Fighting A Losing Battle: Assessing The Impact Of Mother-Tongue Education Advocacy In A Hostile Environment

Most countries in Africa are multilingual with an average of about 40 languages per country. This has given rise to a complex state of multilingualism, with various patterns of language use (Batibo, 2005). One major challenge has been to decide on the medium of instruction that would be not only effective, but also acceptable to the relevant communities. Although UNESCO (1953) and a number of other educational organizations have persistently advocated for mother-tongue education, such advocacy has made little impact in most countries. This paper takes stock of some of the issues and arguments involved. It then shows how mother-tongue education remains an elusive goal in most African countries. The main thrust of this paper is to assess and highlight the major reasons, which have rendered mother-tongue advocacy in most African countries, a great challenge, to the extent that many countries accept mother-tongue education in spirit, but not in practice. The paper looks at some of the compromises that many countries have taken.Keywords: mother-tongue education, multilingualism, medium ofinstruction, advocacy, plurilingualis

Ten commandments for Setswana to be a resourceful vehicle of development in Botswana

When most African countries became independent in the early 1960’s, they were driven by a strong  nationalistic desire to be united, sovereign and developed. After realizing that many languages were spoken  within their borders, they had to come up with language policies, which would meet their aspirations. Although many countries selected the demographically and socio-politically dominant indigenous languages to be  national media, in most cases, the national language remained functionally symbolic. Botswana is one of the African countries which selected its dominant indigenous language, Setswana, to be the national language (Republic of Botswana, 1994).This paper examines the position of Setswana, whose role has remained largely symbolic, as a national  language (Bagwasi, 2012; Chebanne et al., 1993). However, in order to ensure maximal utilization of the national medium, as a vehicle for development and mass mobilization, Botswana needs to accord Setswana more control of the country’s socio-political, economic and technological domains for sustainable  development. The paper proposes ten possible measures, that it terms “commandments”, which ought to be followed for Setswana to become a resourceful and effective national and primary official language.Keywords: capacity planning, national language, norm planning, official language, status plannin

The Last Kick of a Dying Horse: Preserving Ethnic Identity in Shisukuma Greeting System

The phenomenon of language shift is common in situations where there is a demographic or status imbalance between ethnic groups. Usually the speakers of the disadvantaged languages will progressively shift to the more socio-economically or politically privileged languages. Such language shift will involve identity shift in its various forms. This paper examines the patterns and processes of language shift based on a study carried out in Tanzania in which the traditional greeting systems in Kiswahili, the national language of Tanzania, and Shisukuma, a minority Tanzanian language, were investigated. The main purpose of the study was to find evidence that would support the claim that ethnonymic identity is the last form of identity to be lost when speakers of one language are shifting to another language. The study revealed that ethno-linguistic groups, like Basukuma (Shisukuma speakers), have put in place a complex greeting system as a strategy to preserve their ethnonymic identity, embedded in their traditional clan system. This system has made it possible for the Shisukuma speakers to identify their origins and parentage. However, many Basukuma are no longer keen to know the origin or parentage of the people around them, particularly the younger generation.Keywords: language domination, language shift, autonymic identity, ethnonymic entit

The Nature and Origin of Sex-Related Euphemisms in Setswana

The aim of this study is to investigate sex-related euphemisms in Setswana. Although sex matters, as embarrassing phenomena, are not usually talked about in Setswana communities, they have recently been brought to the open by the incidence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The assumption in this study is therefore that, with more open discourse of sex-related matters in Botswana, more euphemisms have been created to camouflage the embarrassing nature of the various referents in this field. The sex-related matters include private parts, sexual activities, sexual secretions, sexual diseases and related phenomena. This study describes the nature, origin, and types of these euphemisms and considers their place and role in the social interaction of the people of Botswana. Keywords: Sex-related euphemisms, Setswana, HIV/AIDS MARANG Vol. 18 2008 pp. 69-8

Language Nesting, Superdiversity and African Diasporas in Regional Australia

This paper tells previously untold stories about the dynamic cultures, linguistic repertoires and language practices of migrants and refugees that are continuously shaped and mediated by the convoluted histories, journeys and migration itineraries of these people. It brings to light the effect of proficiency in multiple languages on their speakers' affiliations, and their perceptions of belonging in local communities. The paper draws on the outcomes of a study with refugee background Africans (hereafter, African diasporas) in regional New South Wales (NSW) to propose the language nesting model that seeks to illustrate the complex linguistic and discursive practices of these people and how such resources are used to create and negotiate material and social spaces in everyday life. The paper concludes that the stories that were elicited - about the languages, cultures, identities, migration histories and just about everything else about the sampled African diasporas - both support and resist the theoretical suppositions of superdiversity in equal measure