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African Schools Weigh Teaching in Local Languages </h1>
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December 07, 2017 2:45 PM
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<a href="https://www.voanews.com/author/26663.html" title="Sofia Christensen">Sofia Christensen</a>
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<span class="gmail-caption">FILE - Students from CEM
Serigne Bassirou Mbacke school are seen in a classroom in Kaolack,
Senegal, May 19, 2017. (R. Shryock/VOA)</span>
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<span class="gmail-dateline">DAKAR, SENEGAL — </span>
<p>Most children in sub-Saharan Africa are taught in a common colonial
language instead of their mother tongue. Proponents say teaching in an
international language is advantageous, but others argue that this can
confuse children and affect learning. Some want local languages
integrated into the standard French curriculum.</p>
<p>In Alieu Samb primary school, in a working-class section of Dakar, second-graders are learning to read, in French. </p>
<p>Like most children in sub-Saharan Africa, they are taught in their
country’s common colonial language rather than in their mother tongue.</p>
<p>Linguistics professor Mbacke Diagne of Dakar’s Cheikh Anta Diop
University wants to integrate local languages into the standard teaching
curriculum.</p>
<p>He says most children entering primary school in Senegal have been functioning in Wolof for at least seven years beforehand.</p>
<p>“They have structured their world in this language,” he says, “but as
soon as they get to school, all this knowledge is set aside in order to
impose French.”</p>
<p>Diagne and others believe this slows the learning process and can discourage children from pursuing education.</p>
<p>According to Education Policy and Data Center statistics, Senegal’s
youth literacy rate is lower than the average for other lower middle
income countries, and more than half of secondary school-age children
are out of school.</p>
<p>Organizations such as the Associates in Research and Education for
Development have been piloting bilingual teaching programs in Senegalese
primary schools. Awa Ka Dia is the ARED Program Director. </p>
<p>She explains that children start simultaneously learning French and
building literacy skills in either Wolof or Pulaar, which are later used
as a base to read in French.</p>
<p>ARED currently operates in 98 primary schools spread between Dakar,
the northern city of Saint-Louis, and the town of Kaolack. The pilot
program ends this year, and Dia hopes results will encourage the
government to fund an extended version, covering more regions and
incorporating other local languages.</p><div class="gmail-wsw__embed">
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<img alt="FILE - Students cross the street outside the Yavuz Selim school in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 2, 2017." src="https://gdb.voanews.com/565908AD-D71F-49F6-932E-BAA466EE92A9_w650_r0_s.jpg" class="enhanced">
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<span class="gmail-caption">FILE - Students cross the street outside the Yavuz Selim school in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 2, 2017.</span>
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<p><strong>Mixed feelings</strong></p>
<p>But in Alieu Samb school, headmaster Meissa Dieng has mixed feeling about teaching in Wolof.</p>
<p>“Speaking French in school will allow children to really master the
language,” he says, “but then there is the psychological impact of
deconstructing a thinking process that has already been established.”</p>
<p>And parents are often the first to oppose the idea.</p>
<p>Literacy and education expert Chris Darby is with SIL, a nonprofit
serving language communities around the world. He says for six years he
struggled with community resistance to a multi-lingual education project
in rural Senegal. </p>
<p>“A lot of the resistance comes from parents, as well as teachers, and
right up the hierarchy. But parents are very keen, I think, for
children to succeed. And they tend to think of success, as far as what a
school can do, in terms of delivering an international language,” Darby
said.</p>
<p>Other countries also are delving into local languages. In 2014, the
Ethiopian government and USAID launched a reading curriculum in seven
Ethiopian languages to improve reading skills. And in 2015, Tanzania
introduced a policy to remove English as a medium of instruction and
teach entirely in Kiswahili.</p>
<p>But for Barbara Trudell, director of Research and Advocacy for SIL
Africa, favoring local languages in a multi-lingual context can be
complicated. </p>
<p>“As soon as you move from an international language down into an
African national language, choosing one over the other, the rivalries
are instantly there. At least that is the thing about French, English,
Portuguese, they’re sort of seen to be on a different level,” Trudell
said.</p>
<p>In Senegal, Wolof is spoken by more than 80 percent of the
population, but there are more than 20 national languages recognized by
the government.</p>
<p>In this context, this may be the greatest challenge to teaching in local languages.</p>
</div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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