PasteIntroduction
According to Sibanda (Department of language and Literature studies, UNAM) state that language is one of the most powerful tool human have. Without it human could not think of thoughts expressible to others, nor could they engage in activities that commonly take place in the society. English language is the instrument of communication in Namibian schools, higher institutions as well as the official language.
Second language is the language that is learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1) and is used for certain purpose such as education (Simasiku, 2006). Therefore learners need effective English language to function properly or perform better in schools. According to the National Examiners Report of English Second Language (ESL) for 2007 to 2011, learners perform poorly in in the Namibian Secondary Certificate Ordinary Level (NSSCO) ESL examinations. The poor performance of learners in the ESL NSSCO examinations in the Omusati education region has been noted in the DNEA reports. Poor performance of ESL language is caused by the dominance of mother language, learners and teachers attitude toward ESL, the social economic condition factors, parent involvement, quality and shortage of qualified teachers, the use of English as medium of instruction and lastly the learners writing and typical errors. This essay will therefore explain the factors affecting learner’s poor performance in ESL in Omusati region.
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The dominance of mother tongue
The dominance of mother tongue is one of the factors affecting learner’s performance in ESL. Sibanda states that learners are surrounded by a complex linguistic situation that forces them to have a good command of English. He further added that leaners often use native language or mother tongue in all their interaction and English is only used within the four wall of the classroom and it ends there.
Learners and teachers attitude toward ESL
Shin (1981) argues that nothing the right attitude toward achieving his or her goals in life. A positive attitude towards ESL as a subject will help learners to learn from the ESL teacher, it can therefore, generate cooperation between the ESL teacher and the learner and ultimately inspire other learners. Good learner performance in ESL examination cannot be considered without a positive attitude to learning (Titus, 2002). According to Tylor (2002), teachers positive attitude toward ESL create positive attitude and enthusiasm in learners toward ESL. He indicates that Namibian learners lack respect and discipline, and when asked to do class work they protest and refuse to carry out the instructions. Knapp (2006) claims that nowadays teacher lack discipline, commitment and high moral standard. As a result high rates of teacher absenteeism are recorded in schools. This reduces the teaching time and the possibility of learners doing well in ESL examinations.
Social economic condition factors
According to Knapp (2006), the social background of learners is an important aspect in determining learner’s background in English Second Language. He states that children from poor families have poor commands of ESL as far as vocabularies, syntax and morphology are concerned, because they have few or little knowledge, background or experience of the English language. Due to that shortage, learners cannot construct that are complex. He also adds that children from poverty background have language ‘concealed difficulties.
Parental involvement
According to Moon (2004), parental involvement in their children’s education can range from parent directly assisting their children with the ESL works to parents establishing high expectation for their children’s ESL learning in schools. Putz (2006), believe that in order for school to educate all ESL youth properly, parent and families must become fully involved in the process. Knapp (2006) argues that ESL teachers cannot do the work properly without the help of parents. He further adds that parents need to know what is happening in English Second Language classrooms in order to support the school. Otaala (2001), report that some rural parents incline to send their children to English medium schools that are in urban areas. They believe that urban English schools are best, have good academic record and they have qualified ESL teachers. Therefore young children are sent to boarding schools for a better education. According to Otaala (2001), some parents believe that there more children are exposed to English at early age, there more these children will be success in English.
Quality and shortage of qualified ESL teachers
Gonzales, Yawkey and Minaya-Rawe (2006), state that learner’s academic performance in ESL depends on the teacher’s knowledge and their profession in the ESL classroom. Gonzalez et al. (2006) further state that for learners to perform well in ESL, the system needs quality teachers who are well trained, well behaved and motivated. Gonzalez et al. (2006) further add that to be able to drive schools in the right direction, ESL teachers need to be competent, knowledgeable and highly motivated. Ellis (2002) states that on the other hand weak teachers confuse learners with and little ESL learning results. He further indicates that unqualified ESL teachers do not know how to explain some English concept and have difficulties in explaining English concept. Moreover, in Legatle’s study (2005) it was found that overcrowding in some ESL classes was caused by the shortage of qualified ESL teachers. He also found that Headmasters complained that when ESL teachers went on leave there often was no replacement due to the shortage of ESL teachers; sometimes learners went up to three months without an ESL teacher. This situation leads to de-motivation and compromises the quality of service offered by available ESL teachers as they have to cover other teacher work.
The use of English as a medium of instruction
English has acquired the status of becoming a global language. The aim of introducing English in Namibia was to introduce the official language that will that would steer people away from lingual affiliations and create conditions conducive to national unity in the realm of language.
Although English is viewed as neutral, unique and unifying language in Namibia, Simasiku (2006) highlights the risk of introducing a foreign language of wider communication into a multilingual and multicultural society like Namibia. Simasiku notes that English as a medium of instruction cannot fulfil all functions in a multilingual nation like Namibia because different language may have different functions. Simasiku (2006), notes that the performance of learners may be affected by the medium of instruction that is used in the teaching and learning process. Olivier (2011), assert that the high failure of learners in Namibia are related to the low level of English proficiency of both teachers and learners in the country. It is concluded that, since most of the examinations are taken in English in Namibia, the learners performance are in examination are negatively affected. Swart (2002), state that the effectiveness of teaching and learning is limited by the fact that the teachers and learners are working in a second language area, in which exposure to English in the community is low. Swart (2002) further notes that in Namibian education system, teachers struggle to give instruction in English, particularly in remotes areas, because of their own limited exposure to the English language.
Learner’s writing and typical writing errors
Lerner (2002, pp.442-468), explain writing as ‘an active process and the most sophisticated process of putting language into graphic symbols and a complex achievement of the language system’. He further reiterate that competent writing requires many related abilities including spoken language, ability to read, skills in spelling, legible handwriting, skills and knowledge of the rules of written language, cognitive strategies and planning. Lerner (2000) further explains that ESL learners often contains several errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, handwriting and grammar, hence their written product tend to be short, poorly organized and lack development of ideas. Schunk (2009, p.424), concurs that less skilled writers make spelling, cohesion and punctuation errors, because they do not spend time to plan, think and revise their works.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, the result of this study suggested that teachers, parents and learners themselves contribute to the poor performance of learners in ESL. ESL learners should discuss ESL related issues that affect them in the learning of ESL with teachers, parents and their peers. This will help them identify their weakness which could be addressed by their teachers and other learners. On the other hand teachers should introduce English proficiency programs to be offered on a continuous basis to ESL teachers and learners in order to improve their English. Furthermore parents should choose best schools for their children for them to be exposed to English and early age.
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References
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