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This mixed methods study compares L2 learning motivation of Burundi simultaneous learners of French, English and Kiswahili, mainly focusing on L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS). A total of 348 junior high school students participated in a 60-item questionnaire survey, and 12 of those learners participated in a follow-up semi-structured interview. The quantitative data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) while the interview data were analysed employing a thematic analysis method. The results support the validity of the L2MSS in comparing and explaining Burundi simultaneous multiple language learners' motivation. For all the three target languages, L2 Learning Experience appeared as the strongest predictor of the learners' intended learning effort, followed by the Ideal L2 Self only in relation to English and French learning. The role of the variable of International Posture on the three components of the L2MSS, which was assumed to be influenced by the Burundi socio-educational context, was also observed in the SEM analysis. The analysis indicated that the impact of International Posture on Ideal L2 Self was only significant in the models of both English and Kiswahili while its impact on L2 Learning Experience was only significant in the model of Kiswahili. The interview data also provided further insight into the quantitative findings. Pedagogical implications are provided based on these key findings.

This is a case study of classroom interaction of SSS1 English and Igbo in reading comprehension at Premier Secondary School, Aba, Nigeria. The purpose is to determine whether interaction in reading comprehension in English and Igbo is constrained by language in terms of interaction patterns, style and culture. The class sessions were described using Sinclair and Coulthard's (1992) model of class interaction. The findings reveal that interaction patterns are similar. However, patterns that were specific to languages were in the form of cultural transfer, circumlocutions characteristic of Igbo as opposed to precision in English, and excessive exhibition of teacher's authority. The study recommends that teachers in language classrooms should engage the students in interesting interactions that encourage active participation and reduce the rate of harsh responses and negative feedback as they can be inhibitive to students' participation.

Background: PIRLS 2021 results revealed that South African Grade 4 learners performed significantly lower compared to other countries in reading comprehension and that they did not reach the standardised international mean score of 500. It was also evident from the results that English learners performed relatively higher than isiZulu learners. Objective: This study was initiated to investigate whether possible measurement invariance can help explain the difference in the scores of English and isiZulu learners. Measurement invariance is concerned with the metric and functional equivalence of the items in the two languages examined. Method: A quantitative approach was utilised to reanalyse the PIRLS 2021 numerical data sets. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the mean and raw scores. Rasch analysis was conducted to look for any Differential Item Function (DIF) in the items. Results: Statistics revealed that there is a significant difference in the mean scores of the two languages. Analysis of raw scores provided evidence that some of the items lacked metric equivalence. Rasch analysis displayed that some of the items lacked functional equivalence. Conclusions: The significant difference found in the scores implies that Grade 4 learners need more attention mastering the skill of reading literacy. The lack of metric and functional equivalence suggests that items in the passages need to be investigated and improved. Contributions: This study has contributed to the International Large-Scale Assessment literature specifically relating to the equivalence of ILSA across languages. A significant gap in the learners' scores was identified and measurement invariance helped explain the gap in the learners' reading scores.

Background: South African literacy-as-social-practice theoreticians, language-in-education experts, educational linguists, and language policies advocate multilingual pedagogies to acknowledge and cater to diverse multilingual learners' literacy development. Universities purport multilingualism to provide for the multilingual norm, students' literacy, and educational development, as scholarship shows that multilingualism benefits academia and literacy education. Yet, these universities remain locations for monolingual and epistemological biases. Concerns about such praxis pretensions in pluralistic literacy education and the failures in literacy-as-social-practice strategies have been raised. However, the perceptions of lecturers and students on their role in implementing desirable praxis in multilingual literacy education are under-researched. Objectives: This qualitative study explores lecturers' and students' perceptions and their impact on practising linguistic plurality in literacy for educational development schemes. Method: The research uses in-depth individual and focus-group interviews with four lecturers and four first-year undergraduate students at a selected linguistically diverse university. An interpretivist paradigm was applied consisting of participants' subjective experiences as members of a higher education institution (HEI). Results: Findings reveal that lecturers have difficulty coping with multiple languages due to inadequate training and misconceptions about multilingualism, and monolingual pedagogy perceptions carried over from their institutions whose culture denies students' linguistic plurality. Conclusion: The study demonstrates the importance of shifts in epistemological orientation and adequate training, focused on multilingualism, to develop versatile and agile lecturers equipped for multilingual universities. Contribution: This research contributes to understanding the complex implementation problems regarding multilingual literacy education and possible solutions. It postulates new ways of forging multilingual literacy practices to erase praxis morbidity.

The core objective of this article is to evaluate the progress made in linguistic development over the past three decades, with a specific focus on the role of language and its philosophical underpinnings in reshaping and decolonising South African higher education landscape. Linguistic imperialism as a conceptual framework alongside the Framework for Policy Analysis were employed to inform, guide and support the author's contention that linguistic hegemony is still dominating the discourse within the higher education sector. The research adopts a qualitative approach, utilising content analysis for data analysis purposes. The findings of the article reveal that despite 30 years of democracy, the influence of colonial-era language philosophy and western epistemologies persists. It is suggested that comprehensive implementation of language policies could effectively address the transformation and decolonisation agenda. It further advocates for alignment between policy and practice through pragmatic, intentional and transformative initiatives aimed at identifying, interrogating and disrupting the coloniality of power and its western epistemologies, as far as language policy and practice are concerned. In conclusion, the article emphasises the urgent need to counteract existing linguistic imperialism and hegemony embedded within colonial knowledge systems by enacting transformative policies that will prioritise student access, success, linguistic diversity, linguistic justice, epistemic justice and social cohesion within the framework of higher education. Contribution: The aim is to provide guidance to language policy implementers in South African universities by offering an overview of the linguistic advancements achieved between 1994 to 2024.

Background: Poetry predates all other genres of literature, and it has been argued that the relationship between poetry and language is inextricable. The ability of African people to articulate their own stories was largely silenced by colonialism. Poems and lyrics have been known to create a bridge between individuals in meaningful words and songs. Aim: This article explores Grade 3 teachers' experiences of teaching poetry and their utilisation of play pedagogies to enhance learning and make it pleasurable. Setting: Three schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were purposively selected because of their rural location. The sample comprised six Grade 3 teachers who worked in these three rural primary schools. The learners in the study were using isiZulu as a language of learning and teaching. Methods: Semi-structured interviews, document analysis and non-participant observations were employed to generate the data. Results: Regardless, Grade 1 teachers know their knowledge of the value of play pedagogies in the development of young children. Conclusion: Researchers suggest that Grade 3 teachers need to align their practice and lesson plans with Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) proposals and guidelines. Moreover, play pedagogies need to be implemented and these need to be realistically aligned with allocated time frames and available resources to mitigate the severe restraints that impede effective poetry teaching as a tool for facilitating learning. Contribution: To ensure the success of all Grade 3 learners in the realm of poetry understanding and writing, it is imperative that Foundation Phase (FP) teachers align their teaching to the CAPS pedagogies to expose learners to various forms of poetry.

Infants' preference for vowelharmony (VH, a phonotactic constraint that requires vowels in a word to be featurally similar) is thought to be language-specific: Monolingual infants learning VH languages show a listening preference for VH patterns by 6 months of age, while those learning non-VH languages do not (Gonzalez-Gomez et al., 2019; Van Kampen et al., 2008). We investigated sensitivity to advanced tongue root (ATR) harmony in Akan (Kwa, Niger-Congo) in 40 six-month-old multilingual infants (21 girls) in Ghana, West Africa (an understudied population), all learning Akan, Ghanaian English, and most of them several other understudied African languages (e.g., Ga, Ewe). We hypothesized that infants learning both ATR harmony and nonharmony languages would demonstrate sensitivity to ATR harmony. Using the central fixation procedure, infants were presented with disyllabic nonwords that were either harmonic (e.g., puti) or nonharmonic (e.g., pet[open-mid back rounded vowel]) based on their ATR features. Infants demonstrated sensitivity to ATR harmony with a familiarity preference, listening longer to harmonic syllable sequences than nonharmonic ones. The relative amount of exposure to (an) ATR harmony language(s) did not modulate the preference. These results shed light on our understanding of early multilingualism: they suggest that early sensitivity to VH in multilinguals may be similar to monolingual infants learning other types of VH, irrespective of simultaneous experience with non-VH languages. We conclude with reflections on studying infant language acquisition in multilingual Africa.

A substantial body of research shows that various types of audiovisual (AV) input such as videos and videos with second language (L2) subtitles can facilitate language learning. However, language teachers' day-to-day practices with regard to multimodal input is less understood. To bridge the gap in language education, this study investigates teachers' perceived use of four types of AV input (video only, video with subtitles, video with captions and video with enhanced captions) and factors influencing teachers' perspectives on these types of input for in-class and out-of-class learning. Questionnaire data were collected from 193 L2 teachers across the globe about their perceived use of AV input. Teachers reported that they use video and captioned video most frequently in both classroom and out-of-class contexts. Logistic regression analyses revealed that teachers' perceived importance and comfort using specific AV input types were the two most important factors explaining teachers' reported use. Complementarily, open-ended responses were analyzed qualitatively to identify teachers' additional reasons for (non)use of such input.

Despite huge investments in the educational sector, many countries in Africa have not fared well in the education indices. This study examined the effect of teaching equipment and teachers' effort on learning outcomes in 744 Nigerian primary schools using Stochastic Frontier and Ordinary Least Square regression. The mean technical efficiency was 0.43 which showed most of the surveyed schools were technically inefficient. Also, 42.8% of public primary schools operate below 20% efficiency level as against 12.3% in private primary schools. Factors influencing efficiency include school ownership type, visits from the Local Government Education Authority Student-Teacher ratio, and school hygiene.

Currently, no culturally and linguistically adapted autism screening tools are available in South Africa. The aim was to determine the reliability and concurrent validity of the adapted English and Northern Sotho-translated Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers--Revised with Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F). Reliability was confirmed with near-perfect agreement (p < 0.001) between the checklists in a sample of 158 Northern Sotho/English bilingual mothers of children with a low risk for autism. Concurrent validity between the Northern Sotho M-CHAT-R/F and the communication and socialization sub-domains of the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales--3rd Edition was established with significant association at the 5% level. A third (33.5%) of the children showed a developmental delay. The checklists are valid and reliable, and may improve early identification that will render better long-term outcomes for children with autism in South Africa. Autism screening should be combined with developmental assessment. The study contributes to an emerging body of research on the development of contextually appropriate screening measures.

The #RhodesMustFall (RMF) protests at South African universities (2015--2018) were the publicly visible manifestation of deep epistemic problems in the higher education (HE) sector, particularly around questions of whose knowledges are validated and whether these are reflective of students' lived realities. This exploratory research attempted a snapshot of the state of curriculum transformation of the linguistic language disciplines in South Africa and to identify areas that require more attention. The authors focus on curriculum underpinning the teaching of linguistics and language-related disciplines. The study takes place at HE institutions in South Africa against the backdrop of substantial academic and public engagement around epistemic access in the HE sector. The authors used an anonymous questionnaire distributed among a purposive sample of 32 HE academics within the linguistics and language studies disciplines to elicit views around university curriculum transformation and decolonisation with particular focus on linguistic language disciplines curricula. Generally, practitioners indicate that there have been substantial changes in the disciplines over the past 10 years. There have also been notable achievements with respect to building broad curricula that are responsive to student needs and which balance the need to equip students to engage in global conversations while also being embedded in the contextual realities of South Africa, the African continent and students' lived experiences. Contribution: The authors conclude that although transformation has progressed considerably in key areas, the representativity of languages and theoretical approaches remain areas for development. The authors also highlight how disciplinary curricular choices are value-driven and that contestations around which values are to be validated may inhibit curricular transformation. In these contexts, individual agency around curricular choices is important.

Background: Globally, teaching practice has been at the heart of teacher education programmes. For quality teaching and learning, literacy student teachers are expected to develop metacognitive attributes and critical thinking to integrate theory and practice. Because of the dominance of autonomous models in literacy teaching and learning nationally and internationally, literature continues to report poor literacy attainment, especially for indigenous language learners. Contrasting this deficit view, this article employed languaging as a lens to describe student teachers' reflections on their interactions with Grade 3 learners using multimodal and linguistic repertoires, which they both bring from socio-cultural contexts as well as utilisation of embodied representational modes. Aim: To explore how Foundation Phase (FP) student teachers used languaging and semiotic modes to enhance literacy teaching and learning in Grade 3 classrooms. Setting: An Eastern Cape Institution of Higher Education. Methods: In this qualitative study, four purposely selected FP isiXhosa Home Language student teachers used reflective journals to articulate their individual and peer classroom literacy practices. Data were thematically analysed. Results: Findings revealed the importance of acknowledging authentic and diverse linguistic resources that learners bring from their socio-cultural backgrounds as well as the use of multimodal literacies in the classroom context. Conclusion: This study concludes that languaging allowed learners and student teachers to exploit multimodalities and linguistic repertoires that they bring from their socio-cultural backgrounds. Contribution: This study demonstrates the pedagogical literacy strategies that created live dialogical engagements between student teachers and learners. These can be useful to teacher educators as well as teachers in the Foundation Phase contexts and thus improve literacy teaching and learning, especially in indigenous languages.

In rural contexts, schools experience many challenges such as lack of electricity, unstable WIFI, not enough classrooms and inadequate classroom technology. These challenges resulted in many teachers shying away from the use of technology in the classrooms. As with other subject fields, IsiNdebele language teachers want to prepare their learners for new careers and make their lessons interesting. However, they encounter challenges integrating e-learning tools in their lessons. A qualitative case study was conducted to understand the rural contextual perspective obtained through exploring the experiences of the researcher, four observers, and a class group of 20 learners. Data were collected using a document analysis protocol, learners' written questionnaire, observers' interview protocol, and a teacher's reflective journal. The Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) model was used as a frame of reference to integrate technology at various stages to enhance the quality of teaching and learning the IsiNdebele language in the rural context. In preparation for this study, six e-learning tools were found suitable for integration in teaching and learning, as well as enhancing classroom dynamics in the rural context. The data were analysed using content analysis. From this study, we suggest that rural IsiNdebele teachers should consider using e-learning tools daily, to ensure skills development and provide learners with real-world learning opportunities. Furthermore we recommend that similar research be conducted in different rural settings, using different official African languages to find more e-learning tools that can be used in rural contexts.

Background: Several isiXhosa home language (HL) learners are excluded from meaningful mathematics learning because they are taught in English. Not only do teachers lack epistemological and pedagogical confidence in using multiple languages when teaching mathematics, but there are no mathematical registers for African languages that allow for adequate mathematical teaching and learning. There is a scarcity of research on what constitutes effective mathematics instruction for isiXhosa HL learners in South African language of learning and teaching (LoLT) Grade 1 classrooms. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Grade 1 teachers using visual representations to enhance isiXhosa HL learners' understanding of mathematics in the English- LoLT in Grade 1 classrooms. Setting: This study was conducted at four primary schools in the Western Cape's Metro East Education District. Methods: This study employs a qualitative research approach in conjunction with an adapted interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) systems method to collect in-depth data about current mathematics practices in English LoLT in Grade 1 classrooms. The data were analysed using John Stuart Mill's analytical comparison technique. Results: This study found that semiotics such as visual (and concrete) representations assist isiXhosa HL learners to grasp and understand mathematical concepts easily. Conclusion: This study emphasises the significance of using sufficient visual representation strategies to enhance isiXhosa HL learners' mathematical understanding in the English LoLT in Grade 1 classrooms. Contribution: The outcomes of this study can make a positive contribution to current mathematics practice in terms of supporting isiXhosa HL learners in English LoLT in Grade 1 classrooms.

Studies show that indigenous languages have exhibited enormous impact on the evolution and didactics of counting and place value. However, Ghana systems have different perspectives and pose varied successes on the didactics of counting and place value. In this study, we explored a mixed methods design to examine the mismatch between Ghanaian and Hindu-Arabic systems. With a sample of 178 participants, we further examined not only student-teachers' knowledge and transitioning but also their skills and conceptualisation in didactising nine Ghanaian languages with respective to the Hindu-Arabic system. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through test and interview instruments. They were analysed by utilising T-test, ANOVA and verbal narratives which complemented and corroborated each other. The one-sample t-test result indicates that there was no impact of Ghanaian languages on counting and place value systems. However, the ANOVA test result infers that there is an impact of indigenous Ghanaian language on counting and place value systems. The qualitative results confirmed that the student-teachers had average skills in didactising counting and place value systems in the Ghanaian indigenous languages. It was therefore recommended, among other things that, measures should be taken not only to synchronise the Ghanaian languages but also to finetune the languages in tandem with the Hindu.

Background: Fluency in mathematical language is essential for learning mathematics. Teachers must understand and use their diverse mathematical knowledge, including language and communication difficulties inherent to mathematics instruction. According to recent South African research, Grade 1 teachers are not equipped to utilise learners' linguistic skills for efficient learning of mathematics. Objectives: This research investigates South African Grade 1 teachers' mathematical language perceptions, experiences, and feelings. These Grade 1 teachers' transcripts were analysed to discover their understanding of the language of mathematics. Method: Exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research designs were used in conjunction with an adapted interactive qualitative analysis technique. Focus group interviews, individual interviews, and lesson observations, together with a purposive sampling technique, were used to gather the data from both public and private primary schools. Results: The results showed that Grade 1 teachers view mathematics as a separate language with its own vocabulary and register. The findings highlighted the need to simplify the language of mathematics to enhance understanding. Conclusion: This research concluded that language is essential to mathematics learning and that mathematics has its own register, which is acquired like any other additional language. To help isiXhosa learners understand mathematics in English, scaffolding strategies must be aligned with their linguistic demands. Contribution: This article provides important recommendations for teachers who need to recognise the reality that English is the lingua franca and ensure isiXhosa home language-speaking learners receive the necessary support to acquire actual proficiency in the academic register of English for mathematical language learning.

Technology has significantly influenced the educational field, including language teaching. However, some language instructors hold negative attitudes toward technology, particularly computer-assisted language teaching (CALT), which may affect the advancement of language teaching. This study examines the attitudes of language instructors toward CALT in some South African public universities and identifies sustainable lessons that could promote the use of CALT. The study employed a quantitative research approach using content analysis and surveys to comprehensively investigate language instructors' attitudes toward CALT. Surveys provided the required information about the attitudes of language instructors toward CALT, and content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data and identify sustainable lessons from the attitudes of the language instructors toward CALT. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the survey results. The analysis revealed that some language instructors have negative attitudes toward CALT, suggesting that institutions require a fundamental approach to advance the use of CALT. Sustainable lessons learned from the attitudes of language instructors toward CALT are identified, and recommendations are made about how to implement effective CALT on a personal and institutional basis. This study highlights the importance of a positive attitude toward CALT and developing a fundamental approach to using CALT in language teaching. The sustainable lessons learned from this study could inform and advance language teaching practices that employ CALT, inform future research, and promote effective language teaching practices that use CALT.

The decolonization of applied linguistics is a critique of applied linguistics (see Phillipson, 1999; Phipps, 2018 and Pennycook & Makoni, 2020). We argue for a shift toward the Global South, in particular Africa, and for the importance of paying attention to 'race' as a significant category of analysis in applied linguistics in Africa. Three points require attention in a decolonized applied linguistics: (1) The identification of northern sociolinguistic theories masked as universal and a shift toward Southern frameworks, (2) The acknowledgment of 'white privilege' and 'white fragility' in language studies, more generally, and the inclusion of 'race' as a category of analysis among authors, and (3) The under-representation of female African scholars. The challenges transcend an agenda that redresses exclusions, and the colonial past of linguistics and location in neoliberal times. We question principles underlying applied linguistics in the Global North, often based on patriarchal and capitalist impositions, and epistemological racism in applied linguistics. We argue for a decolonized applied linguistics which draws from indigenous cosmovisions. These cosmovisions sidestep the dualism that is typical of Global North scholarship: individual/collective, body/mind. We show that Euro-American applied linguistics is evolving toward Africa in particular fields.

With dramatic global expansion of secondary schooling there has been significant research interest in how education is related to future aspirations, with important calls to acknowledge connections within processes of aspiring to young people's social, economic and cultural circumstances. This paper presents findings from thematic analysis of interview, participant observation and classroom observation data from an ethnographic study in two secondary schools in Tanzania. It argues that an important, and often overlooked, aspect of this complex process is the way in which aspirations for the future are connected not only to present realities, but also aspirations in the present. Focusing on students' aspirations relating to 'being a "good" student' and being able to "'soma kwa bidii'" or 'study hard', this paper uses the conceptual language of the capability approach to assert the importance of considering aspirations for 'being' in education in conjunction with future aspirations for 'becoming'.

A substantial body of research has examined the role of English in South Africans' linguistic repertoires. Many of these studies have investigated whether a language shift towards English might be underway among first-language (L1) speakers of the indigenous languages. At the same time, the role of English in the repertoires of L1 English speakers has received little attention, the implicit assumption being that English remains dominant for them. This paper presents an empirically informed comparison of English experience within and across L1 and non-L1 (Ln) English speakers in order to shed light on the importance of English in these individuals' repertoires. Cluster analysis is employed to analyze language background data from bi-/multilinguals (n = 200). The analysis produces two clusters, which differ in extent of English exposure and preference for English use. All but one of the L1 English speakers belong to the 'higher exposure, higher preference' cluster, while the vast majority of the Ln speakers fall into the 'lower exposure, lower preference' cluster. The results indicate that English experience is relatively homogeneous across L1 speakers but differs, for the most part, across L1 and Ln speakers. The findings are relevant to our understanding of language use in multilingual South Africa.

The Simple View of Reading (SVR) proposes that successful reading comprehension depends on proficient decoding and on linguistic comprehension. Some have found the SVR too simplistic and argue that other skills, such as reading fluency, explain unique variance in reading comprehension. Using longitudinal data from a sample of 103 children, our aim was to assess the validity of the SVR in Northern Sotho-English bilingual children in South Africa. Learners were assessed on various language and literacy skills, including word decoding, reading fluency, linguistic comprehension (in Grade 2), and reading comprehension (in Grade 3), in both Northern Sotho and English. Regression analyses indicated that decoding, linguistic comprehension and fluent reading were critical component skills of reading comprehension in English, but that only decoding and fluent reading, and not linguistic comprehension, were unique predictors of reading comprehension in Northern Sotho. Our data partially support the SVR, emphasizing the importance of implementing teaching strategies in South Africa that facilitate the development of underlying reading comprehension skills. However, the SVR is not an exhaustive model of reading comprehension in this population, as below-threshold levels in decoding suppressed the relationship between linguistic comprehension and reading comprehension in the L1.

The acquisition of passives is well-studied in many languages, with evidence of crosslinguistic differences in the age at which passives are acquired. The aim of this study is to add to the existing knowledge of child acquisition of passives by providing data from Afrikaans and isiXhosa, two under-researched and typologically different languages spoken in South Africa. Comprehension and production data were collected from first language speakers (27 Afrikaans; 29 isiXhosa) from low socioeconomic backgrounds at the beginning and end of their Grade 1 year (aged 6;0 to 7;6). Picture selection and sentence completion tasks of the Receptive and Expressive Activities for Language Therapy were used to collect comprehension and production data, respectively, on short/full passives with actional verbs, reversible passives, and passives containing perceptual and psychological verbs. Comprehension of short passives with actional verbs were fully acquired by the isiXhosa L1 groups and reversible passives were approaching mastery by the beginning of Grade 1, but not the comprehension or production of any other types of passives constructions, by neither the isiXhosa nor the Afrikaans L1 group. By the end of the Grade 1 year, the isiXhosa group had acquired full comprehension and production of all passive types, whereas the Afrikaans group had fully acquired comprehension of both short and full passives with actional verbs but not yet passive production. Language group differences are thought to be related, in part, to differences in passive morphosyntax.

Many African higher education entrants have an African language as a first language, whereas English and Afrikaans are default media of instruction in South African higher education institutions (HEIs). This precludes equivalent chances of academic success for students. Linguistic diversity in HEIs might also influence students' experiences in these institutions. This paper explores the perspectives of undergraduate students at a historically Black higher education institution (HBHEI) and a historically White higher education institution (HWHEI), regarding language use at these institutions and their accompanying experiences. We conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) with 31 students and analysed the data using thematic analysis. We adopted a critical race theory lens to interpret participants' perspectives. We found enduring marginalisation of African languages, as informed by structural dynamics, and its detrimental effects on students' academic prospects and experiences, contrasting with the enduring privileging of English and Afrikaans in higher education.

This study examines attitudes to language use and maintenance among Yorùbá-English bilinguals in the United States. Using the direct approach in language attitude research, it specifically interrogates attitudes toward using the heritage language (HL) in public domains and maintenance among subsequent generations. It also jointly examines the effect of age and length of stay in the United States on attitudes. Data is sourced via survey and semi-structured interviews from one hundred and twenty-four Yorùbá-English bilinguals residing in New York, Maryland and Texas. Results indicate a positive attitude toward HL use and maintenance among older immigrants (in spite of perceived negative attitudes) compared to the younger ones. Also, findings on attitude toward language maintenance vary depending on the immigrant's age. Further inferential analysis reveals that age and length of stay are not significant on attitude items collectively but are significant on selected attitude elements.

Pedagogical strategies intended for monolingual classes may not adequately address the educational needs and aspirations of culturally and linguistically diverse learners, as multilingual and bilingual learners differ from monolinguals. This article sought to understand multilingual teachers' pedagogical approaches to helping non-speakers of the language of instruction learn initial reading (decoding) skills in diverse classes of Lusaka District of Zambia. Qualitative data was collected through face-to-face interviews, focus groups, and lesson observations with 23 Grade One teachers. Data collected were transcribed and qualitative content analysis was performed through a meaning condensation process. Findings of the study revealed that teachers in multilingual classes used translanguaging, bilingual materials, remediation and reading interventions strategies to teach literacy among early graders. Further, parents, multilingual teachers, and bilingual learners were also used as resources in multilingual classes. The study recommended that the government should develop and implement a strong simultaneous bilingual or multilingual literacy programme to reflect community languages and avoid imposing monoglossic language ideologies across schools. Early grade teachers should be allowed to use diverse pedagogical approaches in the teaching of reading in multilingual classes within the mainstream curriculum.

Core vocabulary lists and vocabulary inventories vary according to language. Lists from one language cannot and should not be assumed to be translatable, as words represent language-specific concepts and grammar. In this manuscript, we (a) present the results of a vocabulary overlap analysis between different published core vocabulary lists in English, Korean, Spanish, and Sepedi; (b) discuss the concept of universal semantic primes as a set of universal concepts that are posited to be language-independent; and (c) provide a list of common words shared across all four languages as exemplars of their semantic primes. The resulting common core words and their corresponding semantic primes can assist families and professionals in thinking about the initial steps in the development of AAC systems for their bilingual/multilingual clients.

This research, conducted at a major university in Tanzania, investigated the personal experiences of multilingual students vis-à-vis the government's language policy requiring Swahili as the language of instruction (LoI) at the primary level and English at the secondary level. The participants, who spoke 25 different languages as their L1, were placed into 49 different language groups and asked to write what they remembered about the language policy where they attended school. The data show that Gramsci's cultural hegemony is occurring in Tanzania. The "common sense" is that people truly believe English is symbolic of prestige and power--even though few people know it or use it. The parents insist that their children be taught in English (consensus), and the schools strictly enforce the language policy (coercion). As subalterns, the students in this research reported that they did acquire Swahili, but they also wrote about not knowing the LoI when they began school; undergoing inordinate physical and psychological punishment; feeling their L1s were stigmatized; and learning little English--or any other subject. Thus, the elites of the country have been trying to impose a European language on the citizens--in lieu of an educated, multilingual, African nation.

This participatory action research project conducted through the USAID-funded Transforming Teacher Education activity examined how two pre-service teacher education programs in Zambia prepared teachers for primary reading instruction. College and university lecturers and in-service primary grade teachers participated in focus groups and interviews. We identified gaps between training and practice within the framework of Zambia's language of instruction policy. We find that pre-service teacher preparation was generally theoretical and not practical. Opportunities for practice were limited, leading to teachers lacking required competencies and using outdated approaches in schools. We suggest strategies to improve the alignment of pre-service teacher education and classroom instruction.

Not only does language practice in shop signs generate a sense of place with particular meanings to visitors, it also indicates the kind of economic activity performed in that place. By investigating and comparing the shop name signs in the two largest foreign migrant neighbourhoods in Guangzhou, specifically, Baohan Straight Street (African community) and Yuanjing Road (Korean community), this study aims to reveal the distinctive economic patterns reflected by the two different linguistic landscapes and to shed new light on the relationship between linguistic landscape and economy. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to interpret the messages the shop name signs convey, including an examination of language choices and combinations as well as other visual resources used in the signs. The findings suggest that the foreign languages, namely, English and Korean, perform contrasting functions, with the former providing more practical information while the latter being more of an index of "Korean authenticity." The disparate linguistic landscapes in these two contexts emerge as an outcome of two specific economic patterns, namely, "low-end globalisation" and "symbolic economy."

Language is an important element in the struggle for social change and decolonization within South African tertiary education. We explored the relationship between indigenous languages and cocurricular involvement to sense of belonging. Data were collected via a survey of 4210 students that included demographics, cocurricular involvement, and self-reported perceptions of sense of belonging. Culturally relevant frameworks by Jama et al. (South African Journal of Higher Education 22(5):992-1005, 2008) and Case (Higher Education 55(3):321-332, 2008) and previous work on student engagement in South Africa framed the exploratory model. Analyses revealed that indigenous languages and cocurricular involvement, among other variables, were significant predictors of sense of belonging.

The scope of the paper is to analyse Namibian mainstream primary teachers' practices in the multilingual context they work in. As teachers have a central role in implementing language policies, their practices either support or impede learning as well as learners' multilingual identities. Multilingual practices entailing rich scaffolding and translanguaging strategies are supposed to be beneficial for content and language learning and the learners' identity development. The methodological approach adopted in this study is ethnographic, and the theoretical framework is linguistically responsive teaching and multilingual education. The data consist of teacher interviews and focus group discussions, a questionnaire and classroom observations. The analysis method is qualitative content analysis. The data were collected in two Namibian government primary schools in the beginning of the 2020 school year. The analysis shows that translanguaging strategies such as peer translation or explaining concepts in home languages are used, but rarely as pre-planned pedagogical strategies. Scaffolding is provided mostly through visual aids. It may be concluded that the translanguaging strategies already in use should be encouraged further, and multilingual pedagogies should be included in both pre-service and in-service teacher education.

Since the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in 2020, universities worldwide have undergone unanticipated changes in how they operate and deliver the academic programme. Chief among these changes has been a wide-scale adoption of emergency remote teaching (ERT). This phenomenological study draws on critical pedagogy to analyse the experiences of South African academics of how the adoption of ERT influenced their use of multilingual pedagogies. Seven lecturers from seven different South African universities were purposively selected to participate based on their prior use of multilingual pedagogies. They teach in fields such as politics, history and education, with some based in traditional universities and others at universities of technology. The participants' reflections reveal that they essentially found using multilingual pedagogies amid emergency remote teaching very challenging. The challenges can be grouped into three categories: shifts from in-person to on-screen interactions; shifts in the types of multimodal resources used to teach multilingually; and shifts from approaches that intellectualise indigenous languages to approaches that are focused on delivery. According to these educators, multilingual teaching online, particularly in the context of emergency remote teaching, does not bode well for the intellectualisation of indigenous South African languages.

Bilingual parents must often make difficult and complex choices about which languages to use with their children. While existing research has explored family language practices and attitudes within certain language communities, the experiences of African parents are conspicuously absent from the literature. This study explores factors influencing intergenerational language transmission among African families in the UK. As educators can influence parental language choices, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with Early Years Professionals and parents of children attending nurseries. Interviews considered participants' language backgrounds, attitudes and practices, especially in relation to heritage language maintenance. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed that being proficient in the English language was prioritised by all participants over maintaining the children's heritage language, and the value of African languages was low. The findings suggest that the educators' language practices were influenced by the monolingual education system and, for parents, colonial language ideologies that place English on a pedestal over African languages continue to play an influential role in shaping their language attitudes. Implications of this study include the need for increased understanding within Early Years practice of the unique language profiles and practices of bilingual African families.

Globalisation is increasingly affecting universities worldwide. In African contexts, language policies exhibit an inheritance situation in which countries continue to implement policies which favour colonial languages in education. This paper investigates the Malawian higher education context and the ways in which staff engage with multilingualism. It examines the implementation of language policies by staff in their classrooms and explores the attitudes of staff members towards the current monolingual language policy and practices in higher education in the country. The paper draws on a 4-month ethnography carried out in eight Malawian universities. Findings indicate that the language 'rules' imposed by staff are highly variable and that diverse language 'policies' are implemented and enforced by staff, some of whom operate strictly monolingual approaches while others adopt multilingual approaches. Staff display a range of attitudes towards multilingualism, influenced by competing pressures of ensuring students comprehend the subject matter while also seeking to improve their English skills against the broader backdrop of language practices and expectations in the country.

Framed by decolonial theory, this paper explores how language and literacy ideologies, including Anglonormativity, or the expectation that children should be proficient in a standardised version of English and are deficient if not, shape language and literacy practices in South African classrooms. While not legitimised, the use of fluid language practices in classroom discourse in the Global South is well documented. Less explored is the impact of language ideologies on children's written text production. Using the tools of linguistic ethnography, I focus on the literacy practices emergent bilingual children are engaged with in a Natural Science lesson in year 4, the first year of their transition from 'home language' language of instruction (LOI) to monolingual English LOI. A close analysis of the practice of learners making notes in the lesson shows a pretextual gap between the expectations of the activity: that the children will be proficient in the 'English' used for note-making as well as orthography and layout conventions of written notes, and the heterographic writing they are able to produce. I examine the written products of note-making against a contested history of the use of African languages for writing fiction, and the exclusion of African languages from formal education, thus within a context of coloniality of language. I argue that the concept of "ukuzilanda" can inspire the expansion of literacies in African languages in education, enabling us to build from an existing literate and oral tradition.

Bilingual education that incorporates a local language alongside the official language has become an increasingly common approach in sub-Saharan Africa for improving literacy rates and learning outcomes. Evidence suggests that bilingual instruction is largely associated with positive learning and literacy outcomes globally. However, the adoption of bilingual education does not guarantee positive learning outcomes. This paper reviews bilingual programs in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on programs in six Francophone West African countries (Niger, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon). We identified factors critical to high-quality and effective bilingual programs. Implementation factors, such as teacher training and classroom resources, and socio-cultural factors, such as perceptions of local languages in education, constrain and contribute to the quality of bilingual education. These insights may help inform policy-makers and other stakeholders seeking to improve bilingual education programs in Francophone West Africa and other contexts.

Against the backdrop of the warnings by some previous studies about the danger of the Yorùbá language losing domains because of the increasing dominance of English, the present study examines the broadcast languages of selected radio stations in Osun State, Nigeria, to ascertain the extent of the threat of English to Yorùbá in broadcast media domain. The investigation is carried out within the wider context of the worries being expressed by many speakers of Yorùbá about the status of the language with respect to language endangerment. It employs both quantitative and qualitative research designs rooted in content analysis, and examines 426 purposively sampled programmes of Rave FM and Gold FM. The programmes were sorted and content-analysed using charts. Of the 12 examined programme categories, English is the dominant language of 9 most important programmes, while Yorùbá is the dominant language of 3 programmes; thereby pointing to a gradual loss of the radio broadcast domain. The study recommends more value-added usage of the Yorùbá language in media domains to improve the language's vitality and inclusive audience participation.

This study investigates the practicalities of the instructional language policy and the role that English plays in multilingual classrooms at the lower primary level. The research aims to find answers to the following questions. First, in a multilingual lower primary classroom where some teachers and some pupils do not understand the major local language available, what language does the teacher use to teach them (instructional language)? Second, what role does English play as a medium of instruction? In total, 53 participants, made up of 14 teachers and 39 pupils sampled from three lower primary schools were involved in the research. Lessons were observed, followed by semi-structured interview sessions with both teachers and pupils. The findings indicate that the classrooms are multilingual, with the teachers using languages that they are comfortable with in teaching. It is also worth noting that Akan is becoming a predominant minority language even though it is not a prescribed instructional language for that school community. Finally, it comes to light that English is gradually taking over as the main language of instruction in the multilingual classrooms, a practice that goes contrary to the educational language policy. The study recommends translanguaging in the lower primary multilingual classrooms.

The purpose with this article is to amplify the significance of effective mentoring of pre-service teachers in order to address classroom matters and situational issues associated with teaching practice. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 10 pre-service teachers about the ways in which they experienced mentoring during their teaching practice. The majority of preservice teachers have raised concerns that once they were dispatched to schools, they found themselves without adequate mentorship from in-service mentors and mentor lecturers. The study was contextualised in less-privileged South African schools and involved fourth-year Bachelor of Education and Postgraduate Certificate in Education pre-service teachers as participants. Findings suggest that the common denominator among the documented lived experiences of the interviewed pre-service teachers was a lack of information about the difficulties that in-service teachers in less-privileged schools faced on a daily basis, especially in townships or rural areas where facilities such as computer rooms, smart boards and data projectors are not available. The Situativity theory was used to frame the argument that the lack of effective mentoring that pre-service teachers received resulted in them not successfully adapting to the situation in less-privileged schools during teaching practice.

Since 1994, numerous policies promoted social justice and the transformation of the South African society. The recurriculated Bachelor of Education (BEd) programme at the Sol Plaatje University aims to equip students with knowledge and skills to realise the aim of social justice. The aim of this study was to explore Sol Plaatje University students' experiences and perceptions of a curriculum that aims to promote social justice. We selected 3 education modules, with the assumption that they reflected social justice content. Four students, representative of different ethnic and language groupings at the university were chosen as participants. Data were generated through 3 reflective exercises about each of the modules, spread over a period of 3 years. The module aims, linked with the narratives of the participants' perceptions and experiences of each module, provided an overview of their experiences of the enacted curriculum. A qualitative research design with an interpretivist approach informed by Dover's (2013) social justice pedagogy was used. The students' narratives shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of how the BEd curriculum worked towards social justice and revealed the students' perceptions of otherness. From the narratives it became apparent that the 3 modules did promote a social justice orientation in prospective teachers educated at the university.

Africa is a potentially rich continent due to its considerably rich resources endowment. It is believed that if there is a synergy between these resources, that is if these resources are properly harnessed with a clear vision on the part of our leaders, there is the prospect of growth leading to the development of the continent. The basis of any meaningful development and the bedrock of a breakthrough whether in technology, industry, economy or communication in education. Therefore, language is also a good instrument of synergy toward growth. In African universities especially in Nigeria, dissemination of knowledge is done through bilingualism or multilingualism which is used to attain the broad goals of education. In a multilingual classroom, setting, students will commonly face difficulties in thinking in the largest language (English) because they are influenced by their native language and cultural patterns.

We investigated spaced retrieval and restudying in 3 preregistered, online experiments. In all experiments, participants studied 40 Swahili-English word pair translations during an initial study phase, restudied intact pairs or attempted to retrieve the English words to Swahili cues twice in three spaced practice sessions, and then completed a final cued-recall test. All 5 sessions were separated by 2 days. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the response format during retrieval (covert vs. overt) and the test list structure (blocked vs. intermixed covert/overt retrieval trials). A memory rating was required on all trials (retrieval: "Was your answer correct?"; restudy: "Would you have remembered the correct translation?"). Response format had no effect on recall, but surprisingly, final test performance for restudied items exceeded both the overt and covert retrieval conditions. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the requirement to make a memory rating. If a memory rating was required, final test restudy performance exceeded retrieval performance, replicating Experiment 1. However, the pattern was descriptively reversed if no rating was required. In Experiment 3, the memory rating was removed altogether, and we examined recall performance for items restudied versus retrieved once, twice, or thrice. Performance improved with practice, and retrieval performance exceeded restudy performance in all conditions. The reversal of the typical retrieval practice effect observed in Experiments 1 and 2 is discussed in terms of theories of reactivity of memory judgments.

The modern era demands a radical pedagogical shift and a complete overhaul of traditional teaching methods that flaunt teachers as the sole producers of knowledge and learners as impetuous consumers of knowledge. In this article I propose interactive teaching methods and strategies as the pedagogical approach to be advocated by 21st-century isiZulu teachers so that learners are empowered on all cognitive levels as producers of knowledge. This pedagogical shift in the isiZulu classroom has the power to revoke the historical debt of the marginalisation of indigenous African languages, which native speakers of these languages inherited from the apartheid education system of South Africa. Used as the guiding theoretical framework, the transformative learning theory is set to challenge the status quo and disrupt the current instructional classroom practice that is regressive to change demanded by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The participatory action research methodology, reflecting the encounters with student teachers at a teacher education institution in South Africa, provides a critical analysis of how interactive teaching methods and strategies can be used in an authentic classroom environment.

When acquiring the English plural, children correctly produce plural words long before they develop an understanding of morphological structure. When acquiring Sesotho noun prefixes, children are aware of the multiple constraints governing variation from a young age. Both of these cases raise questions about the Shin and Miller (2022) account of children's acquisition of morphosyntactic variation.

This article presents a systematic review of research on language and multilingualism in mathematics education published in the South African journal Pythagoras from 1994 to 2021. This time frame was chosen as the year 1994 marked the acknowledgement of 11 official languages in the new democratic South Africa (including 9 indigenous languages), compared to only Afrikaans and English during the apartheid era. The review considers emergent themes in the included articles and examines what the articles reveal about mathematics education in South Africa. In addition to other findings, our corpus of literature indicates that research in this field of mathematics has been mostly undertaken in under-resourced schools and that research under the theme of multilingual education is at the forefront of research in South African mathematics education, while research on language policy needs more attention. Research on multilingual education in our corpus of literature also reveals great awareness of the value of seeing language as a resource, as well as the benefits that accrue when learners' home languages are taken into account in mathematics teaching and learning. The gaps in research in the field of language and multilingualism in the teaching and learning of mathematics are also noted and recommendations for future research are made.

Background: Teaching English as home language (EHL) could be a complicated process in a country like South Africa, where there are eleven official languages operating in a multicultural society. This requires capacitating teachers with appropriate and relevant strategies to strengthen their teaching, especially in the foundation phase. Aim: This paper examines the appropriateness and relevance of the extant strategies for teaching EHL comprehension skills to foundation phase learners from diverse language backgrounds. Setting: This study was conducted in King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods: This was a qualitative case study involving four purposively selected grade one teachers in one urban primary in South Africa. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, field observations and document analysis. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The two main findings were that (a) the teaching of EHL comprehensions skills lacked the appropriate strategies, and (b) the teachers faced several challenges--including operating under an unclear policy framework, the paucity of strategies in phonological awareness, and the lack of appropriate reflection images to which the learners could be exposed to improve their skills. Conclusion: The study concludes that adequate and regular professional teacher development programmes and activities are needed to enable teachers to do their work more effectively. Contribution: By closely and systematically examining the strategies used by teachers who were non-native English speakers, to teach EHL to leaners who were also non-native English speakers, this study has made important contributions to both attendant theory and classroom practice.

Acquisition patterns of irregular verbs by Second and Foreign Language learners of English in Cameroon present remarkable peculiarities that emanate from the country's unique linguistic identity, where French, English and a multiplicity of local languages are spoken. Following on a previous study (see Ngasu Betek 2020) this study documents these peculiarities, but with a focus on Group 4 and 5 irregular verbs, to ascertain the mastery of English irregular verbs. From a population of nine hundred (900) students from six selected schools in Cameroon, samples of their production in English irregular verb usage were collected. The specific classes were Forms One, Three, Five, (of the Anglophone sub-system of secondary education), and Sixième, Quatrième and Seconde students (from the Francophone sub-system of secondary education). Using Simple Random Sampling Technique, completion tasks were administered and the results analysed to identify and map traceable frequency patterns of use by students. A comparative analysis of the two leaner clusters was carried out which revealed ESL and EFL learners of English in Cameroon both exhibited challenges in using irregular verbs either through overgeneralizations or through morphological distortions of irregular verbs especially at the past tense. This paper thus informs on best practices for successful learning, specifically in the acquisition of irregular verbs by L1 and L2 learners in schools in Cameroon.

This study explored the role of parental involvements in children's acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills in Tanzania. Specifically, it compared rural public high performing schools and low performing schools. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling were used to obtain 350 participants. Data were collected through questionnaire-based-interview, semi-structured interview, focus group discussion, and tests administration methods. An independent sample t-test and thematic analyses were employed. Results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in involvements between parents from high performing schools (M= 33.39, SD = 9.79), and those from low performing schools (M= 31.74, SD = 9.93); t (152) = 1.040, p >0.05 in learning activities. This implies that parental involvements in learning activities were less associated with children's acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills. Findings from interviews and FGDs revealed that parental involvements were hindered by lack of parents' knowledge about pre-primary education, limited parental support, and effects of home learning environment. To maximize children's pre-reading skills, the study recommends that parents should be informed about their involvement in learning activities.