Languages in Africa: Multilingualism, Language Policy, and Education

220 Pages·2015·2.67 MB·English

by  Elizabeth C. Zsiga

Languages in Africa
Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics Series—Selected Titles
Discourse 2.0: Language and New Media
DEBORAH TANNEN AND ANNA MARIE TRESTER, EDITORS
Implicit and Explicit Language Learning: Conditions, Processes, and
Knowledge in SLA and Bilingualism
CRISTINA SANZ AND RONALD P. LEOW, EDITORS
Telling Stories: Language, Narrative, and Social Life
DEBORAH SCHIFFRIN, ANNA DE FINA, AND ANASTASIA NYLUND, EDITORS
Educating for Advanced Foreign Language Capacities: Constructs,
Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment
HEIDI BYRNES, HEATHER D. WEGER-GUNTHARP, AND KATHERINE A. SPRANG,
EDITORS
Language in Use: Cognitive and Discourse Perspectives on Language
and Language Learning
ANDREA E. TYLER, MARI TAKADA, YIYOUNG KIM, AND DIANA MARINOVA, EDITORS
Linguistics, Language, and the Professions: Education, Journalism,
Law, Medicine, and Technology
JAMES E. ALATIS, HEIDI E. HAMILTON, AND AI-HUI TAN, EDITORS
Measured Language: Quantitative Approaches to Acquisition,
Assessment, Processing, and Variation
JEFFREY CONNOR-LINTON, EDITOR
LANGUAGES IN AFRICA
Multilingualism, Language Policy,
and Education
Edited by Elizabeth C. Zsiga, One Tlale Boyer, and Ruth Kramer

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY PRESS
Washington, DC
© 2014 Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Cover design by James Keller ([email protected]).
Cover photograph courtesy of iStockphoto: Portrait of South African girls studying in a
rural classroom.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics
(2013 : Washington, D.C.)
Languages in Africa : multilingualism, language policy, and education / edited by
Elizabeth C. Zsiga, One Tlale Boyer, and Ruth Kramer.
pages cm.— (Georgetown University round table on languages and linguistics series)
“Contributors to this volume came together to discuss the problems and promise of
African multilingualism at a joint meeting of the Annual Conference on African Linguistics
and the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics in Washington,
D.C., in March 2013. As part of that joint conference, a workshop on language and
education in Africa was organized by Carolyn Adger of the Center for Applied Linguistics.
That workshop became the inspiration for this volume.”—Introduction.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62616-152-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-62616-153-5 (ebook)
1. Multilingualism—Africa.—Congresses.  2. Native language and education—
Africa—Congresses.  3. Language policy—Africa—Congresses.  4. African languages—
Social aspects—Congresses.  I. Zsiga, Elizabeth C.  II. Tlale Boyer, One.  III. Kramer,
Ruth (Ruth T.).  IV. Title.  V. Series: Georgetown University round table on languages
and linguistics series (2004).
P115.5.A35G46  2014
306.44'6096—dc23
2014014514
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American
National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
15 14 13      9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
First printing

Printed in the United States of America
Cover design by James Keller. Cover photo courtesy of iStockphoto: Portrait of South
African girls studying in a rural classroom.
We dedicate this volume, on the occasion of his retirement,
to our colleague and friend
Dr. James E. Alatis
Professor of Linguistics,
Dean Emeritus of the Georgetown University
School of Languages and Linguistics,
ardent supporter of the Georgetown University
Round Table on Languages and Linguistics,
prolific scholar and beloved teacher, and strong advocate
for the importance of bringing linguistic science to bear on
issues of education and language policy around the world.
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Contents
List of Figures and Tables ix
Introduction: Layers of Language—Some Bad News and Some
Good News on Multilingualism, Language Policy, and Education in Africa 1
Elizabeth C. Zsiga, One Tlale Boyer, and Ruth Kramer, Georgetown University
1 Early Reading Success in Africa: The Language Factor 12
Barbara Trudell, SIL Africa, and Carolyn Temple Adger, Center for
Applied Linguistics
2 Multilingualism as a Sociolinguistic Phenomenon: Evidence from Africa 21
Eyamba G. Bokamba, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
3 Classroom Discourse in Bilingual and Multilingual Kenyan
Primary Schools 49
Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
4 Investigating Teacher Effects in Mother-Tongue-Based Multilingual
Education Programs 59
Stephen L. Walter, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics
5 Ghana’s Complementary Education Program 71
Kingsley Arkorful, University of Sussex
6 Language Contact and Language Attitudes in Two Dagara-Speaking
Border Communities in Burkina Faso and Ghana 81
Richard Beyogle, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
7 Language and Education Policy in Botswana: The Case of Sebirwa 92
One Tlale Boyer and Elizabeth C. Zsiga, Georgetown University
8 Ethnic Language Shift among the Nao People of Ethiopia 102
Samson Seid, Dilla University
9 The Role of Language and Culture in Ethnic Identity Maintenance:
The Case of the Gujarati Community in South Africa 110
Sheena Shah, University of Cape T own
vii
viii Contents
10 “The Palm Oil with Which Words Are Eaten”:
Proverbs from Cameroon’s Endangered Indigenous Languages 118
Eyovi Njwe, University of Bamenda
11 The Linguistic “Glocal” in Nigeria’ s Urban Popular Music 127
Tolulope Odebunmi, University of Ibadan
12 Language Use in Adver tisements as a Reflection of Speakers’
Language Habits 137
Leonard Muaka, Winston-Salem University
13 The Persuasive Nature of Metaphors in Kenya’ s Political Discourse 158
Leonard Muaka, Winston-Salem University
14 African Languages on Film: V isualizations of Pathologized Polyglossia 171
Anjali Pandey, Salisbury University
Contributors 193
Index 195
Figures and Tables
Figures
4.1 Comprehension Levels of Two Texts of Varying Difficulty by
Teacher Trainees 63
4.2 Knowledge of English Vocabulary of Increasing Levels of
Difficulty by Teacher Trainees 64
4.3 Comparison of Grade 5 Students and Teacher Trainees by
Domain of Mathematics Knowledge and Skill 65
4.4 Measured Reductions in Educational Efficiency That Appear
to Be Due to Reduced Proficiency in the Language of Instruction 68
5.1 Lesson 1 of the School for Life’s Instructional Manual 74
6.1 “Dagara Should Be Given the Same Official Status as French in
Dagara Homelands” (Ouessa, Burkina Faso) 87
6.2 “Language Preference and Use as Medium of Instruction in
Dagara Homelands” (Ouessa, Burkina Faso) 87
6.3 “Dagara Should Be Given the Same Official Status as English in
Dagara Homelands” (Hamile, Ghana) 89
6.4 “Language Preference and Use as a Medium of Instruction in
Dagara Homelands” (Hamile, Ghana) 89
12.1 An Advertisement for an English-Language Newspaper in Nairobi,
Using Both Swahili and English 143
12.2 A Political Advertisement in Nairobi 145
12.3 An Advertisement for Flour in Mombasa 145
12.4 A Billboard in Dar es Salaam, Using Swahili 146
12.5 An Advertisement for a Kenyan English-Language Newspaper 146
12.6 A Coca-Cola Advertisement in Nairobi 147
12.7 A Billboard in Dar Es Salaam Advertising Insurance in English,
Swahili, Afrikans, and Hindi 148
12.8 A Sign Promoting the University of Dar es Salaam 149
12.9 A Sign Promoting the Institute of Kiswahili 149
12.10 An Advertisement for OMO Detergent, Using Swahili 150
12.11 An Advertisement for OMO Detergent, Using English 150
12.12 A Presidential Campaign Advertisement in Kenya, Using Sheng 151
12.13 Code-Switching from Swahili to English in a Kenyan Advertisement 152
12.14 An Advertisement for Mobile Banking 153
12.15 An Advertisement for Kenya Power 153
ix