| In this dissertation, I argue that prospective EFL teachers in Mozambique should be trained to incorporate Bantu oral narratives in their classrooms. I discuss the results of a pilot study in which I engaged a group of these student-teachers in three activities: analysis of values represented in Bantu oral narratives, translation of Bantu narratives into English, and design of classroom activities for the development of English language skills and critical thinking. My study reveals that the analysis of cultural values enables EFL teachers to encourage their students to use the target language to think critically and speak or write about their own history, life, beliefs, values, and attitudes. Translating Bantu oral narratives allows EFL teachers to develop their sensitivity to the relations among Bantu languages, Portuguese, and English. It enhances these teachers' linguistic and communicative competence in English. It develops their ability to think critically in English and to think critically about English, which better prepares them to teach this foreign language. |
