
The key to early literacy is inspiration. We need to inspire our children to express themselves. From a very early age, children should be encouraged to tell their own stories. Even a toddler is capable of telling a story and representing an experience. A two-year-old told me this story: “Once upon a time a boy was walking down the road. A dog came. The dog said whooff! What a scary story.”
At school level, encouraging children to share their stories is a powerful way to develop an interest in creative writing. Educators can make small books of the best classroom stories and poems and include these books among the classroom fun-readers. Children love to read each other’s work and in this way writing gains status. The Centre for the Book has found that young men and women in Grades 10, 11 and 12 are far more likely to read and take note of the insights of their peers than from didactic presentations on HIVAids or even music and fashion. If this is the case educators should make use of every opportunity to encourage these young people to express themselves in writing and to read each others’ views on life, on loss and on their hopes and dreams.
The key to literacy is inspiration. We need to inspire our children to tell their own stories. Learners are far more likely to read and take note of the insights of their peers – and educators should encourage young people to express themselves in writing and to read each others’ views on life, loss, their hopes and dreams.
An attainable goal
With the right mix of policy, practice and inspiration, the challenges of literacy development are not insurmountable. A concerted drive by parents and educators together with the provision of books in every South African language could transform the South African economy and stabilise our society.
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This feature article is brought to you by the Centre for the Book / Book Development Foundation.
The Book Development Foundation, through the Centre for the Book, aims to promote the writing, publishing, reading, marketing and distribution of South African books in all South African languages in order to develop a truly South African literary culture.
Elisabeth Anderson is Director of Centre for the Book and Isiqalo – First Words in Print is one of the Centre’s programmes.
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