Who is laughing last in the South African classroom? A critical reflection on language in education

Abstract

The performance of pupils using African languages at home testifies to both the inequalities of South African society and education and to a failure to address language problems in education. We reflect on findings from a case study in a secondary school. It was found that pupils struggle to articulate ideas in English which is, for most pupils using African languages at home, both their second language (L2) or First Additional Language (FAL) at school and their language of learning. This article aims to offer a new analytical perspective by focusing not simply on cognitive and linguistic issues, but also on the different ways in which reality (or ontics) is enacted within different language communities. A postcolonial view is developed which does not oppose the use of English instead of the home language (HL), but which emphasises the importance of developing pupils’ abilities to live in tensions created by the opposing ontological assumptions embedded in the different languages and cultures. In order to benefit from these insights, pupils must be well grounded in their HL, as well as in the dominant language, and furthermore, pupils must be enabled to live simultaneously within different realities (ontics).