Exploring Mother Tongue Education in the Foundation Phase to Promote Linguistic Diversity: Learning Barriers in a Historically disadvantaged School

Abstract

This study focused on exploring the challenges of mother tongue education in the Foundation Phase in promoting linguistic diversity at a historically disadvantaged school in the Western Cape, South Africa. It adopted a qualitative case study located within an interpretive research paradigm. Focus group discussions and interviews were used for data collection, and the thematic analysis technique was employed for qualitative data. Thirty-two participants including twelve Foundation Phase learners (n=12: females = 6; males = 6; ages 7-9 years), eight Foundation Phase educators (n=8 female educators, ages 29-56 years), and twelve parents or caregivers (n=12, ages between 29-57 years) were purposively selected as participants from a historically disadvantaged school. This study found that non-mother tongue English-speaking learners in the Foundation Phase, growing up in historically disadvantaged areas and attending disadvantaged schools, experienced several learning barriers. These included educators’ lack of proficiency regarding non-mother tongue learners’ language, psychological-social barriers, and cultural diversity. This study concluded that some learners' linguistic rights in the Foundation Phase classrooms were seriously compromised because they did not receive their mother tongue instruction.