Abstract:
This study investigated on the influence of Setlokwa dialect in the writing dialogue in
Sepedi Home Language in Grade 11 at Sekgosese west circuit, Capricorn North
district, Limpopo province, South Africa. Sepedi Home Language learners in Grade
11 have challenges in writing dialogue texts because they speak different Sepedi
dialects that frustrate and confuse them when writing using the standard Sepedi
language. Therefore, this study sought to address the problem of the influence that
Setlokwa dialect has on Sepedi Home Language writing, particularly regarding poor
spelling in dialogue writing. This study was conducted using the social constructionism theory. The study aimed at finding remedial strategies to improve learners’ writing in long transactional texts, that are affected by Setlokwa dialect. This study used a qualitative research method. The method was deployed because the researcher was not working with statistical data. Data was collected in one secondary school at Sekgosese West Circuit through structured interviews, learners’ scripts for dialogue and classroom observation. The population of the study consisted of both educators and learners. The inductive method of thematic data analysis was used to analyse data. The themes of the study were aligned with the study objectives. Therefore, the study discovered that learners fail to code transition from Setlokwa dialect to Sepedi HL, both orally and in writing. Dialogue scripts
revealed that students struggle with grammar, spelling, capitalisation, and disjunctive
writing. The Setlokwa dialect influences the pronunciation of Sepedi HL words, resulting in erroneous grammar, spelling, capitalisation, and disjunction errors. Learners were able to distinguish between their dialect and Sepedi HL, but they were not aware that Sepedi is also a standardised dialect.
