This study explores approaches and strategies to implement in multicultural English-medium
secondary schools for the management and education of black pupils with limited proficiency
in English. It attempts to identify means of enhancing and accelerating the mastery by such
pupils of English at a level sufficient to support their cognitive-academic needs.
An account is given of those elements of the South African education system that have
contributed to the disadvantagement that such children bring to the multic,llttu'al classroom.
Relevant theories of bilingual education create a theoretical context for the qualitative research
that follows, in which the experiences are recorded of educators at three schools where the
needs of limited-English-proficient (LEI') pupils have been addressed. Data gathering was by
means of focus-group interviews.
Based Oll this research, guidelines are offered to help multicultural schools design policies and
implement programmes to accommodate the needs of LEP pupils.Educational StudiesM.Ed. (Comparative Education
