How viable is English as a teaching medium when it is the first language for only a very small number of the population? Will students even need to use English after finishing school? Are schools and teachers adequately prepared to teach using English?

A paper from Edge Hill College, UK, examines the relationship between educational language policy and classroom practice in two post-colonial African societies, the Republics of Botswana and Tanzania. In both societies, English is one of the official languages of instruction but is being challenged by languages which are used far more widely.

Setswana is the first language of approximately 70 per cent of the population in Botswana and some 28 further languages are spoken natively by the remaining 30 per cent. Setswana is established as the medium of the first four years of primary schooling although a new policy proposing Setswana for the initial year of primary school followed by English from year two is yet to be fully implemented.

In Tanzania, Kiswahili is a second language for the overwhelming majority of the population, learned after or alongside one of over 120 ethnic community languages. It has been the sole medium of primary education since 1967 however secondary schooling still takes place in English.

To assess the impact of teaching through the medium of a second language, the study reviews research on practices in English-medium classrooms at both primary and secondary level in Botswana and at secondary level in Tanzania.

Findings include:

• The majority of teachers in Botswana favour English as the sole medium of instruction throughout primary school but those who speak a minority language other than Setswana or teach speakers of a minority language are less in favour.
• There is extensive use of bilingual "codeswitching", where the official language of instruction is used alongside other languages known to teachers and learners.
• The patterning of bilingual discourse in classrooms in the two different sociolinguistic settings appears to vary: in Botswana, codeswitching from English to Setswana has been observed to be the prerogative of teachers while Tanzanian secondary school pupils switch from English into Kiswahili quite freely.
• Classrooms are dominated by teachers lecturing or asking questions, possibly because whole-class routines are less demanding of teachers’ English.

The English language is considered to carry the most prestige and there has been recent growth in English-medium private education however the need and opportunity to use English in employment appears to be extremely limited. The study suggests that policy-makers need to be careful not to mistake popular demand for education in English for practical or communicative necessity.

Further recommendations for policy-makers include:

• forming a clear picture of language use in society and classrooms before drafting educational language policies
• basing educational language policy on sound understandings of children’s language development and how children can best be assisted to learn through language
• training teachers in the methodology for teaching of and through second languages and enhancing their understanding of how children become competent in a second language
• legitimising the use of codeswitching during English lessons to enable English to be taught as a foreign language rather than taught exclusively in English.

Contributor(s): Jo Arthur

Source(s):
'Perspectives on educational language policy and its implementation in African classrooms: a comparative study of Botswana and Tanzania', Compare, 31 (3): 347-362, 2001

id21 Research Highlight: 17 September 2002

Further Information:
Dr Jo Arthur
Edge Hill College
St Helen's Road
Ormskirk
L39 4QP
UK

Tel: +44 1 695 584 389
Fax: +44 1 695 584 673
Contact the contributor: mailto:arthurj@edgehill.ac.uk?subject=Re: id21 piece "Language as a barrier to learning? The implementation of educational language policy"&bcc=editor@ids.ac.uk

Edge Hill College

Other related links:
'More than bums on seats: making schools responsive to children’s needs'

'Bridge or barrier? Using English as a medium in primary schools'

The Consortium for Language Policy and Planning website hosts information on a number of research universities, advocacy bodies and other scholars interested in issues of language policy and planning.

Search the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics for more publications and resources on language in education

The NCELA has a large collection of articles with practical application for teachers and other personnel involved in educating linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students.