Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Diglossia and Children’s Literacy Acquisition in South Africa

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook of Literacy in Diglossia and in Dialectal Contexts

Part of the book series: Literacy Studies ((LITS,volume 22))

  • 638 Accesses

Abstract

South Africa is a richly diverse country with eleven languages officially recognized, and many more spoken, written and read. While much has been written about multilingualism in South African classrooms and the challenges facing South African children in their literacy acquisition, diglossia – the societal phenomenon where two distinct varieties of a language are spoken by one speech community – has received less attention. In this chapter I review research on diglossia and its influence on South African children’s literacy and language learning. The questions posed were: (1) How do authors conceptualize the diglossic situation in South African schools? and (2) What are the main findings of studies focusing on diglossia in South African classrooms? The challenges facing the education system in South Africa are widely acknowledged, but at the same time the country has been described as an “energetic laboratory for diversity of language varieties” (Rudwick S, South Afr Linguist Appl Lang Stud 23(3), 2005, p.305). This chapter sets out to understand more about the energetic laboratory of the South African classroom, with a view to helping address our literacy crisis. Implications for practice, and future research arising from these findings are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    https://nicspaull.com/category/education/

  2. 2.

    Papers comprising the scoping review are indicated with an asterisk (*)

References

Papers comprising the scoping review are indicated with an asterisk (*)

  • Arksey, H., & O’Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Blommaert, J., Muyllaert, N., Huysmans, M., & Dyers, C. (2005). Peripheral normativity: Literacy and the production of locality in a South African township school. Linguistics and Education, 16(4), 378–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Brock-Utne, B. (2010). Policy on the language of instruction issue in Africa – A spotlight on South Africa and Tanzania. Z. Desai, M. Qorro and B. Brock-Utne (Eds), Educational challenges in multilingual societies. (LOITASA Phase Two Research), p. 74–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Busch, B. (2010). School language profiles: Valorizing linguistic resources in heteroglossic situations in South Africa. Language and Education, 24(4), 283–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Cook, S. (2009). Street Setswana vs. school Setswana: Language policies and the forging of identities in South African classrooms. In JoAnne Kleifgen & George C. Bond (eds.), The languages of Africa and the diaspora: Educating for language awareness96–116. : Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniel, S. M., Jiménez, R. T., Pray, L., & Pacheco, M. B. (2019). Scaffolding to make translanguaging a classroom norm. TESOL Journal, 10(1), e00361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Desai, Z. (2010). Laissez-faire approaches to language in education policy do not work in South Africa. Z. Desai, M. Qorro and B. Brock-Utne (Eds), Educational challenges in multilingual societies. (LOITASA Phase Two Research), 102–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, T., & Krause, L. (2019). ‘Ndifuna i meaning yakhe’: Translingual morphology in English teaching in a South African township classroom. International Journal of Multilingualism, 16(3), 205–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, T., & Whitelaw, E. (2018). Working towards culturally and linguistically diverse speech assessments for South African Children: A Xhosa Case Study. Language Matters, 49(2), 39–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Dyers, C. (2004). Ten years of democracy: Attitudes and identity among some South African school children. Per Linguam: A Journal of Language Learning, 20(1), 22–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Dyers, C. (2008a). Language shift or maintenance? Factors determining the use of Afrikaans among some township youth in South Africa. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics, 38(1), 49–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Dyers, C. (2008b). Truncated multilingualism or language shift? An examination of language use in intimate domains in a new non-racial working class township in South Africa. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 29(2), 110–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, C. (1972). Diglossia, language in education. A Source Book (Language and Learning Course Team at the Open University). Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. A. (1964). Language maintenance and language shift as a field of inquiry. A definition of the field and suggestions for its further development. Linguistics, 2(9), 32–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleisch, B. (2008). Primary education in crisis: Why South African school children underachieve in reading and mathematics. Juta and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gumperz, J. J., & Hernandez-Chavez, E. (1972). Bilingualism, bidialectalism and classroom interaction. Functions of language in the classroom, 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Hendricks, M. (2009). Effective additional language learning: isiXhosa in two South African schools. Unpublished paper / report presented at Rhodes University, South Africa, pp.18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heugh, K. (2005). Mother-tongue education is best. Human Sciences Research Council, 3(3), 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoadley, U. (2012). What do we know about teaching and learning in South African primary schools? Education as Change, 16(2), 187–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Holmarsdottir, H. (2005). From Policy to Practice: A study of the implementation of the Language-in-Education Policy (LiEP) in three South African Primary Schools. Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of Oslo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howie, S., Combrinck, C., Roux, K., Tshele, M., Mokoena, G., & Palane, N. M. (2017). PIRLS 2016. Centre for Evaluation and Assessment.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Hurst, E. (2015). Overview of the tsotsitaals of South Africa: Their different base language and common core lexical items. Youth language practices in Africa and beyond, 105, 169–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordaan, H. (2011). Language teaching is no panacea: A theoretical perspective and critical evaluation of language in education within the South African context. South African Journal of Communication Disorders, 58(2), 79. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajcd.v58i2.29

  • Jordaan, H. (2015). Multilingualism and speech-language therapy in education: Theory and research. In S. Moonsamy & H. Kathard (Eds.), Speech-language therapy in a school context: Principles and practices (pp. 51–81). Van Schaik Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaschula, R., & Anthonissen, C. (1995). Communicating across cultures in South Africa: Toward a critical language awareness. Hodder & Stoughton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. & Rees, S. (2019). Comparing literacy elements of African languages and English. Paper presented at LITASA Annual Conference, Cape Town, September 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lear, M. (2018). Why isn’t A, B, C, as easy as 1, 2, 3?: Why the education laws in South Africa regarding language discrimination are ineffective. Michigan State International Law Review, 26(2), 373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, I. Y., Shankweiler, D., & Liberman, A. M. (1989). The alphabetic principle and learning to read. In D. Shankweiler & I. Y. Liberman (Eds.), Phonology and Reading Disability: Solving the Reading Puzzle (Research Monograph Series). University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Mabiletja, M. M. (2015). Transition to multilingual education in South African schools (Doctoral dissertation, University of South Africa).

    Google Scholar 

  • Makalela, L. (2015). Moving out of linguistic boxes: The effects of translanguaging strategies for multilingual classrooms. Language and education, 29(3), 200–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makalela, L. (2018). Teaching African languages the ubuntu way: The effects of translanguaging among pre-service teachers in South Africa. Chapter in The multilingual edge of education (pp. 261–282). Palgrave Macmillan, .

    Google Scholar 

  • *Makoe, P., & McKinney, C. (2014). Linguistic ideologies in multilingual South African suburban schools. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 35(7), 658–673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Maqam, E. Z. (2015). The Experiences of IsiMpondo Speakers in Learning Standard IsiXhosa Through the Formal Education System: An Exploratory Study at a School in the Bizana District of the Eastern Cape. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Rhodes University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Modisaotsile, B. M. (2012). The failing standard of basic education in South Africa. Policy Brief, 72, 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Mtsatse, N., & Combrinck, C. (2018). Dialects matter: The influence of dialects and code-switching on the literacy and numeracy achievements of isiXhosa Grade 1 learners in the Western Cape. Journal of Education (University of KwaZulu-Natal), (72), 21–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullis, I., Martin, M., Foy, P., & Hooper, M. (2017). PIRLS 2016 International results in reading. Retrieved from Boston College, TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center website: http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/pirls2016/international-results/

  • *Murray, S. (2012). The challenges of designing a common, standards-based curriculum for all South Africa’s languages. Per Linguam: A Journal of Language Learning, 28(2), 84–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadler-Nir, E., & Pascoe, M. (2016). Language-based literacy interventions. In G. Reid & L. Peer (Eds.), Multilingualism, literacy and dyslexia. Taylor & Francis/Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K., Cocksey, J., Taylor, J. S., & Bishop, D. V. (2010). A longitudinal investigation of early reading and language skills in children with poor reading comprehension. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(9), 1031–1039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Nkosi, D. M. (2008). Language variation and change in a Soshanguve high school. MA thesis. University of South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Ntombela, B. X. (2016). The burden of diversity: The sociolinguistic problems of English in South Africa. English Language Teaching, 9(5), 77–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyamende, A. (1994). Regional variation in Xhosa. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 26, 202–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Pretorius, E. J., & Mokhwesana, M. M. (2009). Putting reading in Northern Sotho on track in the early years: Changing resources, expectations and practices in a high poverty school. South African Journal of African Languages, 29(1), 54–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Probyn, M. (2009). ‘Smuggling the vernacular into the classroom’: Conflicts and tensions in classroom codeswitching in township/rural schools in South Africa. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 12(2), 123–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Ribeiro, F. (2010). Complexities of languages and multilingualism in post-colonial predicaments. In Z. Desai, M. Qorro and B. Brock-Utne (Eds), Educational challenges in multilingual societies (LOITASA Phase Two Research), pp. 15–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Rudwick, S. (2005). Township language dynamics: IsiZulu and isiTsotsi in Umlazi. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 23(3), 305–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, C. E., & Matthews, T. J. (2016). Reading and language in the early grades. The Future of Children, 26(2), 57–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snowling, M. J., & Hulme, C. (2012). Interventions for children’s language and literacy difficulties. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 47(1), 27–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spaull, N. (2019). Priorities for education reform. Retrieved from https://nicspaull.com/category/education/

  • *Spofana, D. G. (2011). Learners’ texts: A portrayal of the influence of certain varieties of isiXhosa on English texts and vice versa. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of South Africa (UNISA).

    Google Scholar 

  • *Sutton, C. (2006). A Case Study of Two Teachers’ Understanding of and Attitudes Towards Bilingualism and Multiculturalism in a South African Primary School. Unpublished doctoral dissertation presented to Rhodes University, South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S., & von Fintel, M. (2016). Estimating the impact of language of instruction in South African primary schools: A fixed effects approach. Economics of Education Review, 50, 75–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Walt, C., & Evans, R. (2017). Is English the lingua franca of South Africa? In J. Jenkins, W. Baker, & M. Dewey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English as a lingua franca (pp. 186–198). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Van Staden, S., & Bosker, R. (2014). Factors that affect South African reading literacy achievement: Evidence from prePIRLS 2011. South African Journal of Education, 34(3), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, M. (2008). Proust and the squid: The story and science of the reading brain. HarperCollins Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Michelle Pascoe

Authors
  1. Michelle Pascoe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle Pascoe .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English Literature and Linguistics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Elinor Saiegh-Haddad

  2. Department of English Literature and Linguistics, Bar-Ilan University, Tel-Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Lior Laks

  3. Department of Psychology, The Chinese Univ of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong

    Catherine McBride

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Pascoe, M. (2022). Diglossia and Children’s Literacy Acquisition in South Africa. In: Saiegh-Haddad, E., Laks, L., McBride, C. (eds) Handbook of Literacy in Diglossia and in Dialectal Contexts. Literacy Studies, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80072-7_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80072-7_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-80071-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-80072-7

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation