THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER TONGUE LITERACY ON SOUTH AFRICA ADULT’S ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH LITERACY

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Presenter: Yin Jin Apple Lin Instructor: Dr. Pi-Ying Teresa Hsu October 22, 2012

Nurss, J.(1998).The effects of mother tongue

literacy on South African adult’s acquisition

of English literacy. Adult Basic Education,

8(2),111-119.

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Citation

CONTENTS

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III Literature review

IntroductionIResearch QuestionsII

MethodologyIVResults & Discussion

VReflectionVI

South Africa has 11 official languages.

The official policy is for adults to attain v

functional literacy in their mother tongue before

enrolling in English classes.

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Introduction

A large number adults are illiterate or have a

very low level of literacy (18.5%).

Many adults don’t live and work in a highly literate environment.

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Introduction

Adults Basic Education and Training (ABET).

ABET assumed that one master at least level

1 and 2 to have attained sustainable literacy

(that would take minimum 2 years).

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Background

Should South African adults who need literacy

instruction be taught to read first in their

mother tongue and then in English or should

they go “straight to” English?

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Purpose

How is adult’s acquisition of English literacy

affected by their level of mother tongue literacy?

How are their understanding of concepts of

print and functions of literacy?

What are their level of oral English?

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Research Questions

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Many consider South Africa’s multilingualism “a national resource, not a national problem”.

(Luckett, 1993, p.74)

Literature review

Streets suggests that using mother tongue

literacy simply as a bridge to second language

literacy may be “demeaning”.

(Streets, 1994, p.12)

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Literature review

The advantage is heightened when the teacher is

bilingual so the adults can acquire both mother

tongue and second language literacy

simultaneously.

(Gillespie, 1995)

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Literature review

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Methodology

Participants: 68 South Africa men and women

Average age: 34

78% were employed

ABET Exam

Level 1Paper & Oral test

Level 2Paper & Oral test

Level 3, 4, 5Paper & Oral test

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Those scoring 90% or higher

Methodology

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N=24

Meet twice a week for 1 hour eachClass A

N=14Meet 4 times per week for 1 hour per session

Class C

N=18Meet twice per week for 2 hours per session

Class D

Class B N=12Meet once a week for 4 hours per session

Methodology

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Results

Zulu literacy(mother tongue)

Oral English Education approached

p=0.034 p=0.471 p=0.744

No significant difference.

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Results

Zulu literacy(mother tongue)

Oral English Education approached

p=0.034 p=0.471 p=0.744

No significant difference.

What are their level of oral English?

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Zulu literacy(mother tongue)

Oral English Education approached

p=0.034 p=0.471 p=0.744

Subjects scored significantly higher on Zulu literacy.

Results

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Results

Many programs don’t require mother tongue

literacy in order to enroll in an English

literacy ABET class.

(1) The pressure by the adults themselves.

(2) The several programs use prior level

as an indicator of mother tongue literacy.

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Discussion

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This article help me to know about the other country’s mother tongue was related to acquired English.

ABET assumed that one master that would take minimum 2 years at least, but the author didn’t mention how much time did he spent for the research procedures.

Reflection

THANKS FOR YOUR LISTENING.

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