Drawing on illustrations from ethnologue s 2009 languages of africa, studies on language planning and policy in africa, and recent developments in harmonisation of crossborder language research prah 1998. In addition to that, native languages were written in arabic autography. After considering the relationship between status and. For example, professor ali mazrui in an article published as recently as 1967 commented on the comparatively mild and smooth conclusion of british colonial rule and contrasted this with the antibritish language policy in tanganyika after independence. Cooper 1989 defines language planning as the activity of preparing a normative orthography, grammar, and dictionary for the guidance of writers and speakers in a nonhomogeneous speech.
Subsequently, several workshops and seminars were presented by the government to discuss national language planning issues. The colonial legacy and language planning in subsaharan africa. This volume covers the language situation in botswana, malawi, mozambique and south africa explaining the linguistic diversity, the historical and political. Language planning and policy formulation is a complex exercise. Status planning for african languages in a multilingual south africa. Pdf this paper addresses the issues of language planning and implementation in south africa. The politics of language planning in postapartheid south. In some african states, the costs monetary, human, and temporal of civil war, rapidly varying commodity prices, human resources shortages, the aids epidemic, etc. Two points of theory a few futile attempts have been made from time to time to put forward.
Pdf language planning, policy and implementation in south africa. It recognises the contributions, challenges, and solutions involved with language questions in africa. Fishman and ofelia garcia consider it as part of sociolinguistics. Academic involvement in language policy and planning in south africa must be seen within the context of the countrys sociolinguistic complexity and the relationship between language and a number of serious problems in the country. Viewing language planning as part of the strategic planning. The language policy adopts a decentralised approach to language planning and policy implementation in each provincial department of education, whereby each identifies its own working languages, as the most viable manner in which to promote multilingualism given south africa s highly pluralistic society. Language planning and the programs in filipino of higher. Amongst other ethnic groups in botswana two marginalized groups are the focus of this paper. The micro planning level focuses on the specific regions, institutions, schools and others. At no time was there a plan or planners to formulate language policy or implement change. Various different languages are used in south africa, but in the 1996 constitution, 11 languages were made the ofcial. Beyond formal policies, implicit language practices sometimes. The strong effect of political factor on language planning can beelucidated with the case of bilingual education or minority languageeducation. Language plan of action for africa which recognised multilingualism and.
This volume covers the language situation in algeria, cote divoire, nigeria and tunisia, explaining the linguistic diversity, the historical and political contexts and the current language situation including language ineducation planning, the role of the media, the role of religion, and the roles of nonindigenous languages. This pa per argues that 1 the policy is formulated vaguely, 2 it is a. Oct 15, 2007 this volume brings together four language policy and planning studies related to africa. What is the role of language planning in postapartheid. Pdf language planning, policy and implementation in. In this situation, the game itself is deciding what kind of language of education policy to implement in zambia. Language planning and policy in kenya a case study of kenyan cities. Comments by responsible african writers support this original intention. His research interests include language planning and policy, sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics, development and policy in africa, and literature. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. This paper draws on the notion of multilingualism as social practice heller 2007 to critique postcolonial language planning and policies in africa.
The policy was silent on the use of languages other than setswana. The aim of this paper is to provide an assessment of the linguistic diversity in the sub. This chapter examines education language policy debates in three east african countries. The politics of language planning in postapartheid south africa. Language policy in kenya cannot be addressed without taking a historical perspective. Implementation of the languageineducation policy and.
In the peculiar case of south africa, the negative image of african languages is due mainly to policies that tended to equate them with inferior education. Language planning also known as language engineering is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure or acquisition of languages or language varieties within a speech community. Background an empirical study of language policy and planning at local authority level in the wester n cape was done during the third quarter of 2000. Feb 11, 2015 knowledge of language policy can be taken in sense of teachers performance, as a decision to teach certain accent, vocabulary and spellings are directly purposed the status planning in language. Language policy for education and development in tanzania. Pdf language planning, policy and implementation in south. Policy planning and implementation 3 language policy, politics and development in africa eddie williams introduction africa is the only continent where the majority of children start school using a foreign language, observes a recent unesco report ouane and glanz 2010. As a result, there is a much larger published literature for south africa than there is for botswana, malawi and mozambique. Language policy and planning chapter december 2010 doi. In short, language policy is the expression of the ideological orientations and views, and language planning is the actual proposal that makes up their implementation. In this situation, the game itself is deciding what kind of language of education policy. Bilankulu, khensani getrude 201802 south africa has a long history of linguistic imbalances in senior secondary schools. A follow up survey on language planning and policy at municipalities in the western cape by isabel cilliers chairperson.
Apr 04, 2016 of language planning, the macro level and the micro level. Like many other african nations, the republic of south africa is a multilingual one. Pdf language policy and planning in botswana, malawi. Kenya, tanzania, and uganda in the context of globalization.
South africa s sociolinguistic complexity see appendix is a function of a number of factors. English, at the top of the hierarchy, a regional lingua franca, viz. Arabic language, language planning, language policy, nigeria. Some policy statements are considered with regard to the impact on minority languages in the educational domain. Language policies in african education bowdoin college. Since that time, language planning activities in nigeria, as in most. Pdf critical perspectives on language planning and policy.
Multilingualism and language policies in the african context. Language planning and ideology in colonial africa springerlink. See the series overview for a more general discussion of the nature of the series, appendix a for the 22 questions each study set out to address, and kaplan et al. It provides a new approach for language policy and planning studies around the world by balancing former colonial languages and african varieties through the lens of the authors model. Drawing on illustrations from ethnoloques 2009 languages of africa, studies on language planning and policy in africa, and recent developments in harmonization of crossborder language research prah 1998. These sources informed both background research and comparative case studies focused on better.
The current state of language policy development in south africa the discussion of language policy development in south africa will be handled from the point of view that language planning is part of the strategic planning for a country, and that language planning should thus be evaluated within the framework of strategic planning, which can be represented as in figure 1. Recent developments in language planning, policy and implementation in south africa have led to a view that language policy is a text that is in a constant state of productivity, and it is always. Critical issues in language and education planning in. See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at. Introductionthe tanzanian experience is a typical case that illustrates how language policy and planning is a site of struggle for cultural influence, economic dominance, and political control. This is the finalisation of a process that started in 1995, when i appointed the language plan task group langtag to advise me on a framework for a coherent language policy and plan. The two ethnic groups have some similarities regarding the language problems encountered in the implementation of the language ineducation policy. The intergovernmental conference on language policies in africa. The inherited language ineducation policy in south africa has been fraught with tensions, contradictions and sensitivities, and underpinned by racial and linguistic discrimination. Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects. Research clearly supports teaching in local african languages, but this is only partly the policy in most countries. It has it basis in the colonial language policy following the scramble for africa by european powers, which took place towards the end of the 19th century.
This volume covers the language situation in algeria, cote divoire, nigeria and tunisia, explaining the linguistic. Critical issues in language and education planning in twenty. South african journal of african languages, 20 1, 5060. This paper argues for a multilingual language policy that takes into account the different tiers of languages in nigeria, particularly, languages with lesser number of speakers than the major languages. There is also a major sociolinguistic and language planning and policy divide that separates them. Language planning and policy in kenya a case study of. In nigeria, language policy on education dates back to the colonial era when in 1927 the british advisory committee on native education in tropical africa recommended that indigenous languages should serve as medium of instruction in the lower years of primary education musa r. Kaplan and joseph lo bianco argue that language policy is a branch of applied linguistics. The similarities with other african countries in this struggle are so obvious as to require little restating a conflictual triglossic environment, with the excolonial language, viz.
Encyclopaedia of view project the critical problem of uncritical bilingualism. This chapter will argue that this language policy is a significant contributory factor to the lack. Language is a contentious issue education in africa, where the colonial languages of english, french, and portuguese are often seen as competing with african languages. Challenges around improving learning outcomes through. The intergovernmental conference on language policies in africa, which was held in harare zimbabwe from 17 21 march 1997, was the first meeting of its kind involving language specialists attending as governmental experts and doing the preparatory work for and advising. South africa with its greater population and resources, and the.
However, it was not until 1947 that a language policy was written into the nations constitution. Apr 24, 2016 a new language policy, old language practices. I go on to explore the failings of educational language policy as it now stands, focusing on the jarring transition from swahilimedium primary school to englishmedium secondary school. Challenges around improving learning outcomes through mother. Language policy mother tongue indigenous language african language presidential commission these keywords were added by machine and not by the authors.
Before applying this theory, one must first understand the five basic components of the game theory. Pdf critical perspectives on language planning and. Conventional views of language planning have focused on two major aspects of language policy. Mar 19, 2014 however, language policy refers to the more general linguistic, political and social goals underlying the actual language planning process. Four overarching language ideologies are purposed to explain motivations and decisions internationalization. The scope of language planning of heis in region 02 is categorized under the level of micro planning of language which is consistent to the recommendations of neustupny 6. The authors are indigenous andor have been participants in the. Language policy is an interdisciplinary academic field. Language policy and educational development in africa. In other words, some policies themselves can create problems. Language planning and the mediumofinstruction conundrum in africa. A number of these discriminatory policies have affected either the access of the learners to the education system or their success within it. The purpose of this research was to explore and expose the challenges of language planning and policy formulation in africa, with specific reference to zimbabwe as the case study.
That is, the state national policy on education isdetermining the language of instruction in the school. To carry out the study, critical stages, approaches, theories and models of language planning were used. Xitsonga and school language policy formulation and implementation. Language policy and planning in south africa annual. Language policy, politics and development in africa. Language planning refers to various ways of influencing a language to raise its status and to modify its system and structure. Viewing language planning as part of the strategic planning of a country means that it is regarded as an. Pdf critical perspectives on language planning and policy in. Pdf language policy and planning the tanzania experience.
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