TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE GUIDELINES FOR THE FOUNDATION PHASE

ONE OF THE KEY RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE REVIEW REPORT OF THE TASK TEAM THAT REVIEWED THE NCS CURRICULUM WAS OF PRIORITISING THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE (FAL), AND ITS INTRODUCTION INTO THE CURRICULUM FROM GRADE 1. RESEARCH SHOWS THAT MANY SCHOOLS ARE DELAYING THE INTRODUCTION OF ENGLISH UNTIL GRADE 3, WHICH IS THE YEAR BEFORE LEARNERS ARE EXPECTED TO LEARN THROUGH ENGLISH AS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION. LEARNERS' PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH BY THE END OF GRADE 3 IS NOT ALWAYS SUFFICIENT FOR THEM TO MAKE THE TRANSITION TO ENGLISH AS THE LANGUAGE OF LEARNING AND TEACHING (LOLT) IN GRADE 4. WHILST POLICY STATES THAT ENGLISH SHOULD BE TAUGHT ALONGSIDE MOTHER TONGUE FROM GRADE 1, IN PRACTICE THIS IS NOT HAPPENING. THIS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE EMPHASIS ON MOTHER TONGUE INSTRUCTION BUT IT IS ALSO DUE TO WIDESPREAD CONFUSION ABOUT HOW ADDITIVE BILINGUALISM (TEACHING ENGLISH AND THE HOME LANGUAGE IN PARALLEL) IS IMPLEMENTED IN PRACTICE. TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGU