Doctoral Degrees (DLLS)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (DLLS) by Subject "English"

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    The role of drama in teaching English: Towards the enhancement of students' communicative skills at the University of Namibia
    (University of Namibia, 2016) Namundjebo, Elizabeth Q.
    The purpose of this study was to explore the role of drama in teaching English to enhance students’ communicative skills at the University of Namibia. The discussions of the research focused on assessing the benefits of using drama in the teaching of English to increase students’ motivation and self-confidence, as well as meeting the aims of integrating drama activities in the teaching of the English Access Course at the University of Namibia or in any other English language teaching elsewhere. The mixed method of qualitative and quantitative research methods were used for this study. This was a classroom based research involving a class of 45 students enrolled for the English Access Course (EAC) at the University of Namibia. To collect data, the researcher employed entry and exit questionnaires, focus group interviews, researcher’s reflective notes and participants’ portfolios that comprised of participants’ views, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values and perceptions towards English learning and teaching. Furthermore, the data was collected during teaching hours because the researcher was simultaneously the English Access course lecturer. The researcher with the help of the participants integrated drama activities in the English Access Course curriculum with the purpose of enhancing students’ communicative skills for the whole second semester in 2014. Data obtained through the entry and exit questionnaires was analyzed using descriptive statistics of percentages while the data from the participants’ portfolios researchers’ reflective notes and interviews were transcribed, organized, and coded according to the steps of qualitative data content analysis listed in Creswell (2003). Research findings revealed the effectiveness of drama oriented English lessons to the benefit of students’ speaking skills, motivation, self-esteem and confidence in their abilities to communicate in English. In addition, the findings revealed that drama activities aided students develop a community and foster group cohesiveness, which helped in building students’ confidence when speaking English in front of their classmates. Moreover, the results repeatedly revealed that motivation is linked to self-confidence as the drama activities accorded students the opportunity to use the target language in real life situations. Based on the research findings it could be concluded that drama plays a crucial role in enhancing ESL students’ communicative skills. The findings are conclusive, in that drama activities can be successfully implemented in the English Access lessons and coordinated to reinforce the regular curriculum. Finally, these research findings provide an opportunity for the English Access Course (EAC) and English courses curriculum designers in the Language Center at the University of Namibia and elsewhere to gain insights of the possibilities to incorporate drama activities in ESL lessons with the aim of enhancing the students’ communicative skills.
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    The role of English for specific purposes in enhancing workplace literacies for graduates employed in the commercial sector in Windhoek
    (University of Namibia, 2018) Mungongi, Fillemon
    Contemporary tertiary institutions and workplace organisations face a raft of challenges in coping with competing demands and rapidly changing environments. Today’s challenging economic situation indicates that it is no longer sufficient for a new graduate to have knowledge of an academic subject; increasingly it is necessary for students to gain those language competencies and literacies which will enhance their productivity and prospects of employment after completing an ESP course. With such demands and changes come the need for tertiary education to skill young graduates adequately to meet these challenges both now and in the future. There is a growing concern in Namibia that tertiary education is not meeting the needs of employers and the workplace, such as occupation specific knowledge, generic skills and competencies, as well as language specific competencies. This study investigated the role of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in enhancing workplace literacies for graduate employees in the Namibian commercial sector in Windhoek. The study mainly looked at the language literacies and competencies that new graduates in the commercial sector in Windhoek had in their repositories which could enable them to operate effectively in that sector. The sample was purposively selected, and the investigation was conducted in ten public and private sector institutions that employ graduates from three tertiary institutions, namely the University of Namibia, the Namibia University of Science and Technology and the International University of Management, in Windhoek. A mixed-methods design was adopted where survey questionnaire and interview protocols were employed. The questionnaire instrument was a rating scale that required participants (young graduates) to rate their level of agreement to a specific issue. The data from the survey were computer analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Information was then coded according to the survey questions and cross tabulations and frequency information were determined. An interview protocol was administered to employers and representatives of tertiary institutions. The recorded interviews were transcribed and subjected to a preliminary analysis shortly after completion of the interviews. After several close readings of the transcribed texts, an open coding process was conducted. The employers and lecturers’ responses in the transcripts were highlighted according to the different units of meaning that could be discerned, and then grouped together in categories. The findings of this study reveal that graduate employees were lacking in the language competencies of oral, reading, written and non-verbal language communication, as well as non-technical skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving, which are valuable in any workplace. Furthermore, it appears that tertiary institutions were not providing courses related to English for Specific Purposes for this particular commercial sector; but appeared to be content with the current offerings of language courses by centres and units. The study reconceptualised the meaning of workplace literacy in the Namibian context, and found that workplace literacy could not be regarded as a skill, but rather as what is done or performed in a given context, such as the workplace. Based on the findings, the recommendation is to formulate clear policies to guide curriculum development in courses, such as ESP, in tertiary institutions to ensure that these curricula are aligned to the language literacies typical of various workplaces. Due to the identified shortcomings in the tertiary education offerings of English language ESP courses, a ‘narrow-angled’ ESP and ‘competency’ models for tertiary institutions in Namibia are proposed.