Replacement of the ZIMSEC O-Level English Language Paper 2 Registers Component with the Grammar Component: Teachers’ and Learners’ Perceptions

Abstract

This inquiry sought to investigate the perceptions of Zimbabwean O-Level English Language teachers and learners on the replacement of the ZIMSEC O-Level English Language Paper 2 registers component with a grammar component in the context of the Unhu/Ubuntu-oriented Updated Curriculum Framework (2015-2022). The study was guided by a qualitative approach. It adopted a multiple case study design which purposively sampled three secondary schools in Masvingo Urban District, Zimbabwe. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six teachers and focus group discussions with sixty learners. Findings revealed that although teachers felt that the registers component had been examined for a long time (27 years since 1990), replacing this component with a grammar one was unfortunate since registers instilled more Unhu/Ubuntu than grammar. It also emerged that teachers no longer taught registers seriously since this facet was no longer being examined. The teachers also believed that grammar was now being over-examined in the English Language examination since Paper 1, too, largely examined candidates’ grammatical competence. It also emerged that learners were not comfortable with the grammar component as it forced them to memorise grammatical structures, a boring and rigorous activity. The learners also revealed that they missed learning registers, which they previously enjoyed through activities such as role play. The study concluded that replacing the registers component with grammar had caused a tremendous shift in the teaching and learning of English Language at secondary school level in Zimbabwe. Thus, the inquiry recommends that ZIMSEC consult teachers before changes are made in the content of examinations. The researchers advocate the re-inclusion of the registers component in the O-Level English Language Paper 2.