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The Effects of the Language of Instruction on the Perfomance of the Tsonga (Shangani) Speaking Grade

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THE EFFECTS OF THE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION ON THE PERFOMANCE OF THE TSONGA (SHANGANI) SPEAKING GRADE SEVEN PUPILS IN ZIMBABWE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY D MAKONDO 2012 THE EFFECTS OF THE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION ON THE PERFOMANCE OF THE TSONGA (SHANGANI) SPEAKING GRADE SEVEN PUPILS IN ZIMBABWE By DAVISON MAKONDO Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities (School of Education) At the UNIVERSITY OF LIMPOPO SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR LILY CHERIAN 2012 i DECLARATION I declare that, ‘The Effects of The Language of Instruction on the Performance of the Tsonga (Shangani) Speaking Grade Seven Pupils In Zimbabwe”, hereby submitted to the University of Limpopo, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology has not previously been submitted by me for a degree at this or any other university; that it is my work in design and execution, and that all material contained herein has been duly acknowledged. Makondo D Dr. 16 May 2012 i DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to all minority language speaking children of Zimbabwe and the whole world who were compelled to do school work using unfamiliar languages. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While I claim authorship of this thesis, I also acknowledge that this study was a result of the contribution of many people and institutions. I would particularly like to express my heartfelt thankfulness to my supervisor Professor Lily Cherian of the University of Limpopo. I feel greatly indebted to her, particularly for her insight and support during the writing of this thesis. Her expertise and encouragement have been dual pillars of strength that have been constantly present. I also owe my sincere thankfulness to Mrs. Rita Oliwagen (Statistician, University of Limpopo “now retired”) for meticulously analyzing my data. Special acknowledgements go to Prof. MJ Themane, Prof. I Kibirige, Dr. MA Rampedi, Dr. MM Kanjere and the entire staff of the University of Limpopo for their support and encouragement to complete this work. I also wish to extend my gratitude to the children, teachers and administrators of Muhlanguleni Primary School, Chikombedzi Primary school, Gulungweni Primary School, Chingele Primary School and Machindu Primary School who meekly participated in this study. Special thanks go to the staff in the Ministry of Education Masvingo province; the Provincial Education Director for Masvingo province; Mrs. Dube, Education Officers Mr. SR Tererai, Mr Makopa, Mr. Havazvidi and Mr. Mupunga for the permission they gave me to do research in their schools. This acknowledgement will be incomplete if I leave out the contribution made by my beloved wife, Paula V Makondo for her love and financial support and my three lovely lilies, Rhulani, Amukelani and Kateko for their encouragement, patience, understanding and accepting my physical absence from the family. My brothers Fanuel, Claudious, Cephas, Livison and Eliphas deserve a thank you for their financial support. I am also heavily indebted to my fellow student N Ngomane for her valuable help in the typing of this project. Her patience, diligence and commitment contributed greatly to the timeous completion of this project. My friends at the University of Limpopo assisted me in a number of ways during this study. They are also acknowledged. Special thanks are extended to Mr. Chifundo Kanjala, who from time to time assisted me with valuable ideas in statistics. The same applies to Mr. Daniel Maposa. Last but not least, I want to extent my acknowledgement to my mother Mrs. Makhanani Esther Makondo; who taught me to work hard, to be honest, tolerant and loving. iii Many people who contributed in this study are not mentioned by name, however, to all; I humbly acknowledge your invaluable assistance and express my heartfelt thanks for your contribution. Thank you. iv Abstract This research project was an endeavor to investigate the effects of the languages of instruction (English and Shona), to teach Tsonga (Shangani) speaking children in Chiredzi district of Zimbabwe. Because of the nature of the study, a mixed method design was used where both qualitative and quantitative methods were adopted to study the performance of the Tsonga (Shangani) minority language speaking learners in five purposively sampled schools. 222 learners participated in the study. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the language instruction in teaching Tsonga (Shangani) speaking Grade Seven children in Environmental Science. In fact, the researcher was interested in finding out whether teaching learners in a foreign language was a bridge or barrier to learning. In this case, the research did not only look at the effect of using English for instructional purposes, but also investigated how other major or dominant indigenous languages which are used for instructional purposes affect the performance of minority language speaking children in Chiredzi district of Zimbabwe. Data for this study were collected using lesson observation, document analysis, the questionnaire and a knowledge test. In this case, fifteen lessons were observed. Fifteen Tsonga (Shangani) speaking Grade Seven learners per school were purposively selected and taught in Tsonga (Shangani) only and the other fifteen Shona speaking Grade Seven children per school were also purposively selected and taught the same topic in Shona, and a third group of fifteen Grade Seven learners per school, were randomly selected and taught in English only. A knowledge test was given to each group thereafter. Children from each language condition were allowed to answer questions in their home languages, except for the third group which was taught in English. This group answered the questions in English with the restricted use of Shona. Each of the test results from the knowledge tests were analysed using a One Way Anova of Variance (ANOVA) and conclusions drawn. The results from other data collection instruments were analysed using qualitative methods like narrative discussions of data. A sample of five learners per school had their exercise books analysed. Data were presented in tables. The results from the knowledge tests given showed a significant difference in the mean marks obtained from the three groups (the Shangani, Shona and English group). The result showed that language has a significant influence on the performance of learners since the p – value was 0.000. This implies that the v performance of learners between the three groups is significantly different. On the basis of these observations, the Null hypothesis was rejected. The same picture was also shown in document analysis and in the questionnaires. Consequently, conclusions were drawn and recommendations made. vi List Of Tables And Figures List of Figures Page Figure 1.1 Map of Zimbabwe showing national language distribution 5 Figure 3.1 Banks’ dimensions of a multicultural education 43 List of Tables Table 1.1 Language diversity in Zimbabwe 3 Table 1.2 The languages of instruction and level in the Chiredzi district of Zimbabwe where the study was conducted 4 Table 1.3 Result analysis for the selected schools in Chiredzi district 6 Table 2.1 Diagrammatic illustration of localized trilingualism 29 Table 4.1 Data collection instruments 97 Table 4.2 Number of participants in the lessons that were taught per language condition per school 99 Table 5.1 Lessons observed on the learners’ use of English language (the Z group) 110 Table 5.2 Results on the lessons observed when the home languages; both Shona and Tsonga (Shangani) were used for instructional purpose 112 Table 5.3 The schools and number of learners who participated in the knowledge test given per language condition 114 Table 5.4 A summary of the means of the learners’ performances per School per language condition 116 Table 5.5 Estimated marginal means per language condition vii per school 117 Table 5.6 Tests of the between subject effect 118 Table 5.7 Pair wise comparisons 119 Table 5.8 The P-value between the schools 120 Table 5.9 Number and percentage of learners who participated in the questionnaire by school and by language 121 Table 5.10 The language of instruction commonly used in classrooms 121 Table 5.11 Language of instruction mostly favoured by the teachers 122 Table 5.12 Percentages of pupils who participate in class when English language is used for instructional purposes 123 Table 5.13 Percentages of pupils who participated in class when Shona was used for Instructional Purposes 124 Table 5.14 Percentages of pupils who participate in class when Tsonga (Shangani) was used for instructional purposes 125 Table 5.15 Percentages of learners’ expressive language when allowed to use their home languages in class 126 Table 5.16 Percentages of pupils who take more time to complete their homework when they use a foreign language 127 Table 5.17 Percentages of pupils who fail to understand questions that are asked in English in Class 128 Table 5.18 Percentages of learners who will understand when questions are translated into their home languages (Code switching to the learners’ home languages) 129 viii Table 5.19 Percentages of pupils who said they think in Tsonga (Shangani) and then translate their thought into English (Official language of instruction) 130 Table 5.20 Percentages of pupils who said they could easily understand environmental phenomena when they are taught in their home languages 131 Table 5.21 Percentages of pupils who said they preferred learning in their home
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