The Language of Education in Africa: the Key Issues

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues by Seyoum Hameso

This article was published in Language, Culture and Curriculum, Vol. 10. No. 1, 1997, pp.1−13.

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues by Seyoum Hameso “The use of African languages in complementary and equitable fashion, alongside other languages, will be part of the full development of Africa's own genius and of the continent's search for its own path of development.” (Robinson, 1996: 180).

1. Introduction Whether our concerns are about the everyday lives of people and their social interaction, or about social change and education, the issue of language is as vital as it is complex. The complexity is best demonstrated by its inextricable links with a society's cultural, economic and political life. It also has inevitable historical embodiments. Thus any inquiry into contemporary Africa takes us to the past−the colonial past. In one way or the other, that past had been one of conquest and domination, one of suppression by alien rule facilitated by alien languages. Except in a handful of cases, like Kiswahii in Tanzania, most colonies were run in colonial languages. Independence came, promising hope, freedom, improved living standards and progress. The promises made by nationalist politicians following, in some cases, a protracted struggle, seemed to warrant change of circumstances. In the midst of high expectations, those who inherited the political kingdom took over diverse population groups with distinct languages and cultures alongside alien and haphazard territorial boundaries. At the time, the rule was simple: to wrest authority from colonial powers, as Julius Nyerere boldly hinted. But no one other than Kwame Nkrumah said it all in the most remembered phrase: 'Seek ye first the political kingdom, and all else will be added unto you'. That grand seizure implied the need for consensus and reduction of diversity. At one extreme, one central government was envisioned along with one language and probably one leader for the whole continent. The vision belonged to another millennium and the idea was shortly rejected. The same preoccupation with the kingdom also seemed to engender permanent relegation of all other issues, including the people, their cultures, their languages, and above all their diversity, to a lesser degree of priority. In those heady days of the late 1950s and 1960s, informed leaders were influenced by the vogue ideas of the day: modernization and nation−building either through capitalism or socialism. While the most aggrieved of the leaders opted for radical socialism, the less aggrieved went along with their uncomfortable legacy. Either way, the means and the destinations were never mutually unintelligible. For all found comfort in centralism and stubborn singularity in their national policies. Contrary to historical precedents in Europe, where nations were, by and large, formed on the state's ethnic and linguistic congruity, Africa's leaders found it fit to build states by destroying the real nations: the Ewes, the Ibos, the Hausas, Oromos, etcetera. For the word nation has become so attractive that, to be modern, they named their project: nation−building. The task was pretty daunting. It was one that took Europe centuries of blood and toil. For the newly formed African states, it meant a lot of things. It required enlightenment and reformation following the well−known and well−trodden path taken by European empires and nations. It required Weber's 1

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

rational−regal state driven by a Marshallian rational economic man. It seemed to entail expansion of education, i.e., literacy. The economy was to be transformed from agricultural to industrial, and the process was named 'industrialisation' along the lines of the Industrial Revolution in England in the nineteenth century. The societies 'needed' transformation from 'primitive' and 'tribal' to the 'modern', whatever that meant. This implied physical migration away from the 'idiocy of rural life', and away from the curse of Babylonian multiple tongues to the promised land−the town−where you speak one pidgin. And pidgin, it was. All this was needed to be done in the matter of a decade or so. After all, the UN Secretary General, Dag Hamerskjold announced the year 1960 as 'The Africa Year'. Economists, (one among them was Arthur Lewis, later Sir, who advised Nkrumah's government in Ghana), the most notorious social engineers of the modem age, were called upon to manufacture the infamous Five Year Development Plans. And so they accomplished the task with remarkable speed, calculating how quickly 'unlimited supplies of labour'−unfortunately stuck in the zero marginal productivity sector−could move to shanty towns blackened by scorched earth mining and the loading and unloading of foodstuffs. With only the remotest relevance to the African beyond the villages of Timbuktu, the most revolutionary resolutions (full of physical targets never to be achieved) were passed, promising a balanced 'big push'. And because of their remoteness, these blueprints were left to gather dust on the shelves of planning agency warehouses, just like a bible does in a secular Western family. In the meantime, political leaders, at the height of their political power in the newly inherited kingdoms, made their choices on behalf of the public as a matter of urgency with costly and massive outcomes, some intended and some not. One, among the many public choices, impinged on the language of education. 2. The Language of Education: Choice and Policy Language performs different functions including a means of communication, expression and conceptualisation. It can also be used as a means of domination and discrimination; an instrument to give or block access to economic and political processes. It is the latter aspect that brings the issue of language to the centre stage, and that is partly our concern here. Once the functions and importance of languages are recognised, the choice of languages of education is often made on historical, political (nationalistic) and cultural grounds as much as on the basis of pedagogical and linguistic ones. For historical reasons, the determination to keep indigenous languages from the public domain was a favoured option by many of Africa's non−nation states. It so happened that in the hazy atmosphere of early 1960s, given the artificial nature of boundaries, the new leaders signed, in the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) formation in 1963, to respect 'the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each state' endorsing the borders that do not, by and large, coincide with sociolinguistic boundaries. By that endorsement, speakers of one language were fragmented across artificial boundaries. In West Africa, for example, Mansour (1993: 67) states that out of 15 million Pulaar speakers, Guinea accounted for 40% in 1986. The respective figures for the same language in Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria are 23%, 21%, 18%, 14%, 14%, and 9%, respectively. Similar cases hold true for Manding, Wolof, Hausa, Yoruba, and other speakers. In this inconvenient arrangement, the choice or imposition of one ethnic group's language for official and educational purposes, as it happened in Ethiopia, was a cause for deep social conflict. The very fact of historical mischance that diverse groups are put together under one political roof, meant that the choice of one group's language serves a defacto declaration of war on the others.

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The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

3. Nation and Non−nation States Even though the general pattern throughout much of Africa is the same, one should account for country specificity. With reference to the choice of languages and policy parameters related to this, there are slight variations. Where the idea of nation and state is coterminous, as in Somalia, the Somali language was accorded a national status. It was also developed as the medium of instruction in 1972. In the case of Kenya and Tanzania, an indigenous language in Kiswahili has been in use as official or second official language and medium of instruction. As a 'neutral' language−−at least it does not belong to any one particular ethnic group in both Kenya and Tanzania−−it was positively encouraged. In the case of Tanzania in particular, the language issue is approached with conscious, and to some extent, autonomous understanding; but the professed intentions failed to materialise. By 1967, the Arusha Declaration recognised that education was vital for self−reliance. Among African languages, Kiswahili has an unusual history. The fact that it was widely used by the Germans and later by the British colonial powers helped its status. At the same time, the use and promotion of Kiswahii was viewed in terms of the overthrow of colonialism, furtherance of its linguistic development, and a means of ensuring unity in Tanzanian society. Despite these broad political intentions to make Kiswahili the language of instruction beyond primary school level, there has been reluctance to pursue the policy to its logical conclusion. In many other African countries, informed language policy was forestalled by the choice of foreign languages (mainly English, French or Portuguese) as they constituted a 'neutral' solution. (Yet, this language neutrality is debatable, since different languages and cultural frameworks impart different world perceptions.) Assuming sovereignty over population groups, cowed and confused by alien rule, inheriting an economic base best suited to exports of raw minerals and cash crops, and controlling the political system that is often alien (hence authoritarian), the non−nation states of Africa faced a stark reality. Some leaders, in a vain attempt of pretending to shy away from the colonial legacy, went to the opposite extreme, making more mistakes than would be warranted by common sense. In one way or the other, what took root was a perverse scenario of inorganic states, artificial boundaries, and artificial languages and cultures that were only remotely relevant to the people's daily needs. The urge to communicate and to train the messengers required a quick decision and the only readily available media were the languages of former colonial administrations. Soon these languages were 'enshrined' in constitutions that were to be easily discarded following every other violent change of regime. In the case of Cameroon, as elsewhere, Robinson (1996) states that no provisions were made in reference to indigenous languages. Therefore, most of these countries settled on inconvenient compromise, often choosing the languages of former colonial powers for official and educational purposes. On the basis of this mooted agreement went the legacies of the postcolonial alien state machinery, an acceptance of authoritarian and repressive political methods, the perpetuation of economically dependent centrism, and the socially pervasive assimilationism of the past. With these, Africa's own institutions, nations, and nationalisms were denigrated as backward, tribal and narrow in contrast with the progressive, modern, civilized and universal ethos of capitalist nationalism. These meant modernization of state structures of control (mainly the military and the bureaucracy) and the system of education aimed at bolstering them. The superimposed, floating state, found it easy to push aside the issue of indigenous languages, even for educational purposes. The debate over cultural and linguistic diversity was muted for the sake of the overriding need to build a political kingdom on the premise of unity. While a nation by definition 3

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

is based on linguistic, cultural and ethnic affiliation and homogeneity, the way African states were programmed to operate was quite different. In this conflict, a number of factors militated against indigenous languages. In the following section, therefore, we will ask to what extent the determination of language policy and choice should take account of the advantages and disadvantages of both foreign and indigenous languages as media of education. 4. The Use of Foreign Languages in Education 4.1 Advantages Foreign languages are used in different countries in business, diplomacy, media and scholarship. Inability to understand these languages costs resources while knowledge of them can only be an asset. Secondly, they have become prerequisites for acquiring science and technology. Thus, Western education, scholarship, business, and science and technology were rendered impossible without acquiring those languages, mainly English and French, but occasionally German and Japanese. Linguistic dependence such as this, and lack of vision as to what to do about it, engendered a scenario of arrested development. In the case of Tanzania, Judith Barrett (1994: 6−10) details the reasons why English was retained and defended as a way of preventing Tanzania being isolated from the rest of the world, as well as a means of keeping abreast of technological and scientific achievements in international fora. Thirdly, foreign languages are viewed as symbols of power and a means of securing good, secure jobs. As far as members of the elite are concerned, the use of such languages is a sign of prestige, and a higher competence in them is known to entitle the speakers to a legitimate claim to power. Yet while learning and knowing these languages is beneficial, there is no prima facie case for them to serve as the media of instruction. They could as well be taught as subjects in schools like mathematics or economics. Apart from this, there are a number of reasons why foreign language would be ineffective as the medium of instruction. Trappes−Lomax (1990: 96−7) details such reasons. 4.2 Disadvantages Firstly, foreign languages are foreign and lack authenticity. They are not the people's language. Being uncomfortably foreign, they remain the language of the few, namely, the elite who are a class of their own and are also alienated both from their own society and from their counterparts elsewhere with whom they are also unable to merge. Therefore, foreign languages remain languages of academia, languages of university education, languages of research and scholarship. This foreignness of the language of instruction has been a major force in making education a culturally alienating process. Whereas language is supposed to help in bringing education close to the learner, and therefore in motivating learners to invest energy and time 'in the intrinsic excitement and self−regenerating dynamo of learning' as Samof (1993: 213) says, the lack of integration of educational goals with the cultural context and African values has contributed to the present educational crisis in Africa, in which education is geared mainly to the (re)production of ruling elites. That is also partly how education has made itself increasingly irrelevant to the real issues of the masses and to Africa's development. This further indicates the elitist nature of education where students are forced to receive education in foreign languages beyond primary schools in many African countries. 4

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

Secondly, foreign languages are not teachable in the sense that it is difficult to ensure language proficiency of teachers in foreign media. The case is pronounced when the teachers are not native speakers themselves. As far as learners are concerned, a foreign language is hardly ever experienced outside the educational environment. In pedagogic terms, it is noted that foreign languages remain secondary for pupils (they are only rarely used outside classrooms with poorly trained and equipped teachers). Worst of all, they are foreign to young pupils who have been brought up in their own mother tongue and find them completely unintelligible. It is for these reasons that UNESCO has been in the forefront of promoting the idea of education in indigenous languages. Yahya−Othman (1990:46) points out that students enter secondary education without adequate understanding and knowledge of the medium of instruction. Such a system results in 'individuals hampered by linguistic deficiencies in their thinking, in their critical observation, in their questioning of ideas and facts, and in the interpretation of what is communicated to them'. Last but not the least, by perpetuating cultural and linguistic dependence, the use of a foreign medium saps nationalist energy. Exorbitant national costs need be incurred to possess knowledge materials produced in the chosen medium. Policy adjustments and broad conditions need to be fulfilled to acquire the most valued and expensive raw materials of the twenty first century−relevant information. Yet the corollary of these arguments is not that foreign languages are an obstacle per se to national growth and hence should be banned. On the contrary, they are extremely useful and should be learned. What is in dispute is making these languages the medium of education. Looking into the vitality of indigenous languages better makes this point. 5. The Use of Indigenous Languages in Education Education through the medium of mother tongue ensures that a 'child's educational development is rooted in his own cultural heritage ...' (Criper and Widdowson, 1975, quoted in Trappes−Lomax, 1990:94). It is also pointed out (e.g. by Rugabumya, 1990; Robinson, 1996: 173) that evidence from international research shows that use of the first language is a factor in educational achievement and that the educational process in any society ought to be conducted through a language that both learner and teacher command well. Moreover, in situations where students learn best within learning institutions, Barrett (1994: 9−10) maintains that this can be done by starting where the pupils 'begin with their experience and existing knowledge and thus position them as "knowers" ... and by allowing them 'to use their own language within the classrooms'. This indicates the need for the cultural contextualisation of education. Otherwise, if the shift from one language of instruction to the other continues, as it often does, education turns out to be a constricting and restricting factor. This argument is made by Yahya−Othman (1990: 51), based on observations made on Tanzanian children, who, upon finishing primary schools in the medium of Kiswahili, shift to the English medium in secondary schools. 5.1 Obstacles The adoption, use and promotion of indigenous languages faces a number of obstacles. It is already noted that African history is burdened with pervasive legacies. One of them is linguistic, and it is reflected in self−denial, part of which is rooted in despising African languages as 'tribal' and 'primitive' and nothing but vernaculars. The position is adopted by both 'educated' natives and external apologists. This very fact was raised by Robert Armstrong (1963: 69) who said, 'If we are ashamed of our own language, then we must certainly lack that minimum of self−respect which is 5

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

necessary to the healthy functioning of society'. The same author further argued that: if the young people come to despise their father's language, the chances are that at the same time they will reject their father's wisdom. The emotional importance of a language lies in the fact that it contains the choices of one's mother, father, brothers and sisters, and one's dearest friends. (Armstrong, 1963) The general tendency to favour foreign languages as official languages and as the media of instruction is the major obstacle to the use of indigenous languages. It is a tendency that is reinforced by political and economic constraints. Politically, one notes the desire of the bureaucratic elite to reproduce its own class through the medium of education in international languages. On the basis of Tanzanian experience, Barrett (1994: 13−14) is of the opinion that the retention of foreign languages best serves the interest of the elite who use these languages as screening devices to higher positions, and hence maintain their position. The above position is reinforced by arguments based on the cost associated with changes. Economically, that is, the initiative to replace African languages as the media of instruction requires resources in terms of teacher training, developing grammars and orthographies, producing and translating textbooks and supplementary materials. Where written scripts are not developed, they should be designed. The cost issue is one of the arguments used against development of indigenous languages, namely that education in different mother tongues is not affordable. In particular, a poor country with meagre resources can hardly pay for the additional expenses of teacher training and materials production associated with instruction through the medium of indigenous languages. But the argument does not take into account the educational needs that can be met only through the indigenous languages, and the fact that ability in these languages already exists without cost. None of these arguments is intended to be decisive. The matter is complex, and it is conceded that there are also cases in which the use of foreign languages is beneficial. In order to explore the complexity still further, we now look at the case of Ethiopia. 6 Ethiopia: Language Policy and Practice Whereas the general patterns that prevail elsewhere in Africa are also to be found in Ethiopia, there are some unique scenarios. Ethiopia was an empire, and hence the imperial imposition of dominant power (Amhara) on other ethnic groups occurred. The history of domination began in the 1880s when Emperor Menelik, a Shoan Amhara, expanded his domains beyond the traditional feudal Abyssinia. The effects of territorial expansion was soon matched by linguistic, political and cultural influence. With the centre's approval, imperial soldiers were settled in the South, taking over land and property, reducing the indigenous people to mere serfs and peasant labourers. Most of the settlers were from the northern highlands, and were mainly, but not exclusively, Amharic speakers. There were Guraghes, a few Tigreans and others, most of whom were assimilated to the politically dominant culture. Thus the southern nations, most of whom had their own languages, cultural symbols and socio−political institutions, came under Amhara rule. The process of conquest, bloody, and in places disastrous, as it had been, was followed by a consolidation of imperial power which brought about the need for training and education.

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The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

That being the case, the present−day Ethiopia is home for three major language groups, Cushitic, Semitic, and Nilotic Omotic. Under this broad category, no precise numbers of languages and dialects can be given, since the relevant studies are lacking. Mention however, could be made of the main languages as including, Agaw, Amharic, Afar, Hadiya, Guraghe, Kembata, Oromo, Sidama, Tigre, Wolayta, and others. The Oromo language is by far the most common being spoken by all Oromo people who constitute about 40% of the whole population. But then, Amharic dominance meant that other languages were not to be accorded national status and they were often referred to as 'minority' languages. 6.1 The Position of Amharic On this basis, taking over an empire, Emperor Haile Selassie and his era saw continued Amhara dominance that was momentarily interrupted by Italian colonial occupation (1935−41). The latter introduced new initiatives, not the least of which was replacement of Amhara domination by Italian colonial rule. When the Italian army surrendered to Allied powers, the Emperor was accorded a favourable image and generous support from the outside world, mainly the West. Then in an attempt to 'modernise' absolutist feudal autocracy, he undertook initiatives for change, but these 'modernisation' drives primarily served the purpose of defending the empire. Accordingly, new measures were introduced including a constitution, formation and training of professional military service, establishing schools and a university (in the 1950s, named after the Emperor, and now the Addis Ababa University) and improving the system of tax collection. These measures were accompanied by the policy of assimilation into Amhara culture and the imposition of the Amharic language. That was how a language of one ethnic group became the medium of instruction for all in primary schools, and the sole official language, seconded by foreign languages. The same imposition also secured the dominant position of the Amhara elite in all walks of life for almost a century. At the same time the Emperor's advocacy of Western governments (which in turn brought about economic and military support) promoted the use of English as the medium of instruction in secondary schools, in addition to being the second official language. Given an absolutist feudal system, the very demands of modern education posed, sooner rather than later, a threat to imperial monarchy, and the whole system crumbled in the face of devastating famine and oil price hike of the early 1970s. Accordingly, a military junta replaced the ageing emperor in 1974. To many it sounded like a revolution, but it is best compared with what followed the Russian Revolution in the Soviet Union, in the sense that there was no fundamental change in the imperial nature of Ethiopia. In the guise of socialism, policies of proletarian internationalism and aggressive militarism, centrist and assimilationist, were pursued to their extremes. Although a mass literacy programme was pursued in the spirit of mass mobilisation, for which purpose indigenous languages were used, the script was Amharic and all formal education continued to be delivered in Amharic. At secondary and university levels, English continued to be used as the medium of instruction. This imposition of Amharic in a country where the majority of people−most of whom live in the countryside−neither speak nor write Amharic, had an influential role in higher education. According to Edmond Keller (1991: 140) the status given to the Amharic language as the medium of education in primary schools in the majority non−Amharic speaking areas was fiercely resisted as unfair and unjust, as it favoured some indigenous speakers at the expense of others in the state sector. The Oromos, Eritreans, Somalis (i.e. Somalis in Ethiopia), Sidamas and other nations within the Ethiopian empire resented the use and imposition of the Amharic language 'not only because it 7

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

disadvantaged them in the competition for university places, but also for the implication it had for the destruction of their own languages and cultures', not to mention its implications for jobs and other social and political activities. This, coupled with the centrist, authoritarian policies of the military, known as the derg, wreaked havoc in whole societies; the economy was overwhelmed by shortages and economic crisis; and the war in Eritrea and other parts worsened an already precarious existence for the majority of the poor, who were caught in the margins of impending disasters (most of which were manmade), such as drought and concomitant famine. 6.2 The 1994 Constitution All these issues led to a change of regime from military dictatorship to military insurgency led by a Tigrean elite. The transitional charter and arrangement has introduced some changes. Initially, it was a process where different ethnic groups participated, although the dominant position was claimed by a northern Tigrean ethnic group and the Tigrean People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which formed the Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Revolutionary Front (EPRDF). Such predominance notwithstanding, participants to the transitional government agreed on an interim education and language policy. Accordingly, in 1992, new measures of primary education in ethno−national languages were introduced as opposed to the policy of the ancien régime. Moreover, most languages became working languages of the respective, so−called administrative zones. Apart from this minor achievement, the political process was fraught with problems, eventually leading to the withdrawal of almost all opposition parties from the transitional government. This enabled the EPRDF to draft and approve a constitution, and to design language and education policies, not to mention broad, far−reaching economic and political guidelines. The 1994 Constitution states, in Article 5, that Amharic shall be the 'official language of the Federal Government'. It also states in Articles 2 and 3 respectively that 'all Ethiopian languages shall enjoy equal state recognition' and that 'the member states of the Federation shall determine their respective official languages' (Ethiopian Constitution, 1994). Whereas the practice of such broad constitutional provisions is yet to be seen, the direction of language of education has no constitutional reference, and it is not clear how indigenous and foreign languages are to be treated in the future. Except for the brief interlude of transitional arrangements in 1991−92, there has been no positive and open discussion on language policy in Ethiopia. Secrecy underpins language policy discourse. The fact that Amharic is still the official language of the central government carries all the weight, and makes it in practice the medium of instruction in schools in the north and centre of the country. As far as the south is concerned, for the sake of administrative expediency, more than ten language groups are forced to form one 'Federal Administrative Region', which makes it difficult for this region to use any of the constituent languages other than Amharic. And this makes it likely that the previous policy will revive, in effect forcing a switch to Amharic at secondary schools. This would exhibit what the conflict between Kiswahili and English did in Tanzania; namely that the language of education instead of becoming a liberating, door−opening agent ... becomes constricting and restricting factor, where basic concepts which should grow with a child, and be added constantly as the child learns more, are shaken midway by an ineffective change of medium'. (Yahya−Othman, 1990: 51) Currently at least, primary schools in most of the southern areas use indigenous languages and Latin scripts that are found to be more suitable than the Sabean (Semitic) scripts often used for Amharic and other northern languages. 8

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

But problems still abound. There is a lack of education materials. This was particularly so regarding the lack of supplementary books other than text books, where students need to develop further their analytical understanding of the text. Yet the most serious problem regarding language policy is the lack of political commitment, and the severely authoritarian nature of the political leadership, which lacks political opposition. When Eritrea reclaimed its independence in 1993, Amharic was replaced with Tigrinya and Arabic as the media of education and as official languages. The events in Ethiopia and Eritrea have common precedents in recent developments across the world and in Africa, to which we now turn. 7. Contemporary Developments 'Transition' is the word that comes and goes relating to Africa's sociopolitical landscape. Once it was the 'wind of change'. Later on, those disenchanted with the first wind wished for 'the second liberation'. A number of social experiments were tried in the name 'revolution', 'African socialism', 'apartheid', 'kleptocracy', and gun−loaded insurgency. Today, with the end of the cold war, another experiment is on its way, if it has not already expired: multiparty democracy. Being one reflection of the unidirectional process of changes along Western lines, democratization was equated with concepts such as party competition and liberal economics to mention but a few. Most of these are forced on Africa where the Western realities are a long way from being obtained. Of all of these, 'multiparty politics' is a much bandied about term, which at least has the advantage of referring to initiatives that have been tried and are still being tried. It is beyond dispute that if handled with sensitivity and care, genuine democratisation presents a number of opportunities. It gives people the chance for change, in particular the chance to change unyielding, unwanted authority. It enables societies to look for alternatives in place of social and political decay. It makes public officials accountable to the people and to their express needs. The possibilities are diverse; but the brief experience so far is by no means encouraging. While few governments were willing to be voted out of office peacefully, in many cases incumbent regimes remained in place by using all the means at their disposal, such as harassing opposition, creating surrogate parties and manipulating the political procedure. There is also a clash of perception as to how democracy comes into being and functions, irrespective of the sociopolitical environment. That is, it is less clear what strictly constitutes a democratic process. The outcome of competitive party rule, in an environment where ethnic domination has so far been concealed in single party system, is not necessarily that which one would expect from American or British elections where, by and large, two main parties compete for a share of votes, and where issues and interests are clearly articulated through 'free' and informed media (the Fourth estate). But these models are hardly the ones African regimes have followed, often curbing, if not circumscribing the freedom of the media. Due to a constellation of historical and political conditions, African democracy will take shapes that are not precisely the same as Western liberal thinking. For example, if true democracy prevails in an African village, people will choose as their representatives those who share their own languages, address their concerns and grievances, and who support local initiatives. These scenarios would serve as distinctive features of African democracy. On the economic front, the trend has continued of 'opening up' the fragile economies to market forces, to multinationals, as a precondition to getting 'adjustment' loans and access to external capital. The effect of globalisation and the trend in technology and information are yielding diverse 9

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

outcomes, sometimes eroding the economic and political base of Africa's non−nation states. The trans−border flow of electronic data and 'electronic' capital in the information age, is rapidly crossing the artificial boundaries, where and when men failed to cross them. It is not as of yet known what precise impacts these phenomena will have on African economies. But one thing is certain: the ill−conceived rush to state−building at the cost of genuine nation−building was never warranted. Alternatives ought to be sought along the lines of people−oriented development and political participation, all of which will require the revival and activation of indigenous languages and cultures. This might also require ever more regional cooperation among the states. In stipulating this grassroots alternative, Robinson (1996: 171) reckons that non−government organisations (NGOs) are well poised to undertake contextual development activities, and to choose appropriate strategies so as to support local initiatives and build capacity (though, like their governmental counterparts, they also may be prone to waste of resources through corruption). He further argues that these institutions would strengthen respect for local cultures, and they are 'more likely to use the local language in their communication, since their actions are premised on the participation of the people'. Socially and culturally, the trend of Westemisation embodies elements of cultural and linguistic imperialism. Positive attitudes are created towards using foreign languages with incentives attached, such as a good job for those educated through them. On the other hand, there is a defence of cultural and linguistic autonomy manifested in the proliferation of identity movements. One only has to note the protracted struggle for independence in different countries. The central issue is popular participation, redressing past injustices and changing or reversing prevailing ethnic domination. In this equation, the vitality of ethnicity in the language debate is notable. As Robinson (1996: 168) puts it: since language is readily available as a symbol of ethnicity, any promotion of African languages can be interpreted as a desire to enhance the political power of these speakers [and that] genuine pluralistic policies must make space for communities to choose their own language. Furthermore, due to the move towards pluralism and democratisation, parties may support policies that yield popular support which means development that is suited to the local needs and means of communication, (see Mansour, 1993:87). 8. Conclusions History is replete with the legacies of the past. In the case of former colonies, this meant the use of foreign languages as the media of education and of government. These languages are beneficial in that they are international and serve as the means of transferring modern science and technology. The problem is that they are foreign and difficult to teach and that they may fail to equip the students well for adult life. On the other hand, indigenous languages do reflect learners' backgrounds or address their needs while positively influencing their educational achievement. In that sense they are relevant, practical, and necessary for the revival of Africa's institutions. Yet there are a number of obstacles, most of which emanate from historical, political and economic reasons. That is precisely why one recommends that language policy ought to take all these broad considerations into account at design and implementation levels. The consequences of failing to reckon with Africa's own background has come back to haunt entire societies. And people have become increasingly aware of the need to 10

The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues

revive African cultures and the use of African languages in the revival of African economic and political institutions. To this end, African policy makers and opinion formers need to look into the possibility of using indigenous languages in education and government and, in order to do so, they will also need a multidisciplinary research agenda to inform the development of new language policies. References Armstrong, R. (1963) 'Vernacular languages and cultures in modern Africa', in John Spencer (ed.) Language in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Barrett, J. (1994) 'Why is English still the medium of education in Tanzanian secondary schools?' Language, Culture and Curriculum 7 (1), 3−16. Keller, E. (1991) Revolutionary Ethiopia: From Empire to People's Republic. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Mansour, G. (1993) Multilingualism and Nation Building. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Robinson, C. (1996) 'Winds of change in Africa: Fresh air for African languages? Some preliminary reflections', in H. Coleman and L. Cameron (eds.) Change and Language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Rugabumya, C. (1990) Reflections in recent developments in language policy in Tanzania. InC. Rugabumya (ed.) Languages in Education in Africa. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Samof, J. (1993) 'The reconstruction of schooling in Africa'. Comparative Education Review 37 (2), 181−222. Trappes−Lomax, H. (1990) 'Can a foreign language be a national medium?' in C. Rubagumya (ed.) Languages in Education in Africa. (pp. 94−104). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Yahya Othman, S. (1990) 'When international languages clash: The possible detrimental effects on development of the conflict between English and Kiswahili in Tanzania', in C. Rubagumya (ed.) Languages in Education in Africa. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

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