Impediments to the Use of ICT in Intermediate Phase Language Classrooms: A Case of South African Township Schools

Abstract

Research has shown that reading in most of the South African primary schools is still a problem. In the past 10 to 15 years reports highlighted English First Additional language as the problem, but recent reports indicate that the problem has extended to the home languages, and for most South African learners a home language will be an African language. There is evidence that reading with comprehension is the main challenge. There is also a body of research suggesting that teachers struggle to develop the various reading comprehension skills. The primary purpose of this funded project seeks to expose the primary language teachers to the technology that can be factored into the reading lessons, to develop the reading comprehension strategies in intermediate phase English First Additional Language and Sesotho classrooms. The plan is to work collaboratively with a minimum of 100 primary English teachers per year, with focus on township schools, as the indication is that this is where the problem is mostly prevalent. The initial stage of this interpretive project, which is premised on Participatory Action Research, has thus far revealed the following: some school managers are not fully involved in the integration of ICT in their schools; in some there is no collaboration among teachers across the subjects; in some schools computer laboratories are reserved for mathematics; some language teachers do not consider ICT as part of language; workload issues discourage language teachers from focusing on ICT; in some schools intermediate learners still struggle with foundational components of reading such as fluency and decoding; the lack of Sesotho reading material and applications on the internet is a concern. The conclusion is that as much as there are problems, it is still a good idea to continue with ICT integration, in the process working creatively to offset challenges.