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International Review of Education

, Volume 62, Issue 2, pp 221–228 | Cite as

The new language of instruction policy in Malawi: A house standing on a shaky foundation

  • Gregory Hankoni Kamwendo
Research Note
First Online:

Abstract

This research note is a critique of Malawi’s new language of instruction (LOI) policy. The new policy stipulates English as the medium of instruction from the first year (Standard 1) of primary school in a country where English is not the dominant language of household communication. The children are now expected to learn (and that includes learning to read and write) in English, a language they have not had any contact with before their first day at school. Moreover, some of the teachers themselves struggle to use English as a medium of instruction. The results of this policy are devastating, and the fact that the school system is poorly resourced in terms of infrastructure, materials and teachers is further thwarting positive learning outcomes. On the strength of ample empirical evidence which supports the mother tongue as the best medium of instruction in the initial phases of primary education, the author of this research note argues that the new language policy stands on a shaky foundation, and that it cannot serve as a strategy for eradicating low English proficiency among Malawian learners.

Keywords

Education English Malawi Language of instruction 

Résumé

Nouvelle politique du Malawi en matière de langue d’instruction : une maison bâtie sur des fondements instables – Cette note de recherche est une critique envers la nouvelle politique du Malawi relative à la langue d’instruction. Cette politique institue l’anglais comme moyen d’instruction dès la première année de l’enseignement primaire dans un pays où l’anglais n’est pas la langue dominante de communication dans les ménages. Les enfants sont désormais censés apprendre (et ceci implique également à lire et à écrire) en anglais, langue avec laquelle ils n’ont aucun contact avant leur premier jour d’école. À cela s’ajoute le fait que certains enseignants ont eux-mêmes des difficultés à utiliser l’anglais comme langue d’instruction. Les résultats de cette politique sont désastreux, et la pénurie de ressources en termes d’infrastructure, de matériels et d’enseignants dans le système scolaire entrave encore l’obtention de résultats éducatifs positifs. S’appuyant sur la solidité d’abondantes preuves empiriques qui défendent la langue maternelle comme meilleur vecteur d’instruction dans les premières phases de l’enseignement primaire, l’auteur de la présente étude avance que cette nouvelle politique linguistique est bâtie sur des fondements instables, et qu’elle ne peut servir de stratégie en vue de remédier définitivement à la faible maîtrise de l’anglais parmi les élèves malawiens.

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Notes

Acknowledgements

On 24 July 2014, I was one of the scheduled speakers at the national symposium on the language-in-education policy held in Mangochi in Malawi. I wish to acknowledge, with gratitude, the financial support I received from the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) which made it possible for me to travel to Malawi to attend the symposium. However, the views expressed in this paper are entirely mine, and not those of CASAS.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Faculty of ArtsUniversity of ZululandKwaDlangezwaSouth Africa

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