Consequence of home language as the language of teaching and learning

Abstract or Introduction

The assumption that using home language to educate foundation phase has an influence on educational and academic outcomes is extremely proven. There is a widespread belief that utilising mother tongue to teach learners in the foundation phase expedites learning process and improves learners’ comprehension. However, there’s a widespread misconception that this comes with a negative effect. Making use of home language to teach lower grades learners can have an impact when they change to a new context whereby they’re no longer taught by their native language. The objective of this paper was to investigate the affect of imploying native language to instruct learners in lower grades. A qualitative research approach was used. The research’s population comprised all the teachers who teach the early childhood phase. Purposive sampling was utilised to select the most appropriate educator’s as research participants. The researcher thus selected 3 most acceptable foundation phase teachers for data collection. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain data. The acquired data was thematically evaluated. The study found that young learners grasp and understands learning materials more effectively when they’re instructed in their native language. Nevertheless, constantly using home language can also cause learners to struggle with English in the future and has an impact in their academic success. The researcher proposes that learners in lower grades be taught in a language they think in and speak always, yet it also makes it simpler for educators to teach learners with understanding. Thus, the author recommends that all textbooks, work books, lesson plans, educational media, teaching materials, learning materials and related literature in early grades be made available in native language.