Volume 11, Issue 2, May 2015, Pages 395–403
Augustine Zano Muranda1, Thembinkosi Tshabalala2, Alfred Champion Ncube3, and Tungu Mufunani Khosa4
1 Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
2 Faculty of Arts and Education at the Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
3 Pro-Vice Chancellor-Academic at the Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
4 Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the challenges faced by rural primary school teachers in the teaching of English reading to infant classes in Jojo West Cluster schools in Nkayi district of Zimbabwe. The population comprised of all the teachers teaching infant classes in the cluster. The sample comprised of 20 respondents purposively selected. The study adopted the descriptive survey design and the questionnaire was used for collecting data. The main findings of the study revealed that the majority of infant teachers were not qualified to teach these classes. The study also revealed that teachers taught English using vernacular words and this confused the children. Children were also not provided with a variety of reading materials and the home background did not assist pupils acquire the language. The study recommends inter alia, that all teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe should introduce the Early Childhood development programme in order to multiply the production of infant teachers. The study also recommends that infants classes should be exposed to a lot of material in the English language to help them build their vocabulary.
Author Keywords: Challenges, teaching, infant classes, cluster, primary school.
Augustine Zano Muranda1, Thembinkosi Tshabalala2, Alfred Champion Ncube3, and Tungu Mufunani Khosa4
1 Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
2 Faculty of Arts and Education at the Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
3 Pro-Vice Chancellor-Academic at the Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
4 Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the challenges faced by rural primary school teachers in the teaching of English reading to infant classes in Jojo West Cluster schools in Nkayi district of Zimbabwe. The population comprised of all the teachers teaching infant classes in the cluster. The sample comprised of 20 respondents purposively selected. The study adopted the descriptive survey design and the questionnaire was used for collecting data. The main findings of the study revealed that the majority of infant teachers were not qualified to teach these classes. The study also revealed that teachers taught English using vernacular words and this confused the children. Children were also not provided with a variety of reading materials and the home background did not assist pupils acquire the language. The study recommends inter alia, that all teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe should introduce the Early Childhood development programme in order to multiply the production of infant teachers. The study also recommends that infants classes should be exposed to a lot of material in the English language to help them build their vocabulary.
Author Keywords: Challenges, teaching, infant classes, cluster, primary school.
How to Cite this Article
Augustine Zano Muranda, Thembinkosi Tshabalala, Alfred Champion Ncube, and Tungu Mufunani Khosa, “CHALLENGES FACED BY RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING TO INFANT CLASSES IN JOJO WEST CLUSTER SCHOOLS IN NKAYI DISTRICT,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 395–403, May 2015.
