The change of medium of instruction from Chichewa to English in primary schools in Malawi and its impact on pupils' academic performance
type: CreativeWork
description: Malawi adopted a Free Primary Education Policy in 1994 with the ushering in of a multi-party system of government. Since then primary schools have been flooded with many pupils. The current language policy in Malawi. allows learners to be taught through local languages from Standards 1 to 4 and through English from Standard 5 upwards (Mtenje 2002). Teachers' guides for all subjects from STD 1 to 8 are written in English except for Chichewa as a subject. Teachers write their lesson plans for all subjects in English except those of Chichewa as a subject (Mchazime 1996). However, classroom observation suggests that teachers use Chichewa as a medium of instruction even in classes where they are expected to use English (Standard 5 onwards). Similarly. pupils fail to express themselves in English and they answer questions in Chichewa (Mtenje 2002). As a result. learners fail to participate and contribute fully during lessons. This scenario makes the teachers talk more than the learners: hence the lessons become teacher-centred. Pupils are largely passive in class. Many pupils are absent from school they fail examinations and some drop out from school mainly when they reach the upper classes (Standard 5 to 8) of primary education. This dissertation examines what effect the change of medium of instruction made in Standard 5 from Chichewa to English has on the academic achievement of the learners of Standard 5 pupils in primary schools in Malawi. Specifically. the study examines whether or not the use of English results in better academic performance of pupils and whether this change contributes to pupil attrition (the drop-out rate). To investigate how the change of language of instruction affects the academic performance of Standard 5 learners, I used a case study methodology, with both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis. Then data were collected through questionnaires administered to teachers and Standard 5 learners respectively: by comparing tests resu…
abstract: Malawi adopted a Free Primary Education Policy in 1994 with the ushering in of a multi-party system of government. Since then primary schools have been flooded with many pupils. The current language policy in Malawi. allows learners to be taught through local languages from Standards 1 to 4 and through English from Standard 5 upwards (Mtenje 2002). Teachers' guides for all subjects from STD 1 to 8 are written in English except for Chichewa as a subject. Teachers write their lesson plans for all subjects in English except those of Chichewa as a subject (Mchazime 1996). However, classroom observation suggests that teachers use Chichewa as a medium of instruction even in classes where they are expected to use English (Standard 5 onwards). Similarly. pupils fail to express themselves in English and they answer questions in Chichewa (Mtenje 2002). As a result. learners fail to participate and contribute fully during lessons. This scenario makes the teachers talk more than the learners: hence the lessons become teacher-centred. Pupils are largely passive in class. Many pupils are absent from school they fail examinations and some drop out from school mainly when they reach the upper classes (Standard 5 to 8) of primary education. This dissertation examines what effect the change of medium of instruction made in Standard 5 from Chichewa to English has on the academic achievement of the learners of Standard 5 pupils in primary schools in Malawi. Specifically. the study examines whether or not the use of English results in better academic performance of pupils and whether this change contributes to pupil attrition (the drop-out rate). To investigate how the change of language of instruction affects the academic performance of Standard 5 learners, I used a case study methodology, with both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis. Then data were collected through questionnaires administered to teachers and Standard 5 learners respectively: by comparing tests resu…
author: Chiphanda, Paul Ellimelech Kankhumbwa
language: eng
date published: 2007
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:06Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: School of Education

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7485