A Survey of Literacy Practices in Black and Coloured Communities in South Africa: Towards a Pedagogy of Multiliteracies

Abstract

The initial motivation for the study was the view of multilingualism as a resource, in which all languages and literacies at the disposal of a learner are used for his/her benefit. In turn, interest was motivated by the notion of literacy practices as social practices linked to broader cultural and socioeconomic conditions (Street, 2001). Interest was also motivated by recent studies which stress the value of understanding the literacy practices that groups and communities are already engaged in before embarking on literacy programmes and pedagogical interventions (Prinsloo & Breier, 1996; Street, 2001). Drawing on a questionnaire designed to profile literacy practices in black and coloured communities and schools in South Africa, the study concludes that literacy practices are linked to demographic, geographical, attitudinal, linguistic, cultural and socioeconomic factors, all of which intersect in multiple ways with the legacy of apartheid. As a way of bridging the gulf between community literacies and schooled literacies, the study suggests a multiliteracy approach in which local literacies become vehicles for accessing educational discourses.