Second language programme evaluation in Namibia: Toward identifying criteria
Abstract
At the attainment of independence by Namibia in 1990, English, which had 0,8% of the population of 1,5 million as mother tongue speakers (Brock-Utne, 2000: 186; Phillipson, Skutnabb-Kangas & Africa, 1986:78), became the official language of government and education. The decision to make English the official language had a clear socio-political basis: it was the result of a policy decision of the majority party, SWAPO, implemented after it had won the first national election (Chamberlain, West, Kleinhans, Minnaar & Bock, 1993:2). The response
of the education authorities to this decision was to opt for English as the language of instruction. Since the majority of Namibian learners have an African language as their first language, the result of this choice has been that decisions involving the selection of English second language programmes and courses have gained importance. Apart from other implications, the language policy for schools has meant that
l9a9h9rs - the most important agents in the transformation of education - were confronted with the fact that English, now the medium of instruction after the lower primary Grades I to 4 (Ministry of Education and Culture [MEC], 1993b), was not the language in which the majority of them had received training. Prior to Independence, Afrikaans was the medium of instruction for tertiary education. English now replaced Afrikaans at the Lower Primary level (i.e. from Grades I to 4) either as a subject or as a second language.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
A study of dialectal and inter-linguistic variations of Khoekhoegowab: towards the determination of the standard orthography
Fredericks, Niklaas Johannes (2013)Nama is a Khoekhoe-language variety spoken in more than three countries namely Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Angola. The language was previously called the Nama language, however, for pragmatic reasons, to cater for ... -
An analysis of the law, practice and policy of the WTO agreement on technical barriers to trade in relation to international standards and the international organization for standardization: implications for least developed countries in Africa
Okwenye, Tonny (2007)This study examines the legal and policy objectives of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) with specific reference to international standards and the International Organisation ... -
Perspectives on the implementation of the performance management and development system in the department of social development in Eastern Cape
Makas, Siphiwo Seymour (University of the Western Cape, 2011)This research report, explores the challenges contributing to a non-effective implementation of performance and development management system at the Department of Social Development in Eastern Cape. My argument is that ...