Investigating the development of academic home language proficiency skills in foundation phase classrooms (Grades R–3): Focusing on reading and writing Setswana

Abstract

Academic home language proficiency is a cornerstone of educational success, yet its development poses notable challenges for young learners, particularly in the Foundation Phase (Grades R-3). The purpose of this study is to examine how Setswana-speaking learners in Grades R–3 acquire academic home language proficiency in reading and writing, and assessed the extent to which teachers’ professional experiences support effective instruction. Employing a qualitative case study design, the research integrated a literature review with empirical data gathered through classroom observations and both individual and focus group interviews. Two Foundation Phase schools in South Africa’s Bojanala District one rural and one township-based were purposively selected, each using Setswana as the medium of instruction. This paper adopts Bronfenbrenner’s systems theory, which identifies five systems in the ecosystem: micro-, meso-, exo-, macro-, and chronosystems. Despite constraints such as limited Setswana-language resources and overcrowded classrooms, findings indicated that teachers demonstrated strong commitment to fostering academic home language proficiency through intentional and adaptive teaching practices. This study recommends that academic literacy programmes should be designed to induct learners into the norms and practices of academic discourse and its associated tasks, while simultaneously emphasizing the acquisition of transferable skills essential for real-world contexts.