Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa - Highlights from a Project

Brock‐Utne, Birgit; Desai, Zubeida; Qorro, Martha; Pitman, Allan

doi:10.1163/9789460912221

Cited by 33 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Consistent with our second assumption, other analysts have conjectured that one of the potentially important reasons for the poor educational outcomes observed on the African continent is not just the fact that the language of instruction is very distant from the native language of the students, but the fact that their exposure to this language remains virtually absent outside the classroom (Brock-Utne 2002; Dutcher 2003). Unrelated directly to education, but still related to the notion of exposure, Lazear (1999) shows that the likelihood that an immigrant will learn English is inversely related to the proportion of the local population that speaks his or her native language.…”

Section: Micro Evidence For the Theoretical Framework—the Exposure Chsupporting

confidence: 74%

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Language Policy and Human Development

Laitin

Ramachandran

2016

Am Polit Sci Rev

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This article explores how language policy affects the socioeconomic development of nation states through two channels: the individual’s exposure to and (in reference to an individual’s mother tongue) linguistic distance from the official language. In a cross-country framework the article first establishes a robust and sizeable negative relationship between an official language that is distant from the local indigenous languages and proxies for human capital and health. To establish this relationship as causal, we instrument language choice with a measure of geographic distance from the origins of writing. Next, using individual level data from India and a set of 11 African countries, we provide microempirical support on the two channels—distance from and exposure to the official language—and their implications for educational, health, occupational and wealth outcomes. Finally, we suggest policy implications based on our findings.

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Section: Micro Evidence For the Theoretical Framework—the Exposure Chsupporting

confidence: 74%

“… 3 This second channel is especially relevant to Africa. While teachers in Africa rely on code switching (see Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2003) between official and local languages to better communicate with students, it works against passing national examinations and qualifying for high status jobs. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Language Policy and Human Development

Laitin

Ramachandran

2016

Am Polit Sci Rev

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“…It is an indication that English is recapturing the domain it had lost to Kiswahili in Tanzania in 1969. Interestingly, this is happening amidst strong advocacy for Kiswahili as the medium of education in secondary and higher education in Tanzania (see Mbunda & David, 1980; Rubagumya & Lwaitama, 1990; Roy-Campbell & Qorro, 1997; Brock-Utne et al ., 2004; Sigcau, 2004; Birgit-Utne, 2007).…”

Section: Where and Why Has English Revitalized Its Status In Tanzaniamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The children of parents from low-income families in Tanzania often attend public secondary schools, well known for their poor facilities and learning environment. As a result, many graduates from all levels of public education and training in Tanzania do not have sufficient mastery of English upon their graduation (Mbunda & David, 1980; Rubagumya & Lwaitama, 1990; Roy-Campbell & Qorro, 1997; Brock-Utne et al ., 2004; Sigcau, 2004; Birgit-Utne, 2007; Swila, 2009). On the contrary, the children of the upper class families in Tanzania attend private secondary schools, renowned for their good facilities and learning environment.…”

Section: The Re-emergence Of Social Classes and The Future Of Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

The revival of the status of English in Tanzania

Ochieng¹

2015

English Today

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Discussion about the official or national language in Tanzania is basically a discussion about Kiswahili and English. These two languages have been competing for official status in Tanzania since Tanganyika (Tanganyika refers to the Tanzania mainland before it united with Zanzibar in 1964) gained its independence from Britain in 1961 (Rubagumya, 1991; Schmied 1991: 195; Mulokozi, 2010). Yahya-Othman & Batibo (1996) describe the competition between English and Kiswahili in Tanzania as a swinging pendulum. In a certain period of time, the status of English rises, and in another period of time the status of Kiswahili rises, and vice versa.

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“…On the other hand, the pan-African localization initiative, with Internet localization for African language support and extension, online dictionary development, and other features, is high on the development agenda (Osborn, 2006). Other attempts are also being made to overcome the dearth of the use of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in the South African education system (Abel, 2001; Arua, 2001; Brock-Utne, Desai, & Qorro, 2004; Watson & Pienaar, 2007). The new national language and education policy prescribes mother-tongue instruction alongside other languages and English (up to sixth grade).…”

Section: Boys Like José: Conceiving Risk In a Globalized Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Youth, Risk, and Equity in a Global World

Hull

Zacher

Hibbert

2009

Review of Research in Education

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The uniformed girls sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor of a second-story classroom situated off the inner courtyard of a large private school in a north Indian city. There they studied, read, and wrote, the walls of their schoolroom lined with computers protected by cloth dust covers, its big ceiling fans scarcely disturbing the heavy heat of early March. On this afternoon, they bent over notebooks, writing in fits and starts, stopping to whisper and laugh with each other, then returning to the task at hand, which was a summary of their initial thoughts of what to share about themselves as well as what they would like to ask of youth in the United States and South Africa. "How do boys treat girls there?" one young woman ventured. "What subjects do students study in school?" queried another. They wrote notes and questions in Davangari script, and they chatted with each other and their teacher in Hindi, but they spoke and wrote passably, if haltingly, in English when prompted to interact with their American visitors. These adolescent girls were preparing to participate in an international exchange project with youth in other countries, in effect a multimedia pen pal activity, made prescient and possible by the social networking capabilities of our digital age and our global world (Hull & Nelson, in press).This scene will strike some readers as commonplace, as unremarkable perhaps, one that is daily duplicated, albeit with local variation, in schools, cities, and countries around the world. And, so it is: Young people attend school, read and write,

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Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa - Highlights from a Project

Cited by 33 publications

References 3 publications

Language Policy and Human Development

Language Policy and Human Development

The revival of the status of English in Tanzania

Youth, Risk, and Equity in a Global World

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