ABSTRACT
The language policy of schools in Namibia states that learners should receive instruction in their mother tongue during the first three years of their primary school education (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1993).The multilingual nature of Namibia results in the notion of mother tongue medium of instruction not to be implemented effectively. Therefore some schools have English as medium of instruction from grade one (Wolfaardt, 2004) and this could result in the neglect of the mother tongue. It is important to investigate the influence that the neglect of mother tongue medium of instruction will have on the learners’ proficiency in the second language. This study was conducted to find out if there is a difference in English Second Language performance in grade five of those Afrikaans speaking learners who received mother tongue instruction during the first three years of formal education as opposed to those that received instruction through English. The areas in which there are differences in the two groups’ performance were also investigated. The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) report (2004)suggested that the ability of grade six learners to read is very low in Namibia and these results are a reason for concern. The assumption might be that the neglect of mother tongue instruction can partly be the reason for these poor grade six results. Currently, there is a decline in the performance of English as a Second Language results in grade twelve (Ministry of Basic Education Sport and Culture, 2008) and this might partly be as a result of a language deficiency that has occurred in the primary school. Therefore recommendations need to be made and implemented that are research based for the rectification of this problem.
ANDERSON, J (2021). The Impact Of Language Of Instruction And Gender On The Acquisition Of English As A Second Language: The Case Of Afrikaans Speaking Learners In Two Windhoek Schools. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/the-impact-of-language-of-instruction-and-gender-on-the-acquisition-of-english-as-a-second-language-the-case-of-afrikaans-speaking-learners-in-two-windhoek-schools
ANDERSON, JACOLYNN "The Impact Of Language Of Instruction And Gender On The Acquisition Of English As A Second Language: The Case Of Afrikaans Speaking Learners In Two Windhoek Schools" Afribary. Afribary, 20 Apr. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/the-impact-of-language-of-instruction-and-gender-on-the-acquisition-of-english-as-a-second-language-the-case-of-afrikaans-speaking-learners-in-two-windhoek-schools. Accessed 06 May. 2024.
ANDERSON, JACOLYNN . "The Impact Of Language Of Instruction And Gender On The Acquisition Of English As A Second Language: The Case Of Afrikaans Speaking Learners In Two Windhoek Schools". Afribary, Afribary, 20 Apr. 2021. Web. 06 May. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/the-impact-of-language-of-instruction-and-gender-on-the-acquisition-of-english-as-a-second-language-the-case-of-afrikaans-speaking-learners-in-two-windhoek-schools >.
ANDERSON, JACOLYNN . "The Impact Of Language Of Instruction And Gender On The Acquisition Of English As A Second Language: The Case Of Afrikaans Speaking Learners In Two Windhoek Schools" Afribary (2021). Accessed May 06, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/the-impact-of-language-of-instruction-and-gender-on-the-acquisition-of-english-as-a-second-language-the-case-of-afrikaans-speaking-learners-in-two-windhoek-schools