The Impact of Impoverished Language Development on Preschoolers' Readiness-To-Learn During the Foundation Phase

Abstract

This article focuses on the language development and subsequent readiness-to-learn of preschoolers within a South African disadvantaged Griqua community with a population of approximately one hundred and fifty families. The subjects' main language is Afrikaans, but (to a lesser extent) they also speak Xhosa and Xhoi- San (two of the indigenous African languages), as well as English. Preschoolers from this settlement attend a preschool where Afrikaans and English are spoken. The data derived from the parent questionnaire survey was computerized, and frequencies projected as proportions and percentages. The Junior South African Individual Scales was administered to assess the preschoolers' level of language development, and the data was summarized, using descriptive statistics. Testing was done at the 0.01 and 0.05 levels of significance. The authors argue that inadequate language development hampers the preschooler's readiness-to-learn in the formal teaching situation, because they have not been taught higher-order thinking skills via early-mediated language experiences. The preschoolers revealed an inability to re-define and transform relatively complex ideas that comply with new learning demands. Because vertical and horizontal elaboration of language did not occur, these preschoolers lack verbal fluency, associative reasoning and relational thinking skills. Their restricted range of vocabulary also adversely affected verbal retention. The preschoolers therefore revealed impaired knowledge-acquisition processes. The authors recommend a transformation of the preschool curriculum into a programme that is devoted to the enhancement of language-based thinking skills to further the preschoolers' readiness-to-learn skills. The proposed programme addresses aspects such as the culture of the classroom, the development of hypothetical-deductive thinking, vertical and horizontal elaboration of language proficiency, and the employment of non-print-bound strategies to facilitate parental involvement.