As South Africa prepares to mark World Literacy Day on Tuesday, September 8, we should ask a fundamental question: What do we really mean when we say someone is literate?
Too often, literacy in South Africa is treated as synonymous with proficiency in English. This creates a deeply misleading picture of our learners and communities.
A person who cannot read or comprehend a text in English is not necessarily illiterate. Literacy is fundamentally about the ability to understand, communicate, interpret and apply information. These abilities exist across languages.
This distinction matters because some of our most alarming reading statistics may not tell the complete story. Claims that approximately 81% of young learners cannot read for comprehension, for example, are often based on assessments conducted in English.
If a learner’s strongest language is isiZulu, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi or another African language, testing comprehension exclusively in English inevitably introduces another variable: language proficiency.
The result is that we risk confusing inability to understand English with inability to understand.
Abstract concepts become particularly difficult when there is no immediate cultural or linguistic reference point through which the learner can understand them
This is not an argument against English. English is an important global language and an essential tool for economic participation. The question is whether we are introducing it in ways that support, rather than undermine, cognitive development.
When children are moved into English-medium instruction before they have developed a strong foundation in their home language, they are expected to learn two things simultaneously: the language of instruction and the academic concept being taught.
Instead of concentrating on understanding mathematics, science or accounting, the learner may first have to decode the language in which the concept is presented. This can encourage memorisation without comprehension.
A learner may memorise a definition, formula or paragraph sufficiently to reproduce it in an examination while having little understanding of what it actually means. Over time, this creates gaps that become increasingly difficult to address as academic content becomes more complex.
Language is also more than a communication tool; it is a vehicle for culture and meaning. Children understand new concepts by connecting them to what they already know. When education is delivered in an unfamiliar language, that connection can be weakened.
Abstract concepts become particularly difficult when there is no immediate cultural or linguistic reference point through which the learner can understand them.
There are important lessons to learn from high-performing education systems. Countries such as Finland and China have historically placed strong emphasis on educating children in their dominant or native languages during the foundational years.
South Africa itself demonstrates the value of this principle through Afrikaans- and English-medium schools where children who speak those languages natively are able to develop strong academic foundations in them. Why should the same principle not apply to African-language-speaking children?
Mathematics does not belong to English. Neither does science, accounting or history. Technical concepts are not inherently easier because they are explained in English
A strong mother-tongue foundation provides children with the cognitive framework from which they can learn additional languages.
Ideally children should be given substantial opportunity to develop literacy and conceptual understanding in their strongest language throughout the early years, with additional languages introduced progressively and strategically.
This does not mean delaying exposure to English indefinitely. Rather, it means ensuring that English becomes an additional language instead of becoming a barrier to learning.
Mathematics does not belong to English. Neither does science, accounting or history. Technical concepts are not inherently easier because they are explained in English. In fact, a learner who understands a difficult concept in their strongest language is better positioned to transfer that understanding into another language.
Local academic research, including the work of literacy scholar Dr Carole Bloch and research emerging from institutions such as the University of Johannesburg, has repeatedly highlighted the importance of mother-tongue and multilingual approaches to early literacy and learning.
As we commemorate World Literacy Day, we therefore need to democratise our definition of literacy. Every language must be treated as a legitimate vehicle for knowledge, comprehension and intellectual development.
The challenge before South Africa is not to abandon English but to build an education system in which English proficiency does not become the measure of intelligence or literacy.
Our children deserve to learn in languages they understand, develop strong cognitive foundations, and then use those foundations to master additional languages.
If we want better readers, we must first give children the opportunity to understand what they are reading.
- Letimile is the CEO and founder of Sankofa SA Tutorials
Sowetan
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.