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Ethical principles
Research conducted in the field of human behaviour (including communicative behaviour) is guided by ethics principles that set the keynote for the entire research process, from planning through implementing procedures to reporting and discussing the findings. The principles that directed the researcher’s thoughts and actions are:
1. Respect for the dignity and autonomy of all persons
2. Beneficence (actively doing good) and non-malfeasance (doing no wrongful action,
causing no harm)
3. Justice (regard for fulfillment of obligations)
The way in which these principles informed the methods and procedures of the present study is elucidated in the rest of this section.
The principle of respect dictated first of all that all the participants in the research project would participate voluntarily, that they would be assured of anonymity and of the confidentiality with which all data would be treated, and that they could withdraw from the research project at any time if they should wish to. To this end, the practice of obtaining informed consent was followed.
A letter (Appendix B) explaining the aim of the study and requesting permission to conduct the research was sent to the teachers and the parents of the pre-schoolers involved. Care was taken to use layperson terminology, in order to ensure that both teachers and parents would understand the researchers’ intentions and the implications University of Pretoria etd – Naude, E C (2006) of participation in the project. The letter through which informed consent was obtained served as a tool to remind the research team of their position and their accountability (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000: 113). The head of the schools that were approached as well as the teachers declared themselves willing and, in fact, eager to participate.
Consent was obtained from parents through mediation of the teachers, who conveyed the information verbally, based on the written document. Where so requested by the parents, the information was translated verbally. The teachers therefore acted as informed interpreters. This procedure was adopted for the following reasons: some parents are only marginally conversant in English, some are non-readers, and many parents do not personally visit the school premises regularly to bring their children to school or fetch them from school, with the result that the researchers could not contact these parents personally.
The potential pre-school participants in this study were informed of the proposed procedures and provided the choice to participate or not, as they wished (Leedy & Ormrod, 2004:101). Only those children who assented, by indicating that that they wished to interact with the researcher, were involved.
Furthermore, the participants and their parents, as well as the schools and the teachers, remain anonymous in the report. In this way confidentiality is ensured. Lastly, parents and teachers were assured that the results of the research would be disseminated to the participating schools, and thence to the parents, in such a way that they would be freely available to anyone wishing to obtain the information. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Research Proposal and Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria (Appendix C) for these activities.
It was stated clearly in the correspondence with teachers and parents that the results of the research would also be used in constructing screening instruments, support material and other clinical publications.
The principle of beneficence and non-malfeasance was upheld by ensuring that no school, teacher, parent, or pre-schooler incurred any negative/harmful effects from University of Pretoria etd – Naude, E C (2006) either participating or not participating in the research. Care was taken that there would be no risk for the pre-schoolers in participating in this study, as they were not removed from their safe environment or singled out in any negative way. In addition, the ongoing monitoring of the research project by Kommunika (see Appendix A) ensured that the research was relevant for the setting for which it was designed, namely multilingual urban pre-schools in South Africa and specifically the unique South African collaborative teacher-therapist team.
The principle of justice is reflected in the inclusion and exclusion criteria of participants, which are described in section 5.6 below. Application was made to the Research Proposal and Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria, and ethical clearance was obtained to carry out the research as proposed (see letter in Appendix C).
These procedures were considered highly relevant to the current study because of the inclusion of vulnerable participants. Young children and members of culturally and linguistically diverse groups are potentially exposed to exploitation and therefore need to be protected from malpractice, whether it be intentional or unintentional. For this reason particular care was taken to ensure that ethical principles were upheld.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND PERSPECTIVE
1.1 Orientation
1.2 Rationale based on review of the literature
1.2.1. Multilingualism in South African pre-schools
1.2.2. The speech-language therapist’s role in South African multilingual pre-schools
1.2.3. English as language of mutual understanding in the multilingual pre-school
1.3 Statement of problem and proposed solution
1.4 Research question
1.5 Research approach
1.6 Organisation of study
1.7 Definition of terms
1.8 Conclusion
1.9 Summary
CHAPTER 2 LANGUAGE DIVERSITY IN THE MULTILINGUAL SOUTH AFRICANPRE-SCHOOL CONTEXT
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Language in pre-school education
2.2.1. Multilingualism as a global phenomenon in schools
2.2.2. Mother tongue education and additive bilingualism in South African schools
2.3 Language profiles of South African schools and pre-schools
2.3.1. LoLT in pre-schools in Pretoria inner city area
2.4 Language development in multilingual children
2.5 The difference between language disadvantage and language impairment
2.5.1. Language difference and language disadvantage
2.5.2. Language disadvantage and language disorder (including specific languageimpairment)
2.6 Language difference and language disorders in multilingual childre
2.7 Conclusion
2.8 Summary
CHAPTER 3 THE ROLE OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE THERAPISTS IN MULTILINGUALSOUTH AFRICAN PRE-SCHOOLS
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1. The pre-school setting
3.1.2. The pre-school teacher
3.1.3. The speech-language therapist
3.2 Settings and models of service delivery
3.3 Activities of speech-language therapists in the pre-school setting
3.3.1. Relating to people
3.3.2. The tasks of the speech-language therapist
3.4 Conclusion
3.5 Summary
CHAPTER 4 A LANGUAGE PROFILE FOR YOUNG EAL LEARNERS, TO BE USED INCOLLABORATIVE PRACTICE
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Defining language profile
4.3 Aspects of language relevant for identification of specific languageimpairment in EAL
4.3.1. Language characteristics of specific language impairment (SLI)
4.3.2. Relevant language characteristics of EAL
4.4 Conclusion: Aspects to be included in a language profile for young learnerswith English as additional language (EAL)
4.5 Summary
CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Conceptualisation of design and method
5.3 Research aims
5.4 Ethical principles
5.5 Sampling plan
5.6 Sample profiles
5.6.1. Criteria for selection of participants
5.6.2. Procedure for selection of pre-school participants
5.6.3. Description of participants
5.7 Data collection methods and fieldwork practice
5.7.1. Apparatus, materials and data collection procedures
5.7.2. Data gathering and data editing
5.8 Data analysis procedures
5.9 Quality criteria
5.10 Conclusion
5.11 Summary
CHAPTER 6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: LANGUAGE FORM
CHAPTER 7 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: LANGUAGE CONTENT
CHAPTER 8 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: LANGUAGE USE EVIDENCED BY THE EAL
PRE-SCHOOL PARTICIPANTS
CHAPTER 9 TWO VERSIONS OF A LANGUAGE PROFILE FOR EAL PRE-SCHOOL LEARNERS
CHAPTER 10 THE PROFILE OF RISK INDICATORS FOR LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT IN EAL PRE-SCHOOL LEARNERS
CHAPTER 11 CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
