Language of Instruction in Africa - the Most Important and Least Appreciated Issue (original) (raw)

The language of education in Africa: The key issues

1997

As a result of their colonial past, African children are still educated predominantly through the medium of a foreign language. The author explores the historical, political and socio‐economic background to this situation, and examines its advantages and disadvantages. Since the foreign languages (mainly English, French and Portuguese) are major international languages, they help in the transfer of science and technology.

Language of instruction in education in Africa: How new questions help generate new answers

International Journal of Educational Development, 2022

This paper reviews the major arguments used over the years in favour of mother-tongue instruction in Africa. It analyses the reasons that have been given for the lack of progress made. It suggests that the current Western paradigms obstruct a view of current and expected developments in this area. It offers a new analysis, based on the evolution of enrolment rates in education. The paper argues that in the next decade or so, a transition to using African languages more at all levels of education will become unavoidable.

Research and policy on the language of instruction issue in Africa

International Journal of Educational Development, 2010

Since 1995 I have been engaged in consultancies and since 2001 in research dealing with the language of instruction policies in Africa. To what extent are the policies being implemented? What is the role of research and consultancy when it comes to language policy? What happens when researchers or consultants come up with recommendations which do not please donors or the people of power? My paper builds on a consultancy on the language policy of Namibia from 1995, the stocktaking exercise of ADEA/GTZ/UIL of 2006, as well as on research results and experiences gathered within the LOITASA (Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa) project. In the first part of the article I give two examples where the policy recommendations by the consultants/ researchers have not been followed up. I give an example of a consultancy that has had some impact on the policy formulation in some African countries. Recommendations from only one of the four studies/consultancies looked at have been thoroughly followed up. These recommendations were in line with what the donors wanted, but did not logically follow from the research done. In the second part of the article I deal with the challenge of making policy research relevant for those most greatly affected by the policy. This means working for a paradigm shift in the research and consultancy on language policies in Africa. It also means looking at the power of misconceptions held by lay people. Towards the end of the article I discuss changing a belief system which has become common knowledge. I show examples of how Tanzanian colleagues in the LOITASA project are trying to do this.

Language and Education in Africa: Answering the Questions

Language and Education in Africa: Answering the Questions

Many serious questions are being asked regarding language and education issues in Eastern Africa today. This document has been written in an effort to help provide answers to at least some of those questions. The issues addressed in this document are grouped around four themes: the pedagogical, the linguistic, the institutional and policy-related, and the sociopolitical.

Education and language: A human right for sustainable development in Africa

International Review of Education,. Vol. 58, Issue 5. Pp. 619-647. Doi: 10.1007/s11159-012-9311-7, 2012

Pre-colonial Africa was neither an educationally nor a technologically unsophisticated continent. While education was an integral part of the culture, issues of language identification and standardisation which are subject to contentious debate today were insignificant. Children learned community knowledge and history by asking questions instead of being taught in a hegemonic alien language. This article argues that education and development should take place in a broader context of human rights, and explores the links between three areas often dealt with separately, namely: language, education and development. The authors of this paper demonstrate that changing the face of the multi-dimensionalities of poverty within societies is possible only when education is constructed in a rights perspective over the favoured colonial languages, which are not an integral part of the culture and resources of a community. The authors make a distinction between the right to education and rights in education, the latter of which are found to be more significant for the challenges Africa faces. It is argued here that the elements of

Language of Instruction in the African Classroom: Key Issues, Challenges and Solutions

2023

Language of instruction is a topic of great interest in current international education and development discourse, particularly as it applies to early-grade reading. As a result, African language-medium instruction has received increased attention from international education donors and stakeholders in the last 10+ years. This chapter examines some of the complexities of local language-medium education programming, particularly in African contexts. It provides an overview of key program features, identifies the most common challenges that arise in developing such programs, and suggests some tested ways of meeting those challenges.

Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa - Highlights from a Project

2010

aims to provide a comprehensive range of titles, making available to readers work from across the comparative and international education research community. Authors will represent as broad a range of voices as possible, from geographic, cultural and ideological standpoints. The editors are making a conscious effort to disseminate the work of newer scholars as well as that of well-established writers. The series includes authored books and edited works focusing upon current issues and controversies in a field that is undergoing changes as profound as the geopolitical and economic forces that are reshaping our worlds. The series aims to provide books which present new work, in which the range of methodologies associated with comparative education and international education are both exemplified and opened up for debate. As the series develops, it is intended that new writers from settings and