Leerders se belewenis van onderrig en leer in 'n tweede of derde taal

M.Ed.Teaching and learning in a second or third language has become a common phenomenon in South African schools that leads to learners finding themselves in schools where the language of instruction is not known well to them. One of the main contributing factors as to why this is happening could be attributed to the changes in the South African education system. Through this system parents are allowed to enroll their children in any school of their choice, regardless of the fact that there are no variable correlations between the child's home language and their language of instruction. These learners experience of being thought in a second or third language is not known well to the teachers. This makes it difficult for the teachers to plan for meaningful learning. Teachers are therefore confronted with multiple challenges caused by the multicultural and diverse composition of their classrooms. The education departments are encouraging schools to promote multilingualism in schools. Schools should therefore allow learners to be taught in their mother tongue. The focus during lessons should therefore be placed on the learner's ability to understand the learning material and not their language proficiency. Because of this, teachers are experiencing difficulties to form a correlation between the learner's home language and their language of instruction. This study aims to explore and describe the learner's experience of teaching and learning in a second or third language. The researcher will draw up guidelines for teachers to support these learners who are being thought in a second or third language. An explorative, descriptive, contextual and qualitative study was carried out with the view to obtain insight and understanding in respect of the learner's experience of teaching and learning in a second or third language. The research is conceptualised and focus on grade six and seven learners who are being thought in English, who does not speak English at home. The phenomenological interviewing method is used to collect data. The interviews are audio taped and then transcribed. The researcher made use of Tesch's method to process the data. Guba's model was applied to ensure the trustworthiness of the research. The results of the interviews are categorised in sub and main categories. These categories are: i) A lack of effective communication between teachers and learners. ii) Conflict between the learner's perception of self concept because of their ability to speak the language of instruction and their parents and friends' reaction to it. Guidelines are formulated for teachers to support these learners who are being thought in a second or third language. These guidelines are based on the two main categories identified in the interviews.Finally, it is clear that the teacher's role in the involvement of learners who are second or third language users of the language of instruction in classroom activities is of extreme importance.Teachers should take into account the learners experience and cultural background when planning classroom activities. Parent involvement in the learner's schooling should be encouraged