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?
3.6 SA’S LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL REALITY
linguistically and culturally inappropriate.” This study responds to these concerns by providing the framework for the creation of a culturally and linguistically valid expressive language test for the South African context.
Although I have argued that the assessment of EAL speakers from indigenous linguistic and cultural backgrounds, using these language assessment tools which are predominantly normed on the UK or US populations,in their current form in South Africa may be unjust, it is a reality globally (Gopaul-McNicol & Armour-Thomas, 2002). South Africa’s language and cultural realities, however, present further challenges.
The extract below, from amale pupil from Germiston (Mesthrie, 2002, p. 12) demonstrates the complexity of the South African language context (Labov, 2010):
My father’s home language was Swazi and my mother’s was Tswana. I grew up in a Zulu-speaking area. We mostly used Zulu and Swazi at home. From my mother’s side I also learnt Tswana. In my high school, I came into contact with lots of Sotho and Tswana students, so I can speak these two languages well. And of course I know English and Afrikaans. With my friends I also use Tsotsitaal.
Paradis (Paradis, 2007a; 1995) and Juarez (1983) argue that the bilinguals’ spoken languages influence each other semantically ( meaning), syntactically (grammar), morphologically (grammar) and pragmatically (contextual use). The transfer or interference of the characteristics of L1on the L2 (also referred to as the additional language in this study) is known as language transfer or interference (Baker, 1995; Labov, 2010; Myers-Scotton, 2006). Even when the EAL speaker uses a language common with the SLT, such as English, the language and cultural difference will impact on the EAL speaker’s comprehension and expression, as the vocabulary provided by a child in response to a picture is gauged according to the SLT’s associations with the label of the picture.
The use of the L2 by the speaker also depends on the stage of L2 development and the level of proficiency. The stages of L2 development include the silent period and telegraphic stage (Tabors, 2008b) while the levels of proficiency include the Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills ( BICS) and Cognitive or Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), terms developed by Cummins (cited in Baker, 1988). Whereas BICS are the basic context-based interpersonal skills, CALP comprises higher level academic skills that are not context-based (Baker, 1988).
Comment [p42]: What is the Labov reference to? Complexity of South Africa?
Comment [p43]: spacing
Comment [p44]: reference
Selinker (1992) has coined the term ‘interlanguage’ for the linguistic system reflecting difference between the mother tongue and the target language. Archibald (1997) has identified two types of errors that are commonly found in interlanguage, namely, transfer and developmental errors.Transfer errors are errors that are influenced by the mother tongue e.g. the man, he go to town (Poulus & Msimang 1998). In this example, the isiZulu morpho-syntactic concordial system49 has been superimposed onto English.
Developmental errors are similar to those of native speaker e.g. ‘the lady goed home’
where the child has over-generalised the regular past tense rule.
Other ways in which the L1 may influence the L2 are manifested in processes such as code-switching, the alternation between two languages and borrowing, i.e. the borrowing of words from one language to the other (Roseberry-McKibbin ,2002 cited in Shipley &
McAfee, 2004).
Bryson (1990) argues that even English monolinguals who are from different cultures, such as the British, Irish and Scots, are not always mutually intelligible. Language tests therefore need to accommodate the influence of these various languages and cultures on the assessment process and findings. Unfortunately, the limited accessibility of language assessment tools that have been adapted to other South African languages, taking into account the population dynamics described above, has made it very difficult to fairly and accurately evaluate children who are African EAL speakers who come from indigenous language and cultural backgrounds. SLTs that need to evaluate the language skills of such a speaker are often faced with a problem. They mostly depend on the standardised test which is normed using the tests predominantly normed on UK or US populations and do not take cognisance of the characteristics of the mother-tongue and culture of the child.
49 The isiZulu concordial system is an agglutinative alliterative system based on subject: noun agreement.
Comment [p45]: inverted comma wrong way around
In the findings of the survey presented in chapter 2, some of the SLTs comment that it may be easier and more comfortable to use formal standardised tests in their current form as a frame of reference in the assessment and intervention, but Kavanagh and Kennedy (1992) describe this act as a cultural imposition based on ethnocentrism or a belief that one’s own culture is superior to another’s (Parker, 2003). As SLTs are a product of their culture and experiences, this culture will influence the lens through which they assess and interpret the findings of all their clients, including the African EAL speaker who comes from an indigenous language and cultural background. This lens is a product of the individual’s personal construct based on her representation of reality (Delanty &
Strydom, 2003) i.e. perceiving our construct as universal. This universalising is
reductionistic as it reduces the complexity of the varying needs and interests of each of the clients (Ben Habib, 1996; Pillay, 2003) to a single, general, easier-to-manage package. It may not be the intention of the SLT to be ethnocentric but, as Kavannagh and Kennedy (1992, p. 29) maintain:
Many individuals who are not personally prejudicial or individually discriminatory, however, contribute to social distancing and discriminatory situations…..by not realizing that their behaviours conflict with the values and norms of other groups of people….create social barriers or negate the worth of others.
The following incident that occurred in a therapy setting in which the SLT was an English mother-tongue speaker with a child who was an isiZulu mother-tongue speaker, demonstrates this point.
Setting
Therapy room, with therapist presenting picture stimuli i.e. showing the child pictures and asking a question relating to the picture presented, as part of an assessment. The clinician is an English mother-tongue speaker whilst the child is an isiZulu mother-tongue speaker.
Therapist: What is this? (pointing to the picture of the nose) Child: Ikhala50. (phonetically /ikhαlα/)2
Therapist: No, it’s not a colour. What is it?
Child: Ikhala
Therapist: I’ll give you a clue. It’s a body part.
Child : Ikhala ( isiZulu interpretation ‘nose’)
Therapist marks the item as being incorrect and comments that the child cannot name body parts, whereas the child had correctly named the body part, but in the mother-tongue.
Figure 7: An extract from a therapy session between a clinician and an EAL child
Even though it may not have been the intention of the therapist to be prejudicial or
discriminatory towards the child, the result will be prejudicial to the child. If the SLT could extend her understanding of truth to accommodate that of the child, she will be a step closer to a greater truth (Bhabha & Comaroff, 2002) . Unfortunately ignoring the influence of the child’s mother tongue has negative effects for the African EAL speaker from the isiZulu language and cultural background. Jordaan (2008) further argues that it has negative effects for the effectiveness of assessment. It also has ethical and moral implications.
Several ethical values, which form part of the constitutions of the profession’s different watchdog bodies’ such as the Health Professional’s Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the South African Speech, Language and Hearing Association (SASLHA), are being contravened.
50 isiZulu word for nose
2 the IsiZulu word sounds like the English word colour
The ethical values of justice3, truth4, benifecence5 and non-malifescence6 are not adhered to (Hegde, Davis, & 2005). The client is not being justly treated when they are provided with a service that is based on potentially inaccurate findings. The SLT is not fully truthful when making a recommendation for placement based on findings where certain relevant factors, such as language and culture, have not been taken into account. If the findings are not consistent with the criteria of institutions to which the client needs to gain access, the SLT could have caused harm to the client. The issues raised in the example in figure 7, particularly of ethics, are core aspects addressed by Critical Theory.
In South Africa, which has a history of racial and social inequality, the misuse of the ‘truth’, as depicted in the example of the therapist and the client who is from an isiZulu language and cultural background, can reinforce this inequality. The interpretation and perception of knowledge by the SLT was regarded as the truth. However, the real truth is elusive as “truth is created and uncreated by human beings” (Gqola, 2010; Higgs & Smith, 2006, p. 66).
Unfortunately, the ‘truth’ created by members of society who are in a position of power can be adversely used, intentionally or unintentionally, to dominate other groups in society, create or reinforce inequalities and maintain the status quo (Badmington & Thomas, 2008).
The issue of language and culture is globally and historically closely linked to issues of power and politics. For example, the decision to declare both English and French to be official languages in Canada was influenced by political and social macro- and micro-social issues (Blance, 1994; Downes, 1998; Green, 2008; Mestherie, 2002). South Africa has experienced similar macro- and micro-social issues as the rest of the world around the area of language
3 An equal distribution of benefits
4 Disclosure of all pertinent information
5 Obligation to convey benefits and to help others to further legitimate interests
6 Obligation not to inflict evil, harm or risk of harm on others
Comment [p46]: delete comma
Comment [p47]: full stop
assessment. These issues cannot be perceived in isolation from the historical, political context of the country.
The discussion that follows on language assessment test development in South Africa includes the translation of tests, but test translation is not the aim of this study. The history of the development of language evaluation instruments however provides a clear illustration of the background and the need for the changes proposed in this study. It also demonstrates the focus on translation in the SLP profession.