Articles

Teachers’ Familiarity with the Official Language of Instruction in Selected Urban Government Primary Schools in Solwezi District of Zambia

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The study assessed class teachers’ familiarity with the official language of instruction in selected urban government primary schools in Solwezi District of Zambia. The objectives of the study were to determine class teachers’ familiarity with the official language of instruction; establish the effects of teachers’ familiarity with the official language of instruction on literacy achievement among urban Grade 3 learners; and ascertain the language instructional strategies teachers who were non-speakers of the language of instruction used to teach in class. The study was guided by The Mother Tongue Instruction Theory, and employed a mixed methods design. Data were collected through interview, lesson observation and fluency test. The study established that teachers who were non-speakers were unfamiliar with the language of classroom instruction, kiikaonde. The fluency test results showed that the teachers’ oral fluency, reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, linguistic performance and articulation was generally poor. Interview and observation results showed that the teachers’ unfamiliarity with the official language of instruction impended teaching, learning and learners’ understanding in those classrooms. For instance, the learners misunderstood the concepts, it was time consuming, teachers could not deliver lessons very well because of language barrier and learners did not get the best from the teachers resulting in under performance among teachers and learners. The study also established that the unfamiliar teachers with the language of instruction used variety coping language strategies in the classrooms such as translation, code-switch, group work, individual work and question and answer. The study recommends teachers should be capacity built in familiar language through training in colleges and CPD in schools. The teachers who were unfamiliar with the official familiar language of classroom instruction should not be allocated to teach lower primary classes before they learn the familiar language of instruction by MOE authorities; and the use of variety coping strategies should be encouraged.

Balancing Teacher–Led And Student–Led Activities When Teaching Foreign Languages to Students at Uzbekistan’s State Conservatory

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This paper will look at the issue of implementing new work methods in English classes at the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan. Recently, there has been a lot of debate on whether to switch to a student–centered method or stick with the traditional model, in which the teacher entirely controls the process. There has been the need to employ innovative ways for motivating students and monitoring learning activities in the process of learning foreign languages in the digital educational environment. The paper argues that most students, regardless of their level, prefer cooperative learning and value teacher assistance. The forms of education that students select are determined by their attitude toward the learning process. The combined learning process allows language learners to cooperate with their teacher and fellow students, resulting in changes in the connection between teachers and students in which students’ personal interests and professional aspirations are taken into account. In the case of teaching conservatory students, it was discovered that student–centered training was less beneficial for those of students that just starting to learn English language as well as for the students at an intermediate level, but showed good results for the students approaching a more advanced level of understanding.

The Development of the Quality of Indonesian Educators through Professional Teachers: A Literature Review

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The government’s efforts to continue to develop the teaching profession as a strong and respected profession in line with other professions can be seen from the issuance of Law No. 14 of 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers who seek to develop the teaching profession through legal protection. The government has made efforts to improve the professionalism of teachers, including increasing the qualifications and requirements for higher education levels for teaching staff from the school level to tertiary institutions. Other efforts made by the government are the certification program and the establishment of the PKG (Teacher Activity Center), MGMP (Subject Teacher Consultation) and KKG (Teacher Working Group).The important thing and needs to be done by the government is to build self-reliance among teachers.