South Africa: Proper use of mother tongue the way forward

Posted by sociolingo on April 29, 2008

Proper use of mother tongue the way forward

(This article was originally published on page 9 of The Cape Times on
April 21, 2008 )
http://www.eltworld.net/news/tag/use-of-english-in-south-africa/
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.
n 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 Cape Times on April 21, 2008

Globalization and the Role of African Languages for Development

Source: Insititute of European Studies

Globalization and the Role of African Languages for Development
Ghirmai Negash
ABSTRACT:
Indigenous African languages are largely eliminated, and marginalized from use. Instead of investing in and using their linguistic, cultural, and human potential, African governments and the elite still continue to channel away their resources and energies into learning ‘imperial’ languages that are used by a tiny minority of the populations. Against the backdrop of constraining global forces, and Africa’s internal problems (wars, repression, and general economic misery), this paper argues that African languages could be the most critical element for Africa’s survival, and cultural, educational and economic development. In order for this to happen, however, Africa must invest in this sector of ‘cultural economy’ as much as it does (should do) in the ‘material economy’, since both spheres are interrelated and impact on each other.

SUGGESTED CITATION:
Ghirmai Negash, “Globalization and the Role of African Languages for Development” (February 19, 2005). Institute of European Studies. Paper 050219.
http://repositories.cdlib.org/ies/050219

Download pdf of Full paper 

Botswana: Mother Tongue in Education

Posted by sociolingo on February 5, 2008

Source: AllAfrica.com via Terry Howcott

Mother Tongue in Education

Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
OPINION
3 July 2007
Posted to the web 4 July 2007

By Dorcas Moefhe, Owen Pansiri and Sheldon Weeks
Gaborone
It is now a known and accepted fact that the use of mother tongue as a medium of instruction in early days of schooling contributes to improved classroom learning and related academic achievement.

Children who learn to read and write on their first language or mother tongue then transfer those skills to other languages such as Setswana and English. What is more problematic is how to start with mother tongue education in a multilingual society such as Botswana. Collaboration between governments and non-governmental organisations in educational development is one major strategy that the World Conferences on Education of 1990 and 2000 endorsed.

GA_googleFillSlot(”AllAfrica_Other_Inset”);

Botswana has used this strategy to deal with, among others, the education of remote area dwellers. The government has also embraced the Minority Education Project with a specific focus on the education of the San, but the project does not seem to be coming out clearly between the Ministry of Education and the other interested parties. The University of Botswana and the University of Tromso (UB/UT) are currently working together on research and capacity building for the Basarwa whom they refer to as the San.

Through this initiative, various research activities and consultancies have been conducted to explore the educational needs of the San. This project has extended collaboration beyond academia.

It has drawn in stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, UNESCO and other partners such as Letloa Trust Board of Trustees of the Kuru Family of Organisations and the business communities, especially De Beers and Debswana and other regional and far-flung organisations that have shown an interest in inclusive education and the education of children in marginalised communities. Informed by research and consultancies, all those who are involved in the Minority Education Project have understood the wider historical context of the San as an educationally marginalised segment of the Botswana society.

The project engaged with the idea of trying to achieve inclusive education so that the San children have equal and easier opportunity to participate in the cycle of 10 years of basic education as envisaged by the Revised National Policy on Education of 1994. Through a series of consultations, the issue of Mother Tongue Pilot Schools emerged and the Letloa Trust took it further for support with various interested parties, particularly De Beers and Debswana and then the Ministry of Education.

Along the way it appeared that the Minority Education Project was not clearly conceptualised by the parties involved, that is, the Ministry of Education and De Beers and Debswana.

Some people were neither comfortable with the term “minority education project” nor its focus on a specific ethnic group. To make the project friendlier to all stakeholders, efforts were made to redefine its objectives and refocus, hence the emergence of the “Support Programme for Education in Remote Areas” (SPERA).

SPERA was inclusive of other groups living in remote areas, but maintained its focus on the educational needs of the San. While these agencies were willing to support the project, some issues such as focus, management capacity and sustainability were raised by the government, which seemed to want a project that was not for a specific or particular ethnic group.

In the long run, after a number of years of planning, formulation of documents and other activities, the proposed SPERA pilot project has not taken off. The Support Programme for Education in Remote Areas needs to be pursued further as a pilot project on inclusive education.

This would be a step towards the implementation of the policy recommendation on teaching through children’s first language or mother tongue that has been pending since 1994.

The project should be viewed as an opportunity on which the education sector and its partners can inform themselves on the best practices in developing mother-tongue language education programmes for the various non-Setswana speakers in Botswana. The already existing partnership between the University of Botswana and the University of Tromso, the Ministry of Education, Debswana, Letloa Board of Trustees and other interested agencies such as UNESCO, provides a positive climate upon which the SPERA project cannot be allowed to fail, provided all is done to ‘educationalise’, but not to ‘politicise’ the project.

Namibia: Mother Tongue Project Distributes Thousands of Books

Posted by sociolingo on February 5, 2008

Source: New Era via Terry Howcott

Mother Tongue Project Distributes Thousands of Books
By Wezi Tjaronda
WINDHOEK

Some 750 000 teaching and learning textbooks from Grades 1 to 3 have been distributed to schools since the start of the Basic Education Programme (BEP) Upgrading African Languages Project (Afrila) in October 2000, which has improved the textbook learner ratio.

The project aimed at improving literacy and numeracy in learners in the mother tongue and also to promote the acquisition of English as a second language before English becomes the medium of instruction from Grade 4 onwards.

It is believed that the language spoken at home by a learner is an important prerequisite to success in learning. The project has developed new teaching and learning materials in six target languages, namely, Kukwangali, Rumanyo, Thimbukushu, Otjiherero, Silozi and Khoekhoegowab, but also in Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama for grades 1 to 3.

Last month, the Afrila project launched literacy, mathematics and environmental studies textbooks for grades 1 to 3 in six target languages. The textbooks are based on the revised lower primary curriculum and the new subject syllabus, to contribute to the strengthening of mother tongue education in the foundation phase.

Launching the books, Undersecretary for Formal Education in the Ministry of Education, Alfred Ilukena, said language was the most important tool for thinking, a means of communication and one of the most important aspects of identity.

“A high level of communication in one’s language is a prerequisite in a knowledge-based society,” he said.
Ilukena said learners also learnt best through their mother tongues in the formative years of schooling and would master English if they have mastered their mother tongue first.

“The purpose of the lower primary phase is to lay a foundation for learning throughout the formal education system. If the foundation which is laid in these four years is good, the learners will be well prepared to continue learning,” he said, adding that this would also enable children to develop self-confidence and self-worth through personal and social development during this phase.

The Afrila project coordinator, Andreas Schott, who also bade farewell since the project has come to an end, said the project supported the ministry and NIED to implement the Language Policy for Schools to improve the quality of mother tongue education in the lower primary phase.

The project has made available over 350 publications.

“This in itself should alone increase the effectiveness of teaching in the lower primary classroom combined with a learner-centred pedagogy in which the textbooks are the basis as the guiding pedagogical paradigm,” said Schott.
However, he recommended that an impact study be conducted to determine how the materials have improved the performance of the learners and also that the ministry should incorporate necessary activities for mother tongue education in the lower primary phase into ETSIP planning through a second language policy and a feasible textbook policy.

The project was financed by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

Book: Encyclopedia of Language and Education

Encyclopedia of Language and Education

Published: 2007,  Springer  http://www.springer.com

 <http://www.springer.com/> 
Editor: Nancy H. Hornberger


Abstract:


*The Encyclopedia is a necessary reference set for every university

 and college library in the world that serves a faculty or school of

 education.


*The Encyclopedia has more than 250 contributors drawn from numerous

countries. Its reviews present information and authoritative insights

 that are relevant to every country and to every language.


*Each volume contains about 20-30 reviews. For some topics, teams of

contributors have worked to produce a single review.


*Each state-of-the-art review has about 4000 words of text and

 follows a similar structure.


*Most contributors give coverage of early developments in their

 topic, major contributions, work in progress, problems and difficulties, and

future directions


*The aim of the reviews is to give readers access to the

 international literature and research on each topic.


*The text of each review is followed by a reference list containing

 about 30 key references mentioned in the text.


This Encyclopedia is a necessary reference set for every university

 and college library in the world that serves a faculty or school of

 education.



The Encyclopedia aims to speak to a prospective readership that is

multinational, and to do so as unambiguously as possible. Because

 each book-size volume deals with a discrete and important subject in

 language and education, these state-of-the-art volumes also offer highly

authoritative course textbooks in the areas suggested by their titles.


The more than 250 scholars contributing to the Encyclopedia hail from

 all continents of our globe and from 41 countries; they represent a great

diversity of linguistic, cultural, and disciplinary traditions. For all

that, what is most impressive about the contributions gathered here is the

unity of purpose and outlook they express with regard to the central

 role of language as both vehicle and mediator of educational processes and

 to the need for continued and deepening research into the limits and

possibilities that implies.


http://linguistlist.org/issues/19/19-168.html

Nigeria: Teaching in mother tongue

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4260&Itemid=0
Written by Adekunle Aliyu

Thursday, 10 January 2008

The National Policy on Education (NPE) affirmed that Government
recognises the importance of language as means of promoting social
interaction, national cohesion and preserving our cultures. This
policy endorsed the need for every child to learn the language of the
immediate environment. Furthermore, in the interest of national
unity, it is expedient that every child shall be required to learn
one of the three major Nigerian languages - Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Ever
since, not so much impetus was given to the policy which requires
Nigerian children to learn one of those three languages. It is not
surprising that many children and even adults can not speak any of
the
indigeneous languages including their mother tongue.

When children can not speak their native language in the first place,
how then can they learn and study in school with the mother tongue?
The challenge of teaching in mother tongue may remain unattainable
unless Nigeria’s education system is decolonised with English
language
de-emphasised gradually and systematically. But English is still the
official language of this country – a colonial heritage that may not
perish. In a society of language multiplicity, it would be difficult
to build a consensus for an all-embracing national language. Apart
from the three main languages of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, there are
over 300 linguistic dialects and mother tongues.

Ethnic loyalty and nationality won’t give way for adoption of any of
these languages as the national tongue or lingua franca. Regarded as
the exponent and father of mother tongue initiative, Professor
Babatunde Aliyu Fafunwa, a former Minister of Education attributed
the
continued retention of English as our official language to colonial
mentality.

He stated:

“Teaching can be done in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Nupe, Itsekiri, I
pioneered it in science at Nsukka. I got the proceedings of a
conference translated into Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. I believe everyone
can learn in their own native language.” Revealing an experiment he
made to know the acceptability of mother tongue for teaching, the
renowned educationist said pupils preferred to learn in their own
language instead of English, as they can express themselves better in
their mother tongue. Children should be given early education in
mother tongue, because investigation has shown that it will last long
er in their cognitive domain than any alien tongue.

The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) after assessing the use of the child’s native language in
teaching and found it successful, recommended the approach. Children
will excel more when taught in local language. Fafunwa believes
science and mathematics can be taught in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa or any
other indigenous language. He has published books on science and
mathematics in Yoruba for primary education which have been
translated
into Igbo, Nupe, etc. Fafunwa faulted those who argued that Yoruba or
other native languages have no numerals, nor scientific terms, words
of formula.

“English used Arabic numerals. If English can borrow, we also can
borrow. There are a number of ways to treat a language: borrow,
convert, invent, add.” All great, highly developed countries in the
world speak their own languages, including the newly emerging
economic
and industrial powers of South East Asia, even though they were
colonised by Britain. The time has come for Nigeria to shrug off
Colonial mentality by discarding English and develop a national
indigenous language out of the motley of native tongues in the
country. This may not be easy due to our cultural, ethnic and
linguistic diversity. But the nation can start thinking about it,
especially in using mother tongue to teach pupils in primary
education. The Lagos State Hoiuse of Assembly is setting the pace by
adopting Yoruba as official language in conducting proceedings.

ACALAN: multilingual education in Africa

Source: UNESCO COURIER 2007 no10

For multilingual education in Africa

© UNESCO/Antonio Fiorente
Multilingual education based on the mother language must be developped.

Education should enable people to take root in their culture as well as open them up to other cultures. Africa needs schooling that integrates its languages, history and social values, according to Adama Samassekou, president of the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN).

---

If education were a consumer product, we would make it fairer by distributing it equitably among all the peoples of the world, so that no one would be lacking. But if education is a process of conditioning, with the aim of shaping children’s personalities so that as adults they can find their place in the society in which they live, then the educational project is linked to a societal project.

In that case, would it be fairer for everybody to practice the same education, at the risk of falling into global cultural leveling? Isn’t the diversity of educational methods the best guarantee of the cultural diversity we are so fiercely safeguarding these days? From this standpoint, to increase fairness in education, don’t we have to make sure that all the world’s peoples have the means to create their own educational systems? And shouldn’t we think about taking concerted action to make education fairer, by making access to educational means more equitable?

---

Universal knowledge and endogenous knowledge

The need to preserve each people’s identity and singularity doesn’t exclude the need for communication and exchange with the rest of the world. If, in every corner of the globe, we succeed in blending harmoniously a certain quantity of universal knowledge and a certain quantity of endogenous knowledge, this education enables humans to take root in their local cultures and also to become part of an international culture.

Maybe it’s a dream, but it would be good to remember the greatest projects of humanity were, for a long time, dreams. Let us recall the wise words of Brazilian Don Helder Camara: When you dream alone, it’s just a dream; but when several people have the same dream, it’s already the beginning of reality.

In my part of the world, Africa, the situation is sadly only too well-known. Who has described it better than the author of “Educate or Perish”, the late Professor Ki-Zerbo (Burkina Faso), with his highlighting of what prevails on our continent: a culturally integrating education, which for decades has not respected the right of millions of pupils to have an identity; education that impoverishes, too, because it is disconnected from production; and finally a socially violent education, because it fosters the social exclusion of the less-privileged, who are handicapped by the preceding anomalies.

We need a school that is attached to society, not torn from it. A school that would give real actors back to society, and not victims of the cognitive violence represented by the repression of the mother language.

I am convinced that if we want to achieve education that is fairer in Africa, we must develop a multilingual education based on the mother language, an education in the African languages of the learner, in partnership with the European and international languages serving today as official languages in the greater majority of African states; an education that builds bridges between early schooling in the formal sector and literacy training for those who are past the age of starting school.

---

Education and culture are indivisible

Most African countries continue to endure an unacceptable situation: as soon as they start school, children start learning in a language they don’t speak at home. Introducing African languages in the African school systems – as a vector of learning and as a subject of study – is one of the goals of the African Academy of Languages, which I head. We decided to undertake a genuine rehabilitation process for education at continent level, by reestablishing the link between education and culture and by including our languages and our history in school curricula. It’s what I call the reestablishment of the African educational system, characterized by three essential principles, like the three stones of the African hearth: rebuilding cultural identity of the learner by taking as a base the simultaneous use of the mother language and the official language; linking school to life, by restructuring curricula and promoting professional training, entrepreneurship and active educational methods; and promoting a dynamic of partnership around and for the benefit of the school, allowing the entire educational community to contribute to a school project in which participants can recognize themselves.

Taking African languages into account as working languages in all domains of public life must start at school, the best place for building know-how and developing knowledge, before it takes its place in other social spheres. Africa is the only continent in the world where, in most countries, the person on trial doesn’t have access to justice in his or her mother language, and still has to rely on an interpretation system inherited from the colonial period. Let us remember the indignation of Mahatma Gandhi, who as a lawyer in court was obliged to express himself in English while an interpreter translated his words into his own mother language. “Isn’t this ridiculous,” he would say. “Isn’t it a sign of slavery? Must I blame the English or myself?”

Africa has decided to change the situation by creating the African Academy of Languages. It’s a continental structure concerned with all language issues, which makes it unique in the world. It aims to set up a real partnership in Africa between what I would call “Africanophony” – the condition of speaking one or several African languages – and other linguistic spheres: English-speaking, French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking etc, with a view to intercultural civic education. In this way, the African Academy of Languages represents one of the major catalysts for the ongoing African cultural Renaissance.

This article is taken from Adama Samassekou’s talk at the session of “21st Century Dialogues” held at UNESCO on 13 September 2007 on the topic “How to make education fairer?”

Adama Samassekou, President of the African Academy of Languages, former Minister of Education of Mali (1993-2000)

South Africa: Language issues and challenges

Seen on the language policy email list

Speaking notes, Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor MP, at the Language Policy Implementation in Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs) Conference,
University of South Africa, Pretoria
5 October 2006

“Language issues and challenges”

Professor Neo Mathabe
Professor Chris Swanepoel
Professor Finlayson
Members of UNISA Council
Conference participants

Universities are leading agents of social enquiry and usually leaders in the creation of new ideas and solutions. I hope that this conference will assist in the development of a reasoned and balanced deliberation on the role and place all languages should have in education, and in the social progress of South Africa.

Our constitution asserts that all our languages have equal status. But in recognition of the marginalisation of indigenous languages in our past, “the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages.”

Regarding language in education, the Constitution states that, “everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable” (Section 29(2) of the Constitution). Further, it indicates that the exercise of language choices in education should not be in conflict with considerations of equity and redress within the context of our shared values and aspirations as a nation. The Department of Education has published policy to give effect to these provisions of the Constitution. The Language in Education Policy (1997) and the Language Policy for Higher Education (2002) were designed to promote multilingualism in the education sector. Their aim is to ensure that all South African languages are “developed to their full capacity while at the same time ensuring that the existing languages of instruction (English and
Afrikaans) do not serve as a barrier to access and success.”

The published policy encourages the development of indigenous African languages as mediums of instruction in the higher education system, alongside English and Afrikaans. In 2003, the Ministry appointed a Ministerial Committee, chaired by Professor Njabulo Ndebele, to provide advice for the development and use of African indigenous languages as mediums of instructions in higher education. The committee report made a startling but not surprising finding that the future of African languages as mediums of instruction is bleak if nothing is done immediately. It recommended development of a “well co-ordinated, long-range national plan that would work at national, provincial and local levels to provide adequate resources and support for indigenous African languages.”

Certainly, the success of such a plan would require systemic under-girding by the entire schooling system and the enhanced public and social use of indigenous African languages in the daily lives of South Africans. The committee also recommended that each tertiary institution in South Africa should identify an indigenous African language of choice for initial development as medium of instruction.
Where the language of choice is a particular regionally dominant language, Higher Education Institutions in that region should utilise a regional approach.

I am pleased that a number of universities have responded positively to the language policy for higher education and some of the recommendations made by the Ministerial Committee and have developed and revised their institutional language policies to align them with the national policy. I continue to engage with stakeholders and role-players on language issues, so as to seek ways of finding a better and more effective implementation of our language policy.

On 31 July this year the Department of Education hosted a language colloquium in Cape Town. At the colloquium concern was expressed over the slow implementation of language policy and over a variety of barriers to its implementation. There was consensus that the current school language policy (1997) should be retained and that measures should be taken to ensure its implementation. Two messages, which came out loud and clear from the various inputs, were the following:

* that the Department of Education needs to encourage mother-tongue education for at least six-years
* that higher education needs to play an active role in developing and promoting the learning and teaching of indigenous languages.

As a result of the colloquium, the department undertook to develop a plan to implement the language policy. The plan will focus on the following areas of intervention:

(a) A national six-year mother tongue education programme aimed at using learners’ home languages as mediums of instruction in the foundation and intermediate phase. In this regard, the programme will make a distinction between schools serving uni-lingual and multi-lingual learner populations.

(b) A national general and further education second language programme.

(c) A national indigenous language learning programme that will focus on the compulsory achievement of communicative competence in an indigenous language by all learners. This will also incorporate the role of provinces in developing and promoting the learning of languages that are official in those provinces.

(d) A national programme to make available to learners all external assessment tools in the national Senior Certificate and later in grade
9 and systemic evaluation at grades 3 and 6 in indigenous languages.

The aim of this component of the implementation plan is to assist learners who are currently learning in a second language to understand the assessment instruments better.

(e) A national programme to revitalise the teaching and learning of indigenous languages in higher education institutions. This will focus on supporting the learning of the languages in all undergraduate programmes and also in teacher-education programmes.

(f) Launching a vigorous information and advocacy aimed at assisting parents and learners to make informed language decisions.

(g) The development of capacity at all levels of the system to implement all aspects of the language in education policy. This requires a focus on the development of the language support services of school district teams and the provision of support for school management teams and school governing bodies to implement the language in education policy.

With respect to the higher education sector, the language policy for higher education will guide activities in this area. A number of initiatives have been taken and are being planned to realise the objectives of the policy.

As part of our initiative to promote multilingualism in higher education, the Department of Education supports a number of pilot projects under the South African-Norway Tertiary Education Development programme. The focus of the pilot project is promoting multilingual proficiency for academic staff and students registered in service disciplines such as social work, law, nursing, medicine and other health sciences. Support is also provided for academic tutorials conducted in indigenous languages.

We are aware that these interventions are not enough to address the huge challenges that we face. However, we believe that they make a valuable contribution that higher education institutions can build on and consolidate to ensure that we create an environment where multilingualism will become a reality, not in the residences alone but in the lecture halls as well.

Indeed, the future of South African languages as areas of academic study and research is a matter of pressing concern for all of us. The role of language and access to language skills is critical to enabling individuals to realise their full potential to participate in and contribute to the social, cultural and intellectual life of the South African society.

I hope that by the end of this conference you will be able to make some suggestions as to how we can move faster towards creating and consolidating a multilingual environment in our higher education institutions.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Education
5 October 2006

Namibia:Language policy in schools

An article seen on All Africa.com

The Education Corner

New Era (Windhoek)
NEWS
24 September 2007
Posted to the web 24 September 2007

By Toivo Mvula

The Language Policy was developed to guide Namibian schools on how national languages should be taught in schools, to promote the cultural identity of learners through the use of their mother tongue as a medium of instruction in Grades 1-3 and to ensure that English is taught as the medium of instruction from Grade 4 and upwards.

What does the Language Policy state?

The Language Policy states that schools should teach learners in Grade One to Grade Three in their mother-tongue. Grade Four is to be regarded as a transitional year where schools start to switch from mother tongue as a medium of instruction to English as a medium of instruction.

What does this mean?

This means that, as from Grade Four, the mother-tongue becomes a subject and learners will be taught in English; i.e. other subjects will be taught in English.

Is the policy being fully implemented?

No. Although the policy states that learners should be taught in their mother tongue from Grade 1 to Grade 3, this has not happened and is not being done all over the country. Many schools also do not offer Namibian indigenous languages as subjects from Grade 4 until Grade 12.

Why is a mother tongue important?

Research has shown that being taught in one’s mother tongue at an early age helps you to make sense of what you are being taught in order to help you to conceptualise better and acquire writing and reading skills which are best acquired in the early years of schooling.

Teaching mother tongue in schools also helps to promote the language and cultural identity of learners.

What about English?

English is the official language of Namibia. The Language Policy states that English should be compulsory from Grade One to Grade Twelve.

- From Grade 1 - 3 = as a subject.

- From Grade 4 - 12 = as a subject and as the medium of instruction.

The Policy also states that, ideally, learners should study at least two languages as subjects from Grade 1 to Grade 12 and one of them must be English.

- The Education Column is a column that was created by the Ministry of Education to highlight educational issues that are of concern to its stakeholders (learners, students, parents, teachers, development partners, unions, and the private and public sector). For more information, contact the Public Relations Office at Tel: 061-2933358 or 2933366.

Uganda: Kiswahili now a compulsory subject in school

Seen on AllAfrica.com

Uganda: Kiswahili now a compulsory subject in school

Article from All Africa.com

Can Uganda Ably Make Kiswahili Popular?

New Vision (Kampala)
28 August 2007
Posted to the web 29 August 2007

By Irene Nabusoba
Kampala

THE Government recently endorsed Kiswahili as the national language and a compulsory subject from Primary Four to secondary level, the latter starting with this year’s inaugural Universal Secondary School batch. However, there are only two teachers’ colleges out of the 40 institutions, which can produce Kiswahili teachers. It is only Gaba Primary Teachers’ College (PTC), which has done it for the last three years and Kabale PTC. The other was Kakoba Teachers’ Training College, which was training secondary Kiswahili teachers, but has been converted into a university.

The introduction of Kiswahili is now more imminent with the rejuvenation of the East African Community (EAC). Even Members of Parliament are undergoing urgent training in the language. Aggrey Kibenge, the principal assistant secretary and public relations officer in the Ministry of Education, says the question of an official and national language has been debated for a long time, but ‘the potential of Kiswahili to promote the desired national unity, patriotism and pan-africanism is far greater than that of any other Ugandan language.’

“Learning Kiswahili will promote tourism, communication with other countries and enhance Uganda’s participation in affairs concerning this region,” Kibenge, who is also the ministry’s EAC desk officer, says. Kiswahili is spoken and used by a fairly large proportion of people in Africa. It is also internationally recognised and used for broadcast news and recreation/education by international broadcasting agencies.

What is the origin of Kiswahili anyway?

An internet site, www.glcom.com says Kiswahili is a Bantu-based conglomerate of African languages with some borrowed words from other foreign languages like Arabic. It was introduced by Arabs and Persians who moved to the East African coast, and absorbed vocabulary from the various native languages. For long, Kiswahili remained limited to the people of the East African coast, but spread to the interior of Tanzania and Kenya through trade and migration. It was the colonial administrators who pioneered the effort of standardising the Kiswahili language.

During Amin’s rule, Kiswahili was declared the national language of Uganda, but the declaration has never been seriously observed nor repealed by the successive governments.

How ready are we for Swahili?

The 1992 Government White Paper on the education policy review recommended that Kiswahili be integrated in Uganda’s education system starting from P.5. However, Kibenge says Kiswahili will be gradually introduced in P.4 and shall be examinable in the Primary Leaving Examinations. He says the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) at Kyambogo has been charged with the responsibility to develop the curriculum and other study materials.

Francis Kaleeba, NCDC’s curriculum specialist, says: “A few curriculum materials like the P.4 syllabus, teachers’ guide and learners’ books have been developed, but there is still a lot to be desired. There is a government fund to facilitate schools to buy such books, but there is none for Kiswahili yet. “Besides, we are short of teachers. Kyambogo University is training teachers in batches of 35. The course takes two years and we shall be disseminating our first batch this year. These will help top up the ’scanty’ ones already in the field,” Kaleeba says. He adds: “The plan is to train both pre-service and in-service teachers. Hopefully, with time, at least each teachers’ college will have one Kiswahili instructor.”

With Kyambogo University and the other PTCs producing just about 100 teachers a year, it will take Uganda over a century to train enough Kiswahili teachers to cover the 13,000 primary schools. Kibenge says: “We are still on the drawing board. We must be sure that we have teachers in each school first. We are also considering recruiting specialists from Tanzania and Kenya to assist in training teachers and preparing instructional materials, besides sending batches of teachers to these countries for training. But there is a challenge in remuneration and resettlement which we have to address,” Kibenge says.

He says the sectoral council at the EAC secretariat is considering an East African Kiswahili council so that member states can be assisted to promote the use of the language, although they are asked to promote local and other languages as well. “For starters, we shall introduce Kiswahili as a subject in selected primary schools and progressively extend it to more, according to increased availability of teachers and instructional materials,” Kibenge says.

Way forward

Aggrey Kaggwa, the Director Kampala Institute of Languages at the National Theatre, says: “The Government should launch vigorous public education programmes to popularise and promote Kiswahili; mobilise the support of the Church, other religious bodies and social organisations. Let adult and post-literacy programmes progressively use Kiswahili as the main mode of instruction,” Kaggwa advises. “My major concern is to sensitise the public about the need to embrace Kiswahili. It may be misinterpreted that the Government is imposing it on the people,” he says.

Rev Dr Manuel Muranga, the director Makerere University Institute of Languages, also cautions that Kiswahili should not be ‘imposed’ to the detriment of our local languages. “We still need our identity. Kiswahili should actually be introduced in P.5 as earlier recommended. Let us use the first four years to consolidate mother tongues; English and Kiswahili can then be introduced,” Muranga says. He hails the ministry policy, saying Swahili will especially help promote amity between civilians and security forces, the latter who are already accustomed to the language. Besides, it will enable job mobility in the region.”

http://allafrica.com/stories/200708290171.html