- Title
- A comparative analysis of the phonological acquisition of consonants in the speech of pre-school age isiXhosa and English-speaking children in selected schools in the East London area
- Creator
- Myoli, Ndileka
- Date
- 2014
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA (African Languages)
- Identifier
- vital:11151
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015437
- Description
- The problems of reading and incomprehension found in South African schools are often linked to children‟s differences of phonological acquisition rates and the articulation of consonants. This is according to the report of the Impact Study of the System Method for Reading Success study (SMRS) of 2009. This problem has always been associated with the racial inequalities that have previously ruled the South African education system. An understanding of the existence of the differences in children‟s articulation of consonants between the English-speaking and the isiXhosa-speaking children may lead to further understanding of the causes of such differences and the application of strategies that are aimed at remedying that situation. While many studies have been conducted in the area of language acquisition, this study found it necessary to contribute further to this debate. This study investigated the different rates of consonant articulation between pre-school-going Englishspeaking and isiXhosa-speaking children of 2-6 years of age. The main aim was to establish which of these two cohorts have early phonological acquisition of consonants and, therefore, master their articulation and why. 26 children from the two pre-schools within the East London directorate weren sampled, 13 consisting of females and males from each of the two pre-primary schools. This study used informal interviews and case study as the means of data collection as well as a case study as its investigation strategy. Children‟s speech utterances were recorded in order to analyse and compare with respect to order of acquisition, types of errors as well as the ages at which consonants were acquired. This study ensured a high degree of validity as well as giving due consideration to ethical matters in order to ensure the reliability of the results. The problems of reading and incomprehension found in South African schools are often linked to children‟s differences of phonological acquisition rates and the articulation of consonants. This is according to the report of the Impact Study of the System Method for Reading Success study (SMRS) of 2009. This problem has always been associated with the racial inequalities that have previously ruled the South African education system. An understanding of the existence of the differences in children‟s articulation of consonants between the English-speaking and the isiXhosa-speaking children may lead to further understanding of the causes of such differences and the application of strategies that are aimed at remedying that situation. While many studies have been conducted in the area of language acquisition, this study found it necessary to contribute further to this debate. This study investigated the different rates of consonant articulation between pre-school-going Englishspeaking and isiXhosa-speaking children of 2-6 years of age. The main aim was to establish which of these two cohorts have early phonological acquisition of consonants and, therefore, master their articulation and why. 26 children from the two pre-schools within the East London directorate weren sampled, 13 consisting of females and males from each of the two pre-primary schools. This study used informal interviews and case study as the means of data collection as well as a case study as its investigation strategy. Children‟s speech utterances were recorded in order to analyse and compare with respect to order of acquisition, types of errors as well as the ages at which consonants were acquired. This study ensured a high degree of validity as well as giving due consideration to ethical matters in order to ensure the reliability of the results. The study found that isiXhosa speaking children have earlier consonant acquisition than English-speaking children do. While that is the case, the study also found that English-speaking children‟s rates of phonological acquisition accelerated from the age of 4 years to the age of 6 years much more than the isiXhosa-speaking children of the same age could do. The implications of these results to education stakeholders, particularly the teachers and other related professionals who deal with children with articulation disorders on a daily basis, will create an understanding as well as an awareness of the existence of such problems. Policies formulated will have to take the existence of articulation disorders into consideration. The distribution of resources relevant to the needs of children will include and cater for children with such disorders. Further research is recommended to investigate more around this area of study to a point where solutions for the existing differences of articulation of consonants for one group of children over another are realised.The study found that isiXhosa speaking children have earlier consonant acquisition than English-speaking children do. While that is the case, the study also found that English-speaking children‟s rates of phonological acquisition accelerated from the age of 4 years to the age of 6 years much more than the isiXhosa-speaking children of the same age could do. The implications of these results to education stakeholders, particularly the teachers and other related professionals who deal with children with articulation disorders on a daily basis, will create an understanding as well as an awareness of the existence of such problems. Policies formulated will have to take the existence of articulation disorders into consideration. The distribution of resources relevant to the needs of children will include and cater for children with such disorders. Further research is recommended to investigate more around this area of study to a point where solutions for the existing differences of articulation of consonants for one group of children over another are realised.
- Format
- 123 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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UFH Department of African Languages
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