https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/1503 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:18:36 GMT 2026-04-10T12:18:36Z https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/4873 Title: An investigation into English second language competence and performance of Shona and Ndebele first language learners Authors: Nhongo, Raphael Abstract: The thrust of the study was to investigate the common ESL practices towards proficiency amongst O‟ level learners who are L1 speakers of either Shona or Ndebele and who are from either a rural or an urban setting. The aim of the study was to scrutinize how a learner‟s first language and the rural and urban environment influence ESL proficiency. The aim was to establish how rural and urban settings condition ESL proficiency and how ESL proficiency differs between these two settings. The other aim of the study was to establish the strategies that are used by teachers and learners in ESL teaching and learning and also to evaluate the effectiveness of such strategies. The study was qualitative in nature although a limited quantitative design was employed in the presentation of frequency tables. The study used a case study design. The information that was used in this study was gathered through the use of proficiency tests that were administered to forty O‟ level learners and through content analysis of learners‟ essays which were extracted from their essay exercise books. Sixteen O‟ level English language teachers, six English language examiners, one subject manager of English language and two curriculum developers were interviewed. The secondary data also played an important role in the study. The results of the study showed that teachers and learners use a number of strategies in the teaching and learning of ESL of which some of the strategies that they use have previously not been documented by other L2 researchers. It was also realized that learners in rural areas are at a disadvantage as compared to those in rural schools and such challenges include lack of exposure, inadequate reading materials, faulty instruction, unavailability of libraries and some other social issues. The major conclusion that was made in this study was that ESL learning and teaching strategies are of crucial importance to competence and performance in ESL proficiency. Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/4873 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z Nhongo, Raphael https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/4860 Title: Language for development through drama and theatre in Zimbabwe: an African perspective Authors: Matiza, Vimbai M. Abstract: This study discusses the African perspective of the role of language in explaining development issues through the medium of drama and theatre in Zimbabwe. The problem of the study is centred on the idea that development was hardly measured through art. The researcher argues that language used in drama and theatre as a form of art can also contribute to development in Zimbabwe. This development can be witnessed through people’s changing lifestyles, acknowledging the importance of their mother tongue in communication and restoring hope in situations characterised by hopelessness and despair. Descriptive research design was used in the study because it allowed the researcher to dig much deeper into the subject. Data from respondents was gathered through the use of questionnaires, interviews and content/textual analysis of some scripts. In interrogating the issues of development through language in drama and theatre, the research was guided by the African Renaissance theory, Theatre for development and Hymes’ SPEAKING model. As a result, the study observes that language, a people’s indigenous language should be placed at the centre of a performance if that message being conveyed is to change or develop them. The key respondents to the study bring out the idea that there is no language which is superior to the other and the choice of language to be used in a work of art should be determined by the circumstances that prevail. Even the language which is used by the smallest population of people should be given space to flourish and be used by its people. Another major finding of the research is that language itself cannot change people but people change themselves through the use of a language that they understand. This calls for the initiative by the indigenous people and the powers that be to make sure that they use their language at different levels so that all facets of development can be witnessed within their lives. In the final analysis, the researcher recommends that policies that allow the total usage of all declared official languages in Zimbabwe. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/4860 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z Matiza, Vimbai M. https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/4810 Title: Post- independence Shona poetry, the quest and struggle for total liberation Authors: Tembo, Charles Abstract: This study pursues the quest and struggle for total liberation in post-ndependence Shona poetry. The study also relies on views of key respondents obtained through interviews and questionnaires. Couched and guided by Afrocentricity and Africana womanism, the study elucidates the politico-economic and socio-cultural factors that militate against Africa’s total liberation in general as well as women’s liberation, respectively. Simultaneously, critical judgments are passed on the extent to which poets immerse their art in African existential philosophy. The study is energized by the idea that pursuing the quest for authentic liberation provides a lens through which one can understand threats to Africa’s true liberation. It observes that poets and key informants largely attribute ersartz independence to internal problems. The researcher holds that it is problematic to hold a domesticated vision of the African condition to the extent that poets and other literary workers need to widen their canvas beyond fighting internal oppression and internationalise the struggle. The researcher argues that it is myopic and self-defeating to protest against Africa itself without giving adequate attention to the incapacitating hegemonic world system. Therefore, the poetry is lacking on its critique on domination. The centerpiece of the thesis is that in order to be purposeful and functional, poets need to grapple with both endogenous and exogenous factors that obstruct the march towards genuine liberation. The study also observes that in some instances poets produce cheap literature which is marked by a narrow and moralistic approach and this is attributable to the fact that poets lack a scientific vision in understanding reality. Concerning women’s authentic liberation, the commonly identified obstacles to women’s freedom are the male counterpart, self-depreciation, lack of education and culture. The study observes that women poets in Ngatisimuke (1994) and key respondents seem to approach gender relations from a feminist perspective and hence fail to situate women’s condition in the context of the history and culture that shape African gender relations. Women poets in Ngatisimuke fall short of internationalising their struggle in concert with the male counterpart such that their poetry degenerates into sponsored and misguided activism. Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/4810 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Tembo, Charles https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/2851 Title: Multilingualism, localism and the nation : identity politics in the Zimbabwe Braodcasting Corporation Authors: Mpofu, Phillip Abstract: This study examines the mediation of multilingualism, localism and the nation in the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, henceforth, ZBC as the local content and multilingual broadcasting policies subsumed in the Broadcasting Services Act (2001) and the Broadcasting Services Amendment Act (2007) respectively translated into radio and television programming. This purpose is pursued by analysing the language choices and practices on the ZBC radio and television stations and programming. This study is informed by an eclectic approach within the critical theory tradition and therefore it disapproves the domination, marginalisation and exclusion of the indigenous African languages in the ZBC as a public sphere. Against this backdrop, the study envisages the promotion of linguistic diversity and indigenous African languages in the ZBC broadcasting. Data for this study was gathered from the ZBC employees, academics and the ZBC audience using questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions. As the local content and multilingual broadcasting policies translated into ZBC programming, this study detected a hierarchical organisation of the languages spoken in Zimbabwe on the radio and television stations where English is the most dominant language, while Shona and Ndebele dominate the minority languages, Shona dominates Ndebele and the supremacy of the Zezuru dialect in the Shona language is easily felt. This is a confirmation of the fragility of Zimbabwean linguistic nationalism in the ZBC which is convoluted by the ideological and political nature of the media, electronic colonisation, the political economy of broadcasting, the transformation of the ZBC public sphere by the market and state interests, the influence of the global media firms, and the relentless hegemony of the western countries in the world system. This study established that broadcasting in indigenous African languages is obligatory if the informative, communicative and symbolic functions of the public service broadcasting are to be achieved. However, this study contends that it is remarkably insufficient for linguists to minimally identify, lament and deplore the marginalisation and exclusion of the indigenous African languages in the ZBC without taking into account the economic, political and technological factors which contribute to the marginalisation and exclusion of these languages in the ZBC broadcasting in the context of the local content and multilingual broadcasting policies. Therefore, this study implores scholars in the discipline of language studies to ameliorate their sophistication by espousing a multidisciplinary approach to the study of language if they are to make meaningful arguments which can influence meaningful language policy outcomes instead of parroting. Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/2851 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z Mpofu, Phillip