Complementing Home Languages and English First Additional Language through Non-Academic Activities

Abstract

This study explored how to harness non-academic activities to enhance the complementarity between learners’ home languages and English first additional language (EFAL) in the Intermediate Phase in South Africa. A qualitative approach was used in this study. For this qualitative study, eight Intermediate Phase teachers were selected as respondents. Each teacher was engaged in a telephone interview because we found this data collection tool less time-consuming, allows for the recording of the conversation, and saves on transport costs. These eight teachers, two each from four primary schools, were referred to as T1 to T8 to maintain their anonymity and uphold confidentiality. The findings indicate that using non-academic strategies and activities such as songs, co-curricular activities, name building, school assemblies and announcements, bilingual/multilingual teachers and non-teaching personnel help learners realise the complementarity between their home languages and the English language. The other findings comprise inclusive strategies that could benefit EFAL learners in using their home languages to understand EFAL, namely the use of newsletters and telephone calls in the vernacular, Heritage Day and Cultural Week and school trips to cultural villages. The study has shown that in globalised multilingual learning settings, there is a need to embrace non-academic activities that the school and relevant stakeholders can use to promote the complementarity between learners’ home languages and English first additional language. The study also recommends hiring bi/multilingual teachers to schools to enhance multilingual practices in teaching and learning English first an additional language. Keywords: English first additional Language; Multilingualism; Multilingual Education; Linguistic Diversity