Why children learn English more easily with the help of their home language – Namibian study

By Nhlanhla Mpofu and Clement Simuja

Across Africa, millions of children grow up speaking African languages at home but are later expected to learn through English, French or Portuguese at school.

This transition can make learning difficult, particularly when learners are required to understand new concepts in a language they are still developing.

For example, in Namibia, learners switch from mother-tongue instruction to English in Grade 4 at the age of 9 or 10, a change that has been linked to poor reading comprehension and lower academic achievement (though national statistics are not available).

We are education researchers who study teaching and learning in rural contexts, with a particular focus on how the use of multiple languages can support reading comprehension. In a recent study, we looked at what was happening in Namibian primary school classrooms and found something encouraging.

When teachers brought learners’ home languages into English reading