Based on Table 4.2, this section presents an overview of the background knowledge of languages used by all the selected bilingual participants in my study. The purpose of this section is to give in-depth information as to where and when the participants use both languages, to know what their competent language is and in what language they face learning challenges. This information can provide insight into the real experiences of the bilingual students. As mentioned in Chapter 3, most of the responses of the participants were more than one, hence the variance in total frequency of each data.
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Table 4.2 Participants knowledge of language
Item Questionnaire Frequency n(30) Questionnaire % (100) Interview Frequency n(12) Interview % (100)
Where do you use your first language? Both languages
Home 28 93 8 67
University (general) 9 30 12 100
University (Out of the class) 2 7 0 0
Family members 7 23 0 0
Social media 2 7 0 0
Friends or Peer students 10 33 10 83
Workplace 2 7 0 0
Community 3 10 0 0
Everywhere necessary - - 6 50
When do you use your first language? Both languages
Communicating with those that use same language in any situation (General)
4 13 7 58
Outside of the classroom 1 3 6 50
Communicating with parents and family members
15 50 0 0
Friends or peers/students in and out of classroom
11 37 8 67
Anytime the need arises 10 33 0 0
Socializing 2 7 0 0
Discussing academic related content - - 10 83
Where do you use your second language?
Everywhere necessary 3 10 - -
University 23 77 - -
In classroom 5 17 - -
Social media 1 3 - -
Informal places (church, shopping malls) 4 13 - -
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Seldom use 2 7 - -
Home 5 17 - -
When do you use your second language?
In classroom 10 33 - -
University 10 33 - -
Communicating with friends & peer students
10 33 - -
Someone not using my first language 4 13 - -
All the time as need arises 3 10 - -
Parents and family members 3 10 - -
Seldom use 1 3 - -
Socializing 3 10 - -
In which of the two languages are you more competent?
- - Not asked in session -
English 15 50 5 42
Afrikaans 7 23 4 33
Isi-Xhosa 7 23 3 25
No response 1 4 - -
How well would you say you know English?
- - - -
Above average - - 4 33
Average - - 7 58
Below average - - 1 9
In the questionnaire, the respondents were asked where they use first language: 93% (28) n=30 first year bilingual students wrote that they used it at home, 33% (10) n=30 bilingual students mentioned that they use it amongst friends and peer students and 30% (9) n=30 students used their first language at the university for general purposes. Another 7% (2) n=30 respondents used their first language at the university but out of the class. The home holds the highest frequency as the place where bilingual students’ first language is used. A home
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literally is a place of relaxation, comfort and with no intimidation which may be caused by the compelling need to use a second language.
This articulates the importance of using a language that is not seen as a hurdle in order for effective learning to take place. Additionally, the questionnaire also shows that 50% (15) n=30 students use their first language when communicating with their parents and other family members, 37% (11) n=30 students use the first language in and out of the classrooms, 33% (10) n=30 respondents will use their first language any time there is the need to use it. On the other hand, 13% (4) n=30 students said that they use their first language when communicating with those that also use the same first language, irrespective of the context. As regards to when the first language of bilingual students is used, all the three responses apart from 37% (11) n=30 respondents that is used in and out of class reveals that the first language is widely used when communicating with close associates. As it is well known that language also strengthens bonds, this is the case of the 13% (4) n=30 students that mentioned that they use their first language with same language users. The 37% (11) n=30 students are most likely first language English users, who use English for academic and non-academic activities.
Still on the questionnaire data, the question was asked: when do you use your second language? 77% (23) n=30 respondents stated that the university was one of the places they use their second language. It was not surprising that the university as identified by UWC’s bilingual first year students had the highest frequency. This is because their first language was mainly used at home to communicate with their family members. Also they are more inclined to use the second language at school, the reason being that the school should be the second home of a student. The multilingual context and the language of MoI of the university add up to the other reasons why the university has the highest frequency. 17% (5) n=30 respondents were more specific in saying that they use their second language at home. This group of bilingual students is composed of students who remarked earlier that English is their first language. The equal frequency of 33% (10) n=30 for bilingual students who use their second language in three scenarios, in classroom, at the university and when communicating with peer students, is evident that the second language is used more for academic purposes. Not to be overlooked is the lowest frequency of 3% (1) n=30 first year bilingual students. It means
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that the use of second language for this one respondent is non-significant in all activities, which may or may not include learning, depending on what language is the second language.
The first four questions on table 4.2 were rephrased during interviews with the 12 interviewees. I enquired during interviews with first year bilingual students about where they use both languages and when they do use both languages. Rather than asking four questions, I asked two questions because I did not want to repeat my questions so as not to confuse the interviewees and take up their valuable time. As can be seen in table 4.2, that responses which are called an item were similar to questionnaire data, except that the frequency is different. All the 100% (12) n=12 students use both languages at the university for general purposes which may include speaking, listening, reading and writing. Friends and peer students occupied the second highest frequency of 83% (10) n=12 students. The frequency number 67% (8) n=12 students and 50% (6) n=12 students are used at home and everywhere necessary. The above data indicates that bilingual students can use both languages with ease in various contexts. The remark of 83% (10) n=12 of interviewees’ use of both languages in discussing academic related content also links to the university as one of the places where bilingual first year students at UWC use both their languages. 50% (15) n=30 made up the number of bilingual students who confirmed that their more competent language is English, while an equal 23% (7) n =30 consists of respondents that said that Afrikaans and Isi-Xhosa is their more competent language. 4% (1) n=30 respondents did not make known his or her competent language. Also, the data from the interviews shows that English is the more competent language with 42% (5) n=12 interviewees, follow by Afrikaans more competent language users consisting of 33% (4) n=12 interviewees. And bilingual students who said that Isi-Xhosa is their more competent language had the lowest frequency of 25% (3) n=12.
The data from both questionnaire and interview is significant in understanding the cause of the language difficulty that first year bilingual students’ face while learning in English. It is apparent that half of the respondents 50% and 8% less than 50% of interviewees’ are more competent in English. Thus, if the bilingual students are competent in English as they said, there should not be any tendency towards facing difficulty in relation to English as the language of MoI. Referring back to item 2 in table 4.1 and comparing the result of the bilingual's more competent language, it is interesting to note that there is a decrease in the
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frequency of Afrikaans and Isi-Xhosa language users. I expect that the 37% (11) n=30 students and 42% (5) n=12 interviewees Afrikaans first language bilingual students and 27% (8) n=30 students and 42% (5) n=12 interviewees Isi-Xhosa first language bilinguals cannot all competently use their convenient and familiar language. This suggests that some participants from these groups find it difficult to read and write in their second language. It is definitely more challenging for Afrikaans and Isi-Xhosa more competent language students to cope with English as the language of MoI. From a realistic view, it is more difficult to understand a subject in a language that is not clear when speaking and listening, therefore how much more difficult it must be to read and write in that language.
During the interviews, I probed further into the bilingual students' more competent language by asking the 12 interviewees how well they would say they know English. With the exemption of 9% (1) n=12 that said he is below average, the 91% (11) n=12 comprises of 58% (7) n=12 and 33% (4) n=12 were above average and on average in terms of how good their English is. In the later part of this chapter, I will discuss the written essays of some of the bilingual students as evidence to indicate their knowledge of English language and compare the reality of their use of English for academic writing with the bilingual’s responses of being an average English language user (See table 4.3). The 1 out of the 12 interviewees who said his knowledge of English is below average did not want to boast that he can competently use English in an academic situation but he can use English in his day to day activities. Knowing the participants’ knowledge of language led me to discover the language related difficulties either in their competent or non-competent language. Next I proceed to present data that describes the language related challenges of UWC’s first year bilingual students while learning in the English medium of instruction. I propose to capture this in table 4.3 in the following page.