People in many African communities live within a series of concentric circles when it comes to language. In a small group, a speaker uses an often unwritten and endangered mother tongue that is rarely used in school. A national indigenous language—written, widespread, sometimes used in school—surrounds it. An international language like French or English, a vestige of colonialism, carries prestige, is used in higher education, and promises mobility—and yet it will not be well known by its users.
The essays in Languages in Africa explore the layers of African multilingualism as they affect language policy and education. Through case studies ranging across the continent, the contributors consider multilingualism in the classroom as well as in domains ranging from music and film to politics and figurative language. The contributors report on the widespread devaluing and even death of indigenous languages. They also investigate how poor teacher training leads to language-related failures in education. At the same time, they demonstrate that education in a mother tongue can work, linguists can use their expertise to provoke changes in language policies, and linguistic creativity thrives in these multilingual communities.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Layers of Language—Some Bad News and Some Good News on Multilingualism, Language Policy, and Education in Africa
1 Early Reading Success in Africa: The Language Factor
Elizabeth C. Zsiga, One Tlale Boyer, and Ruther Kramer
2 Multilingualism as a Sociolinguistic Phenomenon: Evidence from Africa
Eyamba G. Bokamba
3 Classroom Discourse in Bilingual and Multilingual Kenyan Primary Schools
Lydiah Kananu Kiramba
4 Investigating Teacher Effects in Mother-Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Programs
Stephen L. Walter
5 Ghana's Complementary Education Program
Kingsley Arkorful
6 Language Contact and Language Attitudes in Two Dagara-Speaking Border Communities in Burkina Faso and Ghana
Richard Beyogle
7 Language and Education Policy in Botswana: The Case of Sebirwa
One Tlale Boyer and Elizabeth Zsiga
8 Ethnic Language Shift among the Nao People of Ethiopia
Samson Seid
9 The Role of Language and Culture in Ethnic Identity Maintenance: The Case of the Gujarati Community in South Africa
Sheena Shah
10 "The Palm Oil with Which Words Are Eaten": Proverbs from Cameroon's Endangered Indigenous Languages
Eyovi Njwe
11 The Linguistic "Glocal" in Nigeria's Urban Popular Music
Tolulope Odebunmi
12 Language Use in Advertisements as a Reflection of Speakers' Language Habits
Leonard Muaka
13 The Persuasive Nature of Metaphors in Kenya's Political Discourse
Leonard Muaka
14 African Languages on Film: Visualizations of Pathologized Polyglossia
Anjali Pandey
Contributors
Index
Reviews
"The volume offers a major contribution to multilingualism scholarship and opens up unexplored dimensions of the phenomenon. It provides fresh insight into the sociolinguistics of multilingualism by bringing together a wide range of case studies, especially those on languages whose critical status has not been reported before. Its coverage is enhanced by contributions from scholars that work both within and outside Africa. It will interest a wide range of readers, including African linguists, language educators, policy makers, and graduate students interested in multilingualism research."—African Studies Quarterly
Contributors
Carolyn Temple Adger Imen Aribi Kingsley Arkorful Richard Beyogle One Tlale Boyer Lydiah Kananu Kiramba Ruth Kramer Leonard Muaka Eyvoi Njwe Tolulope Odebunmi Anjali Pandey Samson Seid Sheena Shah Barbara Trudell Stephen L. Walter Elizabeth C. Zsiga
About the Author
Elizabeth C. Zsiga is a professor in the linguistics department at Georgetown University.
One Tlale Boyer is a postdoctoral research associate in the linguistics department at Georgetown University.
Ruth Kramer is an assistant professor in the linguistics department at Georgetown University.
