Using Cultural Identity to Improve Learning

Many South-African learners, bringing their particular cultural identity to the higher education environment, find it challenging to achieve the academic literacy required for successful mastery of their studies. Though they want to realize academic success, a cultural chasm may exist between their cultural roots and their academic identity.

This article explores a model of academic language support that acknowledges cultural identity to facilitate access to academic scientific content and language. An action research project was conducted to test this model and discover whether incorporating indigenous knowledge in LEA 111 (English for Academic Advancement in Science and Health Sciences) would facilitate mastery of academic scientific content as well as language skills.