The learners were further asked the question, “There is a claim by language scholars and researchers that English is a gatekeeper on two levels; as a LoTL and as a passing subject which ensures entry into tertiary institutions, what are your views on this claim? Here were their positions.
L1 stated that, “well, according to me English is a gatekeeper subject. Without English you cannot go to the next class, for example in colleges they require you to get a pass in English, at least you must get a ‘C’ or more than C, maybe B or A....so English is very important, according to my understanding, it is a basic that you need in order to pass and succeed in life or in your educational studies. Our parents try to train us to know English better because it is a failing subject, most people fail English.” (Individual interview).
L2 seemed to be in pain as he explained that, “one has to pass English, if you haven’t passed it you are as good as useless, one who has failed even if you can pass all the other subjects.” (Individual interview).
L3 observed that, “without English, we are nothing…..if English was not taken as a gatekeeper, nearly all of us could qualify to go the university...then after that I don’t think there would be enough space....ok the services won’t be enough for all of us. On the other side, it affects a lot of people and that results in poverty in that they will be jobless.”
(Individual interview).
L4 believes, “English is that subject which everybody must do well in, in order to succeed.
…. it is a subject that can stop you from proceeding to the next class or from being admitted to colleges and Universities around the world.” (Focus group interview).
L5 painted a grim picture of the role of English in the lives of Swazi learners when he said that, “...yes, it is the passing subject but it has pulled many Swazis into a drain....like.... Many Swazis cannot make it without passing it. A gatekeeper subject is a subject that is a passing subject. It is a must pass subject; you cannot make it to many institutions without having got credits in it. In Swaziland, the gatekeeper subject is English…it came to be the gatekeeper subject because Swaziland was once colonized by the British...and when the British introduced education to the Swazis...the only way they could have introduced education is by their MT which is English. They introduced English together with the education because they once colonized us and it was the way of communicating with the Swazis.” (Individual interview).
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L6 was of the view that, “when you fail English, you cannot be admitted to the University of Swaziland….a gatekeeper subject it is a passing subject which can prevent you from going further with your studies….like when you fail English you cannot be admitted to the University of Swaziland and other colleges….in Swaziland the gatekeeper subject is English.
Well I’m not really sure how it came to be the gatekeeper subject but I think it’s because English is an International language so if you know English it is easier to communicate with people from different parts of the world.” (Individual interview).
All the learners felt that they are left with no alternative with regards to English, if they want academic success, then they ought to pass English because if they don’t, they end up in the
“drain” whereby they are completely sidelined in life. The participants concurred that English was indeed a gatekeeper. They actually even connoted the use of force in as far as learning English is concerned in that they cannot choose to delete English language and not do it because it is a core subject. Moreover, this is because mastery of English is a precondition for most professional employment (Rudwick and Parmegiani, 2013). English therefore functions as a gatekeeper not only to Secondary and higher education; but also to work especially in the civil service and service industries such as Banking, Tourism and elsewhere (Ferguson, 2013).
English language (ESL) was therefore seen by the learners as a gatekeeper subject. This is puzzling when one notes that linguistic pluralism (see theoretical framework), was long achieved in Swaziland. The question one cannot find an answer to is why does English have to remain the gatekeeper in Swaziland yet siSwati is also accorded official status? Even the EDSEC policy clearly states that learners should not be punished for speaking siSwati inside and out of the school environment. Why then do we have to assimilate to a European language forty-seven years after gaining independence? Whether we are aware of it or not, this translates to linguistic assimilation in the sense that one language, which is English, is used in official domains without appreciating that another language, siSwati, also exists (Cobarrubias, 1983). This study is in no way aimed at down-scaling the importance of English as an international language however, as Kamwendo (2014) argues, indigenous languages need to be vernacularized (see theoretical framework) so that their value may rise resulting to more people finding them significant to learn and to also use not just for communication purposes but in official domains as well.
Learners therefore viewed English as their downfall, without which their lives were doomed.
As revealed before, only about 13% on average are able to get credit passes in English annually in Swaziland (Mazibuko, 2014). This is aggravated by the fact that a majority of Swazi learners come from poor, rural social backgrounds. Thamaga-Chitja and Mbatha
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(2012), argue in this regard that learners from poor social backgrounds struggle with inadequate proficiency in English due to the disadvantaged schooling backgrounds they have experienced. The fact is that schools in the rural areas may not always be well equipped with the qualified personnel, materials and resources that enhance teaching and learning in the urban schools. The learners therefore receive poor education as compared to their urban counterparts. It therefore becomes an extra burden for these learners to acquire academic literacy and discourse skills because they are already struggling with weak English language mastery on top of the socio-economic constraints posed by their disadvantaged backgrounds. English occupies a hegemonic status in relation to all the other subjects which in turn disadvantages the learners. This is mainly caused by the fact that African languages do not lead to jobs that attract good remuneration (Matsinhe, 2013). People therefore will go for the obvious choice of English or any other exoglossic language, as the case may be, in order to be able to get a well-paying job which ultimately results in a good life.
The diagram which illustrates the conceptual framework in chapter 2 depicts a situation whereby English can either become a gateway to a better life in the future or a gatekeeper thus preventing learners from fully accessing knowledge which would enable them to become an educated and successful generation. This is the result of the fact that if the learners lack adequate English skills, they will struggle to grasp content which is presented in English. In this way, English has become a gatekeeper preventing them from accessing knowledge. The result would logically be that such learners will fail at the end of the year hence be prevented from proceeding to the next level of their learning or even tertiary. As aforementioned in chapter 2, the analysis report availed by the Examinations Council of Swaziland reveals that the majority of Swazi learners fail English yet it is the core subject which is also the yardstick that determines whether a learner has passed or failed.
UNESCO holds the view that people should be free to learn in the language which they best understand, not in a language which will hinder them from accessing knowledge and information. UNESCO (2003) therefore argues that foreign language learning should only be as part of an intercultural education aiming at the promotion of understanding between communities and between nations and should never be a hindrance to a learners’ success in education. Kamwendo (2014) argues in this regard that one of the blockages to access information is the language factor - in the sense that one may fail to access information due to the language in which the information is packaged.
In Swaziland, the principal subject that determines whether a learner will have a bright future is English, a language which they speak as a second language after siSwati which is their MT. English determines whether a learner is intellectually capable of attaining higher levels
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of education. For instance, a learner may not be admitted to tertiary institutions without getting credit pass in English. This is much against what UNESCO propagates for when it comes to MT education .In their study on some characteristic features of Englishes in Lesotho, Malawi and Swaziland, Kamwangamalu and Moyo (2003) found that English has a higher status in Swaziland especially in formal contexts and is used as a medium of instruction from Grades 3 upwards. They further found that even though siSwati is so widespread that there is no need for English beyond the confines of a classroom, the reality is that Swazi parents prefer English medium schools even in the rural areas (Morope, 2010).
This is in total agreement with what the respondents believed in as they all believed English was a crucial subject that can either open or close doors for you.
4.3 FINDINGS FOR OBJECTIVE 3: THE LEARNERS’ VIEWS ON THE USE OF ENGLISH