“CURRENT SITUATION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE OF ADULT LEARNERS IN KAVANGO REGION”

INTRODUCTION KAVANGO REGION IS SITUATED IN THE EASTERN PART OF NAMIBIA, IT IS 700 KM FROM WINDHOEK. IT IS A FARMING AREA AND MOST OF THE PEOPLE ARE SUBSISTANCE FARMERS. THERE IS NOT ACCESS TO TV, RADIO, COMPUTERS AND NEWSPAPER IN THE RURAL AREA. THE LIBRARIES ARE VERY FAR FROM THE COMMUNITIES.

There are many languages used both, in spoken and written communication: Rumanyo Rukwangali Thimbukushu Khwedam Rushambyu Gciriku

IN VIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF COOPERATION BETWEEN CUBA AND NAMIBIA, THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, THROUGH THE DIRECTORATE OF ADULT EDUCATION AND THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT INITIATED THE “YES, I CAN” PROGRAMME.

THIS PROGRAMME IS AIMED AT TEACHING LEARNERS ON HOW TO READ AND WRITE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SO AS TO CONTRIBUTE TO REDUCE THE ILLITERACY RATE IN YOUTHS AND ADULTS IN THE WORLD.

DEVELOPMENT: THE FIRST STEP OF THE “YES, I CAN” PROGRAMME WAS TO MAKE A DIAGNOSTIC STUDY OF THE REGION IN WHICH THE 60 PERCENT OF IT WAS COVERED, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE PLACES AVAILABLE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME, THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REGION, THE WISHES OF THE POPULATION WITH THE PROGRAMME, AND ALSO THE AMOUNT OF PROMOTERS, LEARNERS AND VENUES FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION.

THE FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS THE RESULTS OF THE DIAGNOSTIC STUDY IN THE KAVANGO REGION: DISTRICTS VENUES PROMOTERS LEARNERS

THE SECOND STEP WAS TO APPLY AN INSTRUMENT TO THE LEARNERS IN ORDER TO PROCEED CLASSIFYING THEM AS PURE ILLITERATES, SEMI-ILLITERATES OR SPECIAL ILLITERATES, THE SAME AS THEIR WISHES FOR READING AND WRITING IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

IT IS NECESSARY TO POINT OUT THAT THOSE LEARNERS WERE IN STAGE THREE OF THEIR NATIONAL LITERACY PROGRAMME, SO THEY ALREADY KNOW HOW TO READ AND WRITE IN THEIR MOTHER TONGUE.

THE APPLIED INSTRUMENT WAS BASED ON:  THE FOUR SKILLS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: - LISTENING - SPEAKING - WRITING - READING  EXERCISES TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE LEVEL OF PERFORMANCES.

THE APPLIED INSTRUMENT: 1) a) What’s your name?______________ b) How old are you?_______________ c) Do you work? Yes ____ No ____ 2.-a) Can you write these vowels? E-e I-i A-a U-u O-o b) Can you identify these consonants? T-t L-l F-f G-g J-j M-m K-k c) Read these words: Father - teacher - sister - girl - daughter sun - fire - elephant - from - read - boy time - mother - letter - brother - lake

3.- Read these sentences: - Anna is tall. - He is a good friend. - The roses are red. - We are at home. - The doctor is in the hospital. - The plates are on the table. - I used to play football when I was fifteen.

4.- Read this paragraph. My name is Shikongo. I live in Kavango region. My home is in a rural area. My family grows many vegetables. My brothers love to plants and take care of the crops. I enjoy helping them. It is a hard work but it is really good to see the beautiful vegetables when they are mature. We sell some of our crops in the market. We also eat what we grows as well, so we always have healthy food on the table. 5.- Dictation These are the words to be dictated: - family - house - guava - river - grandfather - pencil - guitar - eight

QUESTION # 1: THE LEARNERS HAD TO WRITE THE INFORMATION NEEDED AND TO READ IT ALOUD. QUESTION #2: THEY HAD TO BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE VOWELS AND THE CONSONANTS OF THE ENGLISH ALPHABET AND ALSO TO READ SIMPLE WORDS.

QUESTION #3 AND #4: THEY HAD TO READ SENTENCES AS WELL AS TO READ A SHORT PARAGRAPH. QUESTION #5: THEY HAD TO WRITE ISOLATED WORDS ONCE THEY LISTENED THEM.

THE FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS THE RESULTS OF THE APPLIED INSTRUMENT : Evaluated 1 a) 1 b) 1 c) 2 a) 2 b) 2 c) Total Right % 77,5 73,8 64,4 62,1 66,3 62,1 37,3

RESULTS: - THE INSTRUMENT APPLIED TO THE LEARNERS SHOWED THAT THERE ARE STILL PROBLEMS WITH THE LEARNING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN LEARNERS FROM STAGE THREE.

- MOST OF THE LEARNERS WERE NOT BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE NEITHER THE VOWELS NOR THE CONSONANTS, THEY ARE ALSO FACING PROBLEMS TO READ WORDS, SENTENCES, AND A PARAGRAPH.

- ONLY FEW LEARNERS COULD READ WORDS AND A PARAGRAPH, BUT IT WAS REALIZED THAT IT WAS IN A MECHANICAL WAY BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE HOW WORDS ARE MADE UP.

- THERE ARE ALSO PROBLEMS REGARDING THE ANSWERS OF THEIR NAMES AND AGES. - THERE WERE LEARNERS ABLE TO DO THE ENTIRE TEST WITH EXCELLENT RESULTS, THEY HAD FLUENCY REGARDING READING AND ALSO A GOOD HAND-WRITING.

- ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE WERE OTHERS WHO WERE NOT ABLE TO DO EVEN A SINGLE ITEM OF THE TEST.

CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS OF THE INSTRUMENT HAVE BEEN USEFUL FOR THE FUTURE WORK OF THE CUBAN EXPERTS IN KAVANGO REGION IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE “YES, I CAN” CUBAN LITERACY PROGRAMME, IN ORDER TO CONTRIBUTE TO ERADICATE THE PROBLEMS WITH THE USE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS THE OFFICIAL ONE IN NAMIBIA.

“NO TOTAL JUSTICE IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT EDUCATION EQUALITY”

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION