Stephen Taylor|Marisa von Fintel
Estimating the impact of language of instruction in South African primary schools: A fixed effects approach
Stellenbosch University|University of Pretoria|Stellenbosch University
many children around world access higher education labour market depends becoming fluent second language south africa majority children speak english first language required undertake final schoolleaving examinations english schools offer mothertongue instruction first three grades school transition english language instruction fourth grade schools use english language instruction first grade recent years number schools changed policy thus creating withinschool crossgrade variation language instruction received early grades using longitudinal data population south african primary schools fixedeffects approach find mother tongue instruction early grades significantly improves english acquisition measured grades 4 5 6