Original Research

Exploring the Role of the Speech-language Therapist in City Centre Preschools

Sandra du Plessis
South African Journal of Childhood Education | Vol 2, No 2 | a14 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v2i2.14 | © 2012 Sandra du Plessis | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 30 April 2014 | Published: 30 December 2012

About the author(s)

Sandra du Plessis, University of Limpopo (Medunsa Campus), South Africa

Full Text:

PDF (230KB)

Abstract

This study investigates the perception of the strengths and challenges that face city centre preschool teachers and preschool learners in the acquisition of English as medium of instruction and to use the results to explore the role of speech-language therapists in this context. A descriptive survey, incorporating a quantitative data collection method, was selected as the research design and a questionnaire was developed as a survey instrument. The findings identified the strengths as including the creative communication strategies employed by the pre-schoolers and the innovative techniques of the teachers. Perceived challenges include a cultural and linguistic mismatch between teachers and learners and communication barriers that cause emotional and behavioural problems in classrooms. The study suggests that speech-language therapists need to consider and employ service delivery models instead of traditional models with the preschool teachers.


Keywords

Additional language learners, city centre preschools, English as language of learning and teaching, preschool learners, multilingual schools

Metrics

Total abstract views: 2361
Total article views: 1226

 

Crossref Citations

1. Supporting language development in Lebanese preschools: SLT and pre‐KT practice and perception of roles
Edith Kouba Hreich, Camille Moitel Messarra, Trecy Martinez‐Perez, Sami Richa, Christelle Maillart
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders  vol: 55  issue: 6  first page: 988  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.12576