Matthys, D. (2024). A New Report by a Parliamentary Standing Committee Has Pinpointed the Chief Factor Behind the High Failure Rate of Grades 11 and 12 Pupils in the 2022 Academic Year: The Automatic Progression of Students to the Next Grade without Learning Basic Competencies Like Reading and Writing (pp. 1-2). The Namibian.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Empirical Stance on the Perceived English L2 Attrition among NSSCO Learners

  AUTHORS: Markus M. Domingo

  KEYWORDS: Attrition, English L2, Multilingual Country, Glossonyms, Hyperglosonym, Poor Academic Performance in English Second Language, NSSCO Learners

  JOURNAL NAME: Open Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.13 No.4, April 23, 2025

  ABSTRACT: As the proliferation of English usage engulfs the global village at the expense of indigenous languages, misinterpretation of phenomena may be resultant. With three hyperglossonyms that split into seven glossonyms to depict the multilingualism of Namibia, the want for enhanced academic performance in English as a second language undermines culprit factors that trigger poor performance among the NSSCO learners. Language attrition is a permanent or temporary gradual diminishing of ability to use L1 due to continuous exposure to L2 or another L2. This article aims to explain that attrition in English as a second language is not prevalent among NSSCO learners and is never among the chief causes of low proficiency and poor performance. To address the question of the study, a quantitative method was used to investigate the empirical stance on ESL attrition among senior secondary learners in Namibia. A questionnaire was administered to collect the data that was analysed using content analysis. The article is based on sociocultural theory (SCT) of Vygotsky to explain the context underlying L2 attrition. Sociocultural theory is a mode of learning that is effected when the learner interacts with the environment. The article discovered that attrition is not the cause of poor academic performance among the NSSCO learners in English as a second language. All NSSCO English second language learners speak a minimum of three local languages due to constant exposure to indigenous and regional languages at school, in the community and at home. That poor performance is caused by ESL attrition, a serious violation of the law of attrition, which stipulates that L1 is lost to L2, another L1 or L2 to L2 due to uninterrupted exposure. In Namibia, L1, L2, and even L3, to which the learners are continually exposed on a daily basis, are indigenous languages other than English.