Understanding language in education and grade 4 reading performance using a ‘natural experiment’ of Botswana and South Africa

Abstract

The regional and cultural closeness of Botswana and South Africa, as well as differences in their political histories and language policy stances, offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the role of language in reading outcomes. This study aims to empirically test the effect of exposure to mother tongue and English instruction on the reading performances of grade 4 students in Botswana and South Africa using the 2011 pre-Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (prePIRLS) and propensity-reweighted regression adjustment. The empirical findings provide evidence of significant positive effects of earlier and continued exposure to mother tongue instruction. Further attention and research needs to be directed at understanding the implications of language in education policy for achieving additive rather than subtractive bilingualism.

Keywords:

• Reading assessment
• propensity reweighting
• natural experiment
• South Africa
• Botswana

Notes

1. See, for example, the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) of 2003 and the Southern and Eastern African Consortium for the Monitoring of Educational Quality II (2000) and III (2007).

2. With special reference to Southern Africa.

3. Most recently, Curriculum 2005 and the Curriculum (Department of Education, 1997a) and Assessment Policy Statement (Department of Basic Education, 2011).

4. There will be a smaller proportion of Setswanan children entering schools where the language of learning and teaching is an official language other than Setswana.

5. International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

6. The prePIRLS assessment made use of simpler vocabulary, grammar and syntax, easier and shorter texts, as well as placed less emphasis on higher order reading skills.

7. Grades R (kindergarten) to three.

8. Unfortunately, this second language could not be identified in the data, although it is highly unlikely that a significant proportion of bilingual Setswana students speak English as their second language. According to the National School Effectiveness Survey that was collected in 2008, only 10% of grade 4 Setswana MT-speaking students reported speaking English often (more than 3 times) during the week.

9. No school contextual information was provided for approximately 3 and 9% of the sampled Botswanan and South African schools, respectively. Similarly, no contextual information for the teacher/classroom was provided for 2 and 6% of the sampled Botswanan and South African teachers, respectively.

10. Closer inspection of the data revealed that more than 40% of the non-response cases came from wealthier, better performing English and Afrikaans LoLT schools.

11. Schools were sampled proportional to size in the first stage, followed by a random sampling of grade 4 classrooms in the second stage (unless only one class was available) and all students as the third-stage sample unit. (Howie et al., 2012) In the case of South Africa, the sample was first stratified by language before schools were sampled.

12. Given the more volatile and more disruptive educational environment within South Africa, it is plausible that there might be substantial variation in the actual amounts of test language instruction received by students.