Voices of ignorance versus voices of knowledge: Debates on English as medium of instruction in Malawian primary schools

Abstract

In 2014, the Government of Malawi announced a new policy under which English would become the medium of instruction from the beginning of primary school. Previously, Chichewa or a relevant local language of wider communication were used as mediums of instruction. Using the notion of “voice” to analyze the new language policy, the paper distinguishes voices from above (government) and voices from below (the people). Embedded within each of the two voices are what can be called “voices of knowledge” and “voices of ignorance”. The paper argues that the new language policy is a deeply retrogressive step, one which reveals how in Africa, myths of English as the language of opportunity and internationalization prevail over voices of knowledge that are based on the conditions of effective learning in multilingual contexts.