‘Languages don’t have bones, so you can just break them’: rethinking multilingualism in education policy and practice in Africa

Multilingualism is widespread amongst individuals and communities in African countries. However, language-in-education policies across the continent continue to privilege monolingual approaches to language use in the classroom. In this paper we highlight the colonial origins of these monolingual ideologies and discuss the detrimental effects which arise when learners’ linguistic repertoires are not welcomed within the education system. We draw attention to major themes within education across a range of contexts: policy vagueness, teachers as policy implementers, and the creation and imposition of boundaries. We advocate for a language-in-education approach which brings the outside in, which welcomes individuals’ lived multilingual realities and which values these as resources for learning. We highlight the ways in which translanguaging could represent a positive shift to the way in which multilingual language practices are talked about, and can contribute to decolonising language policy in African contexts. We conclude by calling to action those working on education and policy to ensure that learners and teachers are better supported. We call ultimately for a rethinking of multilingualism

An Analysis of Two Setswana Colour Terms: Ntsho and Tshweu

This paper explores the linguistic contexts, uses and meanings of the colour terms Ntsho (black) and Tshweu (white) in Setswana. Using a corpus data, the paper argues that the two terms display cultural and linguistic meanings which are sometimes lacking in Setswana dictionaries and certain translations. The analysis of the data reveals that the two colour terms collocate with a variety of other words in the language to result in a complex array of meanings. Further, the analysis reveals that while traditionally Ntsho is associated with negative semantics, it is used in a variety of senses to celebrate heroes and heroines in Setswana culture. In a similar way, Tshweu has negative senses in certain limited contexts. Keywords: Ntsho, Tshweu, colour terms, Setswana MARANG Vol. 18 2008 pp. 1-1

The factors that need to be considered in regrinding prior to the flotation of gold bearing ores

H. Wang, O. Bagwasi, J. Zhang, W. Weng, Y. Zhang, J. Zhao, B. Houdeh, M. Xie, Y. Mei and Y. Ngothaihttp://www.wcce8.org/techsched/00000024.ht