Bilingual Programming: A Study of Student Attitudes and Experiences in the African context

Computer science education is expanding rapidly on a global scale, emphasizing the importance of addressing the barriers created by the dominance of English in programming languages to ensure accessible programming resources and support for non-English speakers. This study, employed a mixed methods approach to investigate the impact of bilingual programming in (Setswana and English) on Senior Secondary School students’ attitudes and behaviors toward computer science, compared to an English-only approach. We recruited students from 18 Senior Secondary Schools to participate in Botswana’s national outreach programming activity using Hedy, a gradual programming language. Students were randomly assigned to use either the bilingual or English-only version of the Hedy platform. We employed the validated Attitudes Towards Computing survey as a pre-and-post-test to assess changes in confidence, enjoyment, usefulness, motivation, and sense of belonging in computer science between the students’ programming bilingually versus in English. We also examined behavior patterns in students who were programming bilingually versus in English and included open-ended questions to explore students’ experiences with their coding in the native language. The results showed that students in the bilingual group attempted more exercises, suggesting higher engagement. They also demonstrated a better understanding and comfort level by using a wider range of programming concepts and native language variables. Qualitative feedback indicated that many students enjoyed coding in a bilingual environment, finding it easier to understand concepts. While all students showed improvements in confidence, enjoyment, and motivation after the programming activities, no significant differences were found between the bilingual and English-only groups in overall attitudes. However, students in the bilingual group reported significantly higher levels of comfort compared to those in the English-only group. These findings suggest that bilingual programming has the potential to enhance students’ engagement and understanding of computer science. This study’s implications indicate that integrating native languages into programming education may improve students’ experiences and outcomes, thus warranting further research in this area.