The director of the South African Committee for Higher Education, Dr Neville Alexander. (Photo: Gallo Images / Foto24 / Edrea Cloete)

The South African context

South Africa is culturally and linguistically diverse, with 12 languages recognised as official languages. However, English and Afrikaans have long dominated as the languages of teaching and learning in schools, creating a significant barrier to understanding, participation, and academic success for many learners who do not primarily speak these languages.

The importance of using the mother tongue in early education is well documented in global and local research. Studies have shown that children taught in their mother tongue for at least the first six years of school tend to have better cognitive development, improved literacy, and higher overall academic achievement. They also develop a stronger sense of cultural identity and self-esteem.

With South Africa’s history of inequality in education, Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education, if implemented effectively, could serve as a powerful tool to improve educational outcomes, especially for the majority of learners in no-fee schools.

Policy adoption in Initial Teacher Education

The shift to Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education raises crucial questions about teacher development, an aspect that is recognised in government plans for the adoption and implementation of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education. Initial Teacher Education would require substantial transformation to align with the goals of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education. At present, Initial Teacher Education in South Africa predominantly focuses on English and Afrikaans, with limited emphasis on preparing teachers to effectively teach in African languages, which have long been neglected by the South African academy.

Language competence

To this end, one of the immediate challenges for Initial Teacher Education is the need to produce teachers who are proficient in African languages, both as first and second languages. In many cases, teachers themselves may not be adequately equipped to teach content in their mother tongue, through no fault of their own. Well-trained teachers in African languages recognise the language-specific challenges, including orthographic nuances, to distinguish learning difficulty that stems from language interference. This suggests the alignment of teacher training programmes with the goals of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education.

Training teachers in African languages is a critical step in achieving inclusive, multilingual education. Although teachers who speak an African language have a good start, this is hardly an adequate measure of whether a teacher can teach effectively in that language.  Teachers need adequate training to use the language effectively as a medium of instruction across various subjects. Initial Teacher Education programmes will need to incorporate comprehensive language development courses that focus not only on conversational proficiency, but also on literacy development and content delivery in African languages specific to academic subjects.

Bilingual pedagogy and resources

Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education’s premise is that English should support the mother tongue so that classrooms become bilingual. Therefore, teacher education must emphasise bilingual pedagogy — how to effectively teach in two languages without causing cognitive overload for learners. This includes training teachers in pedagogic strategies such as  translanguaging, language learning scaffolding, and other bilingual and multilingual teaching and learning strategies. Further, developing discipline-specific literacies in African languages is a priority.

There is an acute need for instructional resources, including textbooks, digital tools, and other educational materials, to be developed in South Africa’s indigenous languages. Currently, there is a dearth of quality resources in many of these languages, and Initial Teacher Education programmes must address how future teachers can navigate this challenge. Teachers need to be trained in adapting and developing their own materials or creatively using existing resources to teach content in African languages, to complement the resources that the government will provide.

Policy and curriculum alignment

For Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education to be effectively implemented, there must be alignment between educational policy, school curricula, and teacher training. While the South African government has signalled its support for mother-tongue instruction through policies such as the Language in Education Policy (1997), the practical realisation of these policies in schools has been inconsistent.

Initial Teacher Education programmes must therefore include thorough training on language policy and curriculum development, ensuring that future teachers are prepared to work within the framework of national education standards while advocating for mother tongue instruction where appropriate. Further, teachers need to be conversant with both the theory and practice of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education. This may require further professional development for teacher trainers, ensuring they are well equipped to model and teach Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education strategies effectively.

Dilemmas and questions: addressing social attitudes

One of the more nuanced challenges related to Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education is addressing the social perceptions around language use in education. In South Africa, English is often seen as the language of opportunity and advancement (the language of commerce), while African languages are sometimes viewed as less valuable in the context of global competitiveness. These attitudes have led to the rejection of previous mother tongue instruction efforts, influencing the decisions of parents, learners, and even teachers, who have preferred English.

Initial Teacher Education programmes must, therefore, incorporate critical discussions around the value of linguistic diversity and the importance of mother-tongue education in building equitable, inclusive educational environments. Teachers need to be advocates for the importance of maintaining and promoting African languages in schools, while also recognising the role that English plays in the global economy. This dual awareness is essential for the successful implementation of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education.

The timing

Although Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education is a welcome development in South Africa, implementation in Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Technology in Grade 4 is scheduled for January 2025. This timing presents several dilemmas and questions, including:

• The complexity of South Africa’s linguistic landscape demands that multiple approaches for Initial Teacher Education programmes be used as one approach cannot fit all languages. Are universities ready for this?
• Preparations for implementation have started two-and-a-half months before the 2025 school year. Is this adequate time for the translation of annual teaching plans and workbooks, versioning and verification, and authentication of terminology by the Pan South African Language Board? During this process, how will potential fragmentation from resistance to the standardisation of language that negates multiple dialects be addressed?
• Under the current fiscal constraints, how will the transition to Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education be financed?
• Is implementation to be rolled out in all schools, or will this be piloted and evaluated to present evidence for decision making on scaling?
• Have risks been identified and mitigation strategies explored?

The answers to these questions would increase public awareness and shape perceptions and predictions about the future of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education.

Looking forward

Implementing Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education across South Africa is a complex task that will require coordinated efforts across various levels of the education system. For Initial Teacher Education, the stakes are particularly high.

If Initial Teacher Education programmes can successfully develop multilingual teachers, providing training in bilingual pedagogies, and addressing resource gaps, then South Africa has the potential to see significant improvements in educational outcomes, particularly for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. DM

Dr Thembisa Kosi is a Coordinator for the Centre of African Language Teaching and Learning, UWC; Mashaba Mashala is a lecturer, Department of Language Education, Arts and Culture, UNISA; Dr Monica Mawoyo is with Kelello Collectives; Dr Qetelo Moloi is a Research Fellow, UJ; Dr Thelma Mort is a Unisa Senior Lecturer and Dr Sibongile Xamlashe is the Subject Head: isiXhosa, CPUT. They are all members of the Primary Teacher Education (PrimTEd) Assessment Community of Practice.