Focus group discussions

Focus group discussions (FGDs) were employed with three groups of ten learners from each of the high schools and two groups of eight students from each of the universities

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as shown in Table 4.3. FGDs were considered because they are less time-consuming than conducting numerous individual interviews with many participants. FGDs also facilitate collection of large amounts of data from many participants simultaneously as the researcher interacts with more than one participant at one go (Daymon and Holloway, 2002:187). Use of focus group discussions thus ensures collection of sufficient data from many participants in a short period of time. Besides time management, FGDs also cut down on financial costs; instead of planning for many trips to interact with many participants at one site only one trip was undertaken, all things being equal. In addition, McMillan and Schumacher (1997:453) concur with Daymon and Holloway (2002:186) that, FGDs increase the quality and richness of data as group members get stimulated by perceptions and ideas of others within the social environment in which the group is situated. In short FGDs were considered for being efficient.

In this study, an interview/discussion guide was prepared to ensure that all critical issues were addressed with all the targeted focus groups (Daymon and Holloway, 2002:

195). However, during discussions the questions may follow any sequence bearing in mind that FGDs should be as natural as every day communication. The duration of each of the FGDs was just about one hour. The discussions were tape-recorded and later transcribed for analysis.

4.4.2 Interviews

Individual interviews were conducted with three teachers (including the Head of Department) and two to three lecturers of African languages from each of the

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participating institutions or faculties. Semi- structured interviews were considered so as to avoid imposition of the researcher’s frame of reference on data to be provided as Marshall (1998:38) warns. Attitude and perception towards the study of African languages are diverse and relative concepts and so, different people view them differently. Above that, true views of participants needed to be freely expressed and this was only be possible through the employment of personal interviews as they guaranteed that kind of freedom and security. In addition, focus on the participant’s own words, insights and views were enhanced through interacting with participants at an individual level as issues to do with perception and attitude rest on personal encounters.

Since the study involved different categories of schools and universities found in Zimbabwe, interviews were considered for they are flexible and adaptable to individual situations. The researcher had the opportunity to probe vague or inadequate answers while remaining in command of the whole process. The researcher planned to have face-to-face interviews to ensure such interaction where non verbal communication could also be deciphered. Daymon and Holloway (2002:195) advise that an interview guide should be prepared so as to keep focused and ensure that questions asked to different individuals focus on generally the same issues.

For purposes of this study each interview lasted at most half an hour. Like FGDs, interviews with the lecture and classroom practitioners were tape-recorded and transcribed later.

127 4.4.3 Questionnaire

The questionnaire measures what a participant knows, likes or dislikes and what he/she thinks about an idea (Chikoko and Mhloyi, 1995:69). In this study, the questionnaire was used to elicit data that is embedded in the participants’ minds or within their attitudes, feelings or reactions towards the study of African languages in Zimbabwean high schools. The questionnaire allowed for greater uniformity in the way the questions were asked thus allowing comparability of responses in areas that might look obscure when conducting interviews and FGDs.

The other merit of using the questionnaire was that the tool covered a large area at minimum expense in time, money and effort on the part of the researcher. In this study it was possible for all the one hundred-and-fifty (150) high school learners, forty-eighty (48) university students, eighteen (18) high school teachers and ten (10) university lecturers to respond to a corresponding questionnaire.

In the study the questionnaire was administered by the researcher or research assistants to allow for the opportunity to explain to participants the purpose of the study and offer any needed clarifications if need arises. It was hoped that by using the questionnaire in conjunction with the interview, the researcher would be able to bring in the issue of triangulation of data from the two different data collection tools. The strategy further enhanced corroboration of results to give a better picture of the research’s outcomes.

128 4.4.4 Documentary analysis

Documentary analysis entails the researcher accessing relevant documents and then extracting information for scrutiny (Leedy, 1997:191). Documents that can be used for such purposes include reports and records. In this study documentary analysis was employed because it was considered to be appropriate in terms of explaining social phenomena (Best and Kahn, 1993:191) like attitude and perception that were being sought. Although in documentary analysis the researcher will be dealing with secondary sources of information, in this research the method has been considered for its usefulness in measuring characteristics over a period of years. Thus the researcher intended to analyse ministerial circulars and the language policy. Data elicited from the exercise helped in explaining some insights gathered through other data gathering tools for triangulation purposes.

4.4.5 Literature review

In this research, the study of literature has availed relevant background knowledge to the understanding of language education, attitude and perception toward study of African languages at high school and resulting implications on human resources management and development. The reading list encompasses the following:

• the Zimbabwe Education Act and its amendments;

• ministerial circulars;

• journal articles;

• e-articles;

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• institutional repositories;

• discussions and presentations at different conferences, symposia and workshops;

• library books.

Literature review was an on-going process up to the end of the research.