Foreign language teaching and learning: Challenges and opportunities at Makerere University

William Wagaba

doi:10.5842/40-0-7

Abstract

At Makerere University, foreign language courses in French, German and Arabic are attended by a variety of students at beginner, advanced and voluntary levels. Language students either learn foreign languages as service courses within the framework of academic programmes such as Tourism and Secretarial Studies, or as fully-fledged subjects at undergraduate level. In spite of the emphasis on language skills in job advertisements in the Ugandan press, the teaching of foreign languages tends to be oriented more towards theoretical requirements of academic (language) programmes and numbers of students, rather than toward the intensity of language contact, quality of language courses and students as well as standardised language course evaluations. The criteria for the selection of potential language students and the language learning policy are problematic and partly the cause of the unpopularity of language courses. On the basis of the evaluation of the course "German for Secretarial Studies", the current paper outlines challenges of teaching and learning German as a foreign language. There seems to be a discrepancy between the language skills that job markets require from university graduates and the skills which graduates are likely, at present, to acquire upon completion of their foreign language courses. The paper also focuses on factors that constitute barriers to foreign language learning and recommends ways in which foreign language students and teachers can exploit the potential of the budding Ugandan language industry.

Highlights

A quick look at a random sample of job advertisements in the Ugandan weekly newspapers New Vision and Monitor indicates that employers, both in the formal and informal sectors, expect university graduates to have acquired specific qualifications, competences and skills
How should foreign language teachers, in their role(s) as transmitters of culture, facilitate the link between teaching language skills and enabling students to apply the acquired skills in practical real-life situations after the completion of language courses? Thirdly, what benefits are there to learning a foreign language? And lastly, what role can the promotion of foreign languages play in equipping language students with the employability skills they need to compete in the job market in Uganda today? The present paper will attempt to address these general questions, paying particular attention to the teaching of German as a foreign language at Makerere University
Foreign language learning and teaching is a domain which is influenced by job market dynamics and an area of specialization in which hardly any documentation and research has been undertaken from the perspective of Ugandan scholars

Summary

Introduction

A quick look at a random sample of job advertisements in the Ugandan weekly newspapers New Vision and Monitor indicates that employers, both in the formal and informal sectors, expect university graduates to have acquired specific qualifications, competences and skills These skills include excellent written and verbal communication skills, such as the ability to present, train and coach others, speak and write effectively and compellingly, to resolve communication problems and to be proficient in a foreign language. At Makerere University, promotion of the teaching and learning of foreign languages is a response to the need of the community in a developing country like Uganda, to train and empower different categories of students to communicate with ease and access information and knowledge in today"s skills-oriented global economy. The demonstration of languagerelated employability skills is crucial in at least the domains of business, tourism, hotel management and catering, the hospitality industry and international relations

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