Towards a lexicographical intervention in the acquisition and use of English in Zimbabwe

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study considers a lexicographical intervention in the acquisition and use of English inZimbabwe. English is the country's sole official language. This means that it dominates allthe other languages in the country in terms of prestige and usage in the high status domainssuch as government, media, law, education, etc. English is learnt as a compulsory subjectthroughout the education system up to the General Certificate of Ordinary Level ('O' Level)and used as medium of instruction from the fourth grade upwards. The annual national passrate of around 33% and less than 10% for some schools in this subject has been recorded inrecent years. An 'O' Level certificate is considered complete if is has registered five 'O'Level subjects including English. This means that without an 'O' Level English pass, learnershave no chance to proceed to the General Certificate in Education Advanced Level ('A'Level) or tertiary education, and their chances of getting employment in the public service arelimited, if not non-existent. In the mainstream scholarship on language policy and languageplanning in the country, this situation has resulted in advocating that indigenous languages,particularly Shona and Ndebele, be developed and elevated to the official status currentlyenjoyed by English. Far from being against the development and status elevation ofindigenous languages, this study proposes a lexicographical intervention in the acquisitionand use of English as one of the necessary mechanisms that may mitigate some problemsassociated with this language. It is argued that the problem with English is not simply that itis a language of foreign origin, to be explicit, the language of the former colonial master.Rather, the problem is that the majority of Zimbabweans are not competent enough tofunction in this language. Of course, this may be related to the fact that many Zimbabweanshave to learn it as an additional language since it is not an indigenous language and thuslinguistically and culturally distant from the native languages of its learners.Dealing with the field of lexicography, this dissertation considers an intervention with respectto those problems that may be addressed by the consultation of dictionaries. The availability,use and user-friendliness of English dictionaries are investigated in view of the characteristicsof Zimbabweans as additional language learners of English, their situations in whichlexicographically-relevant problems occur and the subsequent information needs. In doingthis, the theory of learners' lexicography (Tarp 2004; 2004a; 2008) is used. Firstly, it isestablished that dictionaries are scarce commodities in Zimbabwe, with a very limited rangeof dictionaries being available for Zimbabweans to buy. Secondly, dictionaries are notactively used in the learning and use of English within the school system, except in theformer Group A schools which are elitist in nature. Curriculum developers, teachers,assessors and learners are not very clear about the role of dictionaries within the schoolsystem. Thirdly, the dictionaries that are used are not appropriate for the learners who consultthem, with advanced learners' dictionaries dominating the limited presence even at primaryschools. Notwithstanding this poor background, it is generally accepted that appropriatedictionaries, despite the fact that there is a general lack of awareness of the differencesbetween dictionaries, may address some of the problems associated with English, especiallywithin the education system. Should this happen, the learners will develop a dictionaryculture and regard dictionaries as utility products which they may rely on later in theiracademic and professional careers in which English continues to be dominant.A model of lexicographical intervention in the acquisition and use of English in Zimbabwe istherefore formulated. This is done against the above background and also the history of bothEnglish and Zimbabwean lexicography. English lexicography now sees English dictionariesbeing produced in a host of countries other than Britain, America, Australia and NewZealand, where English is a native language. This is mainly because of the dominant role thatEnglish has acquired in those countries such as South Africa. However, Zimbabweanlexicography has thus far focused on mother-tongue dictionaries in Shona and Ndebele, themain reason being the need to develop these formerly marginalised languages. Accordingly,the proposed model seeks to expand the scope of Zimbabwean lexicography. This is not justfor the sake of expanding. On the contrary, in the research it is observed that the dictionariesconstituting the envisaged lexicographical intervention have to be produced in Zimbabwe inorder for them to effectively address the local needs regarding this language. For example,lemma selection, paraphrases of meaning, illustrative examples and data contained in theouter texts have to be linguistically and culturally relevant, taking into cognisance the nativelanguages and cultures of the target users.It is observed that if the proposed model is to be successfully implemented, local publisherswill need to play an important role, while curriculum developers, assessors, teachers andlearners have to be lexicographically educated. At present, local publishers with internationalaffiliations distribute externally-motivated dictionaries (Gouws 2005). Where dictionaries areused, no serious consideration is given regarding the appropriateness of the dictionaries. Anyavailable dictionary is purchased regardless of its user-friendliness. Unfortunately this resultsin a situation where users fail to extract the best from the dictionaries and end up beingdisillusioned about the usefulness of dictionaries as utility tools. Some of the dictionariesfound at schools are just locked in safe cabinets in headmasters' offices while learnerscontinue experiencing problems that could be solved by appropriate dictionaries.Accordingly, with lexicographical pedagogy, and further research on specific aspects of themodel, a lexicographical intervention in the acquisition and use of English in Zimbabwe isconsidered a worthwhile enterprise.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University