Suchergebnisse

This paper outlines the history of language-in-education policy in Zambia from 1964 to 2014. It examines some of the major factors which informed language-in-education policy formulation and implementation in the country in relation to four landmark phases: the 1966 proclamation of English as sole official language at national level and as language of classroom instruction from Grade One to the highest level of education; the 1977 education reforms recommendations; the 1996 language-in-education policy; and, finally, the 2014 declaration and implementation of the policy prescribing the use of familiar languages for instruction in initial literacy and numeracy from Grade One to Grade Four. The paper concludes that though English has remained the sole official language at national level over the years, there has been increasing recognition of the role of local languages as languages of classroom instruction. As a result, the early top-down and monolingual approach to language-in-education policy formulation and implementation, premised on the principle of languages in competition, has since given way to the bottom-up and multilingual approach, guided by the principle of languages in complementation. In order to consolidate the gains scored over the years, the paper argues for a comprehensive operationalisation of the current language-in-education policy through formulation of a comprehensive language development plan and the production of sociolinguistic surveys at both national and community level to aid teachers in determining which language or languages to use as media of classroom instruction in a given locality.

Effective teaching of initial literacy in Grade 1 demands more of the teacher's attention to
pupils' emergent literacy skills and consideration of how they learn. The emergent literacy
skills children acquire lay a firm foundation for their learning to read and write in the
conventional sense. Some of the skills that children develop under emergent literacy
include phonological awareness and phonological sensitivity, which give children the
ability to hear, recognize, manipulate and distinguish the sounds of the language they have
acquired. These are key language skills which teachers will need to utilize in their teaching
of reading and writing skills to Grade 1 learners in the classroom.
A study was carried out whose purpose was to investigate whether primary school teachers
in Mansa District utilized emergent literacy skills in their teaching of conventional reading
and writing skills to the learners in Grade 1 considering the fact that emergent literacy lays
a firm and solid foundation for continuous development of the literacy skills. The study
was a descriptive survey and qualitative in nature since it required the researcher to
describe the state of affairs as found and observed in their natural setting in the research
sites. The qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. The sample for
this study comprised 62 Grade 1 teachers and 3,594 Grade 1 primary school pupils. Only
those schools teaching initial literacy in the local familiar language using the Breakthrough
to Literacy (BTL) methodology were targeted for this research.
The findings indicated that: (1) Teachers lacked knowledge about emergent literacy and
did not know how useful it was for continuous literacy development among the children.
(2) Most of the teachers ignored pupils' prior literacy knowledge and considered their
learners as complete illiterates who knew nothing about literacy skills. (3) Teachers never
designed extra teaching and learning materials for teaching literacy. Rather, they relied on
the New Breakthrough to Literacy (NBTL) kit materials. (4) The class sizes were large and
meaningful scaffolding was lacking in most of the classes.
This study concluded that the Ministry of Education in Zambia should consider emergent
literacy as the foundation for conventional literacy development in Grade 1. One
recommendation was that teachers should be equipped with knowledge of emergent
literacy through deliberate training. They need to understand and appreciate emergent
literacy as an essential body of knowledge to be utilized for successful conventional
literacy development among Grade 1 learners.

This study examined the social-semantic meaning of selected Zambian Senga nicknames within the Senga social and cultural milieu. It unveiled the social- semantic significance of selected Senga nicknames in relation to their social and cultural setting. It also established the etymology of the names as well as the social cultural significance of meanings expressed in the nicknames. This study adopted a qualitative approach. A purposive sampling technique was employed through which fourteen persons, who were considered sufficiently knowledgeable in the Senga language, provided an accurate explanation of the data. The participants were drawn from Chama District of the Eastern Province of Zambia. Data was collected through an interview guide, which was administered to the selected research participants. Data was analysed using Social Semiotic Theory. In line with social semiotics, nicknames express both connotative and denotative meanings. In addition, Senga nicknames have social and cultural significance in that they warn witches, discourage selfishness, provide wisdom, encourage, demonstrate endurance, reprimand, teach self-reliance, show ownership, discourage laziness, expose promiscuous behaviour, hard work and traditional beliefs. Lastly, it is recommended that other aspects of Senga anthroponyms may be researched on. These might include personal names, their etymology and semantic value.

Within the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and its 17 targets is a strong emphasis on the education of learners with disability. Whereas there have been massive improvements at lower levels regarding education of the marginalised, a lot more work remains undone at tertiary education level. In this discourse, we explore literature to reveal enablers and disablers to academic success of students with visual impairments (SwVI) at higher education level in the past 10 years in 16 countries doted across six habitable continents. Emerging from the study is a host of disablers such as (1) negative attitudes, (2) absence of inclusive education policy, (3) inaccessible learning environment and learning materials, (4) exclusive pedagogy, and (5) limited orientation and mobility. Amidst the disabling environment, a positive attitude, self-advocacy, and innovativeness stood out as key enablers to academic success by SwVI. The findings contribute to the realisation of the SDG agenda through advocacy on inclusive education policies and practices.