Effects of English as medium of instruction on pupils' academic achievement in social studies in primary schools in Malawi

Abstract

The current language policy in education in Malawi allows pupils to be taught through local languages form Standard 1 to 4 and through English from Standard 5 upwards. However, classroom observation suggets that teachers use Chichewa as the language of learning even in areas where Chichewa is not the home language of the majority of pupils. Surveys indicate that generally parents feel that their children would be learning better if they started learning through English earlier than in Standard 5. This study was conducted with a view to finding out whether English is the most appropriate language of learning for senior primary school children in Malawi. The study specifically addressed the question of whether or not the use of English as the language of learning in Social Studies resulted in better academic performance among Standard 7 pupils in Malawi. The study also addressed the question of whether the use of English as the language of learning increased pupil participation in the learning process and whether the use of Chichewa as the language of learning favoured Chichewa home language pupils more than Chiyao home language pupils. The findings suggest that primary school children in Malawi are not linguistically prepared for instruction through the medium of English. Standard 7 pupils, the target of the study, found it difficult to learn Social Studies through English although they had had three years of English as the language of learing. Their participation in academic work was hampered by their limited mastery of the language. Pre-test and post-test results show that Standard 7 pupils receiving instruction through Chichewa obtained higher scores than those who were taught in English. When Yao and Chewa children were taught together through the Chichewa medium, the Yao children scored as well as their counterparts whose home language was Chichewa. Thus the study suggests that the use of Chichewa benefited both groups while the use of English seemed to retard their performance. These results imply that the language policy in Malawi and the way teachers are currently trained to teach English in primary schools need to be re-examined and reviewed.