Philosophiae Doctor - PhD ( Language Education)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10566/10530

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Browsing by Author "Nomlomo, Vuyokazi"

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    Constructing multilingual digital identities: An investigation into Grade 11 learners’ digital practices in relation to English language learning in Rwanda
    (University of the Western Cape, 2016) Mfurankunda, Pravda; Nomlomo, Vuyokazi
    Rwanda has taken a strong move towards language-in-education policy shift whereby English became the sole medium of instruction in 2008, despite her rich linguistic diversity. The language shift occurred at the time when the country had resolutely embraced Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) as one of the country’s key development plans for socioeconomic development. In spite of these changes, research on multilingualism and digital identity in Rwanda is very limited. Given the pressing need for Rwanda to play an increasing role in the global economy, it is important to explore the ways in which the new generation negotiates multilingual digital identities in second language learning. The aim of this study, therefore, was to investigate the ways in which secondary school learners used digital technologies to negotiate new identities in two or more languages in order to understand the implications for English second language learning in the multilingual context of postcolonial Rwanda. Specifically, my interest was to examine Grade 11 learners’ current digital practices and the ways in which existing multilingual repertoires were drawn on as resources in navigating digital literacies. I also aimed at understanding how such practices could be harnessed as resources for English second language learning in the classroom. This study is informed by post-structural theories of identities as well as of Bourdieu’s theory of habitus, field and capital. The post-structural frame of analysis underlying issues of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has also been important to establish a bridge between the learners’ digital practices and their English learning processes. It draws on debates around digital literacies, multilingualism, and identity, theories of access to ICTs and digital technologies and English as Additional Language Acquisition. The research sites were two urban based high schools mainly selected for their proximity to digital technologies, namely cyber cafes and/or computer laboratories and by their representativity in terms of gender and subject choices. Drawing on the qualitative research tradition and informed by ethnographic methodology, the study investigated Grade 11 learners’ insider views of the affordances of digital technologies for language learning. To reach this end, non-participant observations, focus group discussions and a questionnaire were used. Issues of research ethics namely, informed consent, anonymity and confidentiality were adhered to throughout the research process. With regard to access to technologies, the research findings reflect Bourdieu’ post-structural theory notion of ‘habitus’ as they show that the social dimensions the learners were involved in influenced their engagement with several digital technologies. In relation to Warschauer’s model of access, this study was able to identify the following: (1) material access’ linked to the learner’s access to the internet connection; (2) skills access’ concerning the learner’s ability to interact with computers and communicate with peers or fellow friends by typewriting and (3) usage access’ associated with the learner’s opportunity to use ICT facilities. The findings also generated insights into the learners’ construction of multiple digital identities and the fluidity and hybridity of ‘youth digital literacies’. The learners created a form of global digital identity by simply interacting or engaging with various multimodal literacies. Findings also indicated that learners negotiated digital identities by immersing themselves in Social Networking Sites (SNS) that fall under ‘Web 2.0’, an online platform which online users make use of to interact, share and perform different activities, focusing chiefly on social media. It was observed further that learners constructed a national language identity in the digital world by visiting mostly popular sites whose medium of communication was the national vernacular “Kinyarwanda”, thus stimulating the sense of national language identity of ‘ Rwandaness’. Additionally, it was apparent that Grade 11 learners had a great sense of attachment to their language as a significant characteristic of their digital practices through ‘translanguaging’ which became one of the resources in the digital space. The findings also indicate that technology served as a bridge between learners’ digital practices and their learning of English as an additional language, although language power relations were apparent as English was conferred a status of symbolic capital. The study concludes that various forms of access to ICTs do not only inform and strengthen Grade 11 learners’ process of learning English as additional language, but also support the construction of their multiple identities. There is a need to capitalize on face-to-face interaction and integrate ICT in teaching and learning so that learners can create their own learning space whereby they construct their digital identities as adolescents in the different languages they get exposure to.
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    A critical ethnography of Kreol Morisien as an optional language in primary education within the Republic of Mauritius
    (University of the Western Cape, 2015) Harmon, Jimmy Desiré; Nomlomo, Vuyokazi
    This research is a critical ethnography of KM in primary schools. Its purpose is to explore the link between heritage language and identity construction. My central research question is: how does the introduction of KM as an optional language in primary education shape Creole pupils' language identity construction in Mauritius? The research studied the overall impact of KM on two schools which I selected as research sites. Research participants were pupils of Standard I-II-III, head of schools, teachers and parents. I also selected some key informants. The study was placed within the international literature on heritage language and identity construction. The research is significant in the sense that it was conducted at the initial stages of the introduction of KM in schools. It might be of interest for future studies as its findings would serve to understand the place of KM in schools. At the same time looking at KM as a heritage language set against the 'ancestral languages' has not been done before. It contributes to other ways of looking at 'heritage' in a global world. I elaborated a conceptual framework based on classical Marxism, post-structural Marxism, French theories and post-colonial studies. I applied critically the theoretical lens in the Critical Theory Tradition which basically challenges the status quo. This study drew implications for language teaching policy and practice and the teaching of KM as a tool for empowerment and human agency. This research indicated the learners' views as to how their exposure to Kreol Morisien in the classroom shapes their ability to construct new, desired identities within local, national or global communities. The research design was based on a critical ethnographic approach whereby the researcher and the participants find themselves in a reciprocal human experience. Research instruments that were used were ethnographic interviews, class observations, document analysis complemented by the Delphi Method which is a forecast study of future trends. I got five findings. First, Creole consciousness movement underpinned the introduction of KM as an optional language in primary education. Second, parents chose KM on a purely utilitarian basis. Third, the curriculum and syllabus do not reflect and support the Creole identity and culture. Fourth, there was an invisibility and ambiguity about Creole culture in the school textbook. Finally, the pedagogy used to teach KM as an optional language created motivation and self-esteem. This study which was conducted during the first three years of the introduction of KM in two primary schools indicates that the presence of KM did not however, really enhance the identity of the Creole children as the curriculum, syllabus and textbook did not reflect and support the Creole culture and identity. KM was an additional language subject which certainly seduced by its novelty but it did not bring great changes as were expected. But KM does open avenues for adjustments and initiatives for an alternative programme in KM as heritage language and culture which could be implemented outside school. Such initiative would foster KM in its double identity of being both an ethnic and national language plus its future use as medium of instruction.
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    Investigating first-year student teachers’ English (l2) academic writing proficiency and its impact on identity construction: A case of a South African university
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Joseph, Damilola Ibiwumi; Nomlomo, Vuyokazi
    This study focuses on first-year student teachers’ academic writing proficiency in relation to their identity construction. Specifically, it investigates first-year student teachers’ English secondlanguage (L2) academic writing proficiency and its effect on identity construction as they transition from high school to initial teacher education (ITE) at a selected university in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The study is informed by Academic Literacies Theory, Identity Theory, and Identity Construction Theory (Cerulo, 1997; Joseph, 2004; Pavlenko & Blackledge, 2004; Bailey, 2007), which shed light on the relationship between language learning and identity construction.
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    Language brokering and identity construction: Exploring immigrant children's language practices in a multilingual South African context
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Wunseh, Quinta Kemende; Nomlomo, Vuyokazi
    The purpose of the research was to examine the relationship between identity construction and English second language (L2) learning through language brokering. Its focus was on how immigrant children served as language brokers for their parents and other immigrants in South African multilingual contexts. Through the lens of the Sociocultural, Poststructural and Phenomenological Variant Ecological System (PVEST) theories, the study unravelled the nexus between children's language brokering and identity construction through English (L2) which is the main medium of instruction in South African schools. I argued that identity construction in a second language and through language brokering is a fluid phenomenon which is influenced by a number of factors and which should be understood within a particular context, particularly in multilingual environments. This study was based on a qualitative case study research design. It was conducted in two primary schools in one semi-urban area in Cape Town, Western Cape. The study employed a snowball sampling which involved immigrant children of different ages from Francophone countries. The children's parents and their teachers also formed part of the study. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews with immigrant children or learners and their parents. The Francophone immigrant children were observed outside the classroom in order to establish how they interacted with their peers on school playgrounds. The immigrant learners' personal narratives were collected and analyzed to enhance triangulation. Thematic analysis was used to understand how immigrant children acted as language brokers, and how they negotiated and constructed their identities through English (L2) learning. The findings of this study indicated that Francophone immigrant children navigated different spaces with regard to language brokering. Some of the children displayed excitement and positive attitudes towards language brokering as a means of integration in the host country, while others perceived language brokering as a source of stress and frustration. Parents expressed pride towards their children as language brokers and they viewed language brokering as a vehicle to access better life opportunities through English (L2) learning. Teachers showed empathy towards children who acted as language brokers, but they experienced challenges with regard to accommodating language diversity in their classrooms due to the complex nature of multilingual practices in South Africa. Overall, language brokering was viewed as a mediated activity with implications for immigrant children's identity construction through exposure to English (L2) which perpetuates the hegemonic status of English in South Africa. The study concluded that language brokering, language learning and identity construction are mutually constituted concepts which influence each other. Through language brokering, immigrant children's identities could be seen as being fluid as they shifted from one language to another.