Whatsapp as ondersteuningsplatform vir ouerbetrokkenheid van Xhosa-sprekende leerders by 'n Afrikaans medium skool

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT : This study was undertaken to promote parent involvement in the Xhosa-speakinglearners' learning process. The current trend is that Xhosa-speaking parents areincreasingly enrolling their children in Afrikaans medium schools. These children aretherefore taught in a second or sometimes a third language. These parents are notalways informed about the negative effects that it have on their children (Hooijer enFourie, 2009). The educational challenges posed to teachers are thus significant.Xhosa-speaking parents are not always able to help their children with their homeworkbecause they have no or limited Afrikaans language skills. The study was undertakento investigate how parents could support their homework participation in a homeworkprogram, with knowledge and skills. The overall purpose of the study was to promotethe involvement of the Xhosa-speaking parents in their childrens learning throughWhatsApp. It was also to get new insights about the educational use of WhatsApp.Participating action research was chosen as the most effective research design forthis study because it provides the opportunity to actively involve parents in theeducation of their children. The research population was Xhosa-speaking parentswhose children are Grade 1 learners at an Afrikaans medium school. Data wasobtained through semi-structured interviews with participants, an individual interviewwith the teacher, participation in a homework program with interactions on a WhatsAppgroup and the collection of artefacts. With the three forms of data collection, I was ableto move within the personal space of the participants in order to investigate the contextof their living world.The findings indicate that although parents want to support learners, they are limitedto Afrikaans language skills and the support is therefore inadequate. By usingWhatsApp as support for these parents, it has made an excellent contribution tohelping learners with homework as well as the involvement of the parents. Theeducator and parents state that there was definitely an educational improvement inthe Xhosa-speaking learners' achievements.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University