THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER AND PARENT IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: A FOCUS ON INFANT SCHOOL

Abstract

One of the miracles of development in education is how children learn, acquire and develop
language. The school, apart from imparting knowledge and skills, has to provide for language
development in learners. The paper examines the role of the teacher in language
development. Different theories in development which include maturationist theory, the
environmentalist theory, constructivist theory and interactionist theory are also examined.
The study makes use of the mixed methodology and the case study design. The study focused
on one primary school in Chegutu, Zimbabwe. The school was purposively selected. The six
classes observed included two ECD classes, two grade one classes and two grade two classes.
The six teachers in the selected classes automatically became respondents in the study. The
study observed that while the teachers had the relevant qualifications, it was necessary for
grade one and two teachers to have an understanding of ECD-A and ECD-B expectations.
The study observed that teachers used a variety of approaches to promote language
development in learners. The different approaches were characterised by the environmentalist
theory which argues that the environment shapes learning. The study also noted that while
parents played an important role in language development, the extent of their involvement in
school work was influenced by their level of education and economic status. The study
concluded that lack of resources, limited time, and the heterogeneous nature of languages
within communities; create challenges on language development at school level. The study
recommends a collective effort by schools, parents and communities for resource
mobilisation and provision in order to support the teaching and learning of languages in
schools.