South Africa: Proper use of mother tongue the way forward

Source: IOL (via lg-policy list)

Proper use of mother tongue the way forward

In this article in our series, Neville Alexander, director of the project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa at the University of Cape Town, argues that to ignore the language issue is to entrench the domination of powerful elites.

South Africa has arguably the most progressive language policy on paper. This fact is acknowledged by most people who are familiar with the sociology and the politics of language.

In spite of this, however, if one reads only the Afrikaans press, one would have to conclude that this language policy is a total failure and that we are moving rapidly to a situation where the de facto sole official language is the “hated” Queen’s English.

The reader would be surprised, therefore, to hear that some of us hold the unpalatable view that, because of what we call our “languish policy”, this country is in fact simply carrying out in practice a neo-apartheid language policy. For, in spite of the fact that Afrikaans is being driven out of many domains of social life and being replaced by English, it is still the most favoured official language next to English.

Why is language policy important? And why is it a bad idea that we should all be forced to operate in English only when we transact business or are involved in any public domain?

The simple way to answer this is by means of a five-dimensional argument. Incidentally, although there is a very important polemic taking place among linguists about the exact meaning and even the validity of a word such as “a language”, this is not the place to enter into that debate. Suffice to say it is an important debate that may eventually lead to significant changes in the ways we speak or write about the language question.

The fact is that I am writing this article in Standard South African English, and expect to be read and understood by hundreds of South Africans and other users of a notional international standard written English.

Many of these readers, I expect, will tell others, who either have not read or cannot read the article, about its contents in whatever linguistic means they have in common. And, somehow, for my current communicative purposes, this seems to be in order.

The five-dimensional argument refers to the relationship between language use and language policy with the social processes of diversity, development, democracy, dignity and didactics.

It is generally accepted that cultural diversity, which includes linguistic diversity, is as necessary an aspect of human survival as is biological diversity. This point is the subject of much controversy, but it is bound to prove useful for our understanding of the continuum between “nature” and “culture”.

This debate, which is as yet confined to a small group of linguists concerned about the rapid disappearance of “languages” on Earth may yet turn out to be one of those revolutionary moments in humanity’s self-understanding such as the, initially quite esoteric, discussions that led to the Copernican Revolution, as a result of which we now know that the Earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around. In this regard, because of our constitutional commitment to the promotion and maintenance of multilingualism, South Africa is, in principle, on the side of the angels.

It is also accepted that language policy at the workplace and in business transactions generally is a vital aspect of economic success. Languages have market value - hence the desirability of English as the most important of the global languages today - and it is one of the tasks of any national or regional government to frame language policy and use it in such a way that the populace at large is empowered by the fact that the linguistic resources which they possess become “cultural capital” that they can use to earn their livelihood and to improve their life chances.

Much detailed research is essential in this regard since politicians tend to “find” the will to act once they are convinced that there is real economic benefit in a given policy approach. Our score in this area is quite bad since, with some notable exceptions in both the public and the private sector, there is a very strong tendency towards an English-only policy, although it self-evidently restricts the productivity, efficiency, creativity and job satisfaction of those engaged in the economic processes of production, exchange and distribution.

It is probably useful to remind ourselves here that it is a myth that only “unilingual” countries have become economically successful in the modern world. If you study the question seriously, you will find that it is the levels of literacy that determine economic success in the modern world.

Democratic polities require the full participation of the citizens in the important decision-making processes. It is axiomatic that such participation is only possible when these processes are conducted in languages that the citizens understand and are able to use. This is the very foundation of freedom of speech. Again, our balance sheet is patchy, even though I believe there is a genuine commitment on the part of government to move in the right direction.

Parliament and the SABC are examples where, recently, major steps have been taken towards treating the official languages as well as sign language equitably.

However, because of a simplistic, short-sighted knee-jerk reaction to Afrikaans (as the “language of the oppressor”), many obvious steps that ought to, and can, be taken are skipped. It is incomprehensible, for example, that we still do not use African languages on our airlines or on our beaches (except when we need to warn people about dangerous circumstances or behaviour); why can we not also have road signs and official instructions in numerous contexts in the relevant African languages? That difficult decisions would have to be made is clear, but we have to make these all the time, whether it is in the domains of transport, health, crime fighting or education. Much more urgency is required.

Human dignity, the right to use the language of one’s choice and not to be discriminated against on the basis of language, is inscribed in the Bill of Rights and there are institutions such as the Pan South African Language Board, the Human Rights Commission, the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Commission and, in the final analysis, the judiciary, that have been given the powers to enforce these provisions.

Despite this, however, and in spite of numerous complaints about the violation of language rights, mainly from organised Afrikaans-speaking and other smaller African language-speaking communities, these provisions remain a dead letter. The example of the European Union and the Council of Europe, in spite of a yawning disparity of resources, is there to show the way and we have in fact learnt much from post-war Europe in this regard. There are close connections at all levels between Europeans, Asians, Americans and South Africans who are committed to the implementation of a consistently democratic language policy.

A mother tongue-based bi- or multilingual educational system, the didactical dimension of the language question, is the sine qua non for all development in South Africa. Space does not allow any further explanation of this proposition, but it is essential that it be seen as the challenge it is intended to be. Besides the obvious pedagogical issue of teaching children in languages they understand rather than in those they do not understand, this question involves the critical and urgent question of early literacy learning which, if you think about it carefully, is the basis of economic success or failure in the 21st century.

The Western Cape Education Department has begun to take this challenge seriously and is involved in numerous initiatives to find out what the problems and the most effective approaches to solutions would be. The national Department of Education supports these moves in principle.

However, language policy in education is a sensitive matter, and most parents do not have the necessary information at their disposal in order to make the most appropriate decisions in this regard. A major advocacy campaign is imperative.

In conclusion, beyond the issue of political will and the prioritisation of the language question, we should be looking more carefully at how language policy and use are being managed currently. The Asmal Commission that considered the efficacy of the Chapter 9 institutions has not been very kind to the Pan South African Language Board, which was intended to be the keystone in the linguistic architecture of the new South Africa. Whether one agrees with all its recommendations or not, I believe that a case can be made out for a radical redrafting of this entire complex.

Without language communication, hardly any complex operations are possible for human beings. To ignore the language question or to take it for granted is merely to entrench the domination of the powerful elites in our society.

Above all, let us agree: it is not a question of the highest levels of competence in either English or the mother tongues. It is a question of all individuals having the power to communicate, learn, work and be creative in both the mother tongue and English. Many, of course, will want - and be able - to function in more than two languages.

This article was originally published on page 9 of The Cape Times on
April 21, 2008

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=105&art_id=vn20080421062253449C698119

Nigeria: Hausa online grammar

Source: Hausa online grammar (UCLA)

This online grammar provides basic information about the structure of the Hausa language explained in a relatively non-technical way.

http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/aflang/Hausa/Hausa_online_grammar/grammar_frame.html

African conference: On the Brink? Endangered Archives and Endangered Languages in Africa

SCOLMA (the UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa) invites registrations for the 2008 annual conference,On the Brink? Endangered Archives and Endangered Languages in AfricaDate: Tuesday 10 June 2008, 10.00 - 17.00Venue: British Library Conference Centre, British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DBSpeakers will include Paul Lihoma, Director, National Archives of Malawi, and representatives and grant-holders from the Endangered Archives Programme (British Library) and the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London).Fee (including lunch and refreshments): £35 (concessions £15)Further information at:http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/scolma/conference.htm <http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/scolma/conference.htm>To register, please contact Ros Buck, SCOLMA Secretary, email: rbuck@oxfam.org.uk, or by post: Ros Buck, Librarian, Library, International Division, Oxfam GB, Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2JY.Registration closes on Friday 6th June.Please make cheques payable to SCOLMA. (For BACS payments please contact Ian Cooke, SCOLMA Treasurer, email: ian.cooke@bl.uk <mailto:ian.cooke@bl.uk> )

Uganda: Promote Kiswahili as a national language

Source: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/619780

Promote Kiswahili as a national language
Tuesday, 1st April, 2008
BY JOHN NSOOKWA

For over 100 years, there has been a lot of rhetoric about the
importance of Kiswahili and the urgent need to teach and use it in
Uganda. The colonial rulers and post-colonial rulers held the same
views during their term in office, but nothing was done thereafter.
The commissions they constituted on education came up with good
recommendations concerning Kiswahili, but all remained on paper.
Attempts by all the subsequent governments to implement the
recommendations concerning Kiswahili since 1903 have proved futile.
Policies and policy guidelines for the implementation of Kiswahili
have been designed over the years, but due to conflicting priorities
and prejudice, all have either remained in writing, or have been
contradicted thereafter.

Specific cases in point are such as follows:

1 Sir William Gowers, the then governor of Uganda in 1903 ordered the
teaching of Kiswahili in schools and its use in public offices. A
Kiswahili teachers college was established at Makerere in 1927, but
nothing was done thereafter and the college closed in 1938.

2 The Phelps Stokes Commission 1924/25 recommended the teaching of
local languages including Kiswahili, but the recommendations were not
implemented.

3 Similar recommendations were made by the De-Bunsen commission, the
Dela — war and the castle commissions, but all remained on paper.

4 The Kajubi Report 1989 recommended the teaching and use of
Kiswahili, as a language that would promote greater unity, cut across
tribal barriers and enhance regional cooperation. But the
recommendations on Kiswahili have since been shattered.

5 The White Paper and the Education Task Force all echoed these
recommendations on the teaching of Kiswahili. Policies and policy
guidelines were formulated as a way of implementing the teaching and
use of Kiswahili in Uganda, but to date, the teaching of Kiswahili in
primary schools has not started.

6 Preliminary arrangements which were made as a way of implementing
the formulated policies also halted without bearing fruits. For
example, the Primary Teachers’ College (PTC) Kiswahili syllabus which
was designed in 1996 was partially utilised and abandoned.
Over 10,000 teachers who were trained using the same syllabus by
Teacher Development and Management Systems (TDMS), a project which is
under PIU in the Ministry of Education and Sports were abandoned. The
teachers were trained in 10 core PTCs of phase 1-TV, but were examined
in other subjects except Kiswahili.

7 Communications from the permanent secretary concerning the speedy
implementation of Kiswahili in primary schools, beginning 2007, did
not bear fruit.

8 The primary school Kiswahili syllabus which was launched in 2002 by
the then Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Kiddu Makubuya, was
also abandoned.

9 Kiswahili was promulgated the second official language of Uganda,
but the parliamentary promulgation was not followed by any form of
implementation.

10 Six representatives from Uganda participated in the drafting of the
East African Kiswahili constitution bill. This exercise was intended
to equip participants from East Africa’s partner states with the
experience and skills of mobilising nationals towards the East Africa
goals which include a common language, but nothing has been heard
about this after the Nairobi meeting.

11 A diploma programme for training tutors in Kiswahili Diploma in
Teacher Education (DTE) was designed at Kyambogo University in 1999
because of the urgent need of Kiswahili tutors, but was not
implemented until the DTE structure was phased out.

12 The last hammer in the coffin of Kiswahili was hit recently when it
was finally and officially excluded from the primary school
curriculum. Kiswahili was declared optional to whoever had the means
and interest. This is evident on page 52 of the C-TEP manual. A manual
which was used to orient teachers on the primary school programmes
come 2008. The C-TEP manual is a copyright of the Ministry of
Education and Sports, but was funded by USAID
13 Given this background, one can clearly conclude that the intention
to teach Kiswahili in Uganda is, but mere rhetoric.

Excuses
The kind of excuses being used against Kiswahili are neither logical
nor relevant.
(i) Some people argue that there are no Kiswahili books. This is
untrue because there are very many Ugandan writers who have written
books that are relevant to Uganda’s environment; they include:
(a) J. C. Nsookwa — Kiswahili Mzizi P4-P7, published by Fountain Publishers.
(b) Namirembe Jennifer — Macmillan Primary Kiswahili P4-P6
(c) MK Primary Kiswahili.
(ii) Others maintain that there are no teachers for Kiswahili. This is
also untrue. There are over 10,000 primary school teachers trained by
TDMS, ADRA and I @mark.com.

Secondary school teachers trained in Uganda are now over 1,500. These
were trained at Kakoba National Teachers’ College, Makerere
University, Mbale University and Kyambogo University.

(iii) While others maintain that Kiswahili is a language of thieves, a
language does not steal. It is the people who steal.

There is no evidence to show that in all countries where people steal,
it is Kiswahili language they use. Any language can be used for good
or bad because it is just a mere means of communication
(iv) Yet others say it is an Arab language, but all languages borrow
just as Kiswahili did from many other languages.

Questions
The only fundamental questions to be asked are:
- What is the way forward for Kiswahili?
- Why use so much money in workshops on Kiswahili only to come out
with nothing?
- Why tell Ugandans that Kiswahili is a second official language while
you have never taught it to them?
- Can anybody spread a language in a country without teaching it in
primary schools?

The writer is a Kiswahili
lecturer at the School of
Education, Makerere University

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/619780

Ghana: Summer School on Documentary Linguistics in West Africa

Posted on March 31, 2008.

Summer School on Documentary Linguistics in West Africa

University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

16-27 July 2008

A 10-day summer school on language documentation will be held prior to the 26^th West African Languages Congress (WALC) of the West African Linguistics Society (WALS/SLAO) at the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, 28^th July to 3^nd August 2008. The theme of the Congress is “Language Documentation in Support of West African Languages”.

The goal of the Summer School is to provide training for linguists and graduate students in the West African region in language documentation theory and practice.

Pending final approval, the 2008 Summer School on Documentary Linguistics in West Africa will be sponsored by the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP) of the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project (HRELP), SOAS, London.

 

Participants:

The maximum number of participants is 30 and they will be selected so that each country in the region will be represented.

How to apply:

 

Applicants must reside and study/work in West Africa.

They should have a minimum of BA or its equivalent involving some linguistic training.

They should have some fieldwork experience or have concrete plans for doing documentation work.

They should be committed to and have a plan for transferring the knowledge they acquire to others in their universities and countries.

The general lectures will be given in English, hence all participants should be able to read and understand basic English. Workshops and tutorials may be offered in French as well, when necessary.

 

Interested persons should send an application via e-mail or fax to the following address:

 

Felix K. Ameka

African Languages and Cultures

Leiden University Centre for Linguistics

P. O. Box 9515

2300 RA Leiden

The Nehterlands

 

Tel: + 31 – 71 – 527 2243

Fax; + 31 – 71- 527  7569

 

e-mail: f.k.ameka@let.leidenuniv.nl

 

 

Your application must include:

 

A. Personal background Information

 

Full name

Position

Affiliation

Address

 

Telephone, fax, e-mail

 

Country

 

First language(s):

 

Other West African languages you know:

 

B. Curriculum Vitae and Motivation

 

1.     Give a brief statement of your University studies involving linguistics (including degrees obtained). Indicate the courses you have followed.

2.     What experience do you have in linguistic description (e.g. fieldwork)? Indicate whether the languages you have worked on, are your first or other language. 

3.     What experience do you have in language documentation including the use of any tools?

4.     Which language(s) are you working on or plan to work on? Provide information on their geographical location and genetic affiliation. 

5.     Explain your commitment as well as how you plan to transfer the knowledge you would acquire to     others in your institution and/or country.

6.     Provide the name and contact details of your Supervisor or an academic who would like to serve as a referee for you. Explain why you have nominated this person.

C Travel information

 

7.     There will be travel bursaries to supplement the travel costs of participants (mostly by road) from country of residence to Winneba, Ghana. Provide an estimate of the cost of travel from your residence to Winneba.

Send your application in to the address provided above not later than April 30^th, 2008.

Applications received will be acknowledged immediately.

Decisions on the applications will be made by the Organising Committee and communicated to the applicants by 15^th May 2008.

 

The resource persons include:

 

Firmin Ahoua, Université de Cocody, Abidjan

Felix Ameka, Leiden University

Bruce Connell, York University and University of Kent

William Foley, University of Sydney

Dafydd Gibbon, University of Bielefeld

Birgit Hellwig, RCLT, La Trobe, Melbourne

David Nathan, ELAR, SOAS

Sophie Salffner, ELAP, SOAS

Eno-Abasi Urua, University of Uyo

 

 

The topics to be covered are:

 

• What is language documentation (including planning a language documentation project)
• Ethical and methodological issues in language documentation (including fieldwork)
• Techniques and methods of data collection
• Transcription and annotation and their tools (Transcriber, Praat, ELAN)
• Audio and video recording
• Principles of archiving and dissemination: metadata, media, file formats
• Ethnography in language documentation
• Lexicography and tools (Toolbox)
• Field Semantics
• Field phonetics
• Grant application writing

 

—————————————-

Felix K. Ameka

African Languages and Cultures

Leiden University

PB 9515

2300 RA Leiden

The Netherlands

 

e-mail: f.k.ameka@let.leidenuniv.nl

tel: + 31 (0)71 527 2243

fax: + 31 (0)71 527 7569

 

Visit the website of the Journal of African Languages and Linguistics (JALL) at

www.degruyter.de

Nigeria: Ido language lessons

Edo Nation has some fairly rudimentary Ido language lessons 

as does EdoFolks where you’ll also find the following:

Edo Proverb 1
Edo Proverb2
Teach Yourslf Edo Language
24 major Edoid dialects in Nigeria
Nigeria’s Modern Language
WAZOBIA
Edo General Language
10 Edo Proverbs
Edo Months and Seasons
Edo Language Class (2/03)
Can we speak one language (2/03)
Common Titles and Definitions in Edo Language  (2/05)
Definitions of an “Obo” and “Ogie-Obo”  (2/05)
Political Office Minister in Edo Language  (2/05)
Edo Dictionary Online  (6/06)

Benin: Edo language policy

BNC makes case for Edo language policy

Written by Simon Ebegbulem
Tuesday, 25 March 2008

THE Benin National Congress (BNC) a socio-cultural organisation in
 Edo State, has urged the state House of Assembly to prevail on the
relevant authorities in the state to implement the Edo language
 policy in all private and public schools, so as to save the cultural
 heritage of the Binis from extinction The Congress through a letter addressed
to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr Zakawanu Garuba,
signed by its National President, Mr Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo, lamented
that non-teaching of the  subject as well as the significance of the
cultural heritage such as dancing steps, artifact, moats, dresses and
historical tales has in no small measure denied the younger
generations of the essence of enculturation.

It pointed out that Edo language was listed among the languages to
extinct before the year 2020 by the United National Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) report of last year,
saying that since the emergence of that report, governments and
concerned groups across the globe have been articulating ways to save
their heritage from the “sad prediction”. “As a cultural heritage
group, we hold our people the duty to raise the stake for the safety
of our heritage hence our resolve to humbly appeal to you to ensure
that not only is Edo language taught in our schools, it must be made
compulsory for every student of Edo State origin to secure a pass as
 a promotional yardstick” it stated.

Full story:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5417&Itemid=44 More on Edo language 

Nigeria: Igbo language lessons and more

 Igbonet has a series of Igbo language lessons, essays about the culture and people and more

Nigeria: Igbo Language Preservation

Source: All Africa

Nigeria: Umeh Calls for Igbo Language Preservation

A retired secondary school principal, Mr Peter Umeh, has called on
 Ndigbo to preserve their language in order not to destroy the rich
 cultural heritage of the people.

Umeh told (NAN) in Enugu that the identity of any tribe was its
 language and that without language, a tribe would be incomplete and
 without identifiable root.

“Every tribe cherishes and protects its language because the
 extinction, marked the end and recognition of that tribe,” he said.

Full story:

http://allafrica.com/stories/200803240780.html   Read more about Igbo

Regimes of Multilingualism and the Language of Literacy in The Gambia

Posted on April 4, 2007.

An interesting handout of a presentation on Regimes of Multilingualism and the Language of Literacy in The Gambia  by Kasper Juffermans who is doing his doctorate on the subject. He has a couple of sociolinguistic schemata in the paper which bear further investigation.