Education for all - in whose language?

Abstract

In the rst part of this article the question of the language of instruction is seen in relation to questions of poverty, power and partnership. In the second part the fate of the African languages in some selected countries is given a closer look. Two distinct trends are noted, one strengthening the dominant languages which, in the context of Africa, means the former colonial languages and one focusing on a growing concern for a preservation and revival of African languages as languages of instruction in at least the primary schools in Africa. The battle between these two trends is discussed. The article builds partly on discussions the author has had with policy-makers in African countries.

Language ideologies and epistemic exclusion

“…English-only instruction and monoglossic language policies have yielded relatively lower educational achievement for rural students, in part because they rarely have an opportunity to use English outside of the classroom (Brock-Utne 2001;Muthwii 2004). Studies in several multilingual settings have shown similar deficit ideologies towards multilingual learners and their home languages (see, for example, Heller 1999;Lin 1996;Makoe and McKinney 2014;McKinney et al 2015;Smith 2001).…”

Tanzania’s Language of Instruction Policy Dilemma: Is there a Solution?

“…Plans existed to have Kiswahili as the language of instruction in secondary school and the universities (Brock-Utne, 2002). A detailed historical narration of the language policy of Tanzanian education is well illustrated in previous literature (Brock-Utne, 1993;2000:2001a2001b).…”

English as a Global Language in China

“…On the one hand, there are confi dent assertions that the global spread of English is natural, neutral and benefi cial (Brutt-Griffl er 2002 ;Crystal 1997b ;Graddol 2006 ) while on the other hand are claims that it is detrimental in that it brings about social stratifi cation, exclusion and new problems associated with education, literacy and language rights (Bamgbose 2000 ;Brock-Utne 2001 ;Phillipson 1992 ;Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas 1996 ;Skutnabb-Kangas 2000 ;Skutnabb-Kangas and Phillipson 1995 ). These established groups of views refl ect scholars' different approaches to the study of language ideologies.…”

“…They view the linguistic phenomenon as 'natural, neutral and benefi cial'. Still others allege its detrimental effects of global English, especially in the context of Outer Circle countries, where English is largely acquired through formal education (Bamgbose 2000 ;Brock-Utne 2001 ). They assert that English brings about social stratifi cation, exclusion and problems associated with education, literacy and language rights.…”