The achievement gap between learners who are assessed in a primary language and those assessed in a non-primary language in the natural sciences learning area

[摘要] In the TIMMS-R report, which compared the performance of a South African cohort oflearners with international peers in Science (and Mathematics), Howie (1999) highlightedthat:• The biographical information of the South African cohort who performed belowpar in comparison with international peers indicated that they wrote the TIMMSliteracy test in a second or third language.• Non-primary language learners spend considerably more time on homeworkcompared to primary language learners.• There is no linear relationship between the amount of time spent on homework inScience and the average literacy level in the learning area amongst South Africanlearners.Leveraging on the TIMMS report cited above, this study sought to establish the interrelationshipbetween learning and being assessed in a non-primary language on one thehand and related performance on the other. Specifically, this study sought to establish theperformance of non-primary language learners compared to primary language learners inthe Natural Sciences Common Task for Assessment (CTA). There is a groundswell ofevidence mounting that tends to suggest that primary language learners outperform theirnon-primary language counterparts in batteries of assessment instruments. This, however,is always clouded by other extraneous factors, chief amongst which, in the South Africancontext at least, is the strong correlation between studying in a non-primary language andfamily socio-economic status (SES). SES has been identified elsewhere as a determinantof scholastic achievements(Blignaut, 1981; HCDS –WC, 2006).

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University