It is a complaint I hear every time I meet Setswana teachers: students hate Setswana classes. They find them boring and useless to their lives. It used to be common even in Setswana conferences organized by Tomela ya Puo. The conferences appeared cathartic to teachers. It was a time to mourn; to huddle and cry as a group. But let us face it; students don’t just hate a subject. They hate it because of a reason. Teachers for a long time have assumed that there was something intrinsically despicable in Setswana studies that upset learners. However, that is not the case. In this column we inspect some of the reasons why Setswana classes may be a turn off to some learners.
The first reason is that many Setswana teachers are boring ÔÇô not all Setswana teachers; but many! This is an explanation that many Setswana teachers will find hard accepting. In all my Setswana studies at secondary school, I have been taught by two memorable teachers: one Mr Lekwape, a short humorous fellow who is now with Botswana Examination Council. I remember him well. He was vivacious ÔÇô an incarnation of George Orwell’s Squealer in Animal Farm. I consider myself fortunate to have been taught by him.
Another one was a temporary teacher by the name of Mr Charles Wakgomo. He was also delightfully funny. Students want to attend a class that is not only enjoyable to them but also pleasurable to the teacher. A miserable teacher is such a turn off & many Setswana teachers come to the Setswana class already feeling defeated, convinced that the world is against them. They feel that their students as well as their colleagues are against them. They are convinced that their subject and by extension, them as teachers of Setswana are inferior. They lack confidence and secretly believe that the world is against them. They therefore bring negative energy to their classes. Children pick on this and see a teacher lacking in life and passion and therefore grow to hate the subject. Some Setswana teachers because they feel inferior, carry themselves in such an unattractive manner. Their clothes are dull and they put minimum effort in their appearance. Their clothes are dull and they seem to care minimally about personal appearance. Students do expect their teachers to look attractive and presentable. A teacher who has a poor regard for personal grooming diminishes the position of the subject they teach in the eyes of her students. Teachers must also explore a variety of teaching and learning methods which will engage learners deeply in the subject matter as well as bring life to Setswana class content.
The second reason why students hate Setswana classes is that their teachers fail to make a link between Setswana classes and career opportunities. Learners cannot see why they have to learn Setswana. What they hear mostly is that they are Batswana and that they have to learn Setswana because they are Batswana. They hear more of the cultural argument for learning Setswana. They do not hear any argument on educational value & economic value of Setswana studies. A link between Setswana studies and career opportunities is lacking. Learners cannot point to anybody in their own society who is making a living from their mastery of the Setswana language. Actually the best Setswana speakers are their grandparents in the rural areas, or perhaps their unsuccessful uncle or aunt. The students therefore lack role models. There is therefore a need to make a connection between Setswana studies and career choices such as political career, court interpretation, media jobs on radio, television and print media. Unless career opportunities are linked to Setswana education and are demonstrated to students, the learners will remain sceptical of learning Setswana. They will not see its value and will remain doubtful of its relevance to the 21st century.
The third reason why students hate Setswana is because it is difficult, especially grammar classes. Setswana language classes have changed significantly in the last 20 years. However they are still highly advanced. When I was learning Setswana at secondary school I had to learn very complex morphology as well as complex syntax. For instance I had to learn the complex noun class system ÔÇô the infamous ditlhopha tsa maina. I also had to learn the diphetogo modumo such as tshwaetsano and tshwaetsanololo.
Such studies in the phonology and morphology of a language are usually taught at university. However, for Setswana these are introduced at secondary school level, making Setswana grammar classes incredibly challenging. There is therefore need to consider a revised syllabus of Setswana Studies. Such a syllabus would make Setswana classes relevant to the demands and challenges of today. It would deal with the mastery of the written language, with students mastering things such as word divisions, punctuations and the appropriate use of concords. The studies will focus on engendering a mastery of the written as well as the spoken variety of the language. It would also expose learners to dialectal variation which enriches the whole language.
In this column we have discussed three issues which may contribute to the dislike of Setswana classes by students. We have argued that it is important for teachers to consider their contribution to students’ dislike of Setswana studies. We are convinced that if teachers look critically at why learners dislike Setswana and develop strategies of enriching and making Setswana classes interesting, students would have a positive view of Setswana studies.
