Teachers’ And Students’ Perceptions On The Use Of English As A Medium Of Instruction In Community Secondary Schools: A Case Of Bukombe District

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study was to find out the perceptions of teachers and students on the use of English as the MoI in community secondary schools. The study employed a mixed method approach in data collection. The data were collected by using an interview, questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD) from fives (5) sampled community secondary schools in Bukombe District. A total of 110 participants was involved in data collection whereby five (5) heads of schools and five (5) academic masters were interviewed, fifty (50) teachers answered questions in the questionnaire and fifty (50) students were involved in focus group discussion.The findings of this study revealed that most of the teachers and students have a positive attitude on the use of English as a MoI. It was evident that most of the teachers and students preferred English language to remain a MoI with reasons that English is an international language, the language used in the world of market and education matters, and English language are rich in vocabulary and terminologies. However, some of the teachers and students revealed that the English language should not remain as the MoI because it is not a national language, teachers and students have low proficiency in English language, and that teachers and students have poor background in English language. The findings also revealed positive and negative impacts of using English language as a MoI. The study concluded that students and teachers have low proficiency in English because of the language background in primary schools. Finally, the study recommended that language policy has to be adjusted on the MoI from primary schools in order to help students and teachers become competent in the language of instruction.