Compensation Learning Strategies That Malawian Learners Use in Written Comprehension in Malawi
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the use of compensation strategies by Malawian teachers and learners in the context of English as a second language (ESL) and its impact on learners' improvement in performance in written comprehension. Reports from the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) for 2013 and 2022 highlighted persistent poor performance in this area, prompting further research. The study was grounded in communicative competence theory, which emphasises the importance of strategic, grammatical, discourse, and sociolinguistic competencies for learners to acquire language rules in various contexts. The study involved three teachers of English and twelve Form Three learners, and being a qualitative study, the sample size was adequate. A case study design was employed. Data were collected through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and a checklist for tracking observable compensation strategies, and employed thematic analysis. The findings revealed an inadequate knowledge gap in the use of compensation strategies among both teachers and learners, contributing to poor written comprehension outcomes. Of the eleven strategies examined, only intelligent guessing was used effectively. The following nine compensation strategies were ineffectively employed by both teachers and learners: switching to the mother tongue, getting help, avoiding communication partially or totally, circumlocution or synonyms or antonyms, adjusting or simplifying or approximating the message, re-reading the text, coining words, dividing the text into sections and literal or back translation. Lastly, selecting the topic was not known by both teachers and learners as one of the compensation strategies used in teaching and learning the English language. The study, therefore, recommends integrating initial teacher training and ongoing professional development to enhance teachers’ use of compensation strategy instruction and learners' use of compensation learning strategies in written comprehension, to improve academic performance
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