When an Ethnic Language Sneaks into the Tanzanian Rural Secondary School Classroom: How Teachers and Learners Perceive Multilingualism

Joshua Mwaipape, Gastor Mapunda
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Abstract

Most African countries have adopted the languages of ex-colonial masters as media of instruction (MoI). In Tanzania, English has remained the sole MoI from secondary to post-secondary education despite the endemic multilingualism in the country. Such a monolingual tendency in a multilingual setting has raised debates on how learners manage their studies through English, a language which is scarcely used in their everyday conversation. Thus, the current paper investigates learners’ strategic use of ethnic languages (EL) Nyakyusa and Swahili in the learning of the English language and other selected subjects. It also examines teachers’ and learners’ attitudes to the use of ethnic languages in the teaching and learning process in Tanzanian rural secondary schools. The study was carried out in Kyela District, Mbeya Region, among Form One and Form Two students whose first language is Nyakyusa, but who also use Swahili often when talking to peers at home and around the school compound. We used classroom observation and focus groups to collect data. The analysis revealed that some learners made use of Swahili and Nyakyusa for a number of reasons, including seeking assistance from fellow students whenever they came across a new English word/expression in the classroom. We also found that teachers and students reacted differently to the use of languages other than English in the classroom. While students believed that they would not be able to learn anything if their language was completely unused in the class, teachers believed that the use of Nyakyusa and Swahili was inappropriate. Consequently, teachers controlled learners’ use of Swahili and Nyakyusa in the class and around the school.
当一种少数民族语言潜入坦桑尼亚农村中学课堂:教师和学习者如何看待多语现象
大多数非洲国家采用前殖民统治者的语言作为教学媒介。在坦桑尼亚,尽管这个国家普遍使用多种语言,但从中学到高等教育,英语一直是唯一的母语。在多语言环境中,这种单语倾向引发了关于学习者如何通过英语管理学习的争论,因为英语在日常会话中很少使用。因此,本文调查了学习者在学习英语和其他选定科目时对尼亚库萨语和斯瓦希里语的策略性使用。它还审查了教师和学习者对在坦桑尼亚农村中学教学过程中使用少数民族语言的态度。这项研究是在姆贝亚地区的凯拉区进行的,调查对象是一年级和二年级的学生,他们的母语是尼亚库萨语,但在家里和学校周围与同龄人交谈时也经常使用斯瓦希里语。我们使用课堂观察和焦点小组来收集数据。分析显示,一些学习者出于多种原因使用斯瓦希里语和尼亚库萨语,包括在课堂上遇到新的英语单词/表达时向同学寻求帮助。我们还发现,老师和学生对课堂上使用英语以外的语言的反应不同。学生们认为,如果他们的语言在课堂上完全不使用,他们将无法学到任何东西,而老师们则认为使用尼亚库萨语和斯瓦希里语是不合适的。因此,教师在课堂上和学校周围控制学习者对斯瓦希里语和尼亚库萨语的使用。
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