Languages and Education in Africa a Comparative and Transdisciplinary Analysis

The theme of this book cuts across disciplines. Contributors to this volume are specialized in education and especially classroom research as well as in linguistics, most being transdisciplinary themselves. Around 65 sub-Saharan languages figure in this volume as research objects: as means of instruction, in connection with teacher training, language policy, lexical development, harmonization efforts, information technology, oral literature and deaf communities. The co-existence of these African languages with English, French and Arabic is examined as well. This wide range of languages and subjects builds on recent field work, giving new empirical evidence from 17 countries: Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as to transnational matters like the harmonization of African transborder languages. As the Editors--a Norwegian social scientist and a Norwegian linguist, both working in Africa---have wanted to give room for African voices, the majority of contributions to this volume come from Africa. Following a Foreword (Ayo Bamgbose), Series Editor's Preface (Michael Crossley), and Introduction (Ingse Skattum and Birgit Brock-Utne), the book is divided into four parts. Part 1, General Considerations on Language and Education, includes: Parents' and Policy Makers' Insistence on Foreign Languages as Media of Education in Africa: Restricting Access to Quality Education--For Whose Benefit? (Martha A.S. Qorro); Mother-Tongue Education in Africa for Emancipation and Development: Towards the intellectualisation of African Languages (Kwesi Kwaa Prah); Promoting Multilingual and Multicultural Education in Francophone Africa: Challenges and Perspectives (Hassana Alidou); and Assumptions and Aspirations Regarding African Languages in South African Higher Education: A Sociolinguistic Appraisal (Rajend Mesthrie.) Part 2, Language as a Means of Instruction and as a Subject in Formal Education, includes: L'Utilisation des Langues Nationales dans le Systeme Educatif Malien: Historique, Defies et Perspectives (Mamadou Lamine Traore); The Role of National Languages in Mali's Modernising Islamic Schools (Madrasa) (Tal Tamari); National Language Teaching as a Tool for Malagasy Learners' Integration into Globalisation (Irene Rabenoro); Implications of the Use of Mother Tongues versus English as Languages of Instruction for Academic Achievement in Ethiopia (Mekonnen Alemu Gebre Yohannes); Weaning Africa from Europe: Toward a Mother-Tongue Education Policy in Southern Africa (Silvester Ron Simango); The Training of Teachers of African Languages in Southern Africa with Special Reference to Botswana and Zambia (Lazarus M. Miti & Kemmonye C. Monaka); and Spare No Means: Battling with the English/Kiswahili Dlemma in Tanzanian Secondary School Classrooms (Halima Mohammed Mwinsheikhe.) Part 3, Language Standardisation and Harmonisation, includes: Language, Dialect and Region: The Handling of Language Herbert Chimhundu Variation in Shona Dictionaries (Herbert Chimhundu); Harmonisation of the Shona Varieties: Doke Revisited (Nhira Edgar Mberi); Adjectives in Shona (Nomalanga Mpofu); and From Standardisation to Harmonisation: A Survey of the Sociolinguistic and Political Conditions for the Creation of Nguni in Southern Africa (Samukele Hadebe.) Part 4, Beyond Formal Education, includes: La Communication Mediatisee par les Technologies de les Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication: La Porte d'Acces au Domaine de l'Escrit pour les Langues Africaines? (Kristin Vold Lexander); Comment les Langues se Melangent-elles a l'Ecrit? Pratiques Actuelles de deux Agriculteurs Passes par une Ecole Bilingue (Franco-Bambara) au Mali (Aissatou Mbodj-Pouye & Cecile Van Den Avenne); Towards an Enriched Beginning Reading Programme in Yoruba (Foluso O. Okebukola); and What is South African Sign Language? What is the South African Deaf Community? (Philemon Akach, Eline Demey, Emily Matabane, Mieke Van Herreweghe and Myriam Vermeerbergen.) Contributor information is included.

an: ED504796; source: Symposium Books; docTypes: Book; pubTypes: Book;