The integration of grammar with literacy skills in the teaching of English as a second language: A case of selected Community Day Secondary Schools in Dowa District, Malawi

Abstract

The concept of integration renders its basis to the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach whose main emphasis is on the contextualization of linguistic input when teaching the four language skills. Despite its adoption, reports by Malawi National Examination Board attest to the continued underperformance of students in English especially in Community Day Secondary Schools in Malawi. Therefore, the study was carried out to analyse the integration of grammar with literacy skills in the teaching of English. The study was guided by three objectives: to assess teachers’ understanding of integration of grammar with literacy skills in the teaching of English; to analyse teachers’ perspectives towards the adoption of integration of grammar with literacy skills in the teaching of English; and to examine how teachers teach grammar within the context of literacy skills in English. The study was conducted in seven Community Day Secondary Schools in Dowa district and was anchored by the epistemological perspective of interpretivism. Being a qualitative study, data was collected through interviews, observations and document review and it targeted teachers of English, Heads of department and one Quality Assurance Officer (QAO). Using the situated cognition theory and a hybrid approach to thematic analysis, the study found that teachers of English have a limited understanding of the integration approach despite having a positive perspective towards its adoption. The study further found that teachers of English do not integrate grammar with literacy skills in the teaching of English and those few that do so, do not meet the required standards and this affects classroom practice. Therefore, the study argues that despite that teachers have a positive perspective towards integration, their practice is undermined by their limited understanding of the approach. Hence the study recommends the need to introduce support programs to English instruction similar to those done in the field of sciences to promote teaching and learning of English in Community Day Secondary Schools in Malawi.