Wilken, IlanaMarais, Laurette2026-01-132026-01-132025-06978-3-032-13187-4https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-13187-4_27http://hdl.handle.net/10204/14576There are 12 official languages in South Africa, and a recent international study sent shockwaves through the country’s education community by revealing that more than eight out of ten Grade 4 learners cannot read for basic meaning in their home language. Without this essential skill, South African learners are deprived of the opportunity to fulfil their true potential, with the impact being the most devastating for those from disadvantaged communities. With many complex factors contributing to this result, the need for a wide range of solutions is paramount to addressing the various dimensions of this crisis. With this in mind, we embarked on a research and development project called Ngiyaqonda (isiZulu for “I understand”), in which speech and text technology for South African languages are harnessed to enhance home language literacy. These technologies were integrated into an Android application designed for Grade 3 learners, who will transition to English as their language of learning and teaching (LOLT) in Grade 4 after receiving instruction in their home language from ages six to nine during the foundation phase. In this work, we will describe the design and development of the application and the pilots we conducted. Hereby, we aim to provide insights into the literacy crisis South Africa faces and how a small intervention can make a difference to the lives of learners and educators.AbstractenFoundation phase literacyControlled multilingual natural language processingText-to-speechAutomatic speech recognitionConference Presentationn/a