Author: Richard Fardon Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1134868049 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 267
Book Description
This shows that multilingusim does not pose for Africans the problems of communication that Europeans imagine and that the mismatch between policy statements and their pragmatic outcomes is a far more serious problem for future development
Author: H. Ekkehard Wolff Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1316558681 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 375
Book Description
Development is based on communication through language. With more than two thousand languages being used in Africa, language becomes a highly relevant factor in all sectors of political, social, cultural and economic life. This important sociolinguistic dimension hitherto remains underrated and under-researched in 'Western' mainstream development studies. The book discusses the resourcefulness of languages, both local and global, in view of the ongoing transformation of African societies as much as for economic development. From a novel 'applied African sociolinguistics' perspective it analyses the continuing effects of linguistic imperialism on postcolonial African societies, in particular regarding the educational sector, through imposed hegemonic languages such as Arabic and the ex-colonial languages of European provenance. It offers a broad interdisciplinary scientific approach to the linguistic dimensions of sociocultural modernisation and economic development in Africa, written for both the non-linguistically trained reader as much as for the linguistically trained researcher and language practitioner.
Author: Ericka A. Albaugh Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1139916777 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 337
Book Description
How do governments in Africa make decisions about language? What does language have to do with state-building, and what impact might it have on democracy? This manuscript provides a longue durée explanation for policies toward language in Africa, taking the reader through colonial, independence, and contemporary periods. It explains the growing trend toward the use of multiple languages in education as a result of new opportunities and incentives. The opportunities incorporate ideational relationships with former colonizers as well as the work of language NGOs on the ground. The incentives relate to the current requirements of democratic institutions, and the strategies leaders devise to win elections within these constraints. By contrasting the environment faced by African leaders with that faced by European state-builders, it explains the weakness of education and limited spread of standard languages on the continent. The work combines constructivist understanding about changing preferences with realist insights about the strategies leaders employ to maintain power.
Author: Victor Webb Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing ISBN: 9027297630 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 387
Book Description
Language in South Africa (LiSA) debates the role of language and language planning in the reconstruction, development and transformation of post-apartheid democratic South Africa. The 1996 constitution of South Africa is founded on the political philosophy of pluralism and is directed at promoting democratic values, equity and non-discrimination, human rights, national unity and the development of all the country’s communities. The question asked in LiSA is how language planning can contribute towards the attainment of these national ideals. Set against the language political realities of the country — the a-symmetric power relations between the languages; the striking differences in the structural; functional and symbolic adaptation of the official languages; and the many language-related problems in the country — it debates the role of language in state administration, national integration, educational development and economic development. The volume concludes with a discussion of language development and language management.
Author: Marie Will Publisher: GRIN Verlag ISBN: 3346899268 Category : Literary Collections Languages : en Pages : 26
Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject American Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, University of Potsdam (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Contrasting Languages in the USA, language: English, abstract: African languages and language varieties are amongst the fastest growing languages in the U.S. from 2016 on. This paper aims to show why and how this sudden development is happening, and what changes and chances it bears for the development of U.S. American communities and society as a whole. To do so, the paper will first look at the languages that are most commonly spoken in the USA, followed by a brief introduction into African languages and language varieties before taking a closer look at how recent migration impacts the language demographics of the United States and the country’s culture.
Author: Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu Publisher: Springer ISBN: 1137316233 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 252
Book Description
This book addresses the perennial question of how to promote Africa’s indigenous languages as medium of instruction in educational systems. Breaking with the traditional approach to the continent’s language question by focusing on the often overlooked issue of the link between African languages and economic development, Language Policy and Economics argues that African languages are an integral part of a nation’s socio-political and economic development. Therefore, the book argues that any language policy designed to promote these languages in such higher domains as the educational system in particular must have economic advantages if the intent is to succeed, and proposes Prestige Planning as the way to address this issue. The proposition is a welcome break away from language policies which pay lip-service to the empowerment of African languages while, by default, strengthening the stranglehold of imported European languages.
Author: H. Ekkehard Wolff Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1108417973 Category : Foreign Language Study Languages : en Pages : 377
Book Description
The first global history of African linguistics as an emerging autonomous academic discipline, covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
Author: David D. Laitin Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 0521413435 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 219
Book Description
Most African countries have a population composed of a multitude of language groups and most African citizens have a varied repertoire. David Laitin addresses the problem of language planning in Africa and the role of language politics in the process of state formation.
Author: Eddie Williams Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317639243 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 278
Book Description
Recent decades have seen sub-Saharan Africa decline in both economic and human terms. The rich North has responded with a barrage of well-publicized initiatives, from pop concerts to international commitments on debt relief, aid, trade and good governance. Among the complex of factors necessary to sustain economic and human development, education receives little media coverage, although it is crucial. However, education must be effective. This book argues that in 'Anglophone' Africa, education is not effective because of the use of English, rather than children's first languages, both as the medium of instruction, and also as the language in which children are first taught to read. Research is presented from Malawi and Zambia, countries with contrasting language policies, using evidence from tests in English and African languages, small-group discussions and classroom observation. The findings show that English-medium policies in Africa do not give students any advantage in English over first-language policies, while the use of English discriminates against girls and rural children. The book concludes that much education in Africa is a barrier rather than a bridge to learning because of the prevailing language ideology, which has resulted in massive over-estimation of the value of English. While appropriate language policies alone will not solve education and development difficulties in Africa, they do have a positive contribution to make. The evidence presented here suggests they are failing to make that contribution.
Author: Richard Fardon
Author: H. Ekkehard Wolff
Author: International Development Research Centre (Canada)
Author: Ericka A. Albaugh
Author: Victor Webb
Author: Marie Will
Author: Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu
Author: H. Ekkehard Wolff
Author: David D. Laitin
Author: Eddie Williams