EAL speakers in SLT caseloads
Process 3: Assessment
9. Are there factors operating within the primary settings that can inhibit or promote performance on the competencies assessed?
4.3 PHASE 1
4.3.2 The implementation at the schools
As the researcher, I was sensitive to the fact that the attitude, race and experience of the tester would influence the findings or the responses of the children (Solarsh & Alant, 2006). My experiences as the researcher with isiZulu mother-tongue speakers guided me in the approach used and the adoption of a positive attitude that would not make the children feel threatened.
The administration rules of the test do not require it to be timed. Timing was therefore not used as it can have a negative impact on the response of a child (Vaughn-Cooke, 1983).
of this language enrichment group and the piloting showed that I needed to spend a longer period establishing a rapport with them. The participants were grouped according to grades to accommodate the grade 1's who appeared uneasy when mixed with the higher grades, while the grade 2s were used as the focus group, as they appeared to interact comfortably amongst one another. Plans to have an equal number of boys and girls could not be achieved due to the disproportionate numbers of consent forms returned.
In the individual testing, which was conducted in English to mimic how the test is currently used (see chapter 2), there was much code-mixing and code-switching, especially if they could not remember the English words. In the discussion of the findings, the significance of code-mixing and code-switching and the purposes served in conversational repair for EAL speakers is revisited. The purpose it serves, such as conversational repair, is used as a support when the partner in conversation does not seem to understand the message conveyed.
Rural schools
In this setting, the pupils felt much more uncomfortable with English, which was to be used in the individual testing. The teachers had warned that grade 1 pupils could not be used in the English part of the test administration as they were only proficient in isiZulu. These grade 1 pupils were thus going to be included in the children’s focus group session which was conducted in isiZulu as they could freely express themselves in the language to which they were most accustomed. Despite their discomfort with English, the research findings (in chapter 2) illustrated that there is a significant likelihood that these children may also be tested in English by an English mother-tongue SLT, as most SLTs were conducting language assessments on EAL speakers in English or Afrikaans.
School 2 (rural)
Unfortunately, at the first rural school no grade 1 pupils could participate as there no consent forms were returned from this class, grade 2 children were thus used at the school for the group session and grade 3’s for the individual assessment. Lessons derived from the first school, where the pupils seemed more at ease in a group setting when the group was
homogenous in terms of level and familiarity with each other, were applied at the subsequent schools. Whereas, in the first school, the focus group was a mixed group of boys and girls, the genders were separated in this setting. The cue to separate the genders was derived from the group. The pupils seemed to be more aware of gender differences e.g. even when lining up outside they would do so in terms of gender. There were, however, distinct differences in terms of group dynamics in the male and female group. The girls were more at ease and communicative, whereas the boys were more reserved, so it was necessary to do more probing and prompting with the boys. The boys’ more reticent behaviour could have been influenced by their smaller numbers as there were 4 boys and 8 girls in the group session.
Only nine participants, comprising five girls and four boys, from grade 3 were available for selection for the individual session at this school as theirs were the only consent forms returned. As indicated earlier, the administration of the test was in English to reflect current use. Since the majority of participants struggled with English, responses were predominantly characterised by silences, single word and telegraphic utterances. Four of the participants (3 boys and a girl) were found to be 9 years of age, thereby falling out of the age range of the test. The responses of these participants were thus excluded, thereby limiting the sample to the responses of two girls and a boy. The information gained from the groups could have had a slight gender bias by virtue of the fact that there were more female than male participants, however, according to the analysis, I was not aware of any particular gender related aspects that came to the fore.
School 3 (rural)
A focus group was conducted with this group as the children were very uncomfortable with communicating in English. Only grade 1 pupils were used and the participants from the other grades were used for individual testing. All the grade 2 and grade 3 children who were candidates for the individual testing that was to be conducted in English, refused to respond in English. They either responded in isiZulu or kept silent when encouraged to try to answer in English. The children's response to being assessed in English, despite their discomfort with the language, is significant and is discussed in chapters 1 and 5.
As with the other schools, the return rate of the consent forms was very low. Due to the small numbers of the children (see table 8), the participants in the children’s focus group were not separated according to gender.
School 4 (rural)
A rapport was established with the children prior to the session. As with the other rural school, isiZulu, the mother-tongue, was the MoI in the Foundational Phase i.e. grades 1 to 3.
One of the grade 2 boys, two grade 3 boys and girls were eliminated, based on the age criteria, as they were 9 years old, thereby compromising the numbers of the study.
In summary, a total of 59 children from grades 1 to 3 participated in the individual
administration of the test in English, and 31 children participated in the focus group sessions.
In qualitative research there is no clear guideline on the sample size. “The validity, meaningfulness and insights generated from qualitative inquiry have more to do with the information richness of the cases selected and the observational/analytical capabilities of the researcher than the sample size.”(Patton, 2002, p. 245) Rather than focusing on the sample
size, the emphasis was on obtaining a comprehensive description, explanation and justification of the sampling criteria and procedures (Patton, 2002).
STEP 3:Parents and community focus group
Background
As children do not exist in a vacuum but are part of a cultural and linguistic community that influences their language and culture, a diverse group of parents and community members was included as a focus group (Moro, 2008; Taylor, 1986). The people around the children during the period of socialization are usually their immediate family members and
communities. Both these parties (parents and community members) shape the children's perceptions of daily experiences and influence their interpretation of their environment (Gopaul-McNicol & Armour-Thomas, 2002; Sturner et al., 1994).
An important conceptual framework used in this study is Taylor's cultural framework as a theoretical lens for observing and interpreting normal communication. It emphasizes the involvement of significant others, peers and community members and contributes towards confirming the validity of findings (Taylor, 1986). The input from family and the community helps to contextualize the statements that are uttered by the children (Naidoo, 2003).
Furthermore, within the South African context, consulting with other individuals from the child’s indigenous culture becomes more crucial in the context of this study as the majority of SLTs do not understand or speak the languages of the majority of the South African
population (Penn, 1998; Solarsh, 2001). Collaboration between professionals working with children, school, the family and community, is thus necessary (Bowen, 2009).
Background and preparation for the focus group
The principal of the first school, the urban school, helped to access the eight focus group participants. It consisted of parents, teachers, grandparents and community members from the community in which the children live.
Table 8: A table reflecting the profile of the participants in the parents and community focus group:
Gender 7 females, 1 male
Marital status 3 married, 4 unmarried , 1status unknown
Age range 30 -55years
Children All with children in the age range 3 to 30 years Employment 7 employed ( full/part-time) and 1 unemployed
Community involvement Support children experiencing communication problems with their parents e.g.
involvement with orphans from homes
Implementation of the parents and community focus group
The question schedule used to facilitate the discussion is attached in Appendix 7. The conversation was facilitated to be spontaneous using a topic guide to “keep the discussion centred while encouraging participants to speak naturally”(Ulin, et al., 2002, p. 98) . Table 9: A table showing the guidelines on which the topic guide was based (Ulin, et al., 2002, p. 110)
GUIDELINE IMPLEMENTATION IN RESEARCH
Composing research questions Open-ended questions to facilitate discussion and be non- directive
Identifying topics and subtopics Topics were kept as loosely around the focus of research as possible so as to allow spontaneous conversation to flow from the discussion of the stimuli
Deciding on a sequence Followed the sequence of pictures as set out in the RAPT guidelines, but conversation around each was not restrictive but allowed spontaneous conversation around each picture Developing sample questions Sample questions based on the objectives of the study e.g.
‘What do you think of this picture?’
Selecting projective techniques e.g. stories, role-plays Facilitation through open-ended question that developed into discourse narrative. Traditional stories and those from the children's schoolbooks involving animals and humans in the pictures were used to facilitate debate
The visual stimuli from the RAPT, consisting of 10 cards with pictures, questions and expected responses, were presented to the group. The following are samples of the prompts
used in the focus group discussions with the community and parents, which were presented according to the following sequence:
• What are your opinions on the content of each picture stimulus?
• How do you think the children would respond or react to each picture stimulus?
• Do you think that the activities depicted in the pictures relate to your children’s daily experiences?
• If they don’t, how could they be adapted to do so?
• Do the activities depicted in the pictures relate to your children’s experiences via media e.g. books, television?
• If not, how could they be adapted?
• Do you think that the pictures reflect your children’s cultural experiences?
• If not, how could they be adapted?
STEP 4: Individual interviews with academics
Our use of language is influenced by our cultures and experiences. Even though we may find two people using the same language, their understanding of the same words may differ (Bryson, 1990; Burling, 1970; Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin & O'Hanlon, 2005). Experts who have insight into both the academic and language aspects of communication provided their perspectives on the adaptations that need to be made linguistically to the RAPT (Solarsh, 2001).
Selection of the academics
The criteria for this group were that they had to be isiZulu mother-tongue speakers and also be from the Zulu culture. The academics consisted of both males and females from the
University of KwaZulu-Natal Disciplines of isiZulu and Linguistics and the College of Humanities. They varied in levels of qualification from Masters to Doctorate level.
Background and preparation for the individual interviews with academics
Although a focus group was originally planned with the academics, this approach was changed due to problems with the availability of the academics as a group. An alternative method of individual face-to-face interviews was eventually used and the responses recorded and transcribed.
Implementation of the interviews with academics
Although the academics were familiar with the issues pertaining to language assessment, either from literature or personal experience, they were not familiar with the language assessment instrument used and its role within the discipline of SLP. In the preliminary discussion with each of the academics, the aim of the language assessment instrument, how it is administered and scored was explained to the academics.
They were presented with the content of the language assessment instrument i.e. pictures, vocabulary and expected responses and asked to comment on the linguistic and cultural relevance of the material in the following ways:
• Comment on the linguistic relevance of the questions and expected responses.
• How could the questions and expected responses be changed to be more linguistically relevant?
• Comment on the cultural relevance of the questions and expected responses.
• How could the questions and expected responses be changed to be more culturally relevant?
• Comment on the possible interpretation of the questions and expected responses from a semantic perspective.
• What adaptations could be made to the questions and expected responses from a semantic perspective?
• Comment on the possible interpretation of the questions and expected responses from a syntactic perspective.
• What adaptations could be made to the questions and expected responses from a syntactic perspective?
Common concerns and recommendations and themes were recorded.
Role of facilitator (in focus group and individual interviews)
It was particularly crucial in this research to contextualize myself and my position within the study as a facilitator. As a therapist who works with individuals with speech or language difficulties, and being in the relatively unique position of being an SLT from an African cultural and language background, I drew on these personal and professional skills and experiences to create a relaxed, respectful and non-judgemental atmosphere for the
participants. As a multilingual speaker who faced the challenges of learning other languages that are different and are embedded in a different culture from that of the mother-tongue, I was able to bring my own knowledge and experience into the further exploration and interpretation of the issues raised in the discussion.