Competing Purposes: Mother Tongue Education Benefits Versus Economic Interests in Rural Zimbabwe

Ndamba, Gamuchirai Tsitsi; Wyk, Micheal M. van; Sithole, J.

doi:10.18584/iipj.2017.8.1.1

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…According to Chilisa (2012), Heleta (2016) and Manyike (2017), lack of English language proficiency is related to high dropout rates, high failure rates and the inability of most students to complete their studies within the prescribed period. EMI in higher education strips most linguistically and culturally diverse students of their voices and render them powerless in their own education (Chilisa, 2012;Ndamba, Van Wyk & Sithole, 2017).…”

Section: Most Of Our Students From Disadvantaged Backgrounds Have Poo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research shows that in Africa, the language use pattern places ex-colonial languages at the top as most commonly used media of instruction and indigenous languages at the bottom. Ex-Journal for Language Teaching | Ijenali Yekufundzisa Lulwimi | Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig https://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/jlt colonial languages maintain their prestige as languages of higher education, science and technology and official government business (Gomba, 2017;Mkhize et al, 2017;Ndamba et al, 2017). The effect is the creation of linguistic hierarchies at an institution with English at the top and vernacular languages at the bottom (Prah, 2017).…”

Section: The Lecturers Commented As Followsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceptions of lecturers on English as a primary medium of instruction at a selected university in South Africa

Munyaradzi

Manyike²

2022

JLT

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In the current era of globalization, English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education in non-English speaking countries has gained prominence worldwide. The reasons for this include to increase institutions’ international visibility and competitiveness in the global market, to attract international students and to ensure graduates’ chances of international employability. In addition, more academic conferences are conducted in English and more prominent authors and academic journals choose to publish in English. Thus, many higher education systems privilege English in academic discourse. In light of this, this study explored lecturers' perceptions of the recent implementation of English as a primary medium of instruction at a selected university in South Africa. Said’s and Bhabha’s postcolonial theories were used as theoretical lenses to inform the study and frame the data analysis. The sample chosen comprised three lecturers who are English Second Language (ESL) speakers. Data were gathered using classroom observations and individual semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that English as a primary medium of instruction diminished effective teaching and learning. The participants frequently code switched between African languages in the classroom. However, they acknowledged the role of English as a communication means in a multilingual context. It is recommended that students be adequately supported through the provision of adequately funded and quality English literacy programs and the implementation of African languages as media of instruction.

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Section: Most Of Our Students From Disadvantaged Backgrounds Have Poo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Lecturers Commented As Followsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of lecturers on English as a primary medium of instruction at a selected university in South Africa

Munyaradzi

Manyike²

2022

JLT

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“…Also, students can be active, interactive and participative in their learning which is a solid ground for understanding of subject matters. All these can be achieved when students, teachers and parents understand the LoI and it became possible for all them to play part in development of students and schools at large which forms a base for provision of quality education in schools (Brock-Utne, 2010;Ndamba et al, 2017). Yogi (2017) mentioned inadequacy proficiency of teachers in English as another factor that necessities adoption of using mother tongue based language in education in African countries.…”

Section: International Journal Of Research Studies In Education 57mentioning

confidence: 99%

Replacing foreign languages with mother tongue in education in African countries: A review of enabling and disabling factors in Tanzania

Dady¹

2020

IJRSE

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The practices of providing education in Tanzania are underpinned by the principal that it is a fundamental right and it must be made available to everyone. In the light of this principle, the government of Tanzania has taken series of measures to ensure that there is no just schooling but effective learning for all children in schools. These measures including improvement of language of instruction (LoI) with consideration that LoI not only enable students to receive, process and express information relating to their learning but it also a cornerstone for provision of quality education. Having realized this factor, the government has made several attempts of replacing foreign language (English) with popular mother tongue based language (Kiswahili or Swahili) in post primary education. However, these attempts have been remaining in policy documents without moving forward to its implementation with recently similar attempt also indicate all signs of falling into that trap. Drawing from different studies that were conducted in Tanzania and other African countries, this conceptual review aims to analyse factors that have been pulling back and pushing forward the move of African countries to draw their indigenous languages from peripherals use into central parts of education as LoI with a particular reference of Tanzania.

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“…Recent statistics show that more than a billion people around the world now speak English as a first or second language (Education First, 2020). The English language has played a major role in upward social mobility and is considered a prerequisite for scientific and technological development in many countries (Ndamba et al, 2017;Rubagumya, 1989). Since the start of the twenty first century, English has increasingly been employed across institutions, with countries rapidly embedding English into a large variety of curricula, through extensive foreign language teaching, or more prominently as the medium of instruction in schools.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Linguistic Distance from English on Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis

Ozkok

Malloy

Rowe

2022

IJEFI

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Increasing levels of globalization have contributed to English becoming a preferred language of international communication, education and trade. With countries rapidly embedding English into a large variety of curricula, the demand for English as a medium of instruction is ever growing. Using information from the US Foreign Service Institute's Professional Working Proficiency values, we identify seven distinct linguistic distance from English (LDE) categories, and examine the effects of linguistic distance on income and economic growth across 97 countries over the 1980-2018 period. In addition to the direct effects of linguistic distance on incomes and growth, we further explore its impact through the channels of education and trade. Our results demonstrate that linguistic distance from English affects income levels and growth non-linearly across countries- increased distance from English does not necessarily translate into declining levels of income or growth rates. Conversely, we find that, via the trade channel, more distant languages tend to experience positive rates of growth. Controlling for regional effects or the existence of multiple languages of instruction do not alter our findings. Sub-dividing our dataset by national income levels, we show that the largest negative effects on growth are among Upper-Middle-Income countries.

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Competing Purposes: Mother Tongue Education Benefits Versus Economic Interests in Rural Zimbabwe

Cited by 11 publications

References 30 publications

Perceptions of lecturers on English as a primary medium of instruction at a selected university in South Africa

Perceptions of lecturers on English as a primary medium of instruction at a selected university in South Africa

Replacing foreign languages with mother tongue in education in African countries: A review of enabling and disabling factors in Tanzania

The Impact of Linguistic Distance from English on Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis

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