Sesanti, SimphiweMajozi, Joyce Jabulile2026-08-252026-08-252024https://hdl.handle.net/10566/25264This study investigated African parents’ preference of taking their children to schools that do not teach in their mother tongue in Foundation Phase in in two primary schools in Cape Town. It explored the impact of these preferences to the learning and teaching of the African learners. This study is considered at the time where English is regarded as a means of upward mobility and economic advancement whereas the South Africa indigenous languages are disregarded in the public domain. However, the South African Constitution, Act 108 of 1996 declared that all eleven (11) South African languages and the South African Sign Language official and equal. The Constitution also urged that the nine (9) indigenous languages be promoted, developed and used alongside English and Afrikaans. Furthermore, the Language in Education Policy (LiEP) of 1997 was also introduced with an aim of ensuring that the stipulations of the Constitution are realised in terms of language development and use. Many studies have been conducted on language education, but this study needed to investigate the reasons that drive the African parents to prefer the L2 tuition from the Foundation Phase level in South African general context. This research gap invoked the researcher’s interest as the language practitioner who is also an educator in profession, to investigate the African parents’ preference of L2 tuition and the effects of their action to the education of their children. The researcher was also inspired to investigate the impact of the African parents’ actions to the teachers who teach the L2 learners English Home Language. The L2 learners who attend the English medium schools find it difficult to learn which led to their progress being slowed down because of not understanding what they are being taught. The teachers also find it difficult to teach because they do not speak their learners’ mother tongue. That prompted them to devise means to assist their learners to understand what they are being taught. It was also pointed out that parents are not able to assist their children with schoolwork because they are themselves not conversant with English. The study employed Vygotsky’s Social Cognitive Development Theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems of Human Development Theory as a main and supporting theories respectively to gain insight of how cultural mediating tools and the child’s environment can enhance cognitive development and learning. Purposive sampling was used and employed a Qualitative Research Methodology. Data was collected through the semi-structured interview and Document Analysis. This study, therefore, concludes that L2 tuition is detrimental to the learners as they do not learn for knowledge because they do not understand what they are being taught. The MTE is the best for the learners because they learn for knowledge and understand what they are being taught.enAfrican parentsMother-tongue educationModel C schoolsEducation policiesFoundation phaseThesis