An Effective Tool for Oshindonga Early Development Education:

Lilonga-Nenyanyu Learning Application

Caroline Mulundu1, Victoria Hasheela-Mufeti1 and Maria Ntinda2

1University of Namibia, 340 Mandume Ndemufayo Street, Pioneerspark, Windhoek, Namibia
2
Department of Computing, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Windhoek, Namibia

Keywords: Oshindonga, Lilonga-Nenyanyu, Mathematics, Language, Mother Tongue, Early Childhood Education.

Abstract: The Namibian official language is English, and that is what is mostly spoken by children because it is the
medium of instruction in schools. Learning materials ranging from kids’ playbooks, TV programs, and most
of the existing children's educational applications are all in English and other western languages, resulting in
our native languages being rarely spoken and used, thus slowly dying out. This study aimed to investigate and
explore the development of learning on an android mobile application in a Namibian language known as
Oshindonga, an Oshiwambo dialect, spoken in Northern Namibia. Data has been primarily collected through
an online survey from Oshindonga-speaking parents and caregivers, to understand what kind of features they
would like to have in the application. Parents and guardians play a major role in their children’s education,
and the results have indicated that most of them are deeply involved in their kids’ education. This will in a
great deal assist the children in using the learning application as they can easily access their parents’ phones,
and as results have indicated, that majority of the children can use and are familiar with smartphones.

1 INTRODUCTION been gaining popularity over the years resulting in a

shift in the preservation of native languages.
Early childhood education begins when the child Nordquist (2019), defines the term native language as
reaches the age of two, and it establishes the the language that an individual acquires in early
foundation from where the learning of the child takes infancy because it is spoken within the family and/or
place (Kapur, 2018). Children learn more efficiently it is the language of the region where the child lives.
and gain more knowledge when learning through Also referred to as a mother tongue, maternal
play-based activities (Melinda, 2009). Early language.
childhood education serves children in preschool Namibia has a remarkable diversity of spoken
years. Childhood education is an essential building indigenous languages (Mbenzi 2019). Nearly half the
block of a child’s future success and later it improves population speaks Oshiwambo languages, thus the
school performance. The “Namibian Ministry of content of the application is in Oshindonga
Education Junior Phase Curriculum” (2015) stated indigenous language which is of the Oshiwambo
that the purpose of the first four years of education is dialect.
to lay a solid foundation for learning throughout the Lilonga-Nenyanyu application (LNApp) is an
formal education system, which in turn will prepare android application, designed to help children
for full participation in society as a young adult, and complement their knowledge in the two most crucial
in further training, studies and work. If the foundation subjects in education namely: Mathematics and
which is laid in these four years is good, learners will Oshindonga. Lilonga-Nenyanyu is the Oshindonga
be well prepared to continue learning. Hence, translation of Happy Learning in English.
adequate learning tools for children are needed to The LNApp contains fun games related to the two
achieve those later improved school performances subjects. The learning activities in the LNApp include
and future successes. the basics of Mathematics (counting, addition,
With the advancing technology and changing subtraction, division, and multiplication), as well as
time, education must not just be limited to the basics of the language which comprise reading,
classrooms. The use of technology in education has pronouncing different Oshindonga words, vowels,
songs as well as learning the alphabet).

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Mulundu, C., Hasheela-Mufeti, V. and Ntinda, M.
An Effective Tool for Oshindonga Early Development Education: Lilonga-Nenyanyu Learning Application.
DOI: 10.5220/0010603101440150
In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on e-Business (ICE-B 2021), pages 144-150
ISBN: 978-989-758-527-2
Copyright c 2021 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
 An Effective Tool for Oshindonga Early Development Education: Lilonga-Nenyanyu Learning Application

LNApp promotes independence, as the children LNAppto give the Oshindonga-speaking children
can learn at their own pace rather than that of the another platform to learn in their native language.
teachers’ or that of the child instructors’ instructions.
And this will encourage children to value independent 1.3 Research Questions
study without a teacher’s direct influence. This way
children learn better and The study aspires to answer the following question:
faster in their native language, a language they can RQ1: Will the LNApp assist learners in learning
understand in turn also preventing delays in learning. better in the Oshindonga language
RQ2: What features should be incorporated in the
1.1 Motivation LNApp to assist learners
RQ3: Will learning in the children’s language
The Namibian official language is English, and that is narrow the communication gap between illiterate
what is mostly spoken now, learning materials Oshindonga speaking parents and children?
ranging from kids’ playbooks, TV programs, and
most of the existing children's educational
applications are all in English and other western 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
languages. Hence, the need to develop applications in
one of Namibia’s indigenous languages. It is Young children explore and learn with mobile
substantial for children to be taught in their native devices in ways that are natural to them (Cohen,
languages, in this case, Oshindonga. This will assist 2011). Learning involves touching and repeating
in preserving the language to avoid the distinction of certain functions on mobile devices, basically by trial,
the language. Beukes (2020) expressed that the loss and error.
of a language results in a lost of traditions and The combination of images and phonetics
cultures. provides a good foundation for children to learn and
The study focused on the Oshindonga language, speak in their mother tongue or home language
as it is one of the predominant local languages used confidently and fluently, but most importantly
as a medium of instruction during the first three years comprehend and appreciate the diversity of languages
of schooling in Namibian schools amongst the employed by South Africans daily. The Mzanzi kids’
Oshiwambo people. Mathematics was also added to multilingual language learning application is a South
the application as most learners in Namibia find it African educational app that was created for children
difficult to learn mathematics(ref). The incorporation between the ages of two to six years. This application
of the Oshindonga language and mathematics in the was created to stimulate visual, speech, and language
LNApp will assist in preparing and equipping literacy skills at an early age by understanding basic
children for primary education. everyday concepts and highlighting the right
pronunciation of speech in six different languages;
1.2 Objectives English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, and
Setswana (MzanziKids, 2019). This multilingual
This study aimed to develop a purposeful and learning App upholds the basics of language
educational application for Oshindonga-speaking acquisition before entering a schooling environment
children, an app that is easy to use and requires no (MzanziKids, 2019).
training for first-time users. Duolingo is another online free app supported by
The application aims to meet the following both mobile devices and desktop machines.
objective: Statistically, it is the most popular in the category of
To narrow the communication gap between Education on Google Play. Studies have shown
illiterate parents and children with regards to statistically significant improvements in language
education. abilities as a result of using this app (Vesselinov &
The Namibian Language Policy states that the Grego, 2012).
mother tongue should be the medium of instruction
throughout the first three years, with a transition to
English Second Language starting in the fourth year
of their schooling (Namibian Ministry of Education 3 METHODOLOGY APPROACH
junior phase curriculum, 2015, p.2). Apart from
classrooms, this is not implemented anywhere else, This study is exploratory. Very little research is done
hencen another motivating factor to create the on educational apps for children in the Oshindonga

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native language thus the adoption of this 3.2 Data Analysis

methodology.
The study applied a qualitative methodology Survey monkey was used for data collection; The
approach to gather and analyse data. It has enabled researcher was able to see the summary view of the
the researcher to gain in depth understanding of views collected data; comparison was done for each
and opinions of parents and guardians to Oshindonga question from which customized charts were created.
speaking children on an educational app for their Open-ended responses were also categorized
children which will have its contents delivered in according to the asked question making it easier for
Oshindonga. This type of research is much more the research to match up and compare responses from
subjective and uses very different methods of different participants.
collecting information, mainly individual, in-depth
interviews, and focus groups. The nature of this
research is exploratory and open-ended. A small
number of individuals were interviewed in-depth.
4 DESIGN AND
This research was guided by constructivism IMPLEMENTATION
research paradigm, whereby people’s views on the
sitation was crucial and taken into consideration. The research design refers to the overall strategy that
Social constructivism seeks to understand the point of one chooses, to integrate the different components of
view for the individuals, with the aim of the study coherently and logically, thereby, ensuring
understanding their social and cultural settings that one will effectively address the research problem.
(Cresswell, 2014). Our study is based on the parents’ (De Vaus, 2001 & William 2006).
view, and not necessarily on our own experiences.
4.1 Software Development Process
3.1 Data Collection Model
Data collection needs to be as overt as possible, and This research study used the Iterative SDLC
findings should be recorded (Sanjari et al., 2014). (Software Development Life Cycle model) model to
Data has been primarily collected through a survey develop the LNApp. The Iterative model is a specific
that was created with the Survey Monkey platform. implementation of a software development life cycle
Surveys are research methods used for collecting data that focuses on an initial, simplified implementation,
from a predefined group of respondents to gather which progressively gains more complexity and a
information and insights into various topics of interest broader feature set until the ultimate system is
(Usman, 2015). complete, this model breaks down the software
The study’s target population is Oshiwambo development of an outsized application into smaller
speaking parents community and caregivers. chunks (Somerville, 2015). Figure 1 shows the
Non-probability sampling was used for selecting Iterative Process Model Illustration.
the sample, sampling the population from all
Oshiwambo speaking children’s parents and
caregivers to only those that are of the Oshindonga
indigenous language group. In this case, the sample
was chosen such that the participants may be a parent
or a caregiver of an Oshindonga-speaking child in the
age range of 2 to 7 years. Thirty (30) participants part
took in our study.
In order to establish the validity and reliability of
the research, we ensured that the questionnaire was Figure 1: Iterative Process Model.
double checked by several people before handing it
out, and that, the questions were open-ended, to 4.2 Application Architecture
ensure that respondents could answer as much as
possible as they saw fit and not be limited by closed 4.2.1 Activities for Ages: Two to Four
ended questions. Flowchart
The users are presented with the home application
when they log onto the application. Thereafter, they

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 An Effective Tool for Oshindonga Early Development Education: Lilonga-Nenyanyu Learning Application

can decide on whether to choose Age 2-4, or 5-7. will say the name of the shape in Oshindonga.
When a user clicks Age group 2-4, they are taken to a The second activity is for colours. A user can
next page with 4 options as seen in Figure 2. The first select a colour, and then it will be read out. The third
activity is for shapes. It consists of different shapes. activity is for vowels. A user can click on them, and
A user can click on a different shape, and then the app then they will be read out, and finally, the last activity

Figure 2: Age 2 to 4 Flow chart.

Figure 3: Age 5 to 7 flow chart.

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is a mathematical quiz, with a voice of instructions in smartphones, it makes it easier to install the LNApp
Oshindonga. When a user selects this option, they enabling the children to learn.
will be instructed to select the correct answer from The study also found that 65.71 % of the
below. If it is the correct answer, then will be participants indicated that the LNApp assisted the
applauded, and if it is wrong, they will be asked to try children to learn.
again.
5.1 Lilonga Enyanyu Feature
4.2.2 Activities for Ages: Five to Seven Suggestions
Flowchart
Participants agreed about the importance of an
For the 5-7 age group, there are four options as well. Oshindonga Application and acknowledged the
The first one is for a more advanced mathematical differences it might have in a child’s education.
quiz. The second activity reads out the alphabet in Participants were asked to suggest features to be
Oshindonga. The third option consists of children incorporated in the LNApp. Participants pointed out
songs in Oshindonga, and finally the last option reads that it is better to provide the children with a learning
out the months of the year in Oshindonga. platform that promotes learning at their own pace, at
anytime, anywhere. One participant was quoted
4.3 Lilonga-Nenyanyu Application saying “Well children need to be educated starting
User Interfaces from home, it's easier to learn as you do and when
they go to school they will only be building on top of
The application has multiple user interfaces on which what they already know”. Another participant stated
the user can interact with the app. Figure 4 shows the that “Children must have more time to process and
activities for the 2-4 Age group. grasp the content they have just learned and they must
be able to learn at their own pace”, “The proposed
application must at least be user friendly that even
uneducated parents can help their children learn and
be a part of their academics life”,
As to what exact features they needed to ascertain
within the Lilonga-Nenyanyu application, most of the
Figure 4: Activities options for age group 2-4. respondents voiced that they expect to see a very
interactive, fun, and educating app. Here are some of
Figure 5 shows the activities that one sees when they the suggested features: “The app must-have colours,
select the 5-7 age group. There they have options of a shapes, alphabet, simple maths, short stories and
more advanced mathematical quiz. The second poems”
activity reads out the alphabet in Oshindonga
language. The third option consists of children songs 5.2 Lilonga-Nenyanyu Application
in Oshindonga, and finally the last option reads out User Experience Testing
the months of the year in Oshindonga.
Majority of the participants expressed that the
application is user friendly and easy to use. One
participant was quoted saying, “One can navigate
through the application without training. Thus
making the children’s experience much easier, as the
LNApp is in a language they fluently understand”.
Figure 5: Activities options for age group 5-7. Results have also shown that parents are positive that
the LNApp will improve their children’s Oshindonga
language proficiency. Further stating that the LNApp
5 RESULTS proves to be an effective tool, as children will learn
the basic education content in a fun and educative
Data collected from the participants were analyse and manner, which will prepare them for primary school
it was found that 91.43 % of the participants own education.
smartphones and the remaining 8.57 % do not have
access to smartphones. Since most participants own

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6 DISCUSSION 8 RECOMMENDATIONS
The primary goal for this study was to investigate and This study recommends the following aspects as
examine the subjects of children learning in their discussed below to be implemented.:
mother tongue, specifically in the Oshindonga
language. Results found that majority of the • A multi-language based application
participants are involved in their children's education, While the research focused on delivering the
which is positive and promising, as parents and application content in the Oshindonga native
guardians play a vital role in their children’s language, other native languages could be
education. Research shows that children that have incorporated in the LNApp since Namibia is a
parents involved in their education are more likely to country of diverse languages. This will enable users
have higher grades and test scores, attend school to switch between different languages.
regularly, have better social skills, show improved
behaviour and adapt well to school ((Msila 2014). It • Executable in various operating system
can be deduced that having a learning application devices
might actually assist and compliment the child- Currently, the LNApp only runs on android enabled
parent-teaching relationship easily since all devices, advancement could be done to enable the
participants in this study owned a smartphone and application to run on multiple platforms..
most of the children have access and are familiar with
smartphone. With this established relationship
between children and their parents/guardians and
easy access to a smartphone, the LNApp might
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