TALKING POINT: Positive attitude crucial for excellence in English

Positive attitude crucial for excellence in English

by Ochieng Obunga

There is no proper foundation to language learning other than nurturing the right attitude among learners. I have for a while now gone through some examination papers set for KSCE candidates and discovered some of the reasons why we worry about the performance of English and literature.

At the beginning of this year’s first term, at the school where I interned, the English department organised an open forum with the Form Fours to discuss the way forward following the worrying trend in performance. In 2016, one of the top five students in the school scored the fourth least grade. This is likely to bar him from a good university course. Then there was the orientation and introduction of Form Ones to the discipline.

In both fora, my key point was that language is not taught for the sake of exams. It should be seen as a system within which we can perfectly fit in the society. Listing fora such as job application, job interview and communication at the workplace, I supported my argument.

Some tutors strongly believe that the best way to pass exams is to expose examinees to very difficult exams so that they get used to tough stuff. This, combined with strenuous teaching and revision, they believe, is a perfect shortcut to excellence. This may, however, only apply to certain subjects, even through rote memorisation, but not language.

One big problem we have is our exam-oriented education system. It also calls for creativity and ability to apply rather than remember. For instance, one does not pass oral skills in English by memorising silent letters and homophones, among others. You wouldn’t even memorise a quarter of the total. One must frequently speak and pronounce words correctly and rectify previous mistakes consistently. ‘Trans-nighting’ on the eve of an English exam cannot make one excel the next day.

In language acquisition, hypercorrection is said to lead one into making even more mistakes. One becomes suspicious even when they are right. Once a student is exposed to a difficult exam, he will assume that the subject is difficult. Should an easier paper be examined, students will feel that the examiner has twisted the questions, resulting in failure.

Students recently wrote their end of term exams. It is no shock that some teachers have set what even they would struggle to derive a marking scheme for. Some copy and paste past papers together with their marking schemes. They do not construct the questions themselves. Some of the concepts have not even been tackled in class. This is closely related to bamboozling students with sophisticated jargon. The students feel inferior and would not want to speak in public.

Listening, speaking, reading and writing are fundamental skills for language learning. In fact, only the four are taught — with grammar incorporated, thanks to the integrated approach. Some schools teach grammar only in lower forms. Reading is no topic of discussion and it’s not until the second term of Form Three that teaching of writing commences. How are students supposed to practice? Yet grammar only carries 15 marks and its performance remains dismal.

Students should learn language out of their own love nurtured within them and not because they have to be in some 10 metres by 10 metres classroom. This way, performance will soar.

The writer, a literature student at Moi University, is a Literary and Arts critic and a cultural commentator. [email protected]

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Why teachers and their students dislike poetry

by Mwisiayi Shimagar

May I speak to Frederick Opondo Okoth on his article ‘The dying zeal for poetry and possible solution’ (Saturday Nation July 29, 2017). Sometime in 2012, I penned my concerns about poetry and its ailing nature in our curriculum. I agree with him that poetry is in shambles. The teachers he is asking to up their skills in poetry avoided it at university. The smallest class at our literature department was Alt 302 (poetry). The superficial approach we currently use is wanting. We focus on the form rather than content, that is rhyme scheme stress and intonation and nonverbal cues. This is popular in Paper One.

Our learners always pray that poetry does not appear in Paper Two as questions referring to content, style and characterisation will be prevalent. The fact that the poetry question has alternatives from oral literature makes our learners more relaxed.

We, teachers of literature, have ceased to be poetic in our da-to-day conversation. Our language is so direct that we leave no room for ambiguity. Learners, therefore, do not think above and beyond the scope of the sentence, a skill relevant in poetry.

The solution lies in the previous ways of handling this course. Let’s have our Paper Three that had the novel, drama, poetry, oral literature and short stories. This will compel our learners to appreciate everything literary.

We need to make poetry compulsory at the university level. We can’t teach poetry if we never studied it. We have a real problem in poetry in our schools.

The writer lives in Masinga

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OURS WAS THE BEST LITERATURE SET BOOK EVER

by Jorim Alosa

A set book is very importance in the life of anyone who has gone through high school. They remind us of many things — former school mates who we nicknamed after funny characters, our eccentric literature teachers, literature symposiums and much more. The class clown that we called Wodu Wakiri, the popular kid branded Okonkwo, or the teacher’s pet christened Kongowea Mswahili.

The memories that a book can evoke are sacred. Everyone thinks that their class studied the best set books. I have sat with people who studied Animal Farm, The Concubine and The River And The Source. Each group thinks their book was the best. They lighten up as they speak of Snowball, Akoko or Ihuoma with fondness.

I have read just about all the set books that have been studied in Kenya. Their tone, themes and structure never change. The basics are always the same — exploitation, marginalisation, poverty, love-tuned-sour.

A Man of the People, however, was something else. Never has a Kenyan set book been so timeless, so encompassing, so prophetic, yet so relevant. Read A Man Of The People on August 9 and you’ll think the writer was inspired by events of the previous day’s Nasa-Jubilee election. It remains relevant today as it did in the 1960s.It was a book of its era, yet a book  I’m glad next year’s group will study Tolstoy’s How Much Land Does A Man Need, but I still insist that ours was better than theirs.

The writer lives in Nairobi

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PUT AUGUST HOLIDAYS TO GOOD USE

by Eric Kirimi

By now all schools have closed for holidays. In its definition, the word holiday denotes suspension of work and merrymaking. It should not be so for learners. Learning is a lifelong process, stopping only at death. Students should focus on self-development.

Several things can be done. Firstly, students can use this time to read books outside of the curriculum. Compared to TV and social media, returns from reading a good book are many.

Secondly, students can use this time to develop their hobbies and talent. Even monetise them. Let’s face it, school will seldom allow one time to do what they love.

The writer is a student of Psychology at Maseno University’s main campus.

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POLITICS IN STORY BOOKS EMPOWERS CHILDREN

by Mutahi Miricho

For a long time serious political issue like the general elections have always been assumed to belong to the adult world. However, this is no longer the case. A research paper presented at Chakita (Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa) conference held recently at Kibabii University revealed that political issues are slowly creeping into Kiswahili children’s literature. The paper explored election issues which have been creatively crafted into two story books — Sungura Mpanda Ngazi (2008) and Usiku wa Manane (2010).

The two books, authored by Prof John Kobia and published by Kenya Literature Bureau, are a departure from the past where children’s literature has been associated with entertainment mostly based on children’s experiences, animals, adventure and famous people. Usiku wa Manane relives the darkness Kenya was thrown into by the 2008 post-election violence. It is a story about two politicians who failed to agree on the outcome of elections and each one of them incited his community to violence. Eventually, the citizens come to realise that as they languish in poverty, the two leaders, Tandabelua (translates as chaos) and Hifadhi (retain) are friends. The two lead good lives. The citizens resolve never to fight among themselves again.

Sungura Mpanda Ngazi is about a hare that asked animals that were facing hunger to help it climb a mango tree, promising that once up there, it would drop fruit for all to eat. However, once up the tree, it ate all the mangoes. The story focuses on the campaign period when politicians promise solutions, but once elected they abandon voters.

The stories are a powerful way of sensitising children on good and bad politics when they are still young. By exploring real political issues, children’s literature is assuming a new role as a tool of building citizenship and national values. This is in line with our school system, where children now elect their own student governments. In some primary schools, the elections are supervised by IEBC officials. The trend is also in line with the new curriculum, which intends children to acquire competencies like citizenship, critical thinking and problem solving.

The writer is the author of Writing School Compositions and Msingi wa Insha, both by Jomo Kenyatta Foundation. He teaches Kiswahili at Chuka University