New Language Bearings in Africa

New Language Bearings in Africa
Author: Margaret Jepkirui Muthwii
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2004-01-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9781853597275

The collection of papers in this special volume discuss issues and challenges that are pertinent in understanding present-day moves and tendencies in the use of languages in the African contexts. The volume's major asset lies in the diversity of topics, the range of languages and the African geographical areas covered. Not only do the contributors come from different nations in Africa but also many of them are established scholars who interact with and interpret the unique situations in their nations on a daily basis.

The Languages and Linguistics of Africa

The Languages and Linguistics of Africa
Author: Tom Güldemann
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 1085
Release: 2018-09-10
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110421755

This innovative handbook takes a fresh look at the currently underestimated linguistic diversity of Africa, the continent with the largest number of languages in the world. It covers the major domains of linguistics, offering both a representative picture of Africa’s linguistic landscape as well as new and at times unconventional perspectives. The focus is not so much on exhaustiveness as on the fruitful relationship between African and general linguistics and the contributions the two domains can make to each other. This volume is thus intended for readers with a specific interest in African languages and also for students and scholars within the greater discipline of linguistics.

Language in Contemporary African Cultures and Societies

Language in Contemporary African Cultures and Societies
Author: Leonard Muaka
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2018-12-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1498572286

Language in Contemporary African Cultures and Societies examines language in contemporary Africa by positioning language at the center of interrelationships between individuals, society, and culture. Because of how language permeates every aspect of human existence within each society, this book has assembled contributions by researchers and scholars who focus on different topics within African languages and cultures. By presenting African languages as resources and subject and subject of the study, this book discusses Africa’s multilingualism, language policy, preservation, and their uses in development, security, liberation, and identity formation in the diaspora. Based on empirical research and analysis of texts, this book takes a closer look at the continent and the diaspora by situating African languages, cultures, and literatures at the center, and shows how African languages are used in the liberation, transfer of knowledge, and promotion of literacy among Africans globally. It is a book that seeks to bridge the gap between the continent and the diaspora. All contributors are experienced scholars of language, literature, education and linguistics. The chapters provide a major means for examining the interplay of language, literature, and education.

Languages and Education in Africa

Languages and Education in Africa
Author: Birgit Brock-Utne
Publisher: Symposium Books Ltd
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2009-05-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1873927177

The theme of this book cuts across disciplines. Contributors to this volume are specialized in education and especially classroom research as well as in linguistics, most being transdisciplinary themselves. Around 65 sub-Saharan languages figure in this volume as research objects: as means of instruction, in connection with teacher training, language policy, lexical development, harmonization efforts, information technology, oral literature and deaf communities. The co-existence of these African languages with English, French and Arabic is examined as well. This wide range of languages and subjects builds on recent field work, giving new empirical evidence from 17 countries: Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as to transnational matters like the harmonization of African transborder languages. As the Editors – a Norwegian social scientist and a Norwegian linguist, both working in Africa – have wanted to give room for African voices, the majority of contributions to this volume come from Africa.

The Languages of Africa and the Diaspora

The Languages of Africa and the Diaspora
Author: Jo Anne Kleifgen
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2009
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1847691331

This book takes a fresh look at subordinated vernacular languages in the context of African, Caribbean, and US educational landscapes, highlighting the social cost of linguistic exceptionalism for speakers of these languages. Chapters describe contravening movements toward various forms of linguistic diversity and offer a comprehensive approach to language awareness in educative settings.

Sociolinguistics Around the World

Sociolinguistics Around the World
Author: Martin J Ball
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2009-12-16
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1135261059

Offers a survey of research trends in sociolinguistics around the world. This work focuses on traditional variationist sociolinguistics and on the areas of bi- and multilingualism together with diglossia and code-switching, language and culture, language and power and language planning.

Multilingual Universities in South Africa

Multilingual Universities in South Africa
Author: Liesel Hibbert
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2014-04-16
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1783091673

Focusing on the use of African languages in higher education, this book showcases South African higher education practitioners’ attempts to promote a multilingual ethos in their classes. It is a first-time overview of multilingual teaching and learning strategies that have been tried and tested in a number of higher education institutions in South Africa. Despite language-in-education policies that extol the virtues of multilingualism, practice remains oriented towards English-only learning and teaching. In the multilingual contexts of local campuses, this book shows how students and lecturers attempt to understand their multiple identities and use the available languages to create multilingual learning environments.

Multilingualism and Education in Africa

Multilingualism and Education in Africa
Author: Ruth W. Ndung’u
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2014-10-16
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1443869600

This book is a must-read for every language teaching professional and researcher working in a multilingual context. Multilingualism and Education in Africa: The State of the State of the Art is an up-to-date exploration and wide-ranging review of the symbiotic relationship between multilingualism and education in Africa. The African continent is rich in languages. Most of her inhabitants are multilingual and many of the nations have embraced multilingual education. This book examines multilingualism in education from three broad perspectives: multilingualism and language in education policy in Africa; multilingualism as an educational resource in Africa; and attitudes and challenges of multilingualism and education in Africa. The book’s nineteen chapters discuss these three perspectives from East, West, Central and South Africa. All the contributors are leading authorities in multilingualism and education. The chapters combine a wide range of viewpoints based on theoretical, empirical and personal experiences. The reader is left with a deeper understanding of the unique features of multilingualism and education in Africa that have seldom been addressed by those who experience them first-hand. The book demonstrates successful practices in multilingualism and education; showing how African nations have determined what works for them without ignoring challenges such as policies on paper, attitudes towards African languages and limited resources. The benefits of multilingual education override the challenges. The book’s extensive coverage makes it an important resource for scholars and policy makers in the field of multilingualism and education. Overall, this book represents an important contribution to an important subject in education globally. The editors have provided an introductory overview to the book and commentaries on the three sections.

Christian and Critical English Language Educators in Dialogue

Christian and Critical English Language Educators in Dialogue
Author: Mary Shepard Wong
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2009-06-25
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1135837856

This volume critically examines how English language teaching professionals wrestle with ideological, pedagogical, and spiritual dilemmas as they seek to understand the place of faith in education.

Language Policy and Economics: The Language Question in Africa

Language Policy and Economics: The Language Question in Africa
Author: Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2016-04-23
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1137316233

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.