English Language and Literature in English Integration into One Subject: A Case of Zambian Secondary Education System (original) (raw)

2020, International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education

Since time in memorial, the Zambian education system has necessitated that for one to have a fortuitous of going through the tertiary level education, they must pass a number of subjects and English should be among them. The grading system indicates that at least a credit pass is adequate for a pass mark. Additionally, the subject roster has Literature in English, this is learned as an optional subject, meaning not every learner acquires this knowledge as there are a great number of other subjects like Metal work and Accounts, to name a few. In between the lines, English language and Literature in English are related subjects, and there is a case to argue for the integration of the two, as the title of the article suggests. Hence, the reason for this article and the research taken. So this paper is based on a research undertaken in Chipata District, in 2019, August-October. The reason for this research was to explore the perceptions of teachers and pupils of both subjects concerning their integration into one subject. This activity was based on a number of objectives, but this article will focus on one in particular. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW The improvement of results being the sore of revisions and integration of curricula, the integration of these subjects would greatly improve results as earlier stated. Other schools of thought have had a similar say over the matter. Moody (1981:1) argued that: In a second language situation, particularly one result of the rigiddivision between what is designated "literature" and all other kinds of writing is that the student begins to view his own ability to uselanguage as remote from or even incompatible with the uses oflanguage that he is studying. Thus argues for the case that proficiency in language use and formation would be improved if these two are integrated as they give the learner the ability to use and understand language in connection Abstract: English language is taught from grade 5 through to grade 12, and is used as a medium of instruction in all schools in Zambia. This is because it has been adopted as the lingua franca of Zambia, owing much to the ethnical situation where there are quite a number of languages. The language makes it easier to communicate in a cosmopolitan society as it becomes central both in the social and business lives of the citizenry. This language, and subject, is taught in schools to impart speaking, writing, reading and listening skills. Literature in English on the other hand is only taught from grade 10 to grade 12, and in tertiary level education. This subject imparts analytical skills coupled with poetry and drama. The subject includes entertainment and critical analysis skills development as some of its functions. The literature is written in English, hence the name. The learners are given an experience with several novels and plays and taught to analyse them by using literary devices. The researchers augment the need to integrate the two subjects so as to afford equal chances for the secondary school learners in order to impart skills missed by not learning literature in English.