BPT1501
Assignment 4
DUE: 25 APRIL 2026
, ASSESSMENT 4: Multiple Teaching and Learning Strategies to
Mediate Learning
QUESTION 1: Home Languages in Teaching
Position: FOR the use of home languages in teaching.
The use of learners' home languages in teaching is a powerful pedagogical strategy
that promotes inclusive, equitable, and effective education. Drawing on
translanguaging theory and mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE),
I strongly argue in favour of incorporating home languages into the classroom.
Three Reasons
Reason 1 – Cognitive Accessibility and Deeper Understanding:Learners
construct knowledge more effectively when instruction is delivered in a language they
understand deeply. According to Cummins' (2000) Interdependence Hypothesis, a
strong foundation in the home language facilitates the transfer of cognitive and
academic skills to additional languages. When concepts are first taught in the home
language, learners grasp them faster and can later apply the same knowledge in the
language of learning and teaching (LoLT).
Reason 2 – Affective Benefits and Learner Confidence: Using the home language
in the classroom validates learners' cultural identities and lived experiences, which
significantly reduces anxiety and boosts confidence. According to Krashen's Affective
Filter Hypothesis, learners acquire language most effectively when their emotional
barriers are low. A learner who feels their language is respected is more likely to
participate actively in lessons.
Reason 3 – Improved Academic Achievement, Especially in Early Grades:
Research consistently shows that learners who are taught in their mother tongue in
the early grades (Grades 1–3) outperform peers taught in a foreign language in
literacy, numeracy, and comprehension tasks. UNESCO (2016) and South Africa's
own DBE curriculum policy for mother-tongue-based education in Grades R–3
recognise this evidence-based principle.
Three Classroom Examples
Assignment 4
DUE: 25 APRIL 2026
, ASSESSMENT 4: Multiple Teaching and Learning Strategies to
Mediate Learning
QUESTION 1: Home Languages in Teaching
Position: FOR the use of home languages in teaching.
The use of learners' home languages in teaching is a powerful pedagogical strategy
that promotes inclusive, equitable, and effective education. Drawing on
translanguaging theory and mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE),
I strongly argue in favour of incorporating home languages into the classroom.
Three Reasons
Reason 1 – Cognitive Accessibility and Deeper Understanding:Learners
construct knowledge more effectively when instruction is delivered in a language they
understand deeply. According to Cummins' (2000) Interdependence Hypothesis, a
strong foundation in the home language facilitates the transfer of cognitive and
academic skills to additional languages. When concepts are first taught in the home
language, learners grasp them faster and can later apply the same knowledge in the
language of learning and teaching (LoLT).
Reason 2 – Affective Benefits and Learner Confidence: Using the home language
in the classroom validates learners' cultural identities and lived experiences, which
significantly reduces anxiety and boosts confidence. According to Krashen's Affective
Filter Hypothesis, learners acquire language most effectively when their emotional
barriers are low. A learner who feels their language is respected is more likely to
participate actively in lessons.
Reason 3 – Improved Academic Achievement, Especially in Early Grades:
Research consistently shows that learners who are taught in their mother tongue in
the early grades (Grades 1–3) outperform peers taught in a foreign language in
literacy, numeracy, and comprehension tasks. UNESCO (2016) and South Africa's
own DBE curriculum policy for mother-tongue-based education in Grades R–3
recognise this evidence-based principle.
Three Classroom Examples
