Abstract
This chapter examines the language of education policy situation in Africa focusing on the tensions created by the imposition of English and the other ex-colonial languages as the favored languages of education. It presents examples drawn from different African countries that show the negative consequences of imposing a monolingual ‘English only’ language policy of education in multilingual and multicultural Africa. It argues for a ‘multilingual option,’ an alternative approach for language and education in Africa, that explores the optimal conditions for promoting meaningful educational development in both the indigenous languages as well as in English, in their roles as the nations’ first and second languages respectively.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abdulaziz, M. H. (1971). Tanzania’s national language policy and the rise of Swahili political culture. In W. H. Whiteley (Ed.), Language use and social change (pp. 160–178). London: Oxford University Press.
Alexander, P. (1972). An introduction to languages and language in Africa. London: Heinemann.
Alexander, N. (2000). English unassailable but unattainable: The dilemma of language policy in South African education. PRAESA Occasional Papers No.3. Cape Town: PRAESA.
Ansre, G. (1978). The use of indigenous languages in education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Presuppositions, lessons, and prospects. In J. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown round table on language and linguistics (pp. 285–301). Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
Bamgbose, A. (1991). Language and the nation: The language question in Sub-Saharan Africa. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Bokamba, E. G. (1995). The politics of language planning in Africa: Critical choices for the 21st century. In M. Pütz (Ed.), Discrimination through language in Africa?: Perspectives on the Namibian experience (pp. 11–27). Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Brock-Utne, B. (2000). Whose education for all?: The recolonialization of the African mind. New York & London: Falmer Press.
Criper, C., & Dodd, N. (1984). Report on the teaching of English language and its use as a medium in education in Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: The British Council.
Cummins, J. (1996). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society. Ontario, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Dirven, R. (1993). The use of languages and language policies in Africa: Goals of the LiCCA program. International Journal of Sociology of Language, 100/101, 179–189.
Dirven, R., & Webb, V. N. (1992). The LiCCA research and development programme. Universities of Duisburg and Pretoria.
Fafunwa, A. B. (27–30 November 1990). Using national languages in education: A challenge to African educators. In UNESCO-UNICEF, African thoughts on the prospects of education for all (pp. 97–110). Selections from papers commissioned for the Regional Consultation on Education for All. Dakar.
Fairclough, N. (Ed.). (1992). Critical language awareness. Harlow: Longman.
Fardon, R., & Furniss, G. (Eds.). (1994). African languages, development and the state. London: Routledge.
Heine, B. (1992). Language, language policy and national unity in Africa: An overview. In B. Harlech-Jones (Ed.), Language and National Unity [Special Issue], 21–32.
Heugh, K. (1992). Enshrining elitism: The English connection. In K. Heugh (Ed.), After apartheid: Dealing with diversity. Language Projects Review, Vol. 7(3), 2–4.
Höjlund, G., Mtana, N., & Mhando, E. (Eds.). (2001). Practices and possibilities in teacher education in Africa: Perspectives from Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Culture.
Kashoki, M. E. (1990). The factor of language in Zambia. Lusaka: Kenneth Kaunda Foundation.
Kenya Education Commission. (1965). Kenya Education Commission Report: Part 1. Para. 171. Nairobi. Languages and Education in the Mother Tongue. The EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Reports, Eritrea. Retrieved from February 2002, from http://www2unesco.org/org/countryreports/rapport.
Mansour, G. (1993). Multilingualism and nation building. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Mateene, K. (1985). Failure in the obligatory use of European languages in Africa and the advantages of a policy of linguistic independence, Osnabrücker Beiträge zur Sprachtheorie [Osnabrücker Journal on Linguistic Theory]. Osnabrück: OBST, 41–73.
Mazrui, Alamin. (1997). The world bank, the language question, and the future of African education. Race & Class. A Journal for Black and Third World Liberation, 38(3), 35–49.
Mohammed, S. O. (2001, September). The role of languages for promoting education for all for learning to live together. Paper presented at the Forty-Sixth Session of the International Conference on Education, Geneva, 5–8 September, 2001. Retrieved February 2001 from, http://www.ibe.unesco.org/International/ICE/ministers/eritrea.htm.
Obondo, M. A. (1994). The medium of instruction and bilingual education in Africa: An appraisal of problems, practices and prospects. In I. Ahlgren & K. Hyltenstam (Eds.), Bilingualism in deaf education (pp. 274–295). Hamburg: Signum Verl.
Obondo, M. A. (1996). From trilinguals to bilinguals? A study of the social and linguistic consequences of language shift on a group of urban Luo children in Kenya, Unublished Ph.D. Thesis, Centre for Research on Bilingualism, Stockholm University.
Obondo, M. A. (1997). Bilingual education in Africa: An overview. In J. Cummins & D. Corson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Language and Education, Vol. 5 (pp. 25–31). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academy Publishers.
Obondo, M. A. (2001). Bilingual learners second and academic language development: Insights from education of immigrant minority children. In G. Höjlund, N. Mtana, & E. Mhando (Eds.), Practices and possibilities in teacher education in Africa: Perspectives from Tanzania (pp. 284–311). Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Culture.
Othman-Yahya, S. (1990). When international languages clash: The possible detrimental effects on development of the conflict between English and Kiswahili in Tanzania. In C. M. Rubagumya (Ed.), Language and education in Africa (pp. 42–53). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pütz, M. (1995). Language and colonialism in Africa — Introduction. In M. Pütz (Ed.), Discrimination through language in Africa?: Perspectives on the Namibian experience (pp. 1–8). Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Ridge, S. G. M. (1999). Language education policy: Africa. In B. Spolsky (Ed.), Concise encyclopedia of educational linguistics (pp. 101–106). Oxford: Elsevier.
Rubagumya, C. (Ed.). (1990). Language in education in Africa: A Tanzanian perspective. Clevedon, Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.
Rubagumya, C. (2001). The language of teaching and learning in Tanzania: Implications for teacher education. In G. Höjlund, N. Mtana, & E. Mhando (Eds.), Practices and possibilities in teacher education in Africa: Perspectives from Tanzania (pp. 241–254). Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Culture.
Ruhlen, M. (1991). A guide to the world’s languages: Vol. 1. London: Edward Arnold.
Scotton, C. (1993). Elite closure as a powerful strategy: The African case. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 103, 149–163.
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1988). Multilingualism and the education of minority children. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas & J. Cummins (Eds.), Minority education: From shame to struggle (pp. 9–44). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Spencer, J. (1985). Language and development in Africa: The unequal equation. In W. Wolfson & J. Manes (Eds.), Language of inequality (pp. 387–397). The Hague: Mouton.
Sure, K. (1997, September). Language development and integration in Kenya since independence: The breaking borders. Paper presented at the African-Hispanic Encounters Conference. Durban.
Tadajeu, M. (1995). National language education programme in Cameroon. Yoande, Cameroon: Department of African Languages and Linguistics (DALL).
Thomas, W. P., & Collier, V. P. (1997). School effectiveness for language minority students. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.
Tollefson, J. (Ed.). (1995). Power and inequality in language education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vesely, R. (2000). Multilingual environments for survival: The impact of English on Xhosa-speaking students in Cape Town. PRAESA Occasional Papers, No. 5. Cape Town: PRAESA.
Vukela, V.H. (1994, September). The complexities of using English as a medium of instruction in South African “black” schools. Paper presented at IVth International Conference on Law and Languages, Fribourg, Switzerland.
Webb, V. (1998). Multilingualism as a developmental resource: Framework for a research program. Multilingua, 17(2/3), 125–154. Berlin: Walter de Guyter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Obondo, M.A. (2007). Tensions Between English and Mother Tongue Teaching in Post-Colonial Africa. In: Cummins, J., Davison, C. (eds) International Handbook of English Language Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 15. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-46301-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-46301-8_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-46300-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-46301-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)