English‐medium instruction in Tanzanian secondary schools: A conflict of aspirations and achievements

Abstract

A questionnaire on attitudes to English as a medium of instruction, and as a means of advancement in Tanzanian society was administered to 207 students in eight secondary schools in Dar es Salaam. Attitudes towards English were far more positive and optimistic than the real position of the language in the schools would warrant. Self-assessed competence in English was also greatly exaggerated. Two inter-group differences were observed. Younger (Form I) students hold more positive attitudes than older (Form IV) students, and females outscore males. The results are explained in terms of Schmied's (1985) distinction between the 'relative' and 'absolute' prestige of English. A conflictual interpretation of Tanzanian triglossia is proposed and its implications for educational planning are discussed.

Is Tanzania diglossic? The status and role of ethnic community languages

“…Although critical of some of the inadequacies of both triglossia and double overlapping diglossia, Rubagumya (1989) proposes yet another reinterpretation of diglossia, one he terms a social conflict perspective of diglossia. Like Whiteley (1969) and Massamba (1989) among others, he correctly argues that by virtue of their political and economic status, English at one level and Kiswahili at another become requisites for access to power and mobility within society.…”

“…Given that fewer than 3% of primary school leavers continue into secondary school (Russell, 1990), given that competence in English is not achieved even on completion of secondary education (Grade 11: Age 16) (Criper & Dodd, 1984;Mlama & Matteru, 1978) and given that the vast majority of secondary-school leavers work in a predominantly Kiswahili-speaking environment, English has, for the vast majority of the people in Tanzania, no communicative status. Those who cannot use it are either excluded from the domains of its use (Rubagumya, 1989;Russell, 1990) or they use Kiswahili instead (Mlama & Matteru, 1978). For such people the L role of Kiswahili simply does not exist.…”

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

“…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.…”

On the suitability of Swahili for early schooling in remote rural Tanzania: do policy and practice align?

“…a report by Criper and Dodd 1984 that was commissioned by the British Council) and a range of academic studies (e.g. Rubagumya 1989;Qorro 2004;2013;Brock-Utne 2004;Swilla 2009;Mapunda 2015;amongst others).…”