Abstract:
In Namibia, the accent of Higher Education is increasingly moving towards the provision of access opportunities to previously disadvantaged students. Most students, currently entering Higher Education at the University of Namibia, are First-Generation students whose parents did not participate in tertiary education. First-Generation entry has been investigated to some extent in First World countries; however, there does not appear to be relevant research done on First-Generation entrants in the Namibian context. Although experience indicates that the general profile of Namibian First-Generation entrants corresponds with those studied internationally, there are marked differences in their demographic identities. It is thus necessary to look at a group of First-Generation students at the University of Namibia who have achieved the prescribed entry requirements to enter Higher Education, but whose low marks in English Second Language disqualify them from entering degree programmes. Their lack of academic English skills is often regarded as their only problem and hardly any effort is made to investigate their personal strengths or to assist them with developing critical literacy skills. This article will discuss the language identity of these First-Generation entrants as English Second Language speakers and the impact it has on the acquisition of those academic and critical thinking skills necessary for successful tertiary study.
