Globalization and Foreign Language Pedagogy: Predicaments and Paradoxes Typifying French Language Learning at Junior Secondary School Level in Botswana

Abstract

This study interrogated the effectiveness of the teaching and learning (T&L) of French as a foreign language (FL) at Junior Secondary School (JSS) level in Botswana, a development largely propelled by forces of globalization. Specifically, the study was aimed at examining whether the teachers are pedagogically grounded to consciously and systematically apply appropriate theories and principles of foreign language T&L in order to help develop communicative competence among French language learners in the country’s public-school system. Second, this study explored the state of availability and suitability of instructional resources used in FL classrooms. Applying the Socio-Cultural Theory and using the qualitative approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations and analysis of official documents from a total of two purposively selected JSSs in Gaborone, Botswana’s Capital city. The participants comprised students drawn from French classes and teachers of French in the participating schools. Through descriptive data analysis, the findings pointed to a myriad of administrative and pedagogic bottlenecks hampering prospects for French language communicative proficiency at this level.