A three-tier citizenship: Can the state in Tanzania guarantee linguistic human rights?

Language-in-education policy in low-income, postcolonial contexts: towards a social justice approach

“…For many parents, education in English or another global language is synonymous with quality (Trudell 2007). This is evidenced by the prevalence of low-fee private schools in many low-income countries in which the medium of instruction is English (Ashley et al 2014;Rubagumya et al 2011;Rubagumya 2003). The perception of parents is often fuelled by the observation that the children of middle class, urban elites almost invariably send their children to schools in which a global language is the medium of instruction.…”

“…For example, Freeland (2013), in her discussion of the rights based language-ineducation policies adopted by the Nicaraguan government and aimed at indigenous groups in the Caribbean Coast Region whilst well-meaning, failed to address the complex linguistic needs and identities of these diverse groups exposing a disjuncture between indigenous and official interpretations of language rights and indeed of language itself. As several commentators writing broadly within a rights based framework have acknowledged, strong advocacy for language rights also needs to be accompanied by informed public dialogue on language and education policy if it seeks to engage with and transform rather than to appear simply dismissive of entrenched attitudes, for instance with respect to the use of mother tongue versus a global language in the early years of schooling (Tollefson 2013;Rubagumya et al 2011;Alidou et al 2006).…”

Learner-centred education and ‘cultural translation’

“…(Morley et al, 2009: 62) It is also possible that, as a mainly city-based private sector expands, the multi-lingual character of countries in sub-Saharan Africa will serve to exacerbate forms of social polarisation, particularly between urban and rural settings. For example, Rubagumya et al (2011) have suggested that access to English and the indigenous Tanzanian lingua franca, Kiswahili, are the defining features in a three-tiered hierarchy of citizenship which results in the disempowerment of 'semi-citizens' who speak only ethnic community languages. The political system promotes English as a ''gate-keeping mechanism that will allow the elite to reproduce itself'' (pp.…”

Rethinking teacher preparation and professional development in Africa: an analysis of the curriculum of teacher education in the teaching of early reading and mathematics

“…Even where the language of instruction is a national language such as Kiswahili in Tanzania and Kenya, many children have a different first language. Some research claims that six to eight years of learning in a first language are needed for the full linguistic and cognitive benefits which may be transferred to L2 to accrue (Rubagumya et al 2011). Significantly, findings from the Early Grade Reading Assessments in Uganda found that even a low level of oral reading fluency in a first language can be linked to comprehension (Piper 2010, 4).…”