Analysing teaching strategies teachers use to develop communicative competence in secondary school english language learners.
Date
2020-03
Authors
Mwelwa, Wise
Mwanza, David Sani
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE)
Abstract
English has always been the language of government business, judiciary, media and employment
and a compulsory subject from grade five to the final year of secondary education while Zambian languages
are used as medium of instruction from grade 1- 4 and as a subject from grade 5-12 and have largely
performed the role of preserving Zambian culture and heritage as noted by (Wakumelo 2013). This implies
that the teaching of English in schools is of paramount importance. In line with this, the Zambian Senior
Secondary School English Language Syllabus recommends two general methodologies, the communicative
language teaching approach and Text Based Integrated Approaches. This clearly, entails that communicative
competence is the aim of teaching English in Zambian secondary schools, as it is critical for mobility in
education and is seen as a symbol of people‟s aspirations for quality in education and a fuller participation in
national and international life. However, we did not know what classroom teaching strategies teachers were
using to teach English grammar aimed at developing learners‟ communicative competence. The objective
was; to analyze teachers‟ classroom teaching strategies aimed at developing communicative competence in
learners used during English grammar lessons. The study was qualitative and data were collected through
interview guides and classroom observation guides. The sample size was 4 secondary schools, 20 teachers of
English and 4 heads of departments. The collected data were analyzed thematically. The findings revealed a
number of strategies teachers were employing in teaching English grammar lessons aimed at developing
communicative competence in learners which included; group discussions, sentence construction and oral
presentations, teacher simulations, brain storming and context based storytelling. However, in 7 out of the 8
lessons observed, teachers were not contextualizing these strategies so as to bring real life application of the
grammar learners were learning. In view of these findings; universities and colleges of education should
come up with professional development programs aimed at keeping in-service teachers abreast with the
recommended methods through short intensive courses during school holiday, schools to intensify on
continuations professional development programs
Description
Keywords
English language--Study and teaching (Primary)--Zambia. , English--Study and teaching(Secondary)--Zambia. , English language--Textbooks--Zambia.