Indigenous Languages in Regional Education:
A Case of Namibia
University of Eastern Finland Philosophical Faculty
School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education Master's Degree Programme in Primary Education,
Master of Arts (Education) Autumn 2018
Johannes Karambo Kavhura
ITÄ-SUOMEN YLIOPISTO – UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND Tiedekunta – Faculty:
Philosophical
Osasto – School: School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education.
Tekijät – Author : Kavhura Johannes Karambo
Työn nimi – Title Indigenous Language in Regional Education Pääaine –
Main
subject
Työn laji – Level Päivämäärä
– Date Sivumäärä – Number of pages 138
A Case of Namibia
Pro gradu -
tutkielma x
31-10-2018 Sivuainetutkielma
Kandidaatin tutkielma Aineopintojen tutkielma Tiivistelmä – Abstract
The approach of language education in multilingual societies is a challenge for many students who are learning in the language of the majorities in society. The study is presenting the analyses of statistical information of indigenous language education in all the regions in Namibia. The statistical analyses of indigenous language education aims to find out if the language spoken in the households are studied in all regional education in Namibia; therefore the analyses focuses on the languages spoken in the households and the languages offered in schools in all educational regions in Namibia.
The statistical data addresses the practical obstacles to include all indigenous language education in regional schools. The inclusivity of indigenous language education is in line with the declaration of the United Nation, Article 14 (1).
A nonexperimental research design is employed in the study, using quantitative research methods.
The study analyses the online secondary (existing) data, using descriptive study analyses methods.
The online documents analyses are; The Namibia 2011 Population and Housing Census Main Report and The National and Regional Distribution of Symbols for Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC), full- time students for 2009 to 2015. The results of the study revealed a great number of indigenous languages that are spoken by the households, and are not offered in regional education. Thus, students in regional education opt to study Afrikaans and German. The statistics of students studying Afrikaans and German languages are expanding.
Koekhoegowab (Damara/Nama) language is the most affected language in language shift when comparing the data for the language spoken at home and language offered in regional education.
Therefore, the study finds translanguaging pedagogy suitable to address the challenges of the status quo for the languages spoken by the households in the regions and language education offered in regional education.
It is hoped that the statistical analyses will inform the educators and language policy practitioners to address the challenges of the language of the households in the regions and language offered in all regional education in Namibia.
Avainsanat – Keywords: Multilingualism, Translanguaging, indigenous people, the indigenous language, monolingual, language.
Contents
1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. THE MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY 3
1.2. THE NAMIBIAN CONTEXT IN THE STUDY 3
1.2.1. THE CURRENT SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN NAMIBIA 4
1.2.2. INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NAMIBIA 5
1.3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 6
2. LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE POLICIES AND ITS ASSESSMENTS
AND THE LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN MULTILINGUALISM 9
2.1. LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE POLICIES AND ITS ASSESSMENTS. 9 2.1.1. RESEARCH ON PERFORMANCE AND ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS LANGUAGES 11
2.1.2. TRANSLANGUAGING AS A CHOICE FOR MINORITY LANGUAGES 13
2.1.3. SUSTAINABLE OF TRANSLANGUAGING 14
2.1.4. MONOLINGUAL ASSESSMENTS AND POLICIES 15
2.1.5. DEVELOPMENT OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE EDUCATION 15
2.1.6. PREVIOUS STUDY OF LANGUAGES IN MULTILINGUAL CONTEXT 17
2.2. MULTILINGUALISM IN EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT. 18
2.2.1. MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH 19
2.2.2. CHALLENGES OF MULTILINGUALISM AND ITS EFFECTS IN SOCIETIES 20 2.2.3. CHALLENGES OF TEACHING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN MULTILINGUAL
SOCIETIES 21
2.2.4. CONCLUSION 22
3. RESEARCH TASK AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 23
3.1. RESEARCH TASK 23
3.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 23
4. METHODOLOGY 25
4.1. RESEARCH DESIGN 25
4.2. DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESS 26
4.3. DATA ANALYSIS 29
4.4. VALIDITY, RELIABILITY AND OTHER ETHICAL ISSUES 31
5. RESULTS 33
5.1. INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES THAT ARE SPOKEN BY THE HOUSEHOLDS AND LANGUAGE
OFFERED IN ALL REGIONAL EDUCATION IN NAMIBIA 33
5.2. THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN THE REGIONS 35
5.3. THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING DOMINANT/NONDOMINANT LANGUAGES IN REGIONAL
SCHOOLS 37
5.4. PERFORMANCES OF STUDENTS IN DIFFERENT INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN DIFFERENT
REGIONS 43
6. DISCUSSIONS 44
6.1. DISCUSSIONS ON THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES THAT ARE SPOKEN BY THE HOUSEHOLDS AND LANGUAGE OFFERED IN ALL THE REGIONAL EDUCATION IN NAMIBIA. 44 6.2. THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN THE REGIONS 46 6.3. THE DISCUSSIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING DOMINANT/NONDOMINANT LANGUAGES
OF HOUSEHOLDS SPEAKER IN REGIONAL EDUCATION 50
6.4. THE DISCUSSION ON PERFORMANCES OF STUDENTS IN DIFFERENT INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES
IN DIFFERENT REGIONS 52
7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 54
7.1. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES THAT ARE SPOKEN BY THE HOUSEHOLDS AND LANGUAGE OFFERED IN ALL THE REGIONAL EDUCATION IN
NAMIBIA 54
7.2. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ON THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE
EDUCATION IN THE REGIONS 55
7.3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING
DOMINANT/NONDOMINANT LANGUAGES OF HOUSEHOLDS SPEAKER IN REGIONAL EDUCATION 55 7.4. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON PERFORMANCES OF STUDENTS IN DIFFERENT
INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN DIFFERENT REGIONS 56
7.5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE STUDY 56
7.6. SUGGESTIONS OF THE STUDY TO THE PARENTS AND EDUCATORS. 58
7.7. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 58
7.8. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 59
8. REFERENCES 60
9. APPENDIX 67
9.1. APPENDIX 1:DATA FOR RESEARCH QUESTION 4. 67
9.2. APPENDIX:2.DATA FOR RESEARCH QUESTION1,2 AND 3 76 9.3. APPENDIX:3.DATA FOR LANGUAGES SPOKEN BY THE HOUSEHOLDS AND LANGUAGES OFFERED IN SCHOOLS 83 APPENDIX:4.NAMIBIA2011POPULATION&HOUSINGCENSUSMAINREPORT(ORIGINAL DATA) 84 9.4. APPENDIX:5.NATIONALANDREGIONALDISTRIBUTIONOFSYMBOLS2009-2015(ORIGINAL
DATA). 100
Lists of Tables
TABLE 1MULTILINGUAL ASSESSMENT TOOLS OF FMA4L ... 13
TABLE 2REGIONS THAT HAVE 4 TO 5 LANGUAGES ... 29
TABLE 3PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OTHER LANGUAGES ... 30
TABLE 4 REGIONS THAT OFFERS 4 TO 5 LANGUAGES IN SCHOOLS ... 33
TABLE 5REGIONS THAT OFFERS THREE LANGUAGES IN REGIONAL SCHOOLS ... 34
TABLE 6REGIONS THAT OFFERS TWO LANGUAGES IN REGIONAL SCHOOLS ... 35
TABLE 7 THE MOST COMMON LANGUAGES OFFERED IN REGIONAL SCHOOLS ... 35
TABLE 8LANGUAGES OF THE FEWER SPEAKER IN THE HOUSEHOLDS AND THE LANGUAGE IS OFFERED IN REGIONAL SCHOOLS ... 36
TABLE 9LANGUAGES THAT HAVE MORE SPEAKERS IN THE HOUSEHOLDS AND ARE NOT OFFERED IN REGIONAL SCHOOLS ... 37
TABLE 10PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND RUKAVANGO LANGUAGE IN THE KAVANGO REGION ... 37
TABLE 11 PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND SILOZI LANGUAGE IN ZAMBEZI REGION ... 38
TABLE 12 PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OSHIWAMBO LANGUAGES IN OSHANA REGION ... 38
TABLE 13 PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OTHER LANGUAGES IN THE HARDAP REGION ... 39
TABLE 14 PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OTHER LANGUAGES IN THE OTJOZONDJUPA REGION ... 39
TABLE 15 PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OTHER LANGUAGES IN THE KUNENE REGION ... 40
TABLE 16PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OTHER LANGUAGES IN THE OMAHEKE REGION ... 40
TABLE 17 PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OTHER LANGUAGES IN THE KHOMAS REGION ... 41
TABLE 18 PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OTHER LANGUAGES IN THE KARAS REGION ... 42
TABLE 19PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS STUDY AFRIKAANS AND OTHER LANGUAGES IN THE ERONGO REGION ... 42
TABLE 20 LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE ... 43
1 1. Introduction
United Nation declared the rights of indigenous people which addresses both individual and collective rights; cultural rights and identity; the right to education, health, employment, language and others (United Nation Human Rights, UNHR, 2015). Gorter and Cenoz (2017), emphasize that in today's schools, students who speak different languages share the same class and it is increasingly common to find students whose home language or mother tongue are not the same as the majority language in their class (Gorter et, al. 2017). The study of Meyer, (2013), indicated that the Namibian education system function in only one or two of the twenty- seven languages spoken in the country. The Namibian education system that function in one or two of the twenty-seven languages motivated the researcher to scrutinize and analyse the statistical information for languages spoken by the households in regions and language offered in regional schools in Namibia.
This statistical information for languages spoken by the households in the regions and the languages offered in regional schools will bring a holistic approach to language education policy in all the regional schools in Namibia; looking at the holistic approach is necessary because nowadays; classes are linguistically diverse than in the past due to the mobility of the population. The study of Iitula (2016), pointed out that the language policy for Namibia does not ensure children in Namibia to be taught in their mother tongue, but the language of the majority speakers in the community is the one which is taught.
Language is a part of the culture, heritage, history, society and the national integrity of a nation;
it is an integral tool that encompasses the past, present, and future of a community. Challenges facing indigenous people in protecting their languages are numerous and can vary in a different context (Bhuiyan 2017). Therefore, the statistical data for language spoken by the households in the regions and the languages offered in regional schools in Namibia are vital to educational planners to sustain the diversity of indigenous languages in Namibia. Boyer et al. (2014)
2
indicated that the biggest threat of African minority languages in general, is not English or any other international language, but instead the African majority languages surrounding the minority communities as recognition of minority languages is denied for the purpose of national unity. The argument of Benson (2013) stated that using one Language in multilingual societies is a primary cause of creating division, inequalities, and inequities because many are forced to learn or teach through the language they are not proficient. Thus, the presentation of statistical data of indigenous language education will serve to prevent inequalities and inequities in regional education in Namibia.
The second part of the study analyses the statistical information for the performance of students in different languages from 2009 to 2015. The statistical information for the performances of students in different languages from different regions are compared with other regions that offer similar language; these comparisons of the performance of students in different languages are assessed and evaluated to find differences or similarities in languages.
Brock-Utne (2007) explains that the Mother's tongue is the foundation that forms the basis for second-language acquisition; in schools nowadays students are taught in languages they neither speak nor understand; therefore, it is generally assumed that poor academic performance stems from poor additional language proficiency. For instance, when learners have difficulty reading to learn, it is often argued that their comprehension problems stem from limited language proficiency. This argument reflects an underlying assumption that language proficiency and reading ability are basically 'the same thing.' If this were so, then all mother-tongue speakers should automatically be good (Van Staden, Bosker, & Bergbauer, 2016).
3 1.1. The motivation of the study
Teacher’s tasks are to prepare and implement the directives of the departmental policies and other regulations. The experience of implementing policies and directives over the period during the researcher’s teaching career, aroused the researcher’s interest across the challenges of implementing the language policy for schools in Namibia since, parents wanted to see the home languages to be taught at school. Through these challenges of parents want their home languages to be taught in schools, the researcher learned that education plays a significant role in language development in our society. Meyer (2013), advocates the view that the common issue to indigenous language education in Namibia is the school principal and the management since they have freedom of discrimination to national languages; some school principals still believe that they have the right to decide which African and local languages shall be taught or not taught in their schools while others even believe that no African language shall be taught at their schools. Therefore, this provision is creating stigma among children from the minority languages in the regions, which discourages children from learning their mother tongue. In the case of the study, the analyses statistical data of language spoken at home and language offered in regional schools and is presenting the findings of the status quo for languages spoken by the households and languages offered in regional schools. The study is revealing the statistical analyses on the challenges and the implementation of indigenous language education in regional schools.
1.2. The Namibian context in the study
This study is a nonexperimental study design in quantitative research methods. The study is using the online secondary (existing) data for Namibia 2011 Population, and Housing census Main Report and The Distribution of the National and Regional Symbols for Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC), Grade 10 Full-Time Students From 2009 to 2015. A descriptive statistics analysis is used to obtain the data and the online study was undertaken to analyze statistical
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information of indigenous language education in a different region in Namibia. The study is analyzing the language spoken by the households and language offered in various schools in different regions. This statistical information is necessary; in response to the twelve national languages in Namibia that have no equal probabilities to be studied at any regional schools in Namibia (Iitula 2016). The presentation of statistical information is necessary to sensitize the promotion of students to have fair chances of choice in regional schools to study their home language or mother tongue. It is essential for Namibia because any indigenous language in Namibia can be a minority language in some regions (Meyer, 2013).
In the Namibian context the language policy for schools in Namibia (LPSN, 2003), explains that Namibian indigenous languages belong to three different language families which are:
Niger-Congo (or Bantu languages, as they are also known); Khoisan and Indo-European languages. Indo-European languages had their origin outside of Africa; therefore these makes the Namibian society rich in diversity of culture and languages, and thus there is a need for inclusivity in language policy for schools in Namibia.
The presentation of this statistical information for linguistic diversity is a reasonable solution to languages surrounded by the language of the majority of speakers in the regions which are not taught. The study is presenting the statistical information to address the practical obstacles of language education in regional schools.
The LPSN, (2003) made efforts towards inclusivity for all languages and provision were made that all learners must study two languages as a subject from grade 1 onwards, one of which must be English; and where there are sufficient learners from the same language group to form a class, provision must be made for them to study their mother tongue up to grade 12.
1.2.1. The current situation of Indigenous language education in Namibia
According to the report of Namibian Statistics Agency (NSA, 2011) the percentage of the primary language spoken at home in Namibia and they are as follow: Oshiwambo 49%,
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Nama/Damara 11%, Afrikaans 10%, Kavango 9%, Otjiherero 9%, and the rest share the remaining 22% of the total including English which took 1.9% out of 22%. Although the statistics show that 49% of the household in Namibia speaks Oshiwambo, The regional statistics shows that the same language (Oshiwambo) is the minority language in some regions such as Zambezi and Kavango west and east regions. In the study, many will argue that there is a provision in schools to offer any mother tongue if there are sufficient learners from the same language group to form a class. The concern of the researcher is that children who find themselves in this situation are facing stigma to form up their group in order to qualify to learn their mother tongue in schools; therefore they opt to learn the foreign language or their colonial language for alternatives (Meyer, 2013). Numerous recommendations were directed to the Namibian government to revisit the language policy for schools in Namibia to be more inclusive in the quest to promote indigenous language in Namibian society (Iitula 2016).
English is a compulsory subject, starting from grade 1, and continuing throughout the school system; from Grade 5 to 7 the mother tongue language is given a supportive role and continues to be taught as a subject whilst Grade 8 to 12 are guided through the medium of English, mother tongue or predominant language as a subject. The language policy for schools in Namibia (2003) continues to state that the use of English as a language of wider communication will only further enhance greater participation in social welfare activities and "it was against this background that the new language policy documents for schools in Namibia were revised (language policy for schools in Namibia 2003).
1.2.2. Indigenous languages in Namibia
According to the (NSA, 2001) in appendix B Otjiherero comprises of Otjimbanderu and others, the recognized national language used in schools from this group is called Otjiherero;
whilst Kavango consists of; Rukwangali, Rushambyu, Rugciruku, Thimbukushu, and others.
The recognized national languages used in schools from this group are Thimbukushu,
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Rukwangali, and Rumanyo. In the study, the three languages in Kavango will be referred to as Kavango language, based on the recommendation of Meyer (2013). Nama/Damara consists of Nama and Damara; the recognized national language used in schools from this language group is called as Khoekhoegowab. Oshiwambo consists of; Oshikwanyama, Oshindonga, Oshimbalantu, Oshikwambi, Oshingandjera, Oshikwaludhi, Oshikolonkadhi and others; the recognized national language used in schools from this language group are Oshikwanyama and Oshindonga. In this study, the two languages will be referred to as Oshiwambo language, based on the recommendation of Meyer (2013). Caprivi/Zambezi language consists of; Lozi (Sikololo), Sifwe, Sisubiya, Siyeyi (Yeyi), Totela, and others; and the national language used in schools from this language group is called Silozi. San consists of; Kung, and Heikung, there is also Tswana, German, English and other African and European languages used in Namibia.
1.3. Statement of the problem
Following the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, indigenous languages rights have been incooperated as part of national curricula. In countries such as Namibia, the education policy introduces mother tongue from grade 1 to 3; however, this still has challenges as there is no motivation in learning other indigenous languages in Namibia (Meyer, 2013).
The status quo of languages in Namibia is that each educational region in Namibia has the language of the majority speakers dominating other indigenous languages. According to the NSA (2011), Namibia has regional boundaries that have dominant indigenous languages or primary language spoken at home per household and minority indigenous language/ another language. The study of Meyer (2013), manifest that children who find themselves in the regions of the language of the majority, and do not speak the language of the majority are not willing to learn their language or the language of the majority, and therefore opt to learn foreign languages as these languages has advantages in job opportunities and further studies. The Canadian Journal of Education Administration and System (CJOEAS, 2014) indicated that any
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education that is devoid of learning indigenous language and culture removes children from an understanding of the belief and value of their culture and knowledge of the intellectual traditions of their nations. Boyer et al. (2014) state that if the language is not written, not used in school, not used outside the community, or not used by the family next door, or when a population of the speaker is dispersed such language can be critically endangered. The United Nation Declarations, Article 14 (1) stipulated that indigenous people have the right to establish and control over their education systems and institutions providing education in their languages in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning (United Nation, UN 2008, p. 7). Few researchers have addressed the problem of indigenous language education in Namibia, including Meyer (2013) and Iitula (2016). None of them collected the statistical information for languages spoken by the households and languages offered in regional schools to address the issue of language education in all the regional schools in Namibia.
This study is significant as it presents the statistical information for indigenous languages spoken by the households in the regions and language offered in regional schools. The statistics will help the educators and language policy practitioners to work towards inclusivity in language pedagogies; it may also help educators to encourage students in discovering the value and importance of home language; therefore, the study is limited to the full-time grade 10 students in Namibia and it is aimed to use inductive theory to address the challenges on a macro-level theory in the Namibian multilingual societal context. The study is widening and strengthening the recommendation of Iituala (2016) and Meyer (2013) by providing the statistical data and it is merely a descriptive analysis trying to describe the situation but not necessary to explain. Descriptive statistics analysis was employed to analyze the existing online data, and the information is interpreted by the researcher to give voice and meaning to the assessment of the topic. The researcher maintained a higher level of objectivity and sensitivity
8
for the document analysis; to be credible and valid; published and institutional documents were used in this study.
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2. Language education and language policies and its assessments and the language education in multilingualism
In this chapter, the major concepts, and terms related to indigenous language education in multilingual society set a conceptual framework of the study. The key ideas or the motivation of the study is the declaration of the United Nation, Article 14 (1), which states that Indigenous people have the right to establish and control over their education system and institutions providing education in their language in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning (UN, 2008, P. 7). The overview of the previous study that lays the concept of this study is divided into two parts; the first part of the overview is focuses on language education and language policies and its assessment; whereas the second part is focuses on education in multilingualism. In the same context of this study for multilingualism, Benson and Kosonen (2013), presented the arguments that hundreds of millions of children around the world are forced to study in a language they barely understand.
2.1. Language education and Language policies and its assessments.
Hormberger and Johnson (2007) define language policy as a policy mechanism that impacts the structure, function, use, or acquisition of language whilst Gorter and Jasone (2017) emphasize that language policy plays a significant role in influencing the implementation of the curriculum and the assessment aims that measures the achievements of the application; the results of assessment always influence changes in language policy and the new cycle begins again. In a multilingual context, Li &Wu (2009) gave remarks that at the institutional level, language education policies do not always match language practices inside the classroom. In a pedagogical approach, Cummins and Persad (2017) emphasize and encourage students to use their previous knowledge as a foundation to interpret new information; it is believed that students should use their home language to activate and extend their conceptual understanding.
Swain & Lapkin (2013) elaborated further that the use of home language/mother tongue can
10
help to process new and complex material in the classes taught through the medium of the second language. Swain and Lapkin (2003) identified three main functions of the home language/mother tongue; in the first function students used a managerial function to understand what they have to do, the second function the students were focusing, and the third function students were paying attention on what to do and then later students observed using the interpersonal skills. Swain and Lapkin (2003) concluded that home language/ mother tongue support learning and teaching when proficiency is relatively low, but this should not be used much when they get to an advanced level of the second language. Bhuiyan (2017) indicated that students learn well when they use their language in ways that are meaningful, practical and relevant to them. And (Anonymous, n.d.) indicated that Learners from African language backgrounds are severely affected when the language of the test and their home language do not coincide.
Jones, Lewis, and Baker (2012) proposed and explained the alternative approaches in multilingualism context in teaching and learning that can guide students in the learning process.
Jones et al. (2012) suggested that translanguaging could be the best solution to work across all the languages; although there are many different definitions and understanding with the term
“Translanguaging. Jones et al. (2012) view translanguaging as an alternative approach in a multilingual context; they explain translanguaging as when students use one language for input and the other language for output and gave an example like when students watch movies in English and discuss its content and write a summary in Finnish. It is a bi-directional approach in teaching and learning. They (Jones et al. 2012) emphasize that the approach has many advantages because it can quickly promote understanding of the subject matter and help the weaker language to develop. Lin (2015) gave an example of a multilingual approach and explained that the mother tongue/ home language could be used as a scaffold when delivering the content through the medium of instruction (second language).
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An example of this approach is when teaching agriculture in English, in the regional education (Kavango region) students can use Rukavango language to demonstrate or explain. Another example of translanguaging is like when students read a text in English and prepare an oral presentation in their mother tongue or home language; these strategies help to reinforce both languages and increase understanding. Adrian (2018) advocated the view that knowledge of teachers’ beliefs on multilingualism approach is central to understanding teacher decision making in the classroom.
2.1.1. Research on performance and assessment of students languages
De Backer, et al. (2015) indicated that the differences in multilingual students are not only in the use of languages but also in their proficiency. Multilingual students are diverse, and this diversity is not considered when their competencies are assessed, and conclusions are drawn to generalize the whole group. De Backer, et al (2015) continue to explain that the cause of lower performances of multilingual students in the content related subject is that; the tests that were designed for monolinguals measures the achievement of the multilingual students; and the testing research has shown that a test on content ( e.g., Biology) administered to a second language learner in the dominant language is unlikely to portray what the students know and its unable to do so because language proficiency will have an impact on the results (Menken, 2010). An example is how students who do well in Mathematics in their home countries and tend to perform poorly in their country of immigration and the reason is they are acquiring a new language which is the medium of the test. Students have mathematics knowledge, but a channel of expressing or carrying it out is a challenge; and this leads to unjustified conclusions about their actual levels of academic achievement. Raumat, Sierens, Bultynck, and Van Gorp et al. (2013) explain that in educational contexts, language spoken at home can lead to lower achievement and can be beyond the limits as students are experiencing pressure from a peer, parents who speak the dominant language at home. Raumat et al (2013) elaborated further that
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it is plausible that students may perform better on a test when they are allowed to use their mother tongues/home language; and the major concern is the validity when assessing the students in language which is not their mother tongue. One would ask to what extent is a student able to demonstrate his or her abilities on the content without his or her limited language abilities interfering with the result. To what extent does the assessment procedure succeed in measuring the construct as intended? (Wolf et al. 2012). The study concluded that all assessments measure language proficiency to some degree. And the reviewed existing literature on socio-emotional development found that the use of home language in early childhood classrooms can have a positive effect on children's social-emotional development (Halle, Whittaker, Zepeda, Anderson, et al. 2014). In 2008-2013, local projects called ‘Home language in education' found positive effects for wellbeing when children are allowed to use their home languages in school ( Raumat et al. 2013). Therefore, given the monolingual policies and practices, a shift in beliefs is needed first for schools to be open to the idea of experimenting multilingual education approach with FMA4L. There is a need for transformation from a separated to an integrated approach to learning and assessment; to transform from looking at multilingualism as a deficiency, as a problem or as a handicap and considering multilingualism as diversity which can be exploited, as a resource or an asset. Therefore the concept of FMA4L states that social interaction is needed and when teachers apply a strictly instructive approach to learning, multilingualism can hardly be used as a scaffold for learning. When schools shift along these two axes towards FMA4L, they become laboratories for exploring multilingual assessment policies and practices.
13 Table 1 Multilingual assessment tools of FMA4L
2.1.2. Translanguaging as a choice for minority languages
Lowmen et al. (2007) reported that literacy level increase when students use their home language/mother tongue to process and analyze texts that are in English. This approach is believed to increases the comprehension in the context of other minority languages. Garcia and Li (2014) elaborate more on pedagogical translanguaging. The method was considered as instructional strategies as it integrates two or more languages although the primary objective of the term was an alternation of the language input and output, this has expanded to other teaching strategies across languages (Garcia & Li 2014). The concept refers to languages practices in pedagogical approach.
Schools that promote regional minority languages not only aim to teach languages but also to develop the proficiency and use of the minority language; this aims has some implications when compared to other educational contexts. In schools with a minority language as the language of instruction, there is an extra task to fulfil. Schoolchildren not only have to develop literacy skills in at least two languages (the majority and the minority) but they also need to develop basic communicative skills for informal interaction in the minority language. The communication is necessary to compensate for the socio-linguistic situation because in many
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cases, informal skills cannot be developed naturally through social interaction as the majority language has a powerful presence (Garcia & Li 2014).
2.1.3. Sustainable of Translanguaging
For this study it’s critical to look at the context of the term sustainable translanguaging, because indigenous languages have minority language and the majority of languages. The term can support the theoretical framework of the study in answering the four employed questions.
Garcia (2009) pointed out that minority languages can be free with no threat of the majority language, by providing space where the only minority is spoken; such area could include a classroom or school. Cenoz and Gorter (2017) argued that minority languages would not be used if they are not necessary, even the space to breathe is created. There is a discourse strategy which is common; for example providing an official speech with no translation, by giving different content in different languages. And this creates the need to understand both majority of the language and the minority to follow the whole content. Garcia and Li (2014) indicated that translanguaging approach opens new understanding and views of multilingual speakers;
and emergent multilingual into the positive lens, not like traditional monolingual perspectives.
They also argue that the celebration of translanguaging should consider specific characteristics of socio-linguistic context because this can have negative effects on regional minority languages.
Garcia and Li (2014) continue to state that sustainable translanguaging implies a problematic balance between using resources from the multilingual learner's whole repertoire and shaping contexts to use the minority languages on its own, along with settings where two or more languages are used. It is argued that sustainable translanguaging is firmly linked to both language awareness and metalinguistic awareness.
While sustainable translanguaging is unlikely to remedy the vulnerable situation of regional minority languages, it can provide the basis for new discussions on the challenges faced by
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regional minority languages in the twenty-first century in the light of the latest trends in the study of multilingualism.
2.1.4. Monolingual assessments and policies
Backer, Stef, and Piet (2017) indicated that monolingual policies and practices affect the assessment of pupil’s language policies and practices. In multilingual education context students who do not speak the school language at home also take a content subject such as mathematics, geography in languages they are not familiar; and this gives limitations on test results and offers unfair disadvantages to the affected students (Backer et al. 2017).
An international study conducted on a large scale for international student’s assessments (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) reveals that students speaking a different language at home than the language used in school perform significant lower (Levin &Shohamy 2008). Backer (2006) concluded on the lower performances of students that minority speakers provide invalid test results, one example is that speaking another language at home causes the lower achievement, although this conclusion has no empirical support.
2.1.5. Development of indigenous language education
Gal (2006), reported that European missionaries encountered languages that were often radically different from their own. They learned and developed writing systems and created grammatical descriptions of liturgical texts in local indigenous language; for example, English only education supported English as a path to Christian salvation. After European decolonization language were seen until today as beneficial for education because of their strong literary tradition and their association with modernization, technology, and progress.
Such examples can be found in Namibia through the perceptions of Afrikaans and German languages. Meyer (2013) reported that the Language Policy for 1990 selected English and Afrikaans as the only official languages in Namibia, leaving out all other indigenous languages
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in Namibia. According to Anchimbe (2013), indigenous languages in Africa are used for mutual interaction and bonding, and official languages are used for socio-economic survival in the formal domain. Patrick, (2012) states that; indigenous people who are the speakers of indigenous language struggles for justice, to rectifying injustices of the past: and this is not without challenges as “undoing a wrong of the past may affect other groups negatively in the present. Kramer et al. (2014) state that international language and language of instructions are widely believed to be the means of greater social and economic opportunity, thus there are layers of languages, this includes; small, medium, large, my language, our language, their language, national languages, and others. Therefore, it's a challenge to embrace the local mother tongue as an asset. He continues to state that, "people find their mother-tongue languages are being used increasingly restricted spheres (either ceremonially or just among the elderly people) and are not being learned by children. Anchimbe (2013) suggests that
"linguistic identity is a pre-requisite for cultural identity and political stability." According to Anchimbe (2013) the fear of the extinction of indigenous African languages has increased in the past decade being predominantly oral codes transmitted at home through informal, familiar interaction, and the concern is that the indigenous languages have little chances of surviving when faced with written, educational, economic and political languages, and functioning as official languages. Therefore, there is a need for indigenous language to be empowered with official and public functions that will facilitate their continuous use in a way proportionate to keeping them alive in the society rather than in the archives. Anchimbe (2013) asks; what will it serve to learn to write and to read a language that will not be used in any career, or any aspect of national life or for integration into a sector? Kramer et al. (2014) state that, the biggest threat to African minority languages, in general, is not English or any other international language, but the African majority language surrounding the minority communities. Recognition of minority languages being turned down from national unity. Anchimbe (2013) uses an example
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of the Gujarati community in South Africa losing its language as the children lost interest in the language, and prefer to use Afrikaans and English in all spheres, including in homes and schools, because of the perceived international outlook of these languages, regarded as useless.
According to Gal (1997) language shift is a process by which the habitual use of one language is being replaced by the habitual use of another in communities. Lane (2010) states that;
language shifts can occur as a direct consequence of disruptive and oppressive policies; these can happen when relocating children in boarding schools if parents are convinced that giving up their mother tongue is what is best for their children, or can be done through economic motivation not to learn their indigenous language.
2.1.6. Previous study of languages in multilingual context
Hundreds of millions of children around the world are forced to study in a language they barely understand; bringing language and cultures into the classroom is a meaningful way to make education more inclusive and equitable. They also argue that some of the authors explore the opposition to this logic regarding practical obstacles (too many languages, no orthographies, no teachers, no texts, no funds) and such ideology or theories is hampering language inclusivity and equitability in a multilingual society, putting the indigenous languages under threat ( Benson & Kosonen, 2013). Language is a living thing as it needs to develop, thrive and be used effectively, including in education; but linguistic diversity, cultural diversity and biological diversity is under serious threat around the world. Benson continues to state that; several thousand languages currently spoken are likely to die by the end of the century. Ironically;
education is one of the most significant perpetrators of this trends and according to Benson &
Kosonen (2013), the results of European colonial projects on economic, political and linguistic hierarchies, has disrupted the local dynamics and has set a motion of deep processes of change in many of these communities in the context of colonization, and slaves during the sixteenth- nineteenth century; that is why most European languages-based Creole became prominent.
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Some of these contact languages have since become main languages for communication, conquering more domains and replacing indigenous minority languages, resulting in widespread language shift.
CJEAS (2014) indicated that “language and culture education is central to the self-educational goals of many first nation (Indigenous people), and lack of funding in school systems deprive children in residential schools to abandon their language and culture, by learning English or French and adopt mainstream culture. It further states that all education is culture-based education, and embosses children with not only factual understanding, but a linguistic and a social lens for making sense of the world and a set of belief and value to interpret it." Language is an asset and a key that can be deployed to access a variety of life opportunities, including but not limited to education, employment, promotion, cultivation of interpersonal relationships and creativity in one's chosen profession. Anchimbe (2013) presented that choosing and empowering one indigenous language out of hundreds has been a sensitive issue which politicians fear can negatively affect the life of the nation-state and policymakers have not come up with potential (official) functions which could motivate the teaching and learning of indigenous languages in multilingual societies or developing countries and other countries around the globe. Anchimbe (2013) continues to state that teaching them should not be a matter of giving an ethnic group a case of space on the national, linguistic map but also; providing jobs, survival means, and upward mobility to those who learn the indigenous languages.
2.2. Multilingualism in educational context.
Clyne (2017) define multilingualism in a simple phrase as the use of more than one language either by individual speakers or by a community of speakers. The community speakers of multilingualism are mostly indigenous people, who speak indigenous languages. In multilingual context, Cenoz and Jasone (2003) reported that multilingualism demonstrates superior metalinguistics and metacognitive abilities, such as the ability to draw comparisons
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between different languages and to reflect on and employ appropriate learning strategies. On contrary Moore (2006) elaborated further that multilingualism does not come automatically to enhance further language learning. Students need to be literate in their language, and they should be aware of the benefits and challenges of multilingualism, the school environment should encourage students to rely on their different languages and knowledge as real resources.
Moore continues to elaborate that language teachers in the school environment have a significant role to play facilitating the students. And students must use their pre-existing linguistic and language learning knowledge.
2.2.1. Multilingual Pedagogical Approach
Cenoz & Gorter (2011) describe multilingual education as the holistic approach that takes into account all of the languages in the learner's repertoire, while a traditional approach looks at one language at a time. Adrian Lundberg (2018), present the argument to emphasize that Knowledge of teachers beliefs on multilingual approaches or pedagogies are central to understand teachers decision-making in the classroom, as this has influence in teaching and learning to the teachers and students. Hansen et al. (2015) elaborated on different types of pedagogical approaches that are essential in multilingual. And the most common approaches are; common language curriculum and pluralistic approaches to languages in the curriculum.
Hansen et al. (2015) explained that despite some differences to the methods, the central principle of this approaches is that they are closely related in disciplines.
Bialystok (2001) gave the remarks that; languages are not stored separately in the brain; they are connected in multiple ways and influence one another in a dynamic system. Therefore the pedagogy of attempting to maintain learner’s language in isolation is not an ideal solution. And teachers are expected to guide students to become aware of and draw on their existing knowledge. Learning in multilingual approach are sometimes viewed as "learner-cantered approach. Students are expected to use their experience from previous language learning when
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learning a new language. And they should be aware of strategies used previously as well as to reflect on, test and evaluate the extent to which those strategies can be transferred to a new language learning context (Neuner, 2004). Studies from different researchers including Neuner suggested that language teachers in multilingual pedagogies should always meet and consider the following requirements as essential to all the teachers in multilingual societies. And the requirements are as follows: they should be the role models of their learners, by being multilingual themselves, have a cross-linguistic and metalinguistic awareness. They should be familiar with research on multilingualism, and willing to elaborate with other (language) teachers to enhance learners. On the same context, May (2000), pointed out that the development of different languages cannot be separated from socio-economic and socio- political factors as these influence the strategies. Traditional approaches that separate languages might have been useful when the school populations were more homogenous in the past. Therefore, multilingualism is a point of departure because, in today's schools, students who speak different languages share the same class. Therefore, a holistic approach is required in a globalized world (Gorter & Jasone (2017).
2.2.2. Challenges of multilingualism and its effects in societies
Multilingualism is a valuable asset that can benefit a nation in some respects, but if it is mishandled, it can also quickly turn into a liability (Kramer,&Boyer 2014). Kramer and Boyer (2014) state that; “Multilingualism constitutes a challenge that requires careful management of society's linguistic diversity”. This linguistic diversity includes the necessity to carry out language planning and adoption of language policies that are consistent with participatory democratic. Multilingualism as a sociolinguistic phenomenon has evidence from Arica and socioeconomic goals. And failure to address these issues carefully can often result in ethnic conflicts that exploit linguistic diversity. Kramer and Boyer (2014) gave the examples of the
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Soweto massacre of 1976 over the imposition of Afrikaans as a second official language of instructions in African/black middle schools.
There are also short to medium term costs associated with the implementation of multilingual policies; this includes the expenses for teacher training, the publication of educational and administrative manuals, and the translations of government regulations (Kramer et al. 2014).
Van Staden et al. (2016) added to the discussion and said; African Stand to be disadvantaged the most when a strong mother tongue base has not been developed in early years, and when the education of this children is only available through a medium of instruction other than the mother tongue. And Desai (2001) argue that the exposure to and testing of learners in languages other than home language results in nothing more than what Desai (2001), referred to as 'incomprehensible education. Incomprehensible education is the type of training or situation where most children from African language backgrounds are not taught through their primary language.
2.2.3. Challenges of teaching indigenous language education in Multilingual societies Kramer et al. (2014) state that many African people are valuing English and other international languages over their mother tongues, and these national policies, and media are not helping the situation. There is a general attitudinal misconception by Africans that the implanted European language and cultures are more apt for education, whereas the African indigenous languages are inferior and not fit for education. The perception exists that English is the language of opportunity, therefore any time spent speaking and studying other languages is an opportunity lost. Thus children learn international languages which they view as opening doors to economic and educational opportunities. An analysis of the language roles of most African nations reveals that the indigenous languages are the least employed in official national life. Anchimba (2013) states that "African language policies are characterized by the official dominance of ex- colonial umbilical cord, and socio-politically interwoven language-related problems as Africa
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continues to rely on readymade theories and approaches based on European formulae and specimens in language planning. The complexity of the language in the education context is the lack of adequate infrastructure and language resources in specifically disadvantaged communities. This complexity contributes to the widening educational gap and poor quality education despite the goals of equity and equality.
2.2.4. Conclusion
This section discusses the theoretical framework for this study, which was divided into two parts, thus, language education and language policies and its assessments and the language education in multilingualism. Challenges of multilingualism and its effects in societies, challenges of teaching indigenous language education in multilingual societies were discussed.
For Indigenous language education to respond to the declaration of Article 14 (1) of the United Nation, this responds need clear guide lines from all the stakeholders in education. Considering the complexity of language education in a multilingual context. A clear policy of language education is required in many countries that have indigenous people. The complexity of these languages is much deeper than considering the lack of adequate infrastructure and language resources. The review of the study shows that human resources in language development are the necessity in achieving the challenges. Translanguaging pedagogy can minimize the challenges and complexity of language education in multilingual societies. Many researchers have emphasized the need for inclusivity's in languages for all indigenous people in education, none in the Namibian context have tried to investigate the statistical information to find the status quo in a relationship between the language spoken by the households in the regions and languages offered in educational regions.
23 3. Research task and research questions 3.1. Research task
For the researcher to analyze the statistical information of indigenous language education and language spoken by the households in the regions, the following tasks have been set to guide the study. The researcher tasked to present the statistical information on how the indigenous language spoken by the households in the regions are being studied in regional schools. The researcher tabulates the data in a meaning full way to assess the statistical information on indigenous language education. The tabulated data are compared statistically to assess and evaluate the similarities and differences that exist in regional education. Therefore, the statistical data are analyzed to evaluate if students in the regions are learning the mother tongue or home language in regional schools in Namibia.
3.2. Research questions
To complete the tasks of the study, the following questions were set up to guide the researcher.
1. How have indigenous languages spoken in the regions by households being studied in regional schools?
2. How are indigenous languages education distributed in different regions? Are there similarities and differences?
3. How are the indigenous languages spoken by the households in the region are affected in teaching the dominant indigenous languages in the regional schools?
4. How do students perform in different languages and is there any differences in different regions?
The first question aims to analyze how indigenous languages spoken by the households in the regions are being studied in regional schools. This statistical information is necessary to; find if it’s reasonable for students to learn the dominant language in the region, and to get statistical
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data how the mother tongue or home language is endangered or successfully studied at regional schools. These statistics are important in helping the educational planners and language policy developers to motivate and encourage schools in the regions to consider inclusivity of indigenous languages in the regional schools.
The second question focuses on similarities and differences in the distribution of indigenous language education and how it is studied in the regions. This similarities and differences are important to evaluate how households’ languages in different regions are studied in schools and to assess the uniformity of the criteria for teaching and learning the indigenous language in regional schools across the regions. The uniformity of criteria is vital to finds the effectiveness of the language policy for schools in Namibia.
The third question focuses on how teaching the dominant language in the region is affecting the minority languages in the region. This statistical information will help schools managers and educators motivate children to form up groups in schools to learn their home language or mother tongue; thereby reducing stigma among the minority children in the regions and prevent the loss of the minority languages that are surrounded by the majority languages in the region.
The last question deals with the data related to the performance of students in different languages in all the regions; this question seeks to determine how students perform in different languages in their respective regions. This question is aimed to find similarities and differences of performances of students in different languages in all the regions in Namibia, and compare it with their performance in English as a subject. This question is essential to do the comparative study of the performance of students in different indigenous language education and English as a subject in all the regional schools in Namibia.
25 4. Methodology
4.1. Research Design
Scholars have different beliefs and understanding about the world that we are living today and tomorrow; these understanding influence the researchers as to how the research be conducted.
Therefore, the methodology of the study focuses on the nonexperimental research design in the quantitative research method. To understand how the study was conducted, the researcher uses deductive reasoning and positivist theory as the influential backbone to guide the study.
Deductive reasoning is the reasoning process from general knowledge to specific knowledge through logical argument (Ary, Jacobs, Irvine, & Walker, 2018); whilst Aviro (2012) define quantitative research as the research designed to expose relationships between two variables.
In the study, the relationships of indigenous languages of the household speakers in the regions and languages offered in regional schools in Namibia are the two variables that are to analyze and reveal the statistical information.
Positivism believes that only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge and that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific method (techniques for investigating phenomena based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence, subject to specific principles of reasoning (Ayiro, 2012),thus the Positivist approach is based on realistic; and they believes that the goal of knowledge is to describe the phenomenon that we experience, and concluded that the researcher needs to stick on what he/she can observe and measure; they separate themselves from the world they study, while researchers from other paradigms do participate in the real world that they are studying (Fielding, 2016). Therefore, the central point of the study is the language of the households’
speakers and languages offered in different schools in all different regions in Namibia; thus the presentation of the results is revealing the status quo of the indigenous language education in Namibia. The study is useful in providing information that looks on causes and effects, and
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it's well suited in testing theories of language education; this is in support of the theory of positivism; which believes that the world works according to fixed laws causes and effects. In the study; the causes are the existence of dominant/nondominant languages of the households speakers in the regions, and the effects are the teaching of dominant language/nondominant language to students in the region. An example of this, is like what will happen to the minority language if all the students in the regions study dominant language at school? This theory of positivism guide the researcher to employ quantitative research methods using nonexperimental research design.
Muijs (2011) describes nonexperimental research as research design that involves variables that are not manipulated by the researcher and are studied as they exist. Therefore, in this study, the two variables are the language spoken at home and language offered at the school in all regional education in Namibia; these two variables are not manipulated by the researcher.
Figure.1 Research process
4.2. Data collection and process
The following questions help the researcher to investigate the existing documents. What is the objective of the study and why? What information should I collect to analyze the data? To whom are the results are intended to be generalized? These questions were directed to the documents the researcher studied. This questions guided the researcher to compile the right
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statistical information about the study. According to Best & Krueger (2004), internet transmits and receives information fast and inexpensively compared to others such as offline modes. As a result, there is an increased number of researchers relying on the internet to collect data and facilitate studies of human attitudes and behavior. In this case, the researcher was in Finland, Joensuu at the University of Eastern Finland and was able to compile the statistical data from the website of the Ministry of Basic Education, Sport and Culture in Namibia; and from the website of NSA.
The researcher compiled and calculated the statistical information of indigenous language education from National and Regional Distributions of Symbols for Full-Time Students of Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) for 2009 To 2015. The numerical data of symbols of student’s performance from 2009 to 2015 were summed up and converted into the percentage to represent the data required for the study. The statistical data of indigenous language education and the performance of student’s language education were drawn from the data of (JSC) full-time students from 2009 to 2015. The statistical information of (JSC) full-time students were selected to represent the study because the students write National Examination in Namibia. The existence of the National Examination in this data makes the statistical information significance to represent the whole population of the study in Namibia.
The other process was to compile the statistical data of language spoken by the households in the regions. The statistical information of language spoken by the households was from Namibia 2011, Population and Housing Census Main Report, a published document of (NSA).
The (NSA) is the official agency for Government of the Republic of Namibia, responsible for providing development of national statistics. They (NSA) collect, produce, analyze and disseminate official and other statistics in Namibia and the board of (NSA) advise the Minister of National Planning Commission on matters related to official and other statistics whether of its own accord or at the request of the Minister (Statistic Act, Act No. 9, 2011). The significance
