Using GPT-4 to Tutor Python Programming in Shona and Ndebele in Zimbabwe

Abstract

In many post-Colonial African countries, English is the medium of instruction at schools and universities. Many, if not most of the students, however, are not home language English speakers. In the specific situation of Zimbabwe, approximately eighty percent of the population is Shona speaking and approximately ten percent of the population is Ndebele speaking. Existing research shows that when learners or students are forced to learn technical subjects (such as mathematics and computer programming) in their non-home language, they are doing double work. Not only do they need to learn the new subject domain, they also need to translate these new terms to and from their home language. This paper investigates the use of an GPT-4 based artificially intelligent tutoring bot configured to tutor the subject of Python Programming in both Shona and Ndebele. This paper is the first step of a multi-step research project which has the final goal of helping Zimbabwean learners and students learn Python Programming in their home language. This first step, however, reports on language evaluations of the GPT-4 based tutoring bot operating in Shona and Ndebele.