Motivation and attitudes towards English as a second language (ESL) among learners in rural KwaZulu-Natal High Schools
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Date
2008
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Abstract
Judging from what several of teachers have generally said about the poor performance
and low levels of English proficiency, (how poorly they spoke, read and wrote), there
seems to be a lack of interest or motivation among rural high school learners to acquire
English proficiently. Thus, motivation being what initiates, sustains and directs thinking
and behavior, as Louw and Edwards (1997:425) put it, and that motivational processes
make us seek and find the things we need for our survival and development (approach
motives) - one of the three variables on which good language learning depends, in
Pride’s (1979) words, lack of it (motivation) is considered a worrying enough a situation,
which warranted scrutiny and careful study. Many factors could account for such a
decline or loss of interest in learning English, which is a need for survival in a
cosmopolitan country like South Africa and in the world today. Only some kind of
misunderstanding of freedom and language rights or misinformation and ignorance or
even some form of a misguided ethnic endeavour suicidal in nature on the part of
learners, could create or inform such an unfortunate situation of lack of motivation to
learning English, when competition for jobs is so high.
This research has investigated factors, which might account for what seems to be
clearly a decline in interest or motivation among the rural KZN high school learners to
acquire English proficiently. In order to meet the aims and objectives of the study, four
different groups of people key to the study (people directly involved in the learning and
teaching taking place in high schools situated in the rural communities of KwaZulu-
Natal) had to be questioned about the matter: 1) learners from several rural high
schools 2) high school educators - English subject specialists from a wide selection of
rural high schools, as well as few primary school educators 3) parents of children
learning in different rural high schools. 4) Some officials, too, from the KZN department
of education were interviewed, from whom official information and statistics were
obtained.
Description
A thesis presented to the Faculty of Arts
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts, 2008.
Keywords
Teaching English as a second language