Teachers’ Capacity Building: A Model for addressing English Home Language Comprehension Challenges in Multilingual Foundation Phase Classrooms in KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Foundation phase classroom teachers in South Africa face persistent challenges in teaching English Home Language comprehension to learners from multilingual backgrounds. Teachers in these contexts often struggle with applying effective comprehension strategies, bridging learners’ home languages with English, and adapting instructional materials to suit diverse linguistic needs. These challenges are caused by insufficient professional development opportunities that address multilingual pedagogy and comprehension-specific teaching practices. This qualitative research employs a case study design and uses semi-structured interviews to generate data with four purposively sampled grade one teachers in one urban primary school in King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal. Through thematic analysis of the data, the findings reveal that teachers struggle with inadequate parental involvement in their children’s schoolwork, learners’ lack of self-expression, and learners' restrictive residential locations. To overcome these challenges, this research identifies a need for a structured approach to strengthen teacher capacity in navigating the complexities of multilingual foundation phase contexts and proposes a capacity-building model to equip foundation phase teachers with practical tools, reflective practices, and contextualised methodologies for enhancing English Home Language comprehension instruction. This research considers the importance of empowering teachers through a capacity-building model to effectively manage linguistic diversity and promote equitable learning outcomes in the foundation phase classrooms. Received: 20 January 2026 / Accepted: 21 July 2026 / Published: September 2026