There is an argument by scholars such as Ferguson (2013) and Roux (2014) that English is a gatekeeper. Ferguson (2013) argues that there is a link between English and getting a job.
In Swaziland, English functions as the LoTL and it is also used as a yardstick which determines if a learner can or cannot be admitted to institutions of higher learning. Learning in a language that is not one’s own has its own set of challenges because the learner has to first of all master the language before internalizing the content using the new language. It gets even worse in Swaziland because no matter the number of distinctions a learner gets, they will not get admitted into tertiary institutions without obtaining a credit pass in English.
This research therefore regards English as a bridge which learners are compelled to cross in order to get access into the land of success. Due to the fact that English is a second language to them, the majority fail to reach the other side but fall into the river instead. The diagram below demonstrates this conceptual framework.
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Diagram 2.1
Source: Researcher’s own
The situation depicted in this drawing represents the gatekeeping role that English plays on Swazi learners. It actually depicts a scenario whereby English is equal to education in the sense that the learners’ epistemological access to learning is restricted by their linguistic competence in English language. As can be seen, there are two contexts in the picture.
There is context A on the left hand side. This is the siSwati zone. This is where a majority of the Swazi learners are. Now, the learners have got to cross the bridge by passing English in order to get into context B which is the English zone. This is what the researcher calls the land of success whereby there are ample opportunities such as tertiary education and jobs.
The truth of the matter is that for multitudes of learners, crossing the bridge is a mammoth task. As supported by Mazibuko (2014), a large majority fail to pass English hence one would describe them as having fallen into the river and swept away after the bridge collapsed as they tried to cross. They are swept away into uncomfortable places whereby they have to look for survival jobs in order to help take care of their families especially from the factories in Matsapha, which do not pay much at the least.
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English has the ability of being either a bridge or a barrier (Williams, 2006). An example of the Swazi context is depicted by the diagram of the conceptual framework to clarify this claim. As already mentioned before, this study regards English as a bridge in two ways.
These two ways are explained in detail below. First, by virtue of it being a second language, English is not adequately mastered by a majority of Swazi learners. As a result, many of them struggle to grasp the content that is delivered to them in English. On the left hand side of the diagram, the picture depicts the multitudes of Swazi learners, a majority of whom fail to understand the content because it is presented in English which is a second language.
Obviously there is no way these learners are going to pass or if they do, their results will be far less impressive as compared to the first language speakers of English. Glanz (2013) argues in this regard that students who learn in a LoTL which they do not master are hence disadvantaged in assessments.
Glanz (2013) continues to lament that most education systems in sub-Saharan countries focus on using international languages yet a majority of the learners are not fluent in them.
The question is why should African learners be taught in international languages whereas it has been proven that African languages are well able to be used in all spheres of life, including education. As Brock-Utne and Hopson (2005) in Kamwendo (2013) argue that languages other than English can serve as the medium of instruction all the way up from preschool up to higher education. Kamwendo (2015b) provides some insight in this regard that one reason why many governments shy away from mother tongue education is because the African languages have little economic value. That is the reason why parents prefer to send their children to schools where English is the medium of instruction. In fact Kamwendo (2015b) argues that an African renaissance can inject a new lease of life into African
languages because it aims to take these African languages to domains whereby their
economic value will rise. It is only when these African languages have been empowered that they will start becoming income generators.
The second dimension that is being depicted by the conceptual framework is one whereby minorities of the Swazi learners have been able to grasp the content, regardless of the language barrier, and have managed to pass Form 5 which is the highest grade in high school in Swaziland. As proven by the results analysis availed by ECoS, only about 13%
Swazi learners on average, manage to get credit passes in English in the IGCSE examination in Swaziland every year (Mazibuko, 2014). As Glaser and Strauss (1967)
argue, the fact that secondary examinations are given in English presents an insurmountable barrier to graduation for many. The mere fact that all the subjects are taught and assessed in English except for siSwati is proof that the learners are disadvantaged as Gandara et.al (2003) argue that when learners are not proficient in the language of assessment, their
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scores in a test or examination will not accurately reflect their knowledge and capability of the subject assessed. As depicted here, even after having passed Form 5, the learners’
challenges are not over because when they get to tertiary, still they are instructed using English. So, in as much as they have fought a good fight and managed to cross the first bridge (grasping content and passing Form 5), their predicament is not yet over. Once again when these learners make an effort to get into the world of work, English once again
determines their success in getting a job as studies have shown that those people with good English skills stand better chances of getting employment than those who do not (Rudwick and Parmegiani 2013, Kirkpatrick 2013).