The practicality of using indigenous langauge (Nsenga) at a medium of instructing at grade 1-4 in selected primary schools of petauke district

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the practicality using Nsenga language in the primary schools of Petauke district. The study objectives were to establish the teachers’ perception on the implementation of the use of familiar language and to assess the benefits of using Nsenga as a language of instructions in the primary schools Petauke District. The study used a mixed methods approach and collected data from 30 teachers from five primary schools using interview guide and a questionnaire. The study concluded that the teachers’ perception on the implementation of the use of familiar language in selected Primary Schools in Petauke District was positive because the usage of Cinyanja as an instructional language was high in the primary schools due to the policy restriction while the usage of Nsenga as an instructional language was as high due to the sociolinguistic situation in the classrooms and this lead to the teachers and learners preferring to use Nsenga as their language of instruction. The realised benefits of the use of Nsenga in the teaching to the Nsenga learners provided the learners with the practical understanding of the content the teacher was teaching about. The other benefits were that teachers were forced to use Nsenga in their teaching because learners provided answers in Nsenga instead of the Cinyanja which was not familiar to them. This then leaves space to enhance translanguaging in such schools so as to realise the full potential of the learners and their languages as Nsenga has proved its practicality in teaching learners.