DEMOCRATISATION OF THE CLASSROOM: AN ANALYSIS OF TEACHERS’ LANGUAGE PRACTICES IN SELECTED MULTILINGUAL CLASSROOMS OF CHIBOMBO DISTRICT
Date
2019
Authors
Bwalya, Vigirio
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Considering that Zambia is a multilingual country and that all the classrooms are multilingual
while the current Language in Education Policy only mentions English as the language of
instruction from grade five onwards, it was imperative to study the sociolinguistic situation of
the grade 6 classrooms of Chibombo district and their corresponding teachers‟ classroom
language practices. Thus, the aim of the study was to analyse teachers‟ language practices in
the grade 6 multilingual classrooms of Chibombo District and to determine whether these
language practices were democratic or not. The study was guided by four objectives namely:
to establish the sociolinguistic composition of the classrooms; to analyse teachers‟ language
practices in selected grade six classrooms; to establish attitudes of teachers towards informal
language varieties; and to find out the challenges teachers faced in teaching selected grade six
multilingual classes under the new revised Language in Education Policy.
The study utilised the sequential explanatory research design; a mixed methods approach that
involves the collection and analysis of quantitative data first and then qualitative data. Cluster
random, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to come up with 260
respondents of which 60 were grade 6 teachers and 200 were grade 6 pupils. Data were
collected using questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations of lessons.
Triangulation of data provided detailed information on the multilingual nature of the
classrooms, teachers‟ and learners‟ language practices in the classroom, teachers‟ language
attitudes towards informal languages and the challenges teachers face when teaching in
multilingual classrooms. Quantitative data were analysed using the SPSS software programme
to get the frequencies and percentages while qualitative data were analysed thematically
acThe findings of the study showed that the grade 6 classrooms of Chibombo District were
multilingual as teachers and learners were able to speak more than one language. The main
spoken languages in the schools were Nyanja (22.5 percent of the learners and 15 percent of
the teachers), Bemba (23 percent of the learners and 40 percent of the teachers), Lenje (29
percent of the learners and 4 percent of the teachers), Tonga (16 percent of the learners and
23.3 percent of the teachers). The findings also showed that while some teachers democratised
their classrooms through the adoption of translanguaging as a pedagogical language practice,
others insisted on monolingual language practices which resulted in symbolic violence. The
study further revealed that teachers had communication challenges when using English to
teach learners from different linguistic background. Lastly, the study concluded that teachers‟
language practices did not fully democratise the classroom due to semi-translanguaging.
The recommendations were that the Government through the Curriculum Development Center
should (a) revise the Language in Education Policy to match the linguistic composition of the
classrooms by developing a Dual-language or Dynamic Bilingual Education System instead
of the current Transition Bilingual Education, (b) legitimise translanguaging, and (c) consider
preparing and conducting grade 7 exams in two or more languages.
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Democratisation, , Multilingual Classroom , Translanguaging