[lg policy] In SA, science should be taught in only one language — English

Fri Jul 10 15:29:47 UTC 2015

*In South Africa, science should be taught in only one language —
English* *There's
an ongoing debate about how best to promote multilingualism in schools. But
is this debate relevant when it comes to teaching science?*
 Samuel Ouma Oyoo
 09 July 2015

*PICTURE: GALLO IMAGES*

Mother tongue education has long been a political hot potato
<http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-10-17-forked-tongues-will-mother-tongue-education-lead-to-racial-division/#.VZF4Hfmqqko>
in
South Africa. This started with the 1976 Soweto uprisings when school
children <http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?id=65-258-3>
staged protests after Afrikaans became the medium of instruction.

Today, the country’s policies promote
<http://www.salanguages.com/education.htm> multilingualism. But its schools
are battling
<http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/03/19/report-warns-of-looming-teacher-shortage>
with
a lack of African language teachers. Many teachers are not multilingual.
All the high-stakes examinations are also taken in only English or
Afrikaans. This means that most of South Africa’s 11 official languages
<http://www.southafrica.info/about/people/language.htm#.VZF7dfmqqkq> take a
backseat to English and Afrikaans when it comes to formal school learning
and teaching.

Language rights are enshrined
<http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/theconstitution/english-2013.pdf>
in
South Africa’s Constitution and there’s an ongoing debate about how best to
promote multilingualism in schools. But is this debate relevant when it
comes to teaching science? My answer is “no”. Instead, science should be
taught only in one language from Grade 4 onwards.

*What research tells us*

This is a conclusion reached from more than three decades as a school
physics teacher, a science teacher educator and through sustained research
about language for the effective learning of school science.

In the last five years, this research has been conducted as part of the
Language and Learning of Physical Science in South Africa project at the
University of the Witwatersrand’s Marang Centre for Mathematics and Science
Education.

It has involved about 3 500 physical science learners from 35 high schools
across Johannesburg and teaching students from the University of the
Witwatersrand. A total of 70 active physical science teachers have also
participated. Data has been collected through word tests and structured
interviews.

Science is certainly a practical subject, but it also has its own language
<https://theconversation.com/helping-learners-become-fluent-in-the-language-of-science-classrooms-41540>.
Teachers must explain what they are doing when setting up an experiment,
for instance, and use everyday language to clarify complex concepts.

In South African schools, a language’s appropriateness for learning and
teaching is judged mainly by whether it is the learners' mother tongue, no
matter what subject is being taught. Teachers assume that if a learner is
proficient in a language, they’ll be able to cope with the subject matter.

So, in science, students who speak and are taught in English are presumed
to have an advantage. If that was the case, all first language English
speakers who are taught in English would excel in science — but this is
simply not true.

That’s because science classrooms have an entirely different language. A
learner who is fluent in English will know what “decay” means in an English
lesson or a biology text. In physics, the word means something totally
different <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/decay>.

Our findings over the past five years have been nearly identical to those
in other transnational studies and my earlier work
<http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11165-011-9228-3>. Teaching
students and learners battle with the unique language of the science
classroom irrespective of gender, cultural or linguistic backgrounds.

Proficiency in the language of the science classroom is key, though it’s
certainly not the only factor that will stop students from performing well
in the subject. Our research suggests that if all students are at the same
level of proficiency in a single language when they start learning science,
it removes a serious barrier to performance.

*Why English?*

Many of South Africa’s children are still learning in a second or even third
language <http://www.salanguages.com/education.htm>. The shortage of
qualified African language teachers referred to earlier is a situation that
seems unlikely to improve any time soon. While debates about
multilingualism continue, we cannot sit idle. So why not level the playing
field by using just one language for all learning beyond Grade 3?

As to which language this should be: there is evidence
<http://mg.co.za/article/2013-10-04-wrest-power-from-english-tyranny> to
suggest that many South African parents want their children to be taught
and become proficient in English. English is considered useful for future
studies at tertiary institutions anywhere in the world and also is the most
widely spoken of the 11 official languages globally
<http://themindunleashed.org/2015/06/see-the-worlds-most-spoken-languages-in-one-eye-opening-infographic.html>
.

Once a language has been chosen, the education department can focus
aggressively on ensuring that learners are proficient in it, in much the
same way that schools foster computer literacy. Learners will then be able
to learn and perform in science according to their individual capabilities
to handle science concepts without language as an added handicap.

A similar policy has been pursued elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa
<http://www.languageeducationpolicy.org/lepbyworldregion/africasubsahara.html>.
In Lusophone countries, Portuguese is the language of instruction;
Francophone countries often use French as the medium of instruction and
Anglophone countries favour English in the classroom.

These languages hark back to colonial times, which may make people
uncomfortable. But on a practical level they are similar to English — far
more widely spoken globally than any local languages.

*Multilingualism still relevant*

This is not to say that all other official languages as recognised in the
Constitution are irrelevant or that multilingualism shouldn’t have any
place in schools. Multilingualism fosters social cohesion
<http://blogs.sun.ac.za/news/2013/04/11/promoting-african-languages-contributes-to-social-cohesion-and-economic-development/>
and
languages are a crucial part of people’s individual cultures.

When it comes to learning school science, however, the single language
policy is a sustainable one. One language for all school learning will
focus learner efforts to attain good proficiency levels in it.

The single language policy therefore has the potential to enhance learning
outcomes and to speedily produce the science skills that South Africa needs
<http://www.inseta.org.za/downloads/Top%20100%20scarce%20skill%20occupations%20in%20south%20africa.pdf>
.

*Samuel Ouma Oyoo is a senior lecturer in Science Education at University
of the Witwatersrand*

*http://www.rdm.co.za/politics/2015/07/09/in-sa-science-should-be-taught-in-only-one-language--english
<http://www.rdm.co.za/politics/2015/07/09/in-sa-science-should-be-taught-in-only-one-language--english>*

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