English Medium Instruction, an Impediment to Educational Achievement and Social Justice Education in Primary Schools: A Sociological Perspective
Keywords:
impediment, social justice, educational achievement, sociological perspectiveAbstract
Abstract
This article is poised to explore English Medium Instruction (EMI) and its potential to impede social justice education in primary schools in Chivi District (Zimbabwe). The article specifically discusses the impact that English as the medium of instruction has on primary Grade 3 learners in Chivi District and the implications it has on fostering social justice education in the education sector in general. This is because Grade 3 learners in Zimbabwe are introduced to EMI for the first time at Grade 3 level, a situation that reveals social injustice in education. In this article, learners exhibited a number of vices as a result of EMI, for instance, early immersion and poor academic performance among others. The article falls within the qualitative approach, where interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis were used as data generation methods. A total of 46 participants were purposely selected and were the data sources for this article. The collected data was useful to find out to what degree EMI champions educational achievement and fostering equity and equality in the primary schools. Some of the findings of the article are slowness in thinking, experiencing two second languages, low self-esteem, language attrition and English as the language of unity in the classroom, among many others. In light of the findings, the article suggests that the use of ILs as the medium of instruction at primary school level needs immediate attention for social justice education to be a reality.
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