The second language speaker in the pre-primary environment : a case study of Zulu-speakers at a predominantly English pre-primary school in KwaZulu-Natal in 1995 and 1996.

Abstract

In recent years, following the demise of Apartheid education policy, there has been a move away from exclusively mother tongue instruction in ex-Natal Education Department schools. Consequently, in many English speaking pre-primary schools, Zulu-speakers are being submerged into the English language environment. At the same time, there is growing interest amongst educators in an alternative process which allows for affirmation of the first language whilst providing multiple opportunities for second language acquisition by non-English speakers. This report seeks to identify aspects of second language acquisition through lexical tests and analysis of "news" items by the Zulu-speakers at the pre-primary school in the study. Further, through observation of the social interaction of these eight children, it seeks to identify socialisation patterns and to comment on the role which language plays both in the choice of friends and on the child's emotional well-being in the second language environment.