Issues in language acquisition planning in Zimbabwe: the case of Ndebele within the primary education system
- Authors: Masuku, Seabird
- Date: 2024-04-03
- Subjects: Ndebele language (Zimbabwe) , Language planning , Language acquisition , Language and education Zimbabwe Matabeleland , Native language and education , Education, Primary Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434626 , vital:73091 , DOI 10.21504/10962/434627
- Description: This thesis discusses pertinent language issues within the primary school system in Zimbabwe in view of complaints (over many years) of communities in the two Matabeleland provinces and Bulawayo about high failure rates of learners in the final grade 7 examinations. It also interrogates the government’s commitment to the development of indigenous languages in the primary school system, particularly in the three provinces mentioned above as mirrored in the 2013 constitution of the country. The study conducted traces the language trends exhibited currently back to their beginnings during the colonial era in language planning by the government and the policies that informed such planning. What obtains on the ground seems to be violating the principles behind the declaration of the International Mother Language Day (30C/62) proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999. On 16 May 2007 the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/61/266, called upon Member States (Zimbabwe included) "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world". The amended education act of 2006 states that in Zimbabwe’s primary schools early learning must be done through mother tongue instruction then switch to English in grade 4 upwards. As a first step of a child’s academic life, the lower primary education needs to be conducted in the child’s mother tongue to bridge the gap between the child’s home environment and the new school environment as well as to reduce culture shock associated with the sudden introduction of a new language. Studies, such as those done by Noormohamadi, (2008) and Mackenzie, (2013) have shown that children tend to understand better if they are taught in their mother tongue. In this thesis I seek to establish if the teaching of Ndebele at primary school reveals the socio-cultural ideology (awareness of circumstances surrounding individuals and how their behaviours are affected, specifically by their surroundings, social and cultural factors) and political ideology (thinking structures about the way policies should be run) underpinning language planning in Zimbabwe. It is my observation and argument that the Education Act proclaims what has not been practised on the ground through teacher training and deployment practices. To establish if the teaching of Ndebele at primary school reveals the socio-cultural and political ideologies underpinning language planning in Zimbabwe, I carried out research in Matabeleland South, Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces covering a total of 27 schools, 27 heads of school and 135 teachers. The research’s main aims were to find out if Ndebele was taught at school, by who and using what materials. It should be noted that mother tongue, in learning, acts as a basis of interpretation of subsequent concepts. When a child is learning new concepts or words in the second language, he or she first searches the equivalent in his or her mother tongue. If the primary language has not been developed well enough to have such equivalents, such a child is likely to have problems in forming new concepts in the second language. The role of language in meaning, therefore, is a variable that depends on the socio-geographical location of the languages and their speakers. The research established that, indigenous languages, Ndebele included, are not developed by the government through financial support for teaching material production and qualified teacher deployment. Instead, it was discovered that in Matabeleland there are some learners at primary school who are taught by a Shona-speaking teacher who cannot communicate properly with the learners. It should be remembered that a primary language is used by a child as the foundation to learn the basic concepts in his or her own language and to give him or her freedom to express himself or herself without the inhibitions imposed by an insufficient mastery of the medium of instruction. As a way of concluding the research I found it necessary that the use of mother tongue by learners at lower grades of primary school be strengthened through the deployment of teachers who can teach Ndebele properly because it provides a strong foundation for further education. Using the mother tongue, students learn to think, communicate and acquire an intuitive understanding of grammar. The mother tongue is; therefore, the greatest asset and vital tool people use to acquire new concepts. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2024
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Towards enhancing indigenous language acquisition skills through MMORPGs
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Mostert, André M
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Indigenous peoples -- Languages -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Language and languags -- Computer-assisted instruction , Language and languags -- Study and teaching -- Technological innovation , Language acquisition , Computer games
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59343 , vital:27559 , http://alternation.ukzn.ac.za/Files/docs/17.1/08 Kas FIN.pdf
- Description: The growing interest and access to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) has opened up significant new scope for educational methodologies, from standard language teaching options through to formalising the skills that a ‘player’ develops through their quests and other activities. This scope is extensive and has created numerous opportunities for innovation both within education and the world of work. This is evidenced by the increasing presence of educational establishments in the virtual world, with Second Life being the most popular for conventional educational purposes. In Second Life and many other realms participants are earning some income and in some cases enjoying a reasonable living from online activities, while developing their skills base. These MMORPGs may open opportunities for promoting language acquisition provided this is located within a suitably attractive realm; ‘players’ would then engage in activities that would contribute to their abilities to use the indigenous languages in everyday life. This article explores how such a system could be developed and the likely contribution it could make to promote a multilingual environment at school and post school levels. Further, it will identify the implications for the future of teaching and learning through the harnessing of MMORPGs.
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In conversation with Barney: a critical discourse analysis of interaction between a child with autism and his co-participants
- Authors: Geils, Catherine
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Autism in children -- Case studies , Autistic children , Autistic children -- Rehabilitation , Discourse analysis , Children and adults , Language acquisition , Conversation , Children -- Language
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2980 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002489 , Autism in children -- Case studies , Autistic children , Autistic children -- Rehabilitation , Discourse analysis , Children and adults , Language acquisition , Conversation , Children -- Language
- Description: My study arose in the context of an intervention programme aimed at the development of a child with autism’s communication and social interaction skills. The approach I take is a social constructionist one in which language is considered to be constructive and constitutive of social and psychological reality. This orientation challenges the assumptions of a western psychiatric approach that emphasizes the impairment and deficits associated with autism. The participants of the study are a 6-year-old boy diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (Autistic Spectrum), and his mother, father, sister and a volunteer on the intervention programme. The discourse analytic method of conversation analysis is employed as a means of elucidating the collaborative mechanisms employed by both the child and his co-participants in making sense of one another. The specific aims of the study are to closely examine the communicative behaviour and interactive styles of the child and his coparticipants, their implications for communicative success (co-ordinated interaction) or breakdown (discordant interaction), and the implications for how the child is positioned within the discourse in relation to his co-participants. My constructions of the data suggested that a playful, activity-based interactive style constituted by non-verbal turns, affection and short, simple utterances enhance mutual participation and the accomplishment of co-ordinated interaction. Barney’s co-participants sometimes tend to dominate interaction and frequently employ a strategy of repetitive questioning, which functions to direct and constrain the interaction and results in the child’s withdrawal and discordant interaction. This tendency to withdraw, however, seems to function as a means by which the child is able to actively resist positioning by others, and thus constitutes himself in a position of greater power. Furthermore, his use of the pronoun ‘I’ and collaborative negotiation of the words yours and mine suggest the active co-construction and positioning of himself as a separate person in relation to his co-participants. This research informs intervention efforts and encourages the co-participants to reflect on how interaction is co-constructed between themselves and the child.
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The development of the meaning of non-ostensive words in a group of primary school children
- Authors: Segal, Denise Erica
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Connotation (Linguistics) , Children -- Language , Language acquisition
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2372 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004917 , Connotation (Linguistics) , Children -- Language , Language acquisition
- Description: The purpose of the present study was to investigate word meaning and its development in primary school children (6-12 years) . It was argued that the learning and development of the meanings of words such as pain cannot be primarily explained by means of ostensive definition. Furthermore, existing theories of word meaning which deal predominantly with substantive words fail to account for the learning of non-ostensive words. The pertinent psychological, linguistic and developmental psycholinguistic approaches to word meaning are reviewed briefly. The prototype approaches to word meaning are modified to apply to non-ostensive words . The focus is on conceptual meaning, that is, the way in which the senses of a word alter in different contexts. It is argued that the meaning of the word is its use in a diversity of linguistic contexts. The term "grammar" is applied in a unique way to encompass the meaning of the word (which stems in part from the words with which it co-occurs) as well as its selective use with other words in the language. Ninety-five metalinguistically-phrased tasks comprising short questions and picture-story sequences were analyzed in depth. The tasks were administered individually. A flexible interview afforded additional probing for each question. The analysis comprised percentage scores of responses at different age levels together with verbatim transcripts and qualitative descriptions: Uniformity, variation and developmental trends were found on different tasks for any particular word. Developmental trends were noted in children's understanding of particular words (for example, same), thereby extending the findings of previous researchers. There was evidence for a progression in children's ability to take into consideration that a word alters its sense according to the linguistic context in which it occurs (for example, same as it relates to chair versus dress versus pain). A comprehensive account of the words meaning could be established when a diversity of tasks was applied for each word. Children of different age levels employed different strategies in answering the questions posed. A model is proposed to describe the development of the meaning of non-ostensive words during the primary school years. It is suggested that psycholinguistic studies on word meaning be re-evaluated and that language and reading programmes incorporate the notion of "grammar". Application of this approach to the study of substantive word meaning in preschool children has important implications for theories of word meaning and for therapeutic intervention.
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