Open AccessLanguage as contextual factor of an education system: Reading development as a necessity
Author(s) -
Elize Vos,
Nadine Fouché
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
south african journal of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.408
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 2076-3433
pISSN - 0256-0100
DOI - 10.15700/saje.v41ns1a1831
Subject(s) - reading (process) , multilingualism , constitution , first language , government (linguistics) , national language , diversity (politics) , pedagogy , language policy , sociology , mathematics education , linguistics , political science , psychology , law , philosophy
Language is a contextual factor of an education system as it determines the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). In order to provide for diversity in South Africa, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, makes provision for 11 official languages and the Language in Education Policy (LiEP) promotes respect for not only these official languages, but languages in general as well as the preservation of cultural diversity by means of multilingualism. Having measures like these in place creates the assumption that different languages are used as LOLT. However, mother tongue education is not fully realised in South Africa. A large percentage of learners’ LOLT is not their home language. This lack of mother tongue education may cause poor reading ability. South Africa’s government and Department of Education (DoE) has certain strategies available to promote reading, however, the feasibility of these strategies is questionable when the poor reading performance of South African learners is taken into account. To find a solution for the above-stated problem, due to the fact that reading plays an important role within an education system, and the integral part it forms in nation-building, we conducted a literature study to identify current national and international reading strategies. In this article we present a synthesis of these strategies, which we refer to as a reading motivation framework, outlining the responsibilities of various social role players.