Language and Social sciences Education

Permanent URI for this collection

http://41.63.25.24:4000/handle/123456789/30

Browse

Browsing Language and Social sciences Education by Subject "attitudes"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Implications of teachers’ attitudes towards unofficial languages on english language teaching in multilingual Zambia.
    (Zambian Journal of Language Studies, 2017) Mwanza, David Sani
    Zambia is a multilingual and multi-ethnic country. Amid 73 dialects spoken in the country, English is the official language and the only school compulsory language subject from grade one to the last grade of secondary education. According to 2010 statistics, only 1.7% of a Zambian population which was approximately 13 million people, spoke and understood English. This meant that the vast majority of the people (including pupils) spoke Zambian Languages. Drawing on Basil Berstein’s Code and Pedagogical Discourses Theory, the study intended to establish the attitudes of teachers towards unofficial languages and the implications such attitudes would have on the expected teachers’ juxtaposition of the horizontal and vertical discourses in selected Multilingual classrooms of Zambia. A qualitative study involving 18 grade 11 secondary school teachers of English were sampled. Data was collected through interviews and participant observation. The findings show that teachers held monolingual purist language ideologies in which their negative attitudes towards unofficial languages resulted into symbolic violence.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Teachers’ understanding and attitudes towards the eclectic method to language teaching in Zambia.
    (Journal of Educational and Management Studies, 2017-03-30) Mwanza, David Sani
    Zambia is a multilingual country and it is estimated that it has 73 dialects which can be collapsed into between 30 to 45 languages. English is the only officially sanctioned language for administration, commerce, judiciary and the media. It is the only compulsory language subject in the country and the sole medium of classroom instruction from grade 5 to University. Due to its hegemonic role and status, communicative competence in English is a must if one has to excel in official domains. As such, the teaching of English is of paramount importance. The Eclectic Method is the recommended method of teaching English at senior secondary school level in Zambia. This implies that teachers should have adequate understanding of the method and hold positive attitudes towards the method for them to effectively use it. Due to its relative novelty and complexity, this study sought to establish teachers understanding and attitudes towards the eclectic method as a recommended method of classroom instruction. Face to face interviews and a quantitative questionnaire were used to collect data from 90 conveniently selected teachers of English from 9 secondary schools in Central province of Zambia. The findings show that respondents had different degrees of understanding. While some understood it as the use of several methods in one lesson, others held misconceptions about the method. Their attitudes ranged from positive, negative to neutral. The study concludes that since some teachers lacked adequate understanding of the eclectic method and some held negative to neutral attitudes, it is imperative for teacher training institutions to improve their teacher training to adequately prepare teachers in the method. Further, there is need for continuous professional development to in-service teachers to familiarize them with the method and change their attitudes towards the method.