Abstract

At independence, Namibia chose English as its official language and therefore its language of learning and teaching (LoLT). Since then, both government reports and scholarly research have highlighted the poor performance of learners and the apparentfailing standards of teaching. The study reported on in this article explores Oshiwambo-speaking teachers' perceptions of the advantages of using English as a lingua franca (ELF) as LoLT in an educational setting in Namibia, and the challenges they face. The findings suggest that, for teachers, the primary perceived advantage is that learners will need this language if they are to further their studies abroad. Furthermore, teachers overcome the challenges of using ELF as LoLT by resorting to code-switching to ensure that their learners understand the concepts that they are being taught. In this article, we frame this from a translanguaging pedagogy perspective, recommending that teachers be supported and encouraged to use both languages in an integrated and coherent way to overcome the challenges of using ELF as LoLT. This requires the Namibian Language-in-Education Policy (NLiEP) to be adapted in such a way that it allows English to be used as LoLT alongside Namibia's indigenous languages, acknowledging the bilingual/heteroglossic nature of classrooms in Namibia.

摘要

独立时，纳米比亚选择英语作为其官方语言，因此也是其学习和教学语言（LoLT）。从那时起，政府报告和学术研究都强调了学习者的糟糕表现和明显的教学标准不合格。本文报道的研究探讨了奥希万博语教师对纳米比亚教育环境中使用英语作为通用语言 (ELF) 作为 LoLT 的优势的看法，以及他们面临的挑战。研究结果表明，对于教师来说，主要的感知优势是学习者如果要出国深造，将需要这种语言。此外，教师通过语码转换来克服将 ELF 用作 LoLT 的挑战，以确保学习者理解他们所教授的概念。在本文中，我们从跨语言教学法的角度来阐述这一点，建议支持和鼓励教师以综合一致的方式使用两种语言，以克服将 ELF 用作 LoLT 的挑战。这需要纳米比亚教育语言政策（NLiEP）进行调整，允许英语与纳米比亚本土语言一起用作 LoLT，承认纳米比亚课堂的双语/异语性质。