[Ewe aha͂].
52 TC1_A [Ewe] among themselves. When they are playing, they are playing around, you’ll
hear them speaking Ewe, aha͂, especially, the lower primary. So we make it compulsory that they should be speaking English even in the classroom. There is a paper everywhere: ‘Speak English.’
53 IW Yeah.
54 TC1_A aha͂, especially, lower primary, they don’t speak English among themselves. When
they are playing outside and you stand there, you’ll hear them speaking Ewe. You’ll hear them speaking Ewe throughout.
55 IW Yeah, because when I was also observing, I’ve realised that when they are talking to
you it was in English but immediately they want to talk to one another, they started speaking Ewe.
(Interview with teacher in classroom 1 school A, Lines 51-55)
6.3 Perceptions of pupils
This section focusses on the linguistic backgrounds and perceptions of pupils in bilingual and monolingual medium schools. For the focus group discussions, five (5) pupils each from lower grades 1-3 were selected. A total of fifteen (15) pupils from each school participated in the discussions. The pupils were selected by the teachers. Although not an exclusive representation of all the pupils in the schools, the responses from the fifteen pupils from each of the four schools present some insights into the backgrounds of the pupils and their perceptions towards language of education. Pupils were asked to state the number of languages they spoke, their perceptions towards English and Ewe, their preferred medium of instruction, and the languages they spoke at home. Their perceptions are analysed based on their preferred medium of instruction as well as their linguistic backgrounds in terms of the number of languages spoken and the languages of the home. Bilingual medium classrooms are presented in section 6.3.1 and monolingual classrooms are presented under section 6.3.2. Comparisons of both classroom types are presented under section 6.3.3.
Visit to School D:
The school adopts English only medium of instruction and teaches Ewe as a subject of study. The language policy of the school is English only on the premises and it is a punishable offence to speak Ewe. Per the language policy of the school, students are expected to speak only French on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and according to the proprietor of the school anyone who can’t speak French has to keep silence on those days. Speaking with the proprietor of the school, he indicates that the school aims to develop pupils’ competence in English, and French as second language.
The subjects taught in the school include Science, English, Citizen/Social, Ewe, French, RME (Religious and Moral Education), UCMAS, Creative Art, Catechism, ICT and Maths.
171 6.3.1 Bilingual medium schools
The linguistic backgrounds and the perceptions of pupils in bilingual medium schools were explored as part of the focus groups discussions. In terms of their perceptions, pupils expressed the language or combination of languages they would like teachers to use in teaching in the classroom. In school A, many of the pupils stated they were either bilinguals or multilinguals. Among the fifteen (15) pupils who participated, ten (10) of them were bilingual in Ewe and English, and one (1) was bilingual in Akan (Twi) and English. Two (2) pupils were multilinguals in three languages: English, Ewe and Accra (Ga); and English, Ewe and Akan (Twi). Only one of the pupils spoke one language, which was English. The linguistic repertoires of the sampled pupils show that majority of the pupils are at least bilingual in one Ghanaian indigenous language and English.
In addition to the pupils stating their linguistic repertoire, they stated the language(s) they spoke at home. This question aimed to explore their code choices at home and whether this may influence their preferred medium of instruction in the classroom. In school A, as shown in table 6.40, one (1) pupil spoke Ewe and English at home, eight (8) spoke Ewe, five (5) spoke English, and one (1) spoke either English or Akan (Twi) at home. Subsequently, the preferred MOI of the pupils are presented taking into account their linguistic backgrounds.
Table 6.41: The linguistic background of pupils in school A The linguistic backgrounds of pupils in school A
Pupils No. of languages Languages spoken at home
P1_A (F) 2: Ewe & English English & Ewe
P2_A (F) 2: Ewe & English Ewe
P3_A (F) 2: Ewe & English Ewe
P4_A (M) 2: Ewe & English Ewe
P5_A (M) 2: Ewe & English Ewe
P6_A (F) 2: Ewe & English Ewe
P7_A (F) 2: Twi & English English or Twi
P8_A (F) 2: Ewe & English English
P9_A (M) 3: English, Ewe & Accra22 English
P10_A (M) 2: Ewe & English Ewe
P11_A (M) 1: English English
P12_A (M) 2: Ewe & English Ewe
P13_A (F) 3: English, Ewe & Twi English
P14_A (F) 2: Ewe & English Ewe
P15_A (M) 2: Ewe & English English
The focus groups with the pupils provided the opportunity for them to express their opinions on their preferred language(s) of education in the classroom. The extract 5.1 below presents a communicative exchange between the interviewer and the pupils in School A. During the focus group, the pupils were
22 Pupils P9_A (M) speaks three languages English, Ewe and Accra. Accra language, as the pupil referred to it, is referring to
Ga, the language spoken by the natives of Accra. During the interview, the pupil state he acquired Ga when he was living in Accra together his family.
172
asked to express their opinions on their preferred medium of instruction. In Line (135), pupil P8_A (F) expressed a preference for English medium of instruction during lessons, including Maths. The interviewer asked pupil P8_A (F) whether she spoke Ewe in the house. The response was “NO!” (Line 137). The pupil stated “i speak ONLY English” (line139). In table 5.1, however, P8_A (F) stated that she spoke English and Ewe, but spoke English at home. Similarly, pupil P9_A (M) in line (141) expressed a preference for English medium of instruction. The reason provided was that he understood lessons taught in English better than those taught in Ewe and Ga (which the pupil referred to as ‘Accra’).
The preferred medium of instruction as stated by the two pupils may be related to their out-of- school language exposures. Although the two pupils spoke more than one language, the language they use most at home was English. Therefore, it is prudent to state that the preferred medium of instruction of the pupils may be informed by their out-of-school code choices and exposure. There are also variations in this regard in that some pupils with bilingual Ewe and English backgrounds preferred English medium of instruction. The discussions that follow present more insights into the above observations on the impact of out-of-school language exposure on preferred MOI.
Extract 6.3: The linguistic background of pupils and their perceptions towards media of instruction