Investigation into the Role of Mother Tongue on the Acquisition of French as a Foreign Language (FFL) in the South African Education System

Abstract

This paper focuses on the impact of mother tongue on students learning French as a foreign language (FFL) in South Africa.  While identifying well defined advantages and challenges, this study is aimed at explicating how native language backgrounds impact students’ acquisition of French as a foreign language. The study made use of the qualitative research method with a diverse sample of 50 students from educational institutions within the Gauteng and Kwazulu Natal provinces. A Qualitative analysis of the study revealed that there is a significant correlation between students’ mother tongues and their levels of proficiency in French. Findings of this research show that learners whose first languages present structural similarities to French tend to excel in language acquisition unlike students hailing from linguistic backgrounds that diverge significantly from French who tend to encounter enormous difficulties, particularly in areas such as grammar and pronunciation. These findings highlight the urgency for developing tailored teaching strategies for linguistic diversity, thereby suggesting important implications for pedagogy and curriculum design in a multilingual context like South Africa. Further research that will explore the long-term effects of mother tongue influence on language acquisition and proficiency in FFL should be carried out, as well as the larger implications for language learning strategies in similar educational settings.