Learners deserve the best: teachers as agents of language proficiency

Teachers are the primary channel through which learners acquire academic knowledge. In classrooms, language is the key to communication and understanding. This can be problematic in multilingual countries where some teachers may not be proficient enough either in the language(s) of the learner(s) or in the language of instruction. Many South African primary school teachers currently face this scenario. In addition, teachers play a vital role in reorienting a formerly exclusive education system to provide education for all learners. Together with the multilingual and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds of learners, this requires highly trained, innovative and motivated teachers. Based on the findings from two research projects on literacy development conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Limpopo, we make recommendations for the development of an inclusive and diversified literacy teaching model.