The Effects of First- and Second-Language Instruction in Rural South African Schools

In this article, we report on the results of a project devoted to improving literacy in South Africa's rural schools; specifically we report the results of an intervention study that centered on improving mother-tongue literacy instruction offered to learners in Grades 1 and 2 in South African schools. Our findings demonstrate that there are positive and strong effects for the home-language initiative that was tested in this study. Our data suggest that there is a high level of value added to performance in both the home-language and English-language learning of the students in this study when a much more print-rich environment was provided in the home language. These findings challenge the deficit myth often associated with children who come to school with a first language different from the medium of instruction. Further, these data suggest that providing instruction in both first and second languages can have a positive impact on development in both languages.

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