LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 17(2), 71-85, 2020

ISSN: 1813-2227

Challenges with the Teaching and Learning of English Language in a

Bilingual Classroom
1
Freedom Nkanyiso Makhathini & 2Elliot Mthembeni Mncwango
1
Academic Development Centre, University of Johannesburg
2
Department of General Linguistics & Modern Languages,
University of Zululand - South Africa
[email protected], , [email protected]

Abstract
The aim of the study was to identify challenges encountered in the
teaching and learning of English in a bilingual classroom and as a
language of learning and teaching (LoLT) among rural schools under
the King Cetshwayo District of South Africa, and to suggest ways to
improve the situation. Using mixed research methods, data were
collected using interviews and questionnaires from a randomly
selected group of twenty (20) teachers and forty (40) bilingual
learners within the district. It was found that the majority of teachers
lack training on grammar, which leads them to focus more on
literature. The study recommends re-skilling of language teachers and
improvement in their approaches to the teaching of grammar.
Keywords: Bilingual learners, barriers, linguistics, pedagogy, language
teacher
Introduction
The language of education is arguably a very powerful obstacle to the
educational achievement of bilingual learners in their quest to learn
through the medium of English in a bilingual classroom. The most
common problems which contribute to the poor performance in state
schools include the teacher-pupil ratio, the availability of teaching and
learning material and the inadequate training of the teachers to teach
in English (Jawahar & Dempster, 2013; Rudwick, 2004, Pretorius &
Matjila, 2004), which is the language of education and school
management as a whole. This signals inefficiency in the academic and
economic progress of the country as a whole. In addition to these
challenges, teachers and learners are exposed to the linguistic
problems that emanate from the everyday teaching and learning of
language in schools. Rudwick (2004) observes that learners find it

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difficult to learn through a second language which neither teachers

nor learners have mastered.

In their study, Othman and Saat (2009) found that there was a need to
address the needs of English language learners with regard to other
academic language developments that are not limited to vocabulary,
but which also include language structures and discourse features in
science. It could be argued that learning opportunities are not
designed to meet the basic learning needs of bilingual learners if the
language of instruction becomes a barrier of knowledge to both
learners and teachers. Education cannot possibly be equitable and
non-discriminatory when the medium of instruction is a language that
neither the teachers nor the learners can use effectively (Rudwick,
2004; Brock-Utne & Holmarsdottir, 2004). As a result, it will be
difficult for many learners to understand classroom conversations and
discussions if both teachers and learners are not exposed to the
grammar of English and how words ought to be used to negotiate
meaning in both social and academic situations (Hoadley, 2012) as is
the case with most rural state schools in Southern Africa. In a rural
bilingual classroom environment, learners come from different
backgrounds which include those with low exposure to English. Other
linguistic challenges include the teaching of language by non-language
teachers, the use of a single teaching strategy throughout the year on
various classroom activities, and many other contributing factors.

Linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) enable the

learners to express themselves across cultural and language
boundaries, are pivotal in the study of any language and they must be
taught by a qualified language teacher who has a complete
understanding of both the learners' L1 grammar and the grammar of
English language. Without a thorough understanding of the rules of
the language, the learners will be at a disadvantage to cope with the
realms of academic life, negotiate meaning and express themselves in
the English language. This study was conducted in schools where
English is taught as an L2 with isiZulu being L1 of most learners, which
is an indication for bilingual education. This district consists of both
urban and deep rural schools wherein the majority of the learners are

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Black Africans who speak isiZulu as their L1 and study English as their
L2.

Research objectives
1. To identify the challenges in the teaching and learning of the
English language in a bilingual classroom in King Cetshwayo
District.
2. To find ways to improve the teaching and learning of English
in the King Cetshwayo District.
Research questions
1. What challenges, if any, do English language teachers face in
the teaching of the English language in a bilingual classroom in
the King Cetshwayo District?
2. What challenges, if any, do learners face in the learning of the
English language in a bilingual classroom in the King
Cetshwayo District?
3. How can the teaching and learning of the English language be
improved in the King Cetshwayo District?
4.
Literature review
Fatchulfkip (2008) argues that linguistics is important for language
teaching, because linguistics and language teaching can be likened to
the relationship of knowledge about the engine and the skill of driving
a car. It will be better for the driver to be supported with some
knowledge about the car or the engine so that they can drive it well
and know how to overcome some engine trouble in case they have to
face it. In the same way it will be better if language teachers have
some knowledge about, for instance, the characteristics of language in
general and the specific language they are teaching in particular. In
this relation, they should know how language works, and what
structures are used in the particular language they are teaching. They
should get familiar, for instance, with the theory about the general
mechanism of producing speech sounds, so that they will be able to
tackle any pronunciation problem the learners may encounter.

Pica (1983) has argued that instruction may lead to improved accuracy
for formally simple structures that display a straightforward form-

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function relation (e.g. plural –s) and it may help learners learn the
form but not the use of formally simple structures that display a
relatively complex form-function relation (e.g. progressive –ing), and
that this may lead learners to commit errors. Reeves (2009:112) as
quoted in Beckerman (2017: 5) argues that ‘Linguistic knowledge for
teaching in the new sociocultural frame is teachers’ ability to use and
teach language in ways that grant learners a full range of expression’.
Language knowledge is important in the school environment. It is vital
for the learners to know how to comprehend, analyse and to
punctuate speech without any linguistic difficulties. If language skills
are not well structured to the learners’ academic and social journey,
the learner is more likely to struggle with progression in both
academic and in social life.

The findings of the study conducted by Çelik and Kocaman (2015)

revealed that middle school students have difficulty in linguistic areas
of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, respectively. The
instructional factors such as teachers’ choice of methodology,
teaching and management skills, teacher knowledge of the field and
affective factors adversely affect the language learning and
development in the school system. It could then be argued that
teacher training in universities needs a strong focus on linguistics in
order to minimise the linguistic gaps raised in literature. Beckerman
(2017) is of the view that school performance seems to be most
affected in subjects that require higher levels of concentration, such
as grammar. It is for this linguistic fact that teachers of language must
be qualified language teachers so that language does not become an
obstacle to academic and social development of a child. The author
argues that any interruption in education and not having any
education contribute to pre-literacy or significant low-literacy levels
and other academic challenges when learning English grammar.

Mkhatshwa (2005) established from the students' work that it cannot

be presumed that non-native speakers would have knowledge of the
structure of a given language and working of the English language
without explicit instruction. This grammatical knowledge of sentential
structure, as argued by Mkhatshwa, also applies to native speakers in

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order for them to fully appreciate and negotiate meaning, in terms of

what they mean to say exactly. It could then be argued that learners'
lack of sentential structure restricts their ability to access information
in the form of thoughts and ideas. This is largely worse if both the
teacher and the learner do not have knowledge of grammatical
structure, and even worst if language is taught by a non-language
teacher. A study conducted by Lukhele in 2011 highlights absence of
linguistic knowledge from a language teacher as an obstacle itself
since the teacher will not be in a position to explain, analyse and give
relevant feedback on issues of language in a classroom if knowledge
of linguistics is absent. In her language study, it was found that the
course that was failed by most participants was Academic
Communication Skills, which involves among other skills, report and
composition writing, reading comprehension, summary writing,
grammar and literature.

Further, Perkins (2013) argues that many teachers know nothing

when it comes to the teaching of language (grammar). In addition,
their experience (teachers) of reading and language teaching does not
enable them to critique any model of reading given to them. This is a
serious problem to the study of language as it raises concerns such as
those highlighted by Rudwick (2004) when she postulates the
probability of the amount of language content which may be
transferred from teacher to learner when both teachers and learners
do not understand knowledge presented in English. If the linguistic
analysis skill is missing from the teachers who teach language, there is
very little or none that could be transferred to the learners.

Pretorius and Matjila (2004) are also of the same view that teachers
and learners are struggling, not only with English but also with literacy
in general (Pretorius & Matjila, 2004:16). The problem that many
learners in public schools have today is not simply a language problem
but is a literacy problem. Once learners have learned to read (i.e.
decode), they are progressing towards attaining mastery of a text.
This will help the learners to master other subjects as well without
difficulties. Therefore, since second-language learning usually takes
place in situations of formal instruction and learners acquire the rules

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and units of the target language through guided instruction by a

teacher, the language teacher should be an expert in the target
language to be able to make informed judgements as regards the
immediate aspects of English grammar that are a source of difficulty
in students' act of understanding English grammar (Mkhatshwa, 2007,
Webb & Kembo-Sure, 2000, Govender, 2009).

Research methodology
This study was conducted through the use of mixed research
methods, which include the use of interviews and questionnaires.
According to Wium and Louw (2018), mixed methods can be used
when the quantitative or the qualitative method by itself appears to
be inadequate to create a complete understanding of the research
problem or to develop multiple perspectives of a phenomenon.
Research instruments
Questionnaires and interviews were used as instruments to collect
data in this study. There were separate questionnaires for teachers
and learners. Both questionnaires and interviews were administered
to a group of selected teachers who teach English in rural schools
under King Cetshwayo District and bilingual learners in the FET phase
who study both English and isiZulu. These are the same participants
who responded to questionnaires. The interviews were conducted in
both isiZulu and English since some students were not comfortable
enough in speaking English. A recording device was used during
interviews on both teachers and learners. Ethical considerations were
taken into account when this instrument was used. The recording
device was only used if the participant granted permission to do so,
and in the case where a participant was not happy with the recording;
it was not used, instead, what was discussed was written down after
the interview.

Sampling of the participants

Schools were randomly selected from the list that was obtained from
the Department of Basic Education in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Rural schools were targeted within the King Cetshwayo District. The
district consists of four circuits: Umlalazi, Mthonjaneni, Mthunzini,
and Nkandla. In each circuit, five teachers who teach English in grades

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10, 11 and 12 were selected and were each asked to identify two of
their best learners in English. This means in each circuit five teachers
and ten best English learners who were selected by their English
language teachers participated in the study. In total, twenty (20)
teachers and forty (40) learners (who were identified by their
teachers) participated in the study. All of them participated in both
interviews and questionnaires.

Data analysis
Data were analysed using the interpretive paradigm, as described by
Cohen and Manion (2000: 36) that ‘…the central endeavour in the
context of the interpretive paradigm is to understand the subjective
world of human experience.’ Kivunja and Kuyini (2017) maintain that
in the interpretive paradigm every effort is made to try to understand
the viewpoint of the subject being observed, rather than the
viewpoint of the observer. This study focused on qualitative methods
to interpret data that were collected in schools at King Cetshwayo
District.

Results and discussion

Results from teacher interviews and questionnaires
Teachers indicated that they experience various challenges during
teaching and learning in English classes. Among others, these include
learner motivation, reading and writing problems, lack of resources to
teach and assess language and the use of English as the Language of
Learning and Teaching (LoLT). While the academic role of a language
teacher is to be in a position to detect language errors in the learners'
work, explain them, and try to remedy the problems, it was evident in
most sampled schools that teachers are unable to detect and to
explain how the errors ought to be corrected. This could be an
indication of why most learners who have passed their matriculation
struggle to read and write in an acceptable academic manner. Fareed
et al. (2016) claim that poor writing skills originate from two factors:
the teacher and the leaner. Teachers lack appropriate pedagogic
approach to teach writing. On the other hand, students face
numerous challenges, like effects of L1 transfer, lack of reading,
motivation and practice. It could then be argued that learners' written

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Challenges with the teaching and learning of English………………………

work requires a level of control where it is characterized by sentence

units that contain a sequence of events that are not in order,
disconnected ideas and clausal chaining. In order for a teacher to
make meaning of a learner’s work, the teacher must know why
language units need to be presented in a logical manner and explain
to the learner reasons for such logical sequence. Therefore, linguistic
knowledge is of great help when language teachers are faced with
such situations and helps both the teacher and the learner to develop
a sense of understanding and motivation to learn more.
The table below tabulates the challenges which are faced by teachers
in the provision of a fair and just language teaching and learning
atmosphere to bilingual learners in a bilingual classroom. These
challenges represent the themes that were identified in the
qualitative data.
Table 1: Teacher challenges during the teaching of language
in their classrooms

of isiZulu
English Grammar

Skills Knowledge
Styles/Methods
Motivation to

Knowledge of

Knowledge of
Teaching Aids

Knowledge
Availability

Teachers’

Teachers’

Language
Knowledge
Teaching

Teachers’

Grammar
Learner

learn

LoLT

Grade 45/100 65% 65/100 50/100 80/100 40%Listening

10 65/100 Teache 30%Speaking
r to 35% Reading
learner 40% Writing

Grade 45/100 40/100 75% 70/100 50/100 80/100 20%Listening

11 Teache 30%Speaking
r to 40% Reading
learner 50% Writing

Grade 50/100 55/100 55% 80/100 55/100 80/100 50%Listening

12 Teache 60%Speaking
r to 50% Reading
learner 50% Writing

Quite a few of the teachers expressed concerns about knowledge of

these language units. Some indicated a need to be trained in the
language (grammar) so that they are better equipped with the

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linguistic and communicative approaches to language teaching. Some

indicated that these language structures were not part of their
tertiary studies and the worst part is when they attend workshops
where there are no skilled professionals within the department who
will adequately assist them.

This study found that there is more focus on literature than on

language (grammar) in the rural bilingual classroom. The language
activities which are given to the learners with an aim to develop their
language skills in most cases include the following: fill in the missing
words, match column A with column B, reading aloud, writing of an
obituary, writing of a diary entry, writing of letters, advertisements,
comprehension passages, and many other writing activities, which
happen in the classroom when the main focus in the writing is in
content rather than the assessment of linguistic units which form part
of a language study. The language assessments that are done highly
promote oral proficiency over the other skills, which means there is
no balance in all the four language skills. This then becomes difficult
for the teachers to monitor learners' progress in language learning
and, as a result, they are unable to help and identify the learners who
are struggling in language. Some teachers admitted to lacking the
basic knowledge of grammar and language learning theories. For
instance, a response which was received from a Grade 12 educator
states that there is no need for any theory to be used in the language
classroom:

‘We don't need a theory to teach language. Theories are old and
outdated. Now we even use SMS language to communicate with our
learners, even government external papers promote that. So which
theory is that?’
Another teacher explained that teaching a novel, short story and
poetry is the best way of teaching language:

‘Focusing on grammatical structures is a problem because it makes

learners afraid to talk fearing that they will make errors and other
learners will laugh at them. During the teaching and learning of

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Challenges with the teaching and learning of English………………………

literature, learners can talk about characters in a short story and that
is how they learn the language, through talking and listening’.

This was a common belief in most schools that participated in this

research. On the contrary, when language teachers were asked to
provide more information on the linguistic structure of English and
isiZulu languages, the majority (90%) of them had no idea of what
structure was all about. This confirmed what the majority of them had
said – that they lacked basic knowledge of grammar.

Results from learner interviews and questionnaires

It was found that learners in their grammar learning are faced with
problems of translating isiZulu texts into the English language with the
aim of finding meaning in English. It could, however, be argued that
any textual mastery requires one to have a developed structure of the
target language. If the target language is not fully developed, certain
aspects of a language will be fossilised. Fossilisation is a linguistic
phenomenon in its own right and manifested as deviant forms from
target language (TL), and it occurs at all levels, from phonological layer
to pragmatic layer (Wei, 2008). The transition from learning to read in
young children to reading to learn among older children is essential
for advanced vocabulary development. Learning to read and write
alone is significant, but needs to be boosted by the ability to use and
apply all linguistic skills in a given scenario by language users, and,
arguably, this skill can be best developed by qualified language
teachers who know the various language components and how these
should be taught to second language learners of the target language
(English).

Learners also expressed challenges that they were facing. The

majority of them expressed their unhappiness in the manner in which
they learn the language. They highlighted that language learning is
crucial to their academic excellence, yet there is no available means to
foster language learning except for sharing a literature textbook. They
highlighted that the only time that they learn the language is when
they are introduced to parts of speech and in most cases, teachers do

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not give learners feedback. One Grade 12 learner responded by saying

that:

‘We are given sentences to change and fill in missing words, join the
sentences using conjunctions, give singular and plurals of words; we
are given an activity to write and most of us fail it and we are given
corrections. The teacher comes to write answers, but when we ask
about those answers, we are told its grammar rules. The next
morning, we are told to go in the front and present, it's oral time now,
then the teacher sits at the back and records marks based on our
presentations. We then accept whatever marks we are given because
we don't even know and we haven't been taught or told about
presentations.’

From a linguistic perspective, a grade 10 and 11 language teacher

needs to teach more of a language (grammar) and then literary texts
so that by the time learners experience all the stress in Grade 12, they
are in a better position to apply their linguistic skills in the content
subjects as well. In this way, they acquire the much needed
knowledge of discourse analysis since their learning will require them
to understand, interpret and analyse any given text for them to write
for examination purposes. It cannot be further underscored that
denying learners exposure to grammar and focusing largely on
literature has dire consequences as learners are unable to interpret
the very literature they are learning. It takes adequate training and
competence on the part of the teacher to fully appreciate the value of
grammar as central to the understanding and interpretation of literary
texts and other learning materials and to devise strategies of teaching
it in class. This would go a long way in paving way for learners,
especially second language learners of English, in this case, to enhance
their understanding of literary texts in English, and to improve their
general understanding of and competence in the language. This is
especially expressly required for learners in similar contexts, where
exposure to the English language is limited.

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Conclusion
This article has discussed the challenges associated with the teaching
and learning of English as an LoLT in a rural bilingual classroom,
focussing on schools in the King Cetshwayo District. Among the
challenges are inadequate training on the part of teachers to identify
and correct learners’ grammatical errors. This could be remedied if
English is taught by qualified language teachers, instead of allocating
language teaching to any non-language specialist. Having little or no
training means that teachers often lack opportunities to gain
competence in the LoLT. The majority of teachers in the district who
participated in the study are themselves second-language speakers of
English who, by their own admission, lack knowledge and competence
in grammar. Being a second language speaker of English is no problem
at all, as being a first language speaker of a language is not a
qualification to teach it, but the lack of knowledge and competence
on the part of English language teachers is a serious challenge that
needs urgent attention.

Teachers must be empowered such that they are in a position to assist

learners in grammar, which learners insist is much needed. During
language teaching and learning, it could help if the language is viewed
and used as an object of fascination and excitement, and learners are
given plenty of opportunities to use their languages for authentic
communication, collective knowledge generation, and affirmation of
personal identities. Perhaps, a mixture of the communicative
approach and structural approach would best remedy the current
linguistic situation, which inhibits the current language teaching and
learning in rural secondary schools, as shown in the findings of this
study.Also, feedback must be given to learners, and this has to be
done regularly in order for it to be effective. Teachers need to explain
to learners why the wrong answer cannot be correct, instead of just
saying 'it's grammar', as was reported by learners during interviews. In
this way, learners would be learning some rules of grammar, which
would go a long way towards assisting them with the much-needed
tools of language that would unlock their potential to read and
understand literary and other texts. This would bear fruit in the long

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run and ensure access to reading materials (prescribed and

recommended readings) and overall success in their academic lives.

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