English language proficiency and academic performance of first-year public relations diploma students at the Durban University of Technology

Abstract

Instructional communication through a second language is considered the most challenging element for students who are not studying in their mother tongue. Students at the Durban University of Technology use English as a medium of instruction. Students also use English to access information knowledge, literacy and for survival at the institution. However, some of the students are speakers of English as a second language and come from under-resourced, historically disadvantaged secondary schools. Scholars suggests that some of these students often struggle to meet the demands of academic instruction in English. The primary purpose of this study was to explore how university students' experience of the English language as a medium of instruction at the Durban University of Technology affects non-native-speaking students' academic success. The study participants were first-year Public Relations Diploma students at DUT who are speakers of English as a second language. Data was collected through online focus group discussions conducted via the WhatsApp social media platform in 2022 with two categories of participants, namely ‘at-risk’ students, which refers to students who struggle to perform; and average students, meaning those who perform above the average. A deductive qualitative thematic analysis was employed to analyse the findings. Most participants in the study were isiZulu-speaking, while others were isiXhosa-speaking mostly hailing from poorly resourced public schools in rural areas. The findings suggest that the students were not proficient in English, the language of learning and teaching at DUT, and were struggling to survive linguistically in the academy. They revealed that in their previous grades, they used code-switching in school and the academic English used at university was difficult for them. However, some participants felt that the English language did not affect their academic performance negatively. To accommodate those struggling linguistically, translanguaging could be the utilised as an instructional communication strategy to enable students to draw upon their entire linguistic repertoire to access the unfamiliar discourse of academia and improve their academic performance.