HANTAM COMMUNITY EDUCATION TRUST A Language and Basic

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT ACTIVITIES OF THE HANTAM COMMUNITY EDUCATION TRUST � school (Grade R-Grade 9) � outreach teacher development programme � skills training programme � bursary programme � primary health care clinic � pharmacy

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Need for the Project 1. Pervasive language difficulties experienced by learners at the school. 2. Learners were not able to cope with ENGLISH as the language of instruction from Grade 4 and beyond.

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Need for the Project There were no learners on or above Grade level

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Aims of the project • To identify the language and scholastic competencies and weaknesses of the Foundation Phase learners. • To provide teachers with training and support to improve the language, cognitive and scholastic functioning of their learners • To monitor and evaluate the outcomes of the

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Overview of the Project: time line 2003: Year One Grade R 2004: Year Two Grade 1 2005: Year Three Grade 2 2006: Year Four Grade 3 2007: Year Five Grade 4

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Overview of the Project: Goals for each grade Grade R • To consolidate and strengthen home language: BCP and thematic language approach • Scholastic markers include a knowledge of colour, shape, size, position, number and letter Grade 1 • To use English as a language of instruction and to promote cognitive development: BCP and thematic language approach • Scholastic markers include a knowledge of BCS, vocabulary, literacy, numeracy and life skills outcomes Grade 2 -4 • To extend the conceptual language and to use this language to teach literacy, numeracy, and life skills and other learning areas • 80 -120 words are taught with every theme (6 themes per year)

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Theoretical Base CONSTRUCTIVISM individual social-constructivism Piaget Vygotsky Feuerstein BASIC CONCEPTS & LANGUAGE PROJECT

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT PIAGET • Development proceeds from less knowledgeable to more knowledgeable states. • Mental actions (conservation, categorization, classification, seriation, perspective taking, multiple sources of information) enable shifts from intuitive, spontaneous thinking to more logical modes of thought. The project is hierarchically constructed- introduces learners to vocabulary and conceptual language in a systematic and graduated fashion from Grade 1 to Grade 4.

CONTENT OF THE BASIC CONCEPTS PROGRAMME HIGHER ORDER CONCEPTS COLOUR SHAPE SIZE POSITION NUMBER LETTER LOWER ORDER CONCEPTS RED YELLOW GREEN BLUE BLACK BROWN BIG CIRCLE SMALL TRIANGLE RECTANGLE BIGGER SQUARE SMALLER DIAMOND MEDIUM STAR MIDDLE LEFT RIGHT TOP MIDDLE BOTTOM UP DOWN MORE LESS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 1 ST , 2 ND 3+4 = 7 7 -4 = 3 A, B, C, D, . . . X, Y, Z CAPTIAL SMALL LETTERS

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT VYGOTSKY • Placed emphasis on the social nature of learning, aided by language, which are vital to effect the transition in understanding from unmediated and meaningless symbols and signs to higher order, scientific concepts. • Mediators (signs, symbols, language) assist with the transition from spontaneous concepts to non-spontaneous concepts. • Placed emphasis on (a special kind) of instruction in the Zone of Proximal Development on aspects that were still in the process of maturing. • Mediators of the project lead learners successively to new conceptual domains, not waiting for spontaneous concepts to mature, but initiating the process of new learning.

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Vygotsky contended that speech “besides being a means of expression and release of tension … soon becomes an instrument of thought in the proper sense … in seeking and planning the solution of a problem. ” Language structures and directs the processes of thinking and concept formation

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT ‘…in early second language acquisition (L 2) beginning at between approximately age five or six, children often achieve native-like pronunciation and syntax within a relatively short period of a year or two. The ability of young children to achieve native-like proficiency in a foreign language in a rather short time is a reflection of a type of neural plasticity, and it appears to be related to the distinct characteristics of the young brain. ’ Yvonne F. Stapp, 1999 Gaikokugo Center, University of Tsukuba, Japan,

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT FEUERSTEIN • Provided further detail of the mediation processes that were required to advance development. • The mediational teaching style aptly describes the quality of the human interactions required in learning, arguably the most important dimension of any educational process. • The primary role of the mediator is therefore to establish the prerequisites for learning: motivated, attentive and focussed learners who are ready to receive systematic mediation in order to promote their cognitive modifiability. • The aim is to produce changes that are durable, flexible and capable in turn of effecting changes in the rest of the system.

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT SUMMARY OF THEORETICAL BASE The project includes complex, detailed descriptions of the developing mental actions that are required for producing the kinds of changes in cognitive performance desired by such a programme. Provides a framework that seeks to guide teachers’ attention to their role as mediators of human learning processes as well as to the symbolic tools required for higher order thinking.

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT SAMPLE Number Of Grade R To Grade 4 Learners At The Hantam Community Education Trust School

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT TEST BATTERY *UCT Graded Spelling Test: A norm-based test developed for learners in the Western Cape. *UCT Graded Reading Test: A norm-based test developed for learners in the Western Cape. *Ballard One-Minute Test: A norm-based test which is deemed appropriate to assess mathematical competency. *Boehm Test of Basic Concepts: A norm-based test, however, used without making direct reference to these American derived norms. This test was developed to assess the understanding of 50 high frequency basic concepts in young learners. * Administered to Grade 1 -4 learners.

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT TEST BATTERY Basic Concepts Complex Figure Test: A dynamic assessment test (test-teach-test) developed to assess the ability of younger children to learn recall from memory and reproduce a complex figure. This is a test of visual memory, spatial relations, cognitive functioning and cognitive modifiability. Administered to Grade 2 -4 learners. Basic Concepts School Readiness Test For Grade R’s: A test developed by the writer in 2004 in order to assess the ability of learners to accurately identify and name 30 subordinate concepts (e. g. rectangle, triangle, square) and 6 superordinate concepts (colour, shape, size, position, number and letter). Administered to Grade R learners.

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT GRADE R ASSESSMENT BATTERY Areas Covered: Names and/or Identifies: 4 xcolour, 4 xshape, 2 xsize, 4 xposition, number (number range), letter (name & letters of the alphabet) Categorizes: colour (2 colours) & size (2 sizes) Application: number: adding 1 -2 more, taking away 1 -3 away, one-on-one correspondence, letter: writing & reading

Do Grade 1 Learners In The Western Cape Know Their Basic Conceptual Systems (2006) ? Percentage Of Correct Answers For Each Conceptual Domain (n=194) Average Score for lower ses schools = 18. 9 Average score for middle to higher ses schools = 24. 9 Average score for Hantam Grade R learners (2005) = 26. 1

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT ‘Attendance’ In Grade R Source: Systemic Evaluation, Northern Cape, Provincial Report, 2003

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT RESULTS

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS • Results are encouraging, however, these have not yet been statistically analysed. • The learners who were in Grade R or Grade 1 at the start of the project appear to have made the most progress. This is in contrast to learners who only started the project in Grade 2 or Grade 3. • There have been impressive gains in the FP towards Grade level in three of the four scholastic areas assessed since the start of the project. Mean Gains Reading 50. 5% Maths (+) 49% Maths (-) 48% • It is contended that the mean gains for reading have started to positively influence the spelling level of Grade 2 and 3 learners (Mean gain of 61% & 27% respectively, since the start of the project).

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Theme Writing From The Foundation Phase (2005) ‘At night I wash and, eat and, watch TV and, go to bed. In the morning it is light. I wear my school uniform and go to school. At night I can see the stars and moon. During the day I play with my dog. Yearstiday it did rain. ’ (Grade 2)

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT Theme Writing From The Foundation Phase (2005) ‘During the day I play with my friends. During the day it is light. At night I go to bed. At night my brother snores. At night I dream. During the day I play with my friends cricket. During the day I play ball. At night the stars twinkle. At night the moon shines. ’ (Grade 3)

A LANGUAGE AND BASIC CONCEPTS PROJECT CONCLUSIONS • The project is premised on the belief that cognitive and language prerequisites are essential for learning. • Learning of language has therefore been prioritized and has been linked with learning areas. • Progress of learners is not only attributed to the structured and effective teaching-learning intervention, but to the systematic development of the cognitive functioning and language of these learners. • Language is the central mechanism used to direct learning: words are used as a stimulus for the