Parental perceptions: a case study of school choice amidst language waves
In this article we report and reflect on the responses to a questionnaire survey administered to 600 parents/caregivers, whose Foundation Phase children attend a former Afrikaans-medium primary school where English is now the sole medium of instruction, although English is not spoken as home languag...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Education Association of South Africa
2014-06-01
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| Series: | South African Journal of Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002014000200020&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1819061355884314624 |
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| author | Rinelle Evans Ailie Cleghorn |
| author_facet | Rinelle Evans Ailie Cleghorn |
| author_sort | Rinelle Evans |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article we report and reflect on the responses to a questionnaire survey administered to 600 parents/caregivers, whose Foundation Phase children attend a former Afrikaans-medium primary school where English is now the sole medium of instruction, although English is not spoken as home language by either teachers or learners. We explored reasons why parents chose this particular school, especially in the light of available alternatives as well as their views of mother tongue/English instruction. At present, many parents favour an approach that also nurtures the home language, even while support for an English-only approach is strong. It may be that well-established research findings on the pedagogical and social benefits of maintaining home/local languages are being heard, at least among younger and better educated parents. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T14:41:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8fc6a730711c4e4f8dd7bcdd2c120260 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T14:41:35Z |
| publishDate | 2014-06-01 |
| publisher | Education Association of South Africa |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Journal of Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-8fc6a730711c4e4f8dd7bcdd2c1202602022-12-21T19:00:09ZengEducation Association of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Education2076-34332014-06-013420119S0256-01002014000200020Parental perceptions: a case study of school choice amidst language wavesRinelle Evans0Ailie Cleghorn1University of PretoriaConcordia UniversityIn this article we report and reflect on the responses to a questionnaire survey administered to 600 parents/caregivers, whose Foundation Phase children attend a former Afrikaans-medium primary school where English is now the sole medium of instruction, although English is not spoken as home language by either teachers or learners. We explored reasons why parents chose this particular school, especially in the light of available alternatives as well as their views of mother tongue/English instruction. At present, many parents favour an approach that also nurtures the home language, even while support for an English-only approach is strong. It may be that well-established research findings on the pedagogical and social benefits of maintaining home/local languages are being heard, at least among younger and better educated parents.http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002014000200020&lng=en&tlng=enFoundation Phase classroomslanguage of instructionlanguage shiftmulti-lingualismschool choiceSouth Africa |
| spellingShingle | Rinelle Evans Ailie Cleghorn Parental perceptions: a case study of school choice amidst language waves South African Journal of Education Foundation Phase classrooms language of instruction language shift multi-lingualism school choice South Africa |
| title | Parental perceptions: a case study of school choice amidst language waves |
| title_full | Parental perceptions: a case study of school choice amidst language waves |
| title_fullStr | Parental perceptions: a case study of school choice amidst language waves |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parental perceptions: a case study of school choice amidst language waves |
| title_short | Parental perceptions: a case study of school choice amidst language waves |
| title_sort | parental perceptions a case study of school choice amidst language waves |
| topic | Foundation Phase classrooms language of instruction language shift multi-lingualism school choice South Africa |
| url | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002014000200020&lng=en&tlng=en |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rinelleevans parentalperceptionsacasestudyofschoolchoiceamidstlanguagewaves AT ailiecleghorn parentalperceptionsacasestudyofschoolchoiceamidstlanguagewaves |