LEAP n e w sNumber 17 • April 2008 • Newsletter of the lANguAge iN educAtioN iN AfricA project

Food pyramid: a teacher appraises a Social Studies textbook, one of a new generation translated into isiXhosa by publishers in support of the language transformation plan of South Africa’s Western Cape province. The plan aims to extend mother-tongue based (bilingual) education to the end of Grade 6. Details and further pictures on page 20.

Editor’s note Bienvenu! Costas bem-vindas! Siyanamukela! Kgotsong rea namohela and welcome to our first issue for 2008. As always, LEAPnews tries to bring you the best and most interesting articles.

Amongst other things we are planning for this year, we aim to focus on the use of African cross border languages, especially the commonly used dialects found in two or three neighbouring countries. This, we believe, will shed more light on how African languages can unite people, though they live in different countries. In this regard Paul Chiphan-da writes about similarities and differences between three cross-border languages spoken in Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi.

The cherry on the cake is the UN’s proclamation of 2008 as the International Year of Languages. We feature

Bienvenu! Costas bem-vindas! Siyanamukela! Kgotsong rea namohela na karibu kawa toleo letu la kwanza la mwaka huu wa 2008. Kama ilivyo desturi, LEAPnews hujitahidi ku-kuandalia habari zilizo bora zaidi nazakuburudisha vilivyo.

Moja kati ya mengi ambayo tumewaandalia mwaka huu, ni kuangazia lugha ambazo zinatumika katika nchi mbili au kadhaa hasa kati ya nchi zinazo pakana. Ni tegemeo letu kuwa hatua hii itatuangazia jinsi lugha za kiafrika zinaweza kuun-ganisha watu wa mataifa mbali mbali. Kuchangia mjadala huu, Paul Chiphanda anaandika akijadili lugha tatu, zote ambazo zinatumika katika inchi za Mozambique, Zambia na Malawi na akichunguza jinsi zinafanana na kutofautiana.

Uhondo wa yote haya ni kutangazwa kwa mwaka huu wa 2008 na hirika la Umoja wa Kimataifa kuwa mwaka wa

Ujumbe was Mhariri

• LEAPnews 17�

Thandeka

UNESCO Director-General Mr Koïchiro Matsuura’s letter ex-plaining issues around the promotion of languages, cultural diversity and the importance of maintaining and developing linguistic diversity.

What impact will this have on African languages? Read the fascinating article on the Challenges of developing Nguni terminology for Physics by Dr Themba Dlodlo of the University of Zimbabwe, which challenges stereotypes about African languages and science.

This issue features a discussion of recent international research on language and literacy in education. We sum up two reports on sub-Saharan Africa, and take a critical look at some of the emerging issues. We also carry Part 2 of the article “I-Dollar eyi-one” (One dollar for all): language and economic development in South Africa.

Lastly LEAPnews would like to congratulate Timbuktu on their nomination as one of the finalists in the New Seven Wonders of the World competition late in 2007. An African name rose to the occasion when the Malian town was acknowledged amongst the world’s greatest wonders, alongside Machu-Pic-chu in Peru, and the the Great Wall in China, amongst others. Although Timbuktu didn’t make it into the final seven, Africa is proud of you.

We hope our readers will enjoy this edition as much as ever. Kwaheri!

kimataifa wa lugha. Tunaangaza barua kutoka kwa mkuru-genzi mkuu wa UNESCO Bw Koïchiro Matsuura. Barua hii inafafanua maswala ya kuendeleza lugha, maingiliano ya mila na desturi mbalimbali kwa mapana yake, na umuhimu wa kuendeleza na kustahikisha maingiliano ya lugha mbalimbali katika jamii.

Haya yote yana umuhimu gani kwa lugha za kiafrika? Soma makala ya kusisimua iliyoandikwa na Dkt Themba Dlodlo wa chuo kikuu cha Zimbabwe iitwayo “The Challenges of devel-oping Nguni terminology for Physics” ambayo inazungumzia kasumba zilizomo dhidi ya lungha za kiafrika na sayansi.

Kiini cha toleo hili nikumulika kwa undani majadilio ya hivi majuzi ya uchunguzi wa kimataifa wa lugha na nguzo ya elimu. Tuna kusanya ripoti kadhaa zinazo angazia Afrika mwongo huu wa Jangwa la Sahara, Ethiopia na Asia; kadhalika tunaangazia kwa makini maswala mapya ambayo yanachibuka na pia yale yakupotosha. Kwenye makala haya pia, utapata seh-emu yapili ya makala: “I-Dollar eyi-one” (One dollar for all): language and economic development in South Africa (Dola moka kwa wote:lugha na ustawi wa kiuchumi nchini Africa Kusini).

Mwishowe, LEAPnews inachukua nafasi hii kuwapongeza “Timbuktu” kwa kujumuishwa kati ya wanafainali kwenye shindano la “New Seven Wonders of the World” mwishoni wa mwaka jana. Jina la kiafrika lilisifika wakati mji huu kutoka inchi ya Mali huko Afrika magharibi ulitambulika kuwa baadhi ya vitukio viakushangaza bora zaidi ulimwengu vingine vikiwemo Machu-Picchu kutoka Peru, na “Wall of Fame” kutoka Uchina baadhi ya vingine. Hata ingawa “Tim-buktu” haikuweza kuchukua moja ya nafasi saba bora zaidi, bila shaka bara la Afrika tunajivunia fanaka yenu.

Ni matarajio yetu kwamba enyi wasomaji mtaburudishwa vilivyo na toleo hili. Kwaheri!

Nota da EditoraBienvenu! Bem-vindas e bem-vindos! Siyanamukela! Kgotsong rea namohela e boas-vindas à nossa primeira edição de 2008. Como sempre LEAPnews tenta trazer-vos os artigos melhores e mais interessantes.

Entre outras coisas que planeamos para este ano, iremos focar a nossa atenção no uso de línguas Africanas que atraves-sam fronteiras, especialmente nos dialectos comumente usados que se encontram em dois ou três países vizinhos. Acreditamos que isto poderá iluminar melhor o modo como é que línguas Africanas podem unir povos, embora vivam em países diferen-tes. Neste aspecto, o Paul Chiphanda escreve sobre semelhan-ças e diferenças entre três línguas faladas em Moçambique, na Zâmbia e no Malawi, que atravessam as fronteiras destes países.

Para culminar temos a proclamação de 2008 como o Ano Internacional das Línguas pelas Nações Unidas. Documenta-mos a letra do Director-Geral da UNESCO, o Sr Koïchiro Matsuura, que explica questões sobre a promoção de línguas, diversidade cultural e a importância de se manter e desenvolv-er diversidade linguística.

Que impacto é que isto terá nas línguas Africanas? Leiam o artigo fascinante sobre O Desafio de desenvolver uma termino-

logia Nguni para a Física, pelo Dr Themba Dlodlo da Univer-sidade do Zimbábue, que desafia estereótipos sobre línguas Africanas e a ciência.

A parte central desta edição é dedicada a uma dis-cussão sobre pesquisa internacional recente sobre línguas e alfabetização na educação. Sumarizamos vários relatóri-os sobre a África a Sul do Sara, a Etiópia e a Ásia e ex-aminamos criticamente algumas das questões emergentes e alguns problemas. Também apresentamos a 2ª Parte do artigo “I-Dollar eyi-one” (Um dólar para todos): desenvolvi-mento linguístico e econômico na África do Sul.

Por fim LEAPnews gostaria de congratular Timbuktu pela sua nominação como uma das finalistas na com-petição nas novas “Sete Maravilhas do Mundo” nos fins de 2007. Um nome Africano levantou-se na ocasião, quando a cidade do Mali foi reconhecida entre as maio-res maravilhas do mundo, ao lado de Machu-Picchu no Peru, da Parede da Fama na China, entre outras. Embora Timbuktu não tenha ficado entre as ultimas sete, a África sente-se orgulhosa por ti.

Esperamos que os nossos leitores e as nossas leitoras derivem, como sempre, prazer desta edição. Kwaheri!

– pela Thandeka Teyise

�April �008

Snip-snap short articles on African languages

Linguapax prize for Neville Alexander Acclaimed linguist and anti-apartheid struggle veteran Professor Neville Alexander has won the prestigious Linguapax Award.

The annual award was presented to Alexander, director of the UCT-based Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA), on International Mother Language Day, 21 Febru-ary, at the Intercultural Week organised by the Ramon Llull University in Spain.

The Spanish-based Lingua-pax Institute awards the prize to linguists, scholars and members of civil society to acknowledge

their outstanding work in the field of linguistic diversity and/or multilingual education.

Alexander has done pioneering work in the field of lan-guage policy and planning in South Africa since the early 1980s, via organisations such as the National Language Project, PRAESA and the LANGTAG process. His most recent work has focused on the tension between multilingualism and the hegemony of English in the public sphere.

Alexander was also honoured with the Steve Biko Interna-tional Peace Award by the Umtapo Centre last year.

– Myolisi Gophe, UCT Monday Paper, 17 March 2008

Oops – UNESCO leave Kiswahili out of IYOL On the UNESCO website, Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura’s message announcing the International Year of Languages appears in several African languages, namely Afrikaans, Bambara, Sango, and Tamashek. For some reason Kiswahili, one of the African Union’s five official languages, was overlooked. We do UNESCO the favour of providing a Kiswahili translation [see page 6].

Celebrating ten years of manufacturing BraillersJanuary 2008 saw the celebration of the 10 year international partnership between the South African National Council for the Blind and Perkins School in Boston, USA. According to a press statement issued by the Council, the partnership was estab-lished to benefit visually impaired people in the developing world by giving them access to an affordable way of writing braille. The partnership runs a factory in Cape Town where the braille machines are assembled for distribution in South Africa and other developing countries. Braille machines or braillers – akin to manual typewriters with tactile dots instead of print – are used by blind people worldwide. In the past decade over 20 000 braillers have been produced by the factory at dis-counted rates, enabling many blind people to become literate. The factory has retained all nine of its staff during this time. New electric braillers are to be assembled this year.

IFP wants presidential pardon forms in isiZulu

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) will ask for an exten-sion to the presidential pardons process because there is a shortage of forms in languages other than English, its chief whip said on Thursday.

“I reported this to the Human Rights Commission and the Public Protector and I will be taking it up with the Justice Department to extend the window period,” said Koos van der Merwe.

He said the Justice Department was in serious con-travention of the Constitution for not making presiden-tial pardon application forms available in IsiZulu.

He said the department only had forms in English.This had created a crisis because half the window

period for applications had already lapsed.“The IFP believed that the Justice Department was

again in serious contravention of the Constitution – this time in respect of language rights – and also again vio-lating the human rights of prisoners, who wish to apply for pardon,” he said in a statement.

Officials at the Public Protector’s office said that forms would be made available in all official languages within the next two weeks.

A justice department official said its senior members were in a meeting and were not available to comment on the matter.

Raising the issue earlier this month, Van der Merwe said hundreds of applicants were isiZulu speaking and needed to be assisted in their mother tongue for them to properly understand the questions on the application form and ensure all questions were correctly replied to.

He added that hundreds of applications to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had failed because ap-plication forms for amnesty were not correctly completed.

Applications for presidential pardons began on 15 January and closed on 15 April.

Only those convicted and sentenced solely on ac-count of having committed politically motivated of-fences before 16 June 1999 would be considered.

– Sapa /ma/jog 28 Feb 2008 10:22

Uniform sign language planned for AfricaHarare – The African Rehabilitation Institute (ARI) plans to develop a uniform sign language for sub-Saharan Africa to fa-cilitate communication among people with hearing and speech impairments. Regional rehabilitation officer Engelbert Makan-jera said the institute wanted to ensure that people with hearing and speech impairments would be able to communicate when they travelled to countries in the region.

“We want to have a co-ordinated approach to sign lan-guage,” said Mr Makanjera. “Sign language should not get into conflict with that of other countries.”

• LEAPnews 17�

Studies have shown that each country in the region has its own sign language and people from other countries often experience difficulties to communicate without an interpreter.

Mr Makanjera said the institute would work with the Na-tional Associations of People With Disabilities from the different countries to develop the uniform sign language.

– BuaNews-NNN

Top Multilingual Technology Organisation Honoured

Translate.org.za, leading developers of multilingual software, have won a coveted Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) award for their contribution to multilingualism and nation building over the last decade.

PanSALB hosted a gala event in Johannesburg honouring organisations which have made an impact in the advancement of multilingualism in the new South Africa.

The award, Multilingualism and Nation Building: eBusiness Institution of the Decade, is recognition for Translate.org.za’s ground breaking work in the area of multilingual software.

This work recognises Translate.org.za’s historic invention of the country’s first multilingual keyboard, open source spell checkers, and translation of software such as OpenOffice.org and Mozilla Firefox, as well as their ongoing effort to work with universities to train students to translate software through a Translate@thon programme.

Says Dwayne Bailey, Director of Translate.org.za, “Ngiyabon-ga kakhulu! We are very honoured to receive this award, especially as it is given by our peers and because it recognises our contribu-tion over many years to all of South Africa’s official languages.”

– International press release, South Africa, 5 February, 2008 Thank you to Carolize Jansen for feeding

LEAPnews with snippets – baie dankie.

Upcoming events ...

He said that with the increasing economic activities and relaxation of visa requirements between countries in the region, more people with hearing and speech impairments were joining the ranks of cross border traders. It was impor-tant that a uniform sign language be developed to make it easy for these people to conduct their business in foreign countries.

The 4th Association for the Development of African Languages in Education, Science and technology

(ADALEST) conference

Hosts: Department of Languages and Social Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Botswana Venue & date: University of Botswana , Gaborone, Botswana from 7–9 July, 2008. Theme: African Languages in the Context of the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (2005–14)’.For more details contact: jankied@mopipi.ub.bw

SIL International Conference: 2nd International Conference on Language Development, Language

Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities

Date & venue: 1–3 July 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand Those involved in mother-tongue-based multilingual educa-tion (MT-based MLE) and other language-based development programs are invited to submit papers for presentations in parallel sessions. The seven joint sponsors of the event are SIL International, the Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development at

Mahidol University, UNESCO-Bangkok, Southeast Asian Min-isters of Education Organization (SEAMEO), UNICEF, Care International and Save the Children (United Kingdom). Purposes of the conference1. Raise awareness about the purposes and benefits of MT-based

MLE programmes 2. Share information about best practices in language develop-

ment, language revitalization and MT-based MLE in ethnolinguis-tic communities

3. Develop & expand networks of individuals and organizations

Separate tracks1. Language development and language revitalization of non-domi-

nant languages 2. Language policy, language-in-education policy and policy imple-

mentation 3. Mother-tongue-based multilingual education 4. Community-centred efforts to preserve intangible cultural heritage 5. Information & communication technology that supports MT-

based MLE 6. Research and evaluation studies of language revitalization and

MT-based MLE programs

The deadline for registration 30 April 2008. http://www.sil.org/sil/news/2008/mle-conference-planning.htmContact: www@sil.org

�April �008

Book REviEw

Amahlandinyuka kaPinokiyo Retold by Xolisa Guzula, Pamella Maseko and Ntombizanele Nkence with Reviva Schermbrucker. Illustrated by Alzette Prins (New Africa Books, 2007).

The idea of retelling Pinocchio’s story in isiXhosa is a creative one. Amahlandinyuka kaPinokiyo is the first isiXhosa version of the classic children’s story of the wooden boy whose nose grows longer each time he tells a lie. It is a must-read for children aged 3–13 years, and will also appeal to their parents.

The use of everyday isiXhosa makes the book an easy read. The story is retold in a very special African way. The illus-trations and drawings show African artifacts such as animals, huts and forests, and a Sangoma (traditional healer). These will draw the interest of children and enhance their enjoyment and understanding of the story.

Those familiar with previous versions of Pinocchio will agree that the story flows swiftly, and that the innovative fea-tures read as well as the original Pinocchio. On the last page there is a glossary for isiXhosa vocabulary used in the book. Local slang and idioms, including some Afrikaans words, are used to accommodate the reader.

All these features will help children to understand, in an enjoyable way, that lying isn’t the way to go.

–- by Thandeka Teyise

• LEAPnews 17�

“Lugha zina umuhimu wake!”Ujumbe kutoka kwa Bwana Koïchiro Matsuura, Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa,

UNESCO, wakati wa sherehe za mwaka wa kimataifa wa lugha, 2008

Lengo letu ni ku-hakikisha kuwa umuhimu wa ku-wepo kwa lugha mbalimbali katika jamii na matumizi ya lugha hizo ka-

tika elimu, uongozi na vyombo vyote vya sheria, katika tamaduni zetu na mawasiliano kwa

umma, mtandao na biashara, vinatam-

buliwa katika nyanja zote za kitaifa, ki-

kanda na kimataifa.

Mwaka wa 2008, ndio uliotangazwa na Baraza la Umoja wa Mataifa kuwa mwaka wa kimataifa wa lugha. Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa la Elimu, Sayansi na utamaduni (UNESCO), kama shirika kiongozi, ndilo lililopewa dhamana ya kuratibu, kusimamia na kufanikisha shughuli zote husika za mwaka huu wa lugha.

Shirika linaelewa fika umuhimu wa lugha hasa ukizingatia changamoto nyingi zilizoko mbele yetu, ambazo binadamu lazima azipitie katika karne zijazo.

Lugha kusema kweli zina umuhimu wake katika kuyat-ambua makundi mbalimbali ya watu pamoja na mtu mmoja mmoja, na hata jinsi wanavyoishi kwa pamoja na kwa amani miongoni mwao. Pia, lugha ni nguzo au kigezo muhimu sana kuelekea katika maendeleo endelevu na mahusiano mazuri katika ngazi ya kimataifa na taifa husika kwa ujumla.

Lugha ni muhimu sana katika kutekeleza yale malengo sita ya elimu kwa wote (EFA) na Malengo ya Maendeleo ya Milenia (MDGs) ambayo Umoja wa Mataifa uliyaridhia mwaka 2000.

Ikiwa kama kiunganisho katika jamii mbalilmali, lugha inaweza kusaidia katika mkakati wa kuondoa umaskini mkongwe na njaa (MDG 1); nguzo ya elimu, uelewa na ujuzi wa maisha, lugha pia ni chombo mah-susi katika kufikia lengo la elimu ya msingi kwa wote (MDG 2). Mapambano ya maradhi kama vile ukimwi (HIV/AIDS) na maambukizi yake, malaria na mengineyo mengi (MDG 6) ni lazima yaainishwe katika lugha za jadi hasa pale inapowezekana kuwafikia; huku tukihifadhi na kuzingatia elimu na ujuzi wao wa jadi katika kuhakikisha mazingira ende-levu (MDG 7) ambayo kwa ujumla wake yana mahusiano makubwa na wenyeji wa mahali hapo na lugha zao.

Hata hivyo, maingiliano wa mila na desturi mbalimbali kwa mapana yake, yana uhusiano mkubwa na maingiliano wa lugha mbalimbali katika jamii, kama ilivyo ainishwa katika “UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and its action plan (2001)”, “the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage” na “the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005)”.

Hata hivyo, katika vizazi vichache vijavyo, zaidi ya asilimia 50 ya lugha 7,000 zinazozungumzwa duniani kote zinaweza zikawa zimepotea kabisa. Takriban chini ya robo ya lugha hizo ndizo hutumika mashuleni, mawasiliano ya umma

na mitandao mbalimbali na nyinginezo zinatu-mika tu kwa kipindi au kwa msimu fulani. Maelfu ya lugha-ingawaje zinatumiwa na wenyeji wa maeneo mbalimbali katika mazumgumzo yao ya kila siku, kwa bahati mbaya hazitumiki katika mifumo mingi ya elimu, mawasiliano ya umma, uchapishaji wa vitabu au majarida mbalimbali na aina nyinginezo za mawasiliano ya umma kwa ujumla.

Kutokana na hayo, tunapaswa kulipa kipaumbele jambo hili na kulishughulikia haraka iwezekanavyo. Kwa vipi? Kwa kushawishi na kuunda kanuni za lugha mbalimbali zitakazoi-

wezesha kila jamii kutumia lugha yao ya mama au ya kuzali-wa kwa kadri iwezekanavyo ikiwa ni pamoja na elimu, wakati huo huo wakijitahidi kujifunza au kufahamu lugha nyingine za kitaifa, kikanda na hata za kimataifa. Pia, tuwashawishi wazungumzaji fasaha wa lugha fulani, ili wazungumze lugha

nyinginezo, angalao moja ya kitaifa au kanda pamoja na lugha moja au mbili za kimataifa. Tufahamu kuwa, lugha zote zita-kuwa na nafasi katika dunia yetu kama lugha mbalimbali zitazungumzwa na kukubalika miongoni mwa jamii husika.

Kwa hiyo, UNESCO inazialika serikali zote, Umoja wa Mataifa na Mashirika yake, vyama vya kiraia, mashirika ya elimu, vikundi au vyama vya kitaaluma pamoja na wadau wengine wote kuongeza shughuli na juhudi zao ili kuimarisha, kutangaza na kuzilinda lugha zote hasa zile ambazo ziko hatarini ku-toweka kabisa, aidha kwa mtu mmoja mmoja au kwa maana ya makundi mbalimbali.

Kwa vyo vyote itakavyokuwa, aidha kupitia elimu, elimu na mawasiliano kwa umma, miradi mbalimbali ya kuokoa lugha zilizo hatarini kutoweka au kuitangaza lugha kama kiungo cha jamii, au kuchun-guza mahusiano kati ya lugha na uchumi, lugha na elimu ya jadi au lugha na uumbaji, ni muhimu kuzingatia kauli mbiu ya kuwa “lugha ni muhimu”na ni lazima itangazwe kila mahali.

Lengo letu ni kuhakikisha kuwa umuhimu wa kuwepo kwa lugha mbalimbali katika jamii na matumizi ya lugha hizo katika elimu, uongozi na vyombo vyote vya sheria,

katika tamaduni zetu na mawasiliano kwa umma, mtandao na biashara, vinatambuliwa katika nyanja zote za kitaifa, kikanda na kimataifa.

Mwaka huu wa lugha wa kimataifa 2008, unatoa nafasi ya pekee katika maamuzi endelevu katika kufikia malengo yaliyokusudiwa.

– Kiswahili translation by Macharia Muirur for PRAESA

Koïchiro Matsuura

7April �008

iNTERNATioNAL YEAR oF LANGUAGES 2008 Message from Mr Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the celebration of 2008

as the International Year of Languages (source: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/)

AfrikaansDie jaar 2008 is geproklameer as Internasionale Jaar van die Taal deur die Algemene Vergadering van die Verenigde Nasies. UNESCO, aan wie die taak toevertrou is om die aktiviteite vir die Jaar te koördineer, is gereed om sy leiersrol te vervul.

Arabic

Bambara

EnglishThe year 2008 has been proclaimed International Year of Languages by the United Nations General Assembly. UNESCO, which has been entrusted with the task of coordinating activities for the Year, is determined to fulfil its role as lead agency.

FrenchL’année 2008 a été proclamée Année internationale des langues par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies. L’UNESCO, chargée d’en coordonner les activités, entend assumer de manière résolue son rôle de chef de file.

Sango

Tamashek

Tokua tî Kötä Wayindä : "2008 Ngû tî âyângâködörö na ndögîgî mobimba"

Kötä Lïngö tî âKödörö-Ôko adë pa atene ngû tî 2008 sô ayeke tî âyângâködörö na ndögîgî mobimba. Sô UNESCO awara yângâ tî dôngbi âkua nî, lo yê taâ na bê tî lo kûê tî gbô li tî âkua nî ngangü.

(bâa âgbîângbi sô ayeke daä awe)

Dôngbi nî ahînga taâ bîanî atene tënë tî âyângâködörö ayeke kötä tënë mîngi na yâ tî gbâ tî âkpëngbä kîte sô sï âzo tî ndögîgî ayeke tirika ânde na nî na yâ tî ângû balë-ôko sô ayeke gä sô.

Âyângâködörö ayeke kötä yê mîngi bîanî sô sï ngëngëlë zo wala gbâ t^âzo ôko ôko ayeke hînga terê tî âla na nî, sï ngâ âla yeke dutï na sîrîrî na âmbâ tî âla ndâli nî. Âyângâködörö ayeke mbênî yê tî kodëto tî sï yeke-yeke na sêkü mäïngö-ködörö, ngâ tî tângbi yê tî ndögîgî mobimba na yê tî ndo ôko ôko.

Âla yeke taâ kpëngbä lêgë tî sï na bogoma omenë tî fängö-yê na zo kûê (FaNaZoKûê) ngâ na âbogoma tî Ngûsâki tëtî mäïngô-ködörö (BoNgûMäï).

Ndâli tî sô yângâködörö ayke bûngbi âzo na nzönî dutï ôko, ayeke kötä yê tî kodëto tî tomba kötä yërë na femba (1 BoNgûMäï); ndâli tî sô zo ayeke manda mbëtï na yâ nî, ayeke hînga yê na yâ nî, ayeke hînga kua na yâ nî, âyângâködörö ayeke kpëngbä lêgë tî fa mbëtï na kôzo mbäli tî dambëtï na ndögîgî mobimba (2 BoNgûMäï); fôko atiri birä tî tomba kobêla tî sïöngänhözo na makongö tî bübängö-batamênë tî zo (MaBüZo), na kobêla tî palüu na âmbênî kobêla (6 BoNgûMäï) na yângâködörö tî âzo sô awü gbânî na ndo ôko; bätängö hïngängö-yê na kodë tî ndo ôko ôko alîngbii tî gä nzönî gï töngana asâra nî na yângâködörö tî ndo nî ôko ôko..

Na mbâgë ngâ, sêkôte tî hïngängö-ndo ague lêgë-ôko na sêkôte tî âyângâködörö, töngana sô adäbê tî ë na nî na yâ tî Dëngö-pa tî gîgî mobimba tî UNECO na ndö tî sêkôte tî hïngängö-ndo na Sêndâkua tî lo (2001), Mângbi tî bätängö âyäpüngö yê tî hïngängö-ndo tî âmbesö (2003), ngâ na Mângbi na ndö tî bätängö na yängö kodë kôte tî fängö hïngângö-ndo (2005).

Me ë hînga atene na yâ tî âgbâ tî ngû balë otâ otâ sô ayeke tî gä, balë-okü yâ ngbangbo tî âyângâködörö 7 000 sô âzo ayeke tene na ndögîgî fadësô ayeke mîngo ânde awe.. Âla sô ayeke sâra kua na nî lâsô na dambëtï wala na sibêrendo awü asï bêndâmbo nî pëpe. Kûê sô, tî mîngi nî ayeke lâkûê lâkûê sï ayeke sâra kua na nî sô p¨pe. Âyângâködörö sâki na sâki, atâa sô âwatënëngö-nî ahînga nî nzönî mîngi, asï na yâ tî kua tî fängö-mbëtï wala tî sango, wala tî süngö-mbëtï, wala tî kua tî ködörö polêlê, ôko pëpe,

Nî laâ ayeke tângo tî sâra yê daä hîo sï.. Töngana nye? Na vüngängö ngâ na müngö ngangû na ândaräkua tî yângâködörö sô azîa âzo tî ndo ôko asâra kua na yângâ tî âla gbânî lâkûê töngana lêgë ayeke daä, sûsûka na yâ tî âdambëtï, lêgë-ôo sô âla yeke tene ngâ yângâ tî vakando, wala tî letâa, wala tî pöpöködörö. Na püsüngö âwatënëngö mbênî kötä yângâ tîtene âla manda atene ngâ mbênî ûse yângâ tî letäa wala tî vakando, ngâ na mbênî yângâ tî pöpöködörö ôko wala ûse. Gï töngana âzo ayêda tî tene yângâ ndê ndê sï yângâ ôko ôko kûê alîngbi tîwara ndo tî lo na ndö tî gîgî tî ë tî fadesô sô gä mobimba awe sô.

• LEAPnews 178

that are not their home languages. African languages must now be taken seriously and be used in our edu-cation systems. There is now growing interest and awareness that it is desirable and necessary to de-velop terminology, in all the fields of science and for the various indigenous languages of Africa. To make strides in economic development, we must participate in the development of science and technology so that we become involved in the creation of new knowl-edge because unless we promote the use of our own languages, no new scientific ideas can be formulated in them. This means that there will be no growth of scientific vocabulary and no corresponding growth of original scientific ideas in Africa. Consequently the majority of Africans will continue to be scientifically illiterate. Imagine an African Renaissance in European languages.

Creating a Physics terminology in NguniThe Nguni languages are spoken across boundaries in Southern Africa. There is therefore a need for Nguni terminologists to work together so that there is agreement on which terms to create, adopt and use in terms of their accuracy in reflecting the correct scien-

Challenges in developing Nguni terminology for physics

by Themba Dlodlo

IntroductionIt is estimated that half the six thousand languages of the world will be extinct in about 90 years from now. The reason is that no indigenous languages are used in the education systems, in commerce and the general administration of our countries, particularly in Africa. The introduction of Christianity and other good in-stitutions such as schools, hospitals, a justice system – policing and prisons etc. resulted in the infusion of new concepts and hence new words into the vocabular-ies of our languages. The new words were translated using phonetic transcription. Examples of this mode of translation are: school = isikolo, police = ipholisa, doctor = udhokotela. No new indigenous scientific vocabulary has been introduced in this way into the school sys-tem because such courses as Geography, Mathematics, Science and others have been and are still being taught in European languages. Although research has shown that children taught in their mother tongue learn better, African countries are not making attempts to correct the situation.

The low pass rates, in Physics and other Science subjects at our schools, are a result of the failure by students to understand concepts and by teachers to explain these concepts in languages

�April �008

English isiZulu isiXhosaforce isidlakadla utsalwano okanye utyhalwanogravity igravithi umtsalane womhlabafriction ukugudlana ukhuhlwanopressure umfutho uxinzelelopower amandla iqondo lokusebenzawork umsebenzi umsebenzispeed isivinini isantyavelocity ijubane isantya endleleni ethe tyeacceleration umkhawulezo utshintsho-santyaenergy amandla amandla

tific interpretation of the science concepts. Scientific words should be translated into Nguni by choosing words or a combination of words that are in everyday use and are explanatory of the concepts. Where the concepts are new, phonetic transcription can be used but then the term must be accompanied by a correct definition of the concept in the Nguni language. This is how European and most Asian countries have cre-ated and developed scientific terms from their own indigenous languages. Terminology creation should be coordinated if it is to be successful.

Like other cross-border languages Nguni is spoken differently across countries and across provinces within each of those countries with Nguni speaking popula-tions. There are therefore the following issues that need to be looked at:

The rules of the languageIn isiNdebele and perhaps in isiZulu the written words should not have vowels adjacent to one another. As an example, if we choose to use phonetic transcription for the words atom and electron, we create new Nguni words athomu and lekthoni and then define athomu and lekthoni in Nguni. Apart from the fact that they are both written according to the language rules for the purposes of pronunciation, these words when used in speech and in writing an i is prefixed resulting in illegal ia and ie combinations such as iathomu and ielekthoni. Unless the rules are relaxed, one should write i-athomu or iyathomu and i-elekthon or iyelekthoni. In lekhtoni we have also avoided the inclusion of the letter r, which is not found in isiZulu and isiNdebele. Rules can be relaxed with cer-tain consequences, but this must be done by agreement among the language users.

The confusion as to which words to choose, from among many that appear to have the same meaningAn example of this confusion in all the Nguni lan-guages is the use of the word amandla. This word is often used to mean force, power and energy, which are different concepts in English and in Physics. There is therefore a need to create specific Nguni terms, for each of these three words, so that concepts such as energy, power and force are clearly distinguishable in Nguni as they are in the English language and indeed as they are in their Physics context. To illustrate these problems a colleague, working with students learning Mechanics in their foundation courses at the Univer-sity of Pretoria, sent me the following translations of words that are commonly found in Mechanics courses. He found this set of translations in the literature (see box below):

“As you can see, there are problems in the difference between power and energy,” he has stated.

My preferred translations based on my understand-ing of Mechanics are: Force = indlovula, udli, indluzula (force causes mo-

tion – unyakazo). F=ma is a mathematical definition of force which can be translated into isiNdebele as follows: uDli ulingana nokwandisana kwesisindo nesiqubu = Force is equal to the product of mass and accelera-tion. Note that multiply = phinda (repeat that many times) or and is a (add this much, that many times). We could have used the word nomphumela (product) instead of nokwan-disana.

• LEAPnews 1710

molecule = imolenkulu (new), andii) use phonetic transcription for those concepts for

which Nguni words are difficult to find or to cre-ate, e.g. photon = fothoni, atom = athomu, energy = eneji. These can be written as: ifothoni, iyathomu, iyeneji in order to avoid double vowels (isiNdebele writing rules).

Note that the words ifothoni, iyathomu, iyeneji and imolenkulu are written in a Nguni format, that is, in a way that is comfortable to pronounce for Nguni lan-guage speakers and the rules of the language are strictly followed.

The resistance from various quartersIt will not be easy to create science terminology in indigenous languages until decisions in favour of introducing mother tongue education are taken at highest levels of our education systems. Only then will the terminologists begin to collaborate and co-operate to write the textbooks. In the beginning there will be fierce resistance from both parents and stu-dents in those schools that will be chosen to pioneer the projects because of the mistaken belief that “the experimental students” will be at a disadvantage. Use of mother tongue to teach sciences should start at the lowest levels of our education systems so that pupils become more familiar with the new vocabulary. Many people, including the teachers who must be trained to teach in mother languages, are skeptical because this has not been attempted before in many African countries.

What is the way forward?From what has been discussed above, in terms of the language rules, the preferred choices of terms by individual terminologists and our perceptions of the various Physics concepts, it is obvious that collabo-ration is necessary among linguists of indigenous languages and scientists in all fields. For example if we ask Nguni speakers, who have some knowledge of Physics, to translate Physics into their language they might offer the following: physics = ifiziksi, ifiziki, indalolwazi, invelolwazi , izenzekonvelo. Which one of these is the most accurate in repre-senting the meaning of the word both as a science and a Nguni word?

To encourage this collaboration, terminology com-mittees, for each language group, should be formed in order to harmonize the work of individuals. These committees, which must be mandated to create termi-nology, should seek financial assistance from govern-ments through the ministries of education, SADC and AU. These committees must have targets and deadlines. Once terminology has been created, textbooks for the early stages of education can be written. This will go a long way to start the ball rolling.

– Dr Themba Dlodlo teaches in the Physics Department at the National University

of Science and Technology (NUST), Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Power (the rate of doing work) = amandla (ona-mandla wenza umsebenzi omningi kunonge-namandla ngesikkhathi esifanayo). Power P is the rate of doing work, that is P= where W is work and v is velocity. Therefore for a constant force F, P= Fv which is a product (umphumela) of F and v. i) aMandla alingana nokwandisana kodli ne

jubane. orii) aMandla ayisilinganiso sokushesha kom-

sebenzi. Energy (enables work to be done) = isidlakadla/isid-

lakela. Friction (rub against) = ukhuhlwano is more appro-

priate than ukugudlana because ingudlano can happen without experiencing friction. In isiNdebele the word for friction should come from hluzula or khuhla which mean rub against. Friction is a result of rubbing objects against each other. Friction = ukhuhl-wano/inhluzula.

Gravity= igravithi is indeed written in a Nguni format but iglavithi is in my opinion better because it avoids the r which is absent, at least in some of the Nguni languages. In my opinion the better translation for gravity = indonsa. In-donsa is derived from the Nguni word donsa = pull, which is what the force of gravity does.

Velocity and Acceleration are rather difficult and new concepts for anyone beginning to learn Mechanics. Both involve a change of some quantity, in a time interval and both the change and the time aspect must be re-flected in the translation. The isiXhosa for velocity is, in my opinion, the correct definition of the term but too long to be used as a term. I suggest a shorter version, isantya-tye to be used. In my opinion both isiZulu and isiXhosa terms for acceleration are not accurate enough: umkhawulezo is a noun from a verb khawuleza (be fast). This term involves the time aspect but does not tell us that it is the velocity that changes in time, utshintsho-santya indeed expresses the change of velocity but does not say how fast (time aspect) the change takes places. Acceleration a= ----, is the rate of change of velocity v.

Where the concepts are new, how do we agree on the new terms?In creating science terminology,

i) use existing words or create new ones from the existing Nguni vocabulary and give them sci-entific meaning e.g. energy = isidlakadla (exists),

11April �008

economy. Noticeable to the casual visitors is, however, the uniformity of the offered produce. Competition for customers seems to evolve main-ly around the service provided and the freshness of the produce. The uniformity of offerings at the market allows us to understand the success of the business of Mandla and Sandile whose focus on pork exploits a gap in the market and skilfully targets traditional food preferences among rural-urban migrants in the area and beyond.

Language is again of importance in this context: the informal township economy, with its various entrepreneurial activities, operates largely through local languages, and many of

those engaged in it have only limited knowledge of the city’s socially and economically dominant languages, English and Afrikaans.

However, despite the relative importance of African lan-guages in the informal economy, limited knowledge of English and Afrikaans can restrict not only an individual’s success in the labour market, but also his or her business opportunities. While sales can be successfully completed even in cases of low linguistic proficiency – rarely involving more than a basic knowledge of numbers and the names for the products on sale – stock purchases, which link the formal and informal sector, generally require a higher proficiency as they include price and quality negotiations. Thus, in the case of the Tshatshalaza meat market in Guguletu, it is worth noting that all meat sellers obtain their produce from the same source – a stockist in Salt River who speaks IsiXhosa, and whose IsiXhosa-speaking work-ers also act as interpreters.

That traders themselves see language skills as important is indicated in the research review on street trading conducted by Lund. She noted that while basic literacy was generally not seen as a problem by street traders, many thought that “read-ing and writing another language – especially English – would be very important in enabling them to be more successful in their businesses” (1998: 24) – thus outlining clear directives for meaningful skills development programs. And it is noticeable that those who managed to establish successful and expanding businesses, such as Mandla and Sandile, have a good com-mand of English and Afrikaans, and do not rely on language brokers.

Formal financial services such as the provision of credit are also of interest in this context. Despite a strong desire to reach large numbers of ‘unbanked’ South Africans, dominance of English and Afrikaans in all transactions remains the norm – a point made frequently by those who act as treasurers of burial societies or stokvels and are required to bank the contribu-tions: they lament the absence of IsiXhosaspeaking staff at most branches (and often have to rely on their ‘schooled’ children

Participating in Economic Growth ii: Entrepreneurship and ConsumptionThe term ‘informal economy’ includes a wide range of activities, from selling consumerables (vegetables, meat, sweets, cool drinks, clothes) to hairdressers, shebeeens, and auto mechanics, and including survivalist activities with minimal profit as well as successful small businesses. Compared to other developing countries, the size of the informal economy is comparatively small in South Africa.

In our survey less than 10% of respondents were found to engage in informal entrepreneurial activities, and only a small number of those in casual employment were found to work in the informal sector. Of particular interest is the relatively low percentage of informal entrepreneurial activity in Imizamo Yethu, where there are more opportunities for regular and casual employment.

The importance of informal self-employment in low-employ-ment areas such as Guguletu and Langa was also indicated in the thirty-five detailed ethnographic work histories which were collected subsequently (November 2004) in Guguletu and Imi-zamo Yethu: whereas nine of the sixteen respondents in Gugu-letu had established their own, small-scale businesses, noneof the nineteen Imizamo Yethu respondents were self-employed. The businesses ranged from selling sweets and chocolates to offering a local computer and fax service, from painting to carpentry, from sewing to beading. The average income (profit) seemed to lie around R700 to R800 per month.

Often self-employment does not assist in overcoming poverty and deprivation: Zanele, who trained as a bead-maker in Claremont, makes around R100 profit per month from her beading and struggles to afford the purchase of the relatively costly beads. Her income covers her rent at the hostel, yet she relies on relatives and casual domestic work in order to provide for her basic needs. Others, however, are true success stories: Mandla and Sandile were retrenched as cooks seven years ago, and teamed up to use their retrenchment pay-out as start-ing capital for a small business selling pork, a rare commodity in Guguletu where most meat sellers provide only chicken and beef. Their business now draws customers from across Gugul-etu and other parts of Cape Town (Khayelisha, Langa, Philippi), and on Saturdays a queue forms in front of the container from which they operate.

Meat as noted by one of our respondents goes with everything ... liquor, women ... and thus provides an important and often profitable sector within the informal township-based

i-Dollar eyi one! Ana Deumert and Nkululeko Mabandla

In our previous issue we summed up part 1 of a paper by Ana Deumert and Nkululeko Mabandla’s entitled, “i-Dollar eyi-one! Language, Communication Networks and Economic

Participation: Towards an Inclusive Economy”. This is the second and final part.

Ana Deumert

• LEAPnews 171�

as language brokers). This does not only apply to the business sector, but also to government institutions (such as the South Af-rican Revenue Service) which tend to provide forms in English and Afrikaans only, thus creating a further obstacle to success-ful service delivery, and also making it difficult for individuals to carry out their civic duties (such as the payment of taxes).

While the informal economy is successful in addressing many of the daily needs of local township residents, including income generation and in some cases casual employment, it cannot provide for all needs, and the formal economy remains of importance for employment, as well as the purchase of stock and private consumption. The existence of complex linkages between the formal and the informal economy has frequently been noted, and it is precisely at these points of linkage and connection that language proficiency can increase or limit an individual’s economic success.

Conclusion Enabling Communication and Preventing Market FailuresEnsuring communication across market sectors, without eradi-cating diversity, is the challenge linguistically heterogenous societies such as South Africa face in the 21st century. Despite the considerable increase of IsiXhosa speakers in Cape Town since 1980, isiXhosa is still a socially and economically mar-ginal language in the city, and the dominant position of English and Afrikaans remains firmly entrenched; despite national constitutional provisions for multilingualism and linguistic rights, and the Western Cape Provincial Languages Act (1999), and the Western Cape Language Policy (2001), both of which recognise IsiXhosa as one of the three official languages of the Western Cape.

Language policy responses to this situation will need to go beyond the conventional answer of selecting one language above others for inter-ethnic communication. Instead, a truly transforma-tive approach would seek to empower the languages which currently have little ‘economic currency’ through decisive long-term policy measures, and in consultation with local communities. The responsibilities of addressing a situation where – irrespective of skills – individuals are limited in their opportunities by not speak-ing the dominant language cannot lie with those whose lives are already characterised by multiple forms of deprivation.

Urban planning can contribute to informal processes of language acquisition via creating the physical conditions for contact between linguistic groups. However, it is necessary to ensure that this is not a one-way process towards the spread of English (thus further marginalising those who reside at a dis-tance from these opportunities), but that language skills spread both ways, providing South Africa’s citizens with multilingual competencies, thus truly transforming the linguistic landscape. The business sector is not without responsibility in this context: ensuring communication via translators and bilingual staff might address some of the exclusion faced by rural-urban mi-grants who arrive in the city without, or with little, English and/or Afrikaans proficiency. Partnerships between the business sec-tor and language-oriented NGOs and research institutions and with translation and interpreting professionals should also be encouraged. In addition, a focus on language is also relevant to ASGISA’s general recommendations on skills development as language proficiency not only restricts access to employ-ment and trade but also to education. Enabling communication within a linguistically heterogenous society is a basic condition for both democracy and a well-functioning market.

– Dr Ana Deumert teaches in Linguistics, University of Cape Town– Nkululeko Mabandla is an actor/director/former freedom fighter

“Kitchen help needed. Must speak English.”

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

English withfriends

Afrikaans withfriends

Learnt English inCape Town

Learnt Afrikaansin Cape Town

Imizamo Yethu NY1, Guguletu

Source: Monash Survey of Internal Migration, 2003-2004.

1�April �008

Governments should invest in promoting and developing local languages as well as national and regional languages of wider communication, for instructional use in schools, teacher development and learning materials, in order to optimize learning and education in sub-Saharan Africa. At least the primary years of schooling should be in the mother tongue; ideally, mother-tongue education would extend throughout secondary schooling. The teaching of the applicable international language of wider communication (ILWC) should be improved. And the ILWC should prefably be no more than a supportive medium of instruction in secondary schools, alongside the mother tongue in a bilingual system.

This is the key cluster of recommendations in a state-of-the-art report on mother-tongue and bilingual education, commis-sioned by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), supported by UNESCO and the GTZ. The report provides a wide-ranging overview of research on the language issue in African education since independence. It was presented to African ministers of education in Gabon in 2006. The report consists of a number of chapters separately authored by specialists in language and education.

A helpful executive summary is followed by the “Back-ground and History – Lan-guage Politics and Planning in Africa”. Penned by H. Ekkehard Wolff, the chapter examines the language factor in education and develop-ment, before zoning in on the complexity and the sensitivity of the language question in Africa. This has to do with the continent’s colonial history and continued post-colonial dependencies, and is tied indissolubly to issues of power and social change. In post-independent states ruling elites, having benefited from class divides resulting from the continued favour-ing of the former colonial language at the expense of local languages, find themselves in the dilemma of recognizing the democratic impetus and developmental

potential of local languages, while at the same time fearing the loss of political control in the process. Wolff addresses common myths about language, identity, and attitudes, before identify-ing Africa’s multilingualism (especially cross-border languages and linguae francae) as a resource for education. Multilingual primary education developments in Niger, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia are held up as successful examples. The chapter effectively becomes a summary of the entire report, and aptly ends with a set of recommendations. The first of these calls on African governments to “[a]cknowledge the fact that under-development and poverty in Africa are intimately linked to the language factor”. A flexible multilingual education system based on the sustained used of African mother tongues and/or national languages, with access to and proficiency in the of-ficial/foreign language, “would be the most efficient in terms of educational output as well as the most effective in terms of cost-benefit relations”.

Kathleen Heugh’s chapter on language education models looks systematically at research, design, decision-making and outcomes, and identifies the components of worthwhile language education models for the future. These include, centrally, the use of an African language alongside an international language of wider communication. Terms used to identify language models in Africa are clarified: “weak bilingual” models – those that target the international language and in the process omit or prema-

turely remove pupils’ mother tongues (MT) from the teach-ing-learning equation – are contrasted with “strong bilingual” models that main-tain the MT as a medium of instruction (MoI) throughout schooling. Heugh notes the convergence towards debili-tating early-exit transitional models (three years of MT education before the switch to the target language) in post-independence “Anglo-phone” and “Francophone” Africa, before summing up current research trends and a range of language mod-els. Only programmes with eight or more years of MTE would predict success in the less-than-ideal conditions of sub-Saharan Africa. A sec-tion is devoted to clearing up terminological confusion

REPoRT SUMMARY Optimizing Learning and Education in Africa – the Language Factor

Alidou, H., Boly, A., Brock-Utne, B., Diallo, Y.S., Heugh, K. & Wolff, H.E. for ADEA, UIE, GTZ, 2006. Available from www.adeanet.org

• LEAPnews 171�

(transfer vs transition). The over-emphasis, by the worldwide Eng-lish Second Language industry, on ESL teaching methods rather than on the MoI issue is identified as a fatal flaw, and influential advisors are lambasted for selling transitional models. Examples are given of the successful prolonged use of African languages in education, as in Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa (first 20 years of Bantu Education), and in Nigeria’s Six-Year Primary Project. The chapter recommends, amongst other things, that governments inform and engage communities in language and education debates, and that African languages should be used as the main MoI to at least the end of grade/year 6.

In a companion chapter on cost implications, Heugh argues for investment in mother-tongue and strong bilingual models of education. She is critical of non mother-tongue/transitional programmes, as these are designed to fail – more than 55% of learners across sub-Saharan Africa drop out by the end of Grade 6. Employing a cost-benefit analysis (cost in relation to return), Heugh looks at language provision in education, textbook production in African languages, economic spin-offs of an African language industry for Africa, and teacher education, and concludes that mas-sive, systemic and co-ordinated spending on African languages in education makes perfect economic sense. A ten-point plan on activi-ties required to make further use of African languages in education is presented, in which relative costs for the following actions are indicated: development of a language educa-tion policy, elaboration of an implementation plan, gaining public support, terminology de-velopment and translation, language develop-ment units, dictionaries, multilingual materials, and teacher training. The total additional cost to each country is recoverable over a period of five years, after which the country would reap the educa-tional and economic benefits. The cost would vary from as little as 1% (where orthographies and language development units already exist) to 5% (where there are no orthographies for the targeted languages). In deliberately focusing on cold hard economic currency, the chapter comes as close as it is pos-sible to showing (without doing an actual costing exercise) that investment in African languages is an economic imperative.

The dynamics of teaching and learning through well-known versus unfamiliar languages form the subject of the next two chapters, by Hassana Alidou and Birgit Brock-Utne. Examples are given of ‘safetalk’ situations in which teachers and pupils, to compensate for a poorly understood MoI, jointly pretend that learning is happening. By contrast, the pedagogie con-vergente in Mali and Ethiopia’s extended period of MTE offer some hope. The complexities of bi/multilingual schooling in relation to teacher deployment, (the lack of) training, and read-ing approaches are highlighted, with a sanguine appraisal of Zambia’s Breakthrough to Literacy reading programme. Some overlaps with Heugh’s chapter (see above) occur in the delin-eation of successful MT-based programmes in various African countries. However, the emphasis on the learning of science and

mathematics in a familiar language, the detailed look at donors’ track records, and the need for culturally sensitive curriculum materials and forms of assessment are new. Together, the two chapters reinforce the conclusions of Heugh’s earlier chapter.

In her chapter on publications in African languages and the development of bilingual education, Satina Diallo avers that ‘furthering a literate environment, especially in African languages, is essential in achieving the inclusion of school education and literacy training in a country’s cultural develop-ment’. Noting the parlous state of publishing in endogenous languages, mainly for socio-economic reasons, Diallo argues for a national book policy whose implementation should be co-ordinated by an independent organization. Such a policy would have to begin with school textbooks, as the sale of these constitutes the lifeblood of the publishing industry. A viable publishing industry in African languages thus depends on the expanded demand for school textbooks in African

languages. This, in turn, depends on the political will of governments in officially recognizing African languages as tools for education and development. Other obstacles to creating a literate environment in African languages include the heavy import duties on the materials needed for book production, publishers’ lack of access to bank credit, and shrinking markets and unreliable distribution systems. To remedy the situation, Diallo calls for public-private partnerships around book policies in rela-tion to linguistic and educational choices, and regional co-operation amongst pub-lishers in cross-border languages.

A concluding chapter, by H. Ekkehard Wolff, addresses planning and co-ordina-tion matters that are often overlooked in

regard to educational reform in Africa. Wolff proposes an Inte-grated Social Marketing theory to problem-solving, a new plan-ning philosophy for non-commercial agents working for social change (such as Ministries of Education and NGOs), requiring new types of human resource management and a new breed of civil servants. The latter need to be flexible people with indi-vidual initiative, decision-making and problem-solving capaci-ties, and with a sense of social responsibility and adaptability. Planning would need to be complemented by what Wolff calls controlling, in the form of a strong central marketing unit within the ministry of education. He is realistic enough to assert that such an approach may well have to be introduced piecemeal into education bureaucracies.

There is some unevenness in the chapters, both in content and format, pointing to an editing process that was perhaps not given its full due. This notwithstanding, Optimizing Learning and Education in Africa – the Language Factor is set to remain a reference work for policy makers, language activists, scholars and students for some time to come for combining a compre-hensive overview of multilingual education in Africa with a clear set of guidelines for language policy and planning.

– summary by LEAPnews

A viable publishing industry in African languages thus de-pends on the ex-

panded demand for school textbooks in African languages.

This, in turn, depends on the political will of governments in

officially recognizing African languages as tools for education and development.

1�April �008

Inspired by the so-cialism of Nyerere and the policy of

Education for Self-Reliance, Tanzania developed Kiswa-hili, the national language, as a

carrier of everyday socio-economic and

political activity.

The exclusion of African languages “accounts largely for the ineffectiveness of the African educational systems”. And those responsible are African governments, whose failure to carry out actions agreed on a decade or more ago demonstrate a lack of political will.

So says a report on literacy and African languages, written by Hassana Alidou for the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) in 2006. The report focuses on Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, Zambia, and Tanzania. Throughout, it argues for closer links between the language of schooling and of adult literacy, in the interests of national development.

Numerous declarations, resolutions and plans of action show that African governments have recognized the need to promote African languages for literacy, education and development, according to the report. However, English and French continue to dominate as official languages and for instruction.

Levels of literacy have increased since independence in the 1960s, but not enough to impact positively on socio-economic development. Since political activities in six of the countries are conducted largely in the official (former colo-nial) languages, citizens’ political rights are undermined on a daily basis.

Several of the countries in the study have progressive language policy frameworks that have been, at best, only partially implemented. Cameroon stands out for promoting local languages on paper, signaling government awareness of their importance – but also for government failure to support civil society language groupings in implementing the policies. Benin has a national policy for the use of African languages in pre-school and teacher education, and has adopted a na-tional literacy and adult education policy. In Burkina Faso, the 1980s Revolution ushered in mass literacy campaigns using Burkina languages, and many civil society organiza-tions got involved in the provision of literacy and non-formal education. Since 1990 a number of national languages may be used for instruction in schooling and non-formal education. Neighbours Mali have recognized 13 languages as national languages, and permit the use of any of these (alongside French) for instruction in bilingual schools of the Pédagogie Convergente.

Despite enabling language policy and literacy frameworks and some promotion of local languages, however, all four countries have since independence “not reached a level of national literacy that can impact signifi-

cantly these countries’ development”. Illiteracy and poverty levels remain amongst the highest in the world.

According to the report, Zambia recognizes the importance of local languages for initial literacy, and has recorded some successes with a seven-year Primary Reading Programme. However, English continues to be the language of education beyond the early primary school years.

By contrast, post-independence Tanzania is singled out for having “been able to go beyond political declarations, un-implemented lan-guage policies and experimentation”. Inspired by the socialism of Nyerere and the policy of Education for Self-Reliance, Tanzania de-veloped Kiswahili, the national language, as

a carrier of everyday socio-economic and political activity. Kiswahili was actively promoted as the language of instruc-tion throughout primary schooling, and of adult literacy. The report points out, however, that Tanzania’s imposition of Kiswahili as the national language was done under a one-party system, and that the current multi-party ethos in many multilingual African states will require more democratic strategies by governments in order to negotiate the use of African languages.

The report recommends that:• African governments implement the language plan of ac-

tion agreed to at Harare in 1997.• Non-formal education be viewed as part of education and

development, and be funded accordingly.• Partnerships between governments and NGOs be

strengthened to maximize on the training capacity of the latter.

• Multilingual and multicultural education policies be adopted to promote literate environments in schools and communi-ties.

• A demand-driven approach to the provi-sion of literacy and basic education be adopted that considers the educational needs of children and adults, i.e. what they do with literacy.

• ICTs be integrated into school and com-munity literacy.

• Large-scale funding for literacy teachers, curriculum specialists and literacy and adult education programme developers; for professional development programmes to build capacity for literacy and adult education; and to implement the plans of action.

– summary by LEAPnews

REPoRT SUMMARY Use African languages for literacy!

Alidou, H. 2006. Use of African Languages and Literacy: Conditions, Factors and Processes (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Tanzania and Zambia). ADEA Working Document. [Online.] Available http//www.adea.net

Hassan Alidou

• LEAPnews 171�

International research on language and literacy in education: what gets through?

Recent reports that emphasise mother-tongue education and literacy in multilingual settings do so on pedagogic and economic grounds, rather than on human rights or ideological foundations. The reports, some of which are summarised elsewhere in this edition, take issue with the continued wastage of education systems that ignore or under-utilise children’s and adults’ mother tongues. For the first time, we have implementation proposals for sub-Saharan Africa framed within a cost-benefit analysis, based on a comprehensive overview and evaluation of local and international research. Collectively, the reports represent a state-of-the-art resource resource for governments, policy-makers, language activists and students.

Common groundFor all the complexity of education in increas-ingly multilingual settings, the reports end up saying remarkably similar things. Children in sub-Saharan Africa should be taught in their mother tongue wherever possible and for as long as possible – minimally for the first six school years, but ideally all the way through their schooling. All pupils should learn a na-tional or regional language of wider communi-cation (LWC). Where mother-tongue education is not (yet) feasible, this LWC should be a medium of instruction. Additionally, all children need to learn the relevant international lan-guage of wider communication (English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish), wherever possible from a specialist teacher of the language. In some contexts the international language should become a supportive medium of instruction at secondary school, alongside the mother tongue or LWC, in a dual-medium arrangement.

The reports agree that, given the high aspirations for Eng-lish in particular, advocacy campaigns are needed to convince parent communities to not neglect mother-tongue education in the process. To be credible, such campaigns require the cre-ation of literate environments in local (indigenous) languages outside the domain of formal education. Textbooks, literature, other reading materials such as newspapers, and public documentation must be available in local languages and the LWC. Teacher training and deployment should be coordinated to serve such a mother-tongue-based policy. And the languages of schooling should be linked to adult literacy campaigns in a co-ordinated system of education and development.

Central to the argument is that poverty and underdevelopment are closely linked to the language factor. Continued economic wastage will result if current systems are not changed. If a learner doesn’t understand the language of instruction well enough, she or he will learn little, end up repeating grades, or drop out of school. Multiplied a millionfold, this represents – apart from the appall-

ing human cost – an enormous inefficiency in the system, starting with teachers’ salaries. Schooling based on the home languages and cultural values of children would reduce repeater and drop-out rates, improve performance within the system, increase the enrolment of girls, and enhance the participation of parents by reducing cultural alienation. Better performances at school would lead to increased enrolment in tertiary education, and ultimately to economic growth. Economists tell us that for every year a child completes at school, she or he will ultimately have a higher income. The reports argue that funding indigenous languages in

a multilingual system would not only benefit in-dividual learners, but amount to a saving for the national economy after a period of five years, by when the extra initial outlay would have been recouped. In other words, mother-tongue based education within a multilingual system represents a sound investment.

Fertile or stony ground? But is the message getting through? More precisely, what is getting through to whom? The reports were commissioned by and writ-ten mainly for ministries of education, with the support of donor agencies. This explains why they stop short of criticising the politics of language in any one particular country.

Understandably, the reports are forward-looking, progressive, and the tone is construc-tive rather accusing. Criticisms of countries that have persisted with failed language policies are couched in general terms, and stop short of ‘naming and shaming’ the culprits.

More importantly, the reports do not address the ques-tion of political will and a country’s readiness to change. This reluctance to tread on toes risks subscribing to the view that language-in-education policies could somehow be formulated and implemented in a political power vacuum. There is an assumption that all countries are amenable to change, and that

The reports:Alidou, H. 2006. Use of African Languages and Literacy:

Conditions, Factors and Processes (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Tanzania and Zambia). ADEA Working Document. Available http//www.adeanet.org/

Alidou, H., Boly, A., Brock-Utne, B., Diallo, Y.S., Heugh, K. & Wolff, H.E. for ADEA, UIE, GTZ, 2006. Opti-mizing Learning and Education in Africa – the Lan-guage Factor. Available http://www.adeanet.org

Heugh, K., Benson, C., Bogale, B. & Mekonnen Alemu Gebre Yohannes. 2007. Final Report: Study of Medium of Instruction in Primary Schools in Ethiopia. [Online.] Ministry of Education, FR of Ethiopia. Available http://www.adeanet.org

Central to the argu-ment is that poverty

and underdevelopment are closely linked to the language factor

... If a learner doesn’t understand the

language of instruction well enough, she or he will learn little, end up repeating grades, or drop out of school.

17April �008

all will be persuaded by the pedagogic-economic rationale for mother-tongue based education.

In reality this is not so: some countries will change or imple-ment their language policies, others will not. In this respect we could posit a continuum of political contexts, from least to most enabling of change towards mother-tongue based education within a multilingual system.

At one extreme are brutally repressive or corrupt regimes that pay no more than lip service to democracy, where elec-tions are stolen, and where life expectancy is low and the economy is in tatters. Appeals to such regimes to implement mother-tongue education will most likely fall on deaf ears. The first step mother-tongue based education in such contexts may well be regime change!

In the middle of the continuum are relatively stable, albeit poor, countries with language policies that, on the whole, contin-ue to valorize the former colonial language. Usually this is done at the expense of local languages (Ghana), or NGOs play the major role in language planning in the absence of state inter-vention (Cameroon), or the national language is not used as a MoI beyond the first three years of schooling (Malawi), or some experimental bilingual programmes exist (Mali). Most people remain excluded from meaningful access to education and the formal economy on the grounds of language policy, resulting in elite closure and the perpetuation of the poverty cycle. To what extent ruling elites are willing to listen to the economic rationale for democratic language policies that could undermine their own privileged positions, will depend in no small measure on political leadership. The challenge for this group of countries is to raise the profile of LWCs and to extend mother-tongue-based education to the whole of primary schooling.

The most enabling end of the continuum is represented by three countries that together provide a beacon of hope for MTBEMS in sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania, Ethiopia, and South Africa are fairly stable multi-party democracies that have ac-corded official status to African (indigenous) languages, and that have progressive language-in-education policies that allow the use of MTE and/or the LWC throughout primary schooling. The challenge for these three countries is to implement their policies, and to extend MTE to the major local languages (Tanzania).

This admittedly crude typology does not factor in the ques-tion of agency, the notion of linguistic citizenship and multilin-gual repertoires, nor uneven development across categories. Nevertheless, by classifying countries by the politics of lan-guage and their language policies, it may enable a more realis-tic assessment of the prospects of MTBEMS than is suggested by the sometimes too sanguine research reports.

No doubt it is out of a sense of pragmatism that the authors do not distinguish too finely between countries that are more, alternatively less, amenable to change. Besides, it is not unreasonable to assume that even some less-than-demo-cratic regimes are interested in economic development, and hence in literacy and education based on the mother tongues of learners. And indeed there is some evidence that govern-ments in Africa are beginning to listen to the growing chorus of voices calling for mother-tongue and bilingual education within designed multilingual systems. The fact that the reports were either commissioned by governments (in the case of Ethiopia) or presented to them (the ADEA conference of edu-cation ministers in Gabon, 2006) may be a sign that at least some of the ground is fertile.

– by Peter Plüddemann

Least enabling Most enabling

Political organization Political organization Political organization

One-party states, monarchies, military dictatorships, or oligarchies

Fragile democracies, threadbare economies, danger of elite closure

Fairly stable parliamentary democracies

Official languages Official languages Official languages

Former colonial languages only Former colonial (& LWC) Former colonial & LWC (& local langs.)

Medium of instruction Medium of instruction Medium of instruction

Little or no focus on MTE Up to 3 yrs MTE; experimental projects (choice of ) 6 or more yrs MTE

Examples Examples Examples

Zimbabwe, Cote de Ivoire, Swaziland Ghana, Cameroon, Malawi, Mali Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa

Challenges for mother-tongue education

Challenges for mother-tongue education

Challenges for mother-tongue education

Regime change! Officialise LWC Extend MTE to 6 yrs for some langs.

Implement policies; extend MTE to (more) local languages

Figure 1. Typology of mother-tongue based education in multilingual systems, sub-Saharan Africa

• LEAPnews 1718

Kufanana kwa Chichewa ndi ziyankhulo za Chisenga ndi Chisena zimene zimayankhulidwa ku Zambia ndi Mozambique, maiko oyandikana ndi Malawi

CHIYAMBIM’dziko la Malawi muli ziyankhulo zokwanira pafupifupi khumi ndi zinayi (14). Chiyankhulo chimene chimayankhulidwa ndi anthu ambiri ndi Chichewa, chimene kale chimatchedwa Cinyanja.

M’maiko ozungulira dziko la Malawi monga Zambia ndi Mozambique ngakhalenso mbali zina za Zimbabwe ndi South Africa, Chichewa chimatchedwa Cinyanja mpaka pano. M’chaka cha 1966, kunali kalembera m’dziko la Malawi. Mukalembera ameneyu, zinasonyeza kuti anthu makumi asanu ndi mphambu ziwiri pa anthu chikwi chimodzi, amayankhula Cinyanja. Choncho Cinyanja ndi Chinger-ezi zinakhala ziyankhulo zazikulu zogwiritsidwa ntchito m’boma.

Dzina la Cinyanja, linasintha kukhala Chichewa maka-maka mu chaka cha 1968 pamene kunali msonkhano waukulu wa pachaka wa chipani chimodzi chimene chinkalamulira nthawi imeneyo cha Malawi Kongeresi. Dzinali makamaka linasintha chifukwa chakuti mtsogoleri woyamba wa dziko lino, Ngwazi Dr. Kamuzu Banda, anali m’chewa. Komatu Chichewachi chikutchedwabe Cinyanja mmadera ena a mmaiko aja ndatchula kale a Zambia, Mozambique, Zimba-bwe komanso South Africa.

THUNTHUChichewa ndi chiyankhulo chimodzi cha ziyankhulo za Chibantu. Monga chiyankhulo cha Chibantu, chimafanana ndi ziyankhulo zina zomwe zimapezeka mmaiko a Zambia monga Chisenga ndiponso ku Mozambique monga Chisena. Ziyankhulozi zimafanana chifukwa anthu ake amene ama-yankhulawo ayandikana malire ndi anthu akuno ku Malawi.

Paul Chiphanda

Monga anthu aku Chipata m’dziko la Zambia, ayandikana ndi anthu aku Mchinji a m’dziko la Malawi. Komanso anthu aku Tete, Zobwe ndi malo ena a m’dziko la Mozambique ayan-dikana ndi malo ngati Mwanza, Chikwawa ndi Nsanje omwe ali m’dziko lino la Malawi. Ziyankhulozi zimafanana mu njira zambiri. Kungotchulapo zina mwa njirazi zapang’ono, ziyankhulozi zimafanana mu njira izi:

Poyamba, mawu amuziyankhulozi amathera mu mawu a liwu (-a, -e, -i, -o, -u). Mwachitsanzo; m’Chichewa mawu awa, lira akuthera mu mawu a liwu a. Mu Chisenga chomwe chimayankhulidwa ku Zambia, mawu woti chifipa akuthera mu mawu a liwu a.

Chimodzimodzi mawu akuti mphangwa mu Chisena akutheranso mu mawu a liwu a.

Kachiwri, masinde a mawu ena amakhala ofanana. Mwa-chitsanzo masinde monga awa; -nthu, -thu, -tu. Mwachitsanzo:

• munthu mu Chichewa. • munthu mu Chisenga cha ku Zambia.• Munthu mu Chisena cha ku Mozambique.• Ndithu - Chichewa• Ndithu - Chisenga• Ndithu - ChisenaKachitatu, kawirikawiri popanga mneni

wamphatikiram’mbuyo pamaonjezedwa ku - kutsinde la mneni. Mwachitsanzo:

• Chichewa; -ona =kuona. -pita =kupita.• Chisenga; -beka =kubeka. -fuma =kufuma.• Chisena; -ona =kuona. -famba =kufamba.Kuonjeza apo, masinde a mawerengero amakhala ofa-

nana muziyankhulo zitatuzi. Mwachitsanzo, powerenga, muziyankhulozi zimati:

Chichewa: -modzi, -wiri, -tatu, -nayi, -sanuChisenga: -mozi, -wiri, -tatu, -nayi, -sanuChisena: -posi, -piri, -tatu, -nayi, -shanu

Ngakhale pali kusiyana pang’ono mukatchulidwe kamawerengero ena, kwakukulu zimafanana.Kufanana kwina ndikwakuti aphatikira mtsogolo a msintho wa mneni amakhala ofananira ngakhale kuti pakhoza kukhala

kosiyana pang’ono mu zina. Mwachitsanzo:

Mneni Chichewa Chisenga ChisenaOchitidwa -edwa/-idwa -lyewa/-lyiwa -ewa/-iwaOmuchitira -era/-ira -ira -era/-iraOchitidwa m’chibisira -eka/-ika -lyeka/lyika -ekha/-ikhaOchititsa -etsa/-itsa -esha/-isha -esa/-isaOchititsitsa -etsetsa/itsitsa -eshisha/-ishisha -esesa-isisaOchitirana -ana(dyerana) -ana (lyerana) -ana (dyerana)Wamtsutso -ula (tsekula) -ula (vula) -ula (sekula).

Popitirira apo, ziyankhulozi zimagwiritsa ndondomeko yofanana pamene amagwiritsa ntchito magulu a maina apadera. Monga pamene akugwiritsa gulu la MU-, A, limene limagwiritsa maina a anthu ndi nyama. Mwachitsanzo:

1�April �008

Mmodzi AmbiriChichewa Munthu (MU-,) Anthu (A-,)Chisenga Munthu (MU-,) Anthu (A-,)Chisena Munthu (MU-,) Anthu (A-,)

Mwazitsanzo zili pamwambazi, zikuoneka kuti ngakhale matanthauzo a mawu alembedwawo ndi ofanana. Ngakhale pali kusiyana pamaina ena monga: galu (Chichewa) mu Chisena amatchedwa mwanambwa. Komabe mainawa ali mu gulu la maina lotchedwa MU-, A-.

Kufanana kwina ndikwakuti tanthauzo la mawu ofanana mu kalembedwe limasintha malingana ndi m’mene mawuwo atchul-idwira. Mwachitsanzo:

Chichewa Changa’ (kusonyeza umwini) Changa` (mtundu wa nyama) Chisenga Changu’ (kusonyeza umwini) Changu ‘ (Mtundu wa nyama)Chisena Bwenji’ (chibwenzi)

Kunyerezera’ (kuganiza)bwenji ‘ (ndikanatere)kunyerezera ‘ (kuyabwa)

Zikuonekanso kuti ziyankhulozi zimakhala ndi ziganizo zomwe zimakhala mu ndondomeko yokhala ndi “mwininkhani”, “mneni” ndi “pamtherankhani”. Mwachitsanzo:

Chiyankhulo Mwininkhani Mneni PamtherankhaniChichewa Mwana wadya nsimaChisenga Mwana walya nsimaChisena Mwana adya ntchima

Ziganizozi ndi zofanana ngakhale kuti katchulidwe ka mawu ena zikusiyana. Poonjeza apo kufanana kwina ndi kwakuti pamak-hala mgwirizano wa mawu onse amene akupezeka muchiganizo. Mwachitsanzo:

Chichewa: Chipewa changa chakuda chataikaChisenga: Chisoti changu chifipa chataikaChisena : Chipewu changa chakuswipa chataika

Pomaliza, njira yopangira maina kuchokera ku aneni zimakhala zofanana. Mwachitsanzo:

Chiyankhulo Mneni DzinaChichewa lima mlimiChisenga lima mlimiChisena lima mlimi/nyakulima

MATHEROZoonadi monga mmene taonera pafundo ziri pamwambazi, ziyankhulo za Chichewa, Chisenga komanso Chisena zimene zima-yankhulidwa ku Malawi, Zambia ndi Mozambique, zimafanana mu zambiri. Ziyankhulozi zimafanana chifukwa anthu oyankhu-lawo ndioyandikana kumene amakhala. Komanso pali njira zambiri zomwe zimapangitsa kuti ziyankhulozi zikhale zofanana. Ngakhale pamakhala kusiyana pang’ono, nthawi zina, pakatchulidwe ndi kalembedwe ka mawu ena, kwakulu matanthauzo ake amakhala ofanana. Choncho anthu oyandikanawa sangavutike kwenikweni pamene ayenderana. Koma zitha kutheka kuti anthu a mmaikowa akhoza kutha kuwerenga ndi kumvetsa zomwe zalembedwa m’mabuku opezeka m’maikowa.

– Paul Chiphanda teaches at the Blantyre Teachers’ Training College, Limbe, Malawi

neuter, causative, intensive, reciprocal and reversive.6. They use a distinct noun class system, e.g. MU-, A, which

is specifically used for human beings and animals.7. Have tones. e.g. changa’ (mine) changa ‘ (lemur).8. Generally sentences follow a Subject, Verb and Object

(SVO) system.9. There is Concordia agreement of elements in sentence

constructions.10. Noun formation system is similar. e.g. forming nouns from

verbs.11. Spelling is sometimes a little bit different but conveys the

same meaning.

Summary of the paper in EnglishThere are three cross-border languages which are similar for Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique, namely Chichewa, Chisenga and Chisena respectively. These are Bantu languag-es and are similar in various ways. Some of the ways are:1. All the words end with a vowel.2. Some stems are similar e.g. -nthu, -thu and -tu.3. Generally an infinitive verb is formed by prefixing “ku-“

to a verb stem.4. Numerical stems are similar e.g. -modzi, -wiri, -tatu, -nayi,

-sanu.5. There are similar verb extensions, e.g. in passive, applied,

• LEAPnews 17�0

creditsWe acknowledge the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) for funding LEAPnewsEditor: Thandeka Teyise (thandi.teyise@uct.ac.za. Assistant ed.: Peter Plüddemann (Peter.Pluddemann@uct.ac.za) Translations: Macharia Muiruri (Kiswahili), Paula Cardoso (Portuguese)Photographs: PRAESA, Ruth VersfeldPublished by the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA), Private Bag, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa Phone: +27 (0)21 650 4013, fax: +27 (0)21 650 3027 Website: http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/praesa

DTP: Andy Thesen • Printing: Salty Print, Methodist Inner City Mission

Language transformation workshopsTeachers from the 16 pilot primary schools participate in workshops

offered in support of the Western Cape Ministry of Education’s Language Transformation Plan (LTP). The workshops, financed by the Ministry,

were conducted on site by Ruth Versfeld (centre) and PRAESA staff, and focused on language teaching methods and innovative use of learning ma-terials. Educational publishers donated a box of textbooks to each school. The books, most of which are in isiXhosa, are part of the vanguard of new materials designed to give meaning to the LTP’s target of mother-tongue

based education to Grade 6. One of the workshop activities involved identifying criteria for selecting textbooks, and

“selling” them to fellow participants.