Silozi as a Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) creates a barrier towards pre-primary school learners’ development of basic literacy skills in Zambezi region

Abstract

The intentions of teaching and learning can only be accomplished if teaching is conducted in a language relevant to learners. A foreign language as language of learning and teaching (LoLT) does not impact learning positively, as learners struggle to understand learning content through such a medium. As a result, learners‟ mental processes cannot advance to new levels of development as learning becomes abstract, thus not meaningful to learners. In junior primary school (JP) therefore, the medium of instruction should be the child‟s home language and/or the language in which children are most competent, for example, their home languages, and not Silozi as is the case now in Zambezi region. This paper thus explores the extent to which Silozi is a barrier to learners‟ development of basic literacy skills in pre-primary in Zambezi Region. The study was guided by Lev Vygotsky‟s sociocultural theory of how children learn. Six schools from three different contexts (urban, peri-urban and rural) were studied. Nine learners were selected from each school making a total of 54 learners. Learner sample was drawn by using stratified random sampling technique and teachers were purposively sampled. Data were collected through interviews, lesson observation, and the emergent Early Grade Reading Assessment (eEGRA) test. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically, with quantitative data analyzed statistically using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study found that both teachers and learners were not comfortable with Silozi being the medium of instruction in pre-primary, as they both struggled to express themselves in Silozi consequently making it difficult for teachers to assist pre-primary learners (in the selected schools) to develop basic literacy skills through the said language medium. The study recommends that instruction in pre-primary should be conducted in learners‟ mother tongue as per the policy directive, and that government should consider formalizing different language dialects with existing orthographies for use in schools as media of instruction to make teaching and learning more meaningful for both teachers and learners.