Teachers perspectives on the use of icibemba in teaching initial literacy in primary schools in Serenje district, Zambia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers to investigate teachers Perspectives on the use of Icibemba in teaching initial literacy in primary schools in Chief Kabamba in Serenje district. The objectives that guided this study were; to establish teachers and learners’ views on the use of Icibemba in teaching initial literacy in primary schools; to assess how the use of Icibemba had contributed to learner achievement in initial literacy in primary schools; and to analyse constraints faced by teachers and learners in teaching/ learning using Icibemba as opposite to Ici- Lala in primary schools in Serenje district. The study employed a mixed method embedded design, which involved both qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study. This study used concurrent embedded design thus this study was dominated by qualitative while just some of the significant descriptive statistic to support the quantitative data. Purposive and random sampling techniques were used to come up with 57 respondents, that is, 40 learners, 16 teachers and one educational standards officer. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and classroom observations of literacy lessons so as to observe the practical learning experiences during the medium of teaching literacy. Focus group discussions enabled respondents to give detailed views on exactly the situation learners encounter due to the medium of learning literacy while lesson observations provided information where comparison between what respondents said and actually did in the classroom resonated. Data collected for qualitative were analysed according to themes that were in harmony with research objectives and while for quantitative, it was descriptive statistics analysed. The study revealed that although most teachers were in support of the use of Icibemba in teaching initial literacy, learners’ performance was low because of the language which was unfamiliar to learners. Additionally, findings also showed that learners who were taught using their familiar language benefited much as they actively participated in their learning experiences. Findings showed that there were no books to use in teaching initial literacy hence teacher’s delivery of content were hindered. The study concluded that the problem that was identified for this studyperformed poorly in literacy due to the fact that the zoned language was unfamiliar to learners in that area where it was used as a medium of teaching literacy. The study recommended that, Ministry of General Education should supply revised curriculum textbooks. Additionally, Lessons for literacy should be delivered using concrete real teaching and learning aids that will enhance the learners’ participation in learning experiences. Key words: initial literacy, teaching, medium was that Zambian leaners