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Estimating the impact of language of instruction in South African primary schools: A fixed effects approach

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Abstract

For many children around the world, access to higher education and the labour market depends on becoming fluent in a second language. In South Africa, the majority of children do not speak English as their first language but are required to undertake their final school-leaving examinations in English. Most schools offer mother-tongue instruction in the first three grades of school and then transition to English as the language of instruction in the fourth grade. Some schools use English as the language of instruction from the first grade. In recent years a number of schools have changed their policy, thus creating within-school, cross-grade variation in the language of instruction received in the early grades. Using longitudinal data from the population of South African primary schools and a fixed-effects approach, we find that mother tongue instruction in the early grades significantly improves English acquisition, as measured in grades 4, 5 and 6.

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  • Taylor, Stephen & von Fintel, Marisa, 2016. "Estimating the impact of language of instruction in South African primary schools: A fixed effects approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 75-89.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:50:y:2016:i:c:p:75-89
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.01.003
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    Cited by:

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    2. Spaull, Nicholas & Kotze, Janeli, 2015. "Starting behind and staying behind in South Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 13-24.
    3. Ramachandran, Rajesh, 2017. "Language use in education and human capital formation: Evidence from the Ethiopian educational reform," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 195-213.
    4. Parinduri, Rasyad & Ong, Kian, 2018. "The effects of mediums of instruction on educational- and labor market outcomes: Evidence from Malaysia," MPRA Paper 87560, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Bethlehem A. Argaw, 2016. "Quasi-experimental evidence on the effects of mother tongue-based education on reading skills and early labour market outcomes," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-4, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Rajesh Ramachandran & Christopher Rauh, 2023. "The Imperium of the Colonial Tongue? Evidence on Language Policy Preferences in Zambia," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 32(1), pages 52-80.
    7. Argaw, Bethlehem A., 2016. "Quasi-experimental evidence on the effects of mother tongue-based education on reading skills and early labour market outcomes," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-016, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Margaret Leighton, 2021. "Mother Tongue Reading Materials as a Bridge to Literacy," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 202101, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    9. Rajesh Ramachandran & Christopher Rauh, 2016. "Discriminatory attitudes and indigenous language promotion: Challenges and solutions," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-78, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Chicoine, Luke, 2019. "Schooling with learning: The effect of free primary education and mother tongue instruction reforms in Ethiopia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 94-107.
    11. Nicholas Spaull, 2016. "Disentangling the language effect in South African schools: Measuring the impact of ‘language of assessment’ in grade 3 literacy and numeracy," Working Papers 19/2016, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    12. Hahm, Sabrina & Gazzola, Michele, 2022. "The Value of Foreign Language Skills in the German Labor Market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    13. Pooja Nakamura & Adria Molotsky & Rosa Castro Zarzur & Varsha Ranjit & Yasmina Haddad & Thomas De Hoop, 2023. "Language of instruction in schools in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), December.
    14. Leighton, Margaret, 2022. "Mother tongue reading materials as a bridge to literacy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    15. Johnston, Jamie & Ksoll, Christopher, 2022. "Effectiveness of interactive satellite-transmitted instruction: Experimental evidence from Ghanaian primary schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    16. Mauro Mediavilla & María-Jesús Mancebón & José-María Gómez-Sancho & Luis Pires Jiménez, 2019. "Bilingual education and school choice: a case study of public secondary schools in the Spanish region of Madrid," Working Papers 2019/01, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    17. Adelaide Baronchelli & Alessandra Foresta & Roberto Ricciuti, 2020. "The Words That Keep People Apart. Official Language, Accountability and Fiscal Capacity," CESifo Working Paper Series 8437, CESifo.
    18. Piper, Benjamin & Zuilkowski, Stephanie Simmons & Kwayumba, Dunston & Oyanga, Arbogast, 2018. "Examining the secondary effects of mother-tongue literacy instruction in Kenya: Impacts on student learning in English, Kiswahili, and mathematics," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 110-127.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Language of learning and teaching; South Africa; Fixed effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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