The use of Shona language as a medium of instruction in the first three grades of primary school in a Tonga speaking community: parents and teachers' perceptions

Abstract

This paper investigates teachers’and parents’perceptions of the use ofShona as a medium of instruction in the first three grades of primary school in a Tongaspeaking community. Research was carried out at four schools and their surrounding communities in Nyaminyami District of Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe. Data were collected mainly using interviews and some of the data were collected using observation and document analysis. The major findings were that while a few parents and teachers felt that Shona should not be used as a medium of instruction in the first three grades of primary school in a community where the majority of the pupils'mother tongue is Tonga, a large number of them felt that Shona should continue to be used as a medium of instruction at this level, mainly for the purpose of integrating Tonga children in the wider Zimbabwean society.