The relationship between learners’ performance in English and Natural Science and Health Education: A case of Grade 7 learners at School A, Oluno circuit, Oshana region, Namibia

Abstract

The study was fuelled by poor performance in Natural Science and Health Education (NSHE) which was allegedly attributed to the poor performance in English. Consequently, the study sought to answer the following research questions: How does the performance of Grade 7 learners in English at School A compare to that of NSHE? What is the relationship between the performance of Grade 7 learners in English and NSHE at School A? The findings of the study revealed that learners performed better in English than in NSHE. Also, in terms of the relationship between learners’ performance in English and NSHE the results showed that there was a strong positive correlation with the value of the person’s correlation coefficient of 0.754661. Learners’ performance in NSHE can be explained by their performance in English up to 57%. It was settled that learners performed better in NSHE than English. Additionally learners who performed better in English also performed better in NSHE. The study recommended that English and NSHE teachers could share ideas on how to integrate language skills in their lessons in order to improve learners’ performance and promote cross-curricular teaching.