Uganda is a country in East Africa where language is quite diverse. Uganda is broken up into several regions. The regions help determine what language the people speak and the potential problems that occur for English language learners. Within each region are villages or cities that are comprised of people who speak different tribal languages. The tribal languages can be very similar to one another depending on the region.
In the major cities in Uganda there are many people who have had a formal education so as a result the English language is commonly used. There are more than a dozen tribal languages that affect how individuals communicate with one another. English is supposed to be the nation’s official language but people in the villages who do not have a formal education do not know how to speak English. Even within the village schools, the teachers will teach in their tribal language yet the students have to take their exams in English. This can be somewhat helpful in teaching English because each student has a bit of foundation when it comes to learning the English language. Most all of the students memorize English words for their exams and do not spend much time outside of the classroom speaking English. If in remote areas, many children and adults can simply greet in the English language. If a woman is selling goods in a market she may be able to speak a few languages depending on her location. It is important for her business to be able to say a few English words or words of a nearby tribe.
KATAEK, UGANDA – (Photo by Jonathan Torgovnik/Report)
There are many examples of how diverse language can be in a country that does not have an actual national language. My husband and I lived in Uganda and worked with a village that was located about twenty-five minutes away from the town that we stayed in. The people in the village did not speak the same language as the people in the city and many of them could not communicate with one another. With this being an issue, when teaching English people from different areas of the country have different problems when learning to speak English. This mispronunciation of words is a good indicator of where the student was from and what the student needed more help with. “Sh” for “s” indicated that the student was from the Northern parts of the country and if a student struggled with “r” for “l” then they are from the Western regions of the country. Students also often have trouble distinguishing between when to use “he” and “she” when first starting to speak English.
Problem
The diversity of language and the reality of colonization make it difficult to navigate the exact issues for new language learners in Uganda. There are many factors that contribute to language learning and I think it is important to understand the regions of Uganda to identify how to best help students. The problem that I would like to work through is: “How can a teacher best equip students with a variety of language backgrounds?” We had some very sweet friends in Uganda that were from different tribes but got married to one another. They spoke two different tribal languages so they communicated with one another in English because it was their common language. Not only is learning English beneficial for students but it can also be helpful in situations like this as well.
Teaching ESL 