Teacher to Learner Language Learning Barriers

As a beginner teacher it may be hard trying to understand and interpret theory and methods and then having to implement this into their everyday teaching practices. Thinking of ways to allow the learners epistemological access to the knowledge that they are meant to be learning may be even more difficult when the diverse range of second and even third language English speaking learners fills the classroom. Beginner teachers who were trained and taught in EHL proficiency level might find it challenging to teach ESAL learners. In the South African context there are 11 official languages, which may pose as a challenge for beginner teachers in the classroom as it may be difficult to teach each and every learner. These classrooms also consist of learners who come from other African countries such as Zimbabwe, Congo and Nigeria. This means that the teacher has to cater to the needs of the learners who speak one of the 11 official languages (English, IsiZulu, SeSotho, Sepedi, Setswana, Afrikaans, IsiXhosa, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, IsiNdebele, Setswana) as well as having to cater to the learners who speak Shona, French, Igbo and/or Swahili, for example.

Samuel expresses that he has experienced situations where he was unable to communicate with his learners because they could not speak or understand the language of teaching and learning which is English: “The children that I teach don’t come from families where English is their home language, neither do they come from families where English is their second language. I believe that English is their third language if not their fourth language” (interview 3). He elaborates on his teaching experience as a qualified teacher, and the difficulties he has in teaching due to language barriers in the classroom.

I have taught in a multicultural classroom where I have taught children with different beliefs and different languages, only to find out that I have to use English as the medium of instruction. The children don’t know English because they’ve never heard English before. It’s a little bit challenging because you don’t know how to code switch in all 11 official languages and you don’t know how to code switch to the other languages that your learners are bringing into your class. This was a challenge, but I grew from that experience, because the duty and sole purpose of being a teacher is to teach those children the English language so that they can be responsive to the teaching and learning (Excerpt 15, interview 3).

South Africa is a very diverse country and translates to our schooling contexts and

classrooms being diverse as a reflection of the society. Being able to discern which theories and methods are most likely to be effective when teaching is a challenge that all beginner teachers face, as they may not have the practical experience to know what has worked and what has not worked in the classroom. Taking into consideration the different languages, beliefs and morals that the children bring into the classroom is very important. Knowing the cultural and linguistic capital that the learners bring will serve as a guide of where the teacher should draw their inferences from, speaking and teaching using examples of various aspects that the learners can relate to and draw knowledge from. This can be referred back to the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) where Vygotsky illustrates that when teaching, the teacher has to be able to meet the learners at their actual level of understanding and take them to where they should be intellectually by mediating through the use of teaching resources and various methods (Chaiklin, 2003). Samuel displays an understanding of what is expected of him as a teacher, which is to teach the learners the language of instruction so that they may be able to learn and be responsive through the process of teaching and learning. However, there is a greater need for better engagement with English as a Second Language (ESL) and multilingual education in the FP. Resorting to ‘teaching English’ means that the problem of how education does not attend to

multilingualism in South Africa has not been solved. Rather, it suggests that this participant is working with what he has and, despite his good intentions, cannot move beyond the limitations of the educational and ITT systems that he works with.

Furthermore, it can be assumed that many beginner teachers face the same challenge with regard to language being a key issue in their ability to teach. Having been taught in EHL during their teacher training, teachers can find it difficult to mediate and teach English to ESAL learners because there is no clear understanding of what they require to foster understanding and epistemological access. Samuel’s professional identity is constantly being probed and he negotiates it through these different experiences that challenge him as a professional: “This was a challenge, but I grew from that experience” (Excerpt 16,

Samuel does this by changing his teaching methods to accommodate his learners’ lack of language proficiency, and devising his own teaching and learning resources that enable them access to the basic elements of the English language, such as the alphabet which is differentiated in accordance to vowels and consonants.

In conclusion, this chapter sought to capture the overall themes that were interpreted and analyzed. Having captured the core themes that foregrounded this data analysis chapter, I used quotes from the actual interview process/data as excerpts to substantiate the

assumptions and interpretations that were discussed. Using the actual data attained from the interviews gave this chapter the merit that it needed to create an informed analysis which correlated with the initial main and sub-questions that have been explored throughout the research report, and later recommendations resulting in an overall conclusion (Chapter Six).