Page 12 - Spring Graduation Booklet (SESSION-2)(19Oct2022)

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
FACULTY OF EDUCATION &
HUMAN SCIENCES
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION CURRICULUM INSTRUCTION
AND ASSESSMENT STUDIES
CANDIDATE: HAUFIKU Isidor

CANDIDATE’S DISSERTATION

TEACHING CHALLENGES AND COPING STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH
SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN SENIOR SECONDARY
SCHOOLS IN THE OHANGWENA REGION, NAMIBIA

The doctoral study was undertaken and completed under the supervision of Prof.
James Abah (University of Namibia) Main –Supervisor and Dr Percy Mashebe (University
of Namibia) Co-Supervisor both at Katima Mulilo Campus.
The candidate investigated the teaching challenges faced by English Second
Language teachers (ESL) in Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) in the Ohangwena Region
(Namibia), as well as the strategies used by the teachers in order to cope with their
specific teaching challenges in the study area. Furthermore, the study surveyed the
views of the ESL teachers on the measures that could be used to minimize the teaching
challenges they are facing in SSS in the Ohangwena Region, Namibia. The study
was triggered by the ESL learners’ continued poor performances in Namibia Senior
Secondary Certificate Ordinary Level examination and there are no similar studies was
done in the region unravel the associated challenges. The study found that ESL teachers
in Ohangwena Region encounter challenges such as lack of resources for teaching
and learning ESL, overcrowded classes, absenteeism by learners, lack of parental
involvement, learners’ lack of motivation, learner’s poor attitude, lack of advisory
services, lack of refresher workshop, and learners’ lack of exposure to English language
programs. On measures that could be used to mitigate the teaching challenges, the
participants highlighted the need for the provision of adequate resources such as ESL
textbooks and more classrooms to accommodate all learners, involving parents in their
children’s education, reducing the number of teacher-learner ratio in the classrooms,
organising capacity building workshops for ESL teachers, and changing the medium of
instruction for junior primary grades from Oshikwanyama to English language. The study
recommended that the government should improve the ESL resources of the Senior
Secondary Schools in Ohangwena Region, reduce overcrowded classrooms, provide
refresher workshops and support from advisory services to ESL teachers, and provide
well-equipped libraries to increase the learners’ exposure to English language. In
addition, the study recommended that English language should be used as a medium
of communication both inside and outside the classroom to increase exposure and
vocabulary of the learners.

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