Dissertation notice: Language and Education in Mali

[Oladipo Salami]

Interesting. But how are languages allocated across
curriculum? Classes? Is code-switching a phenomenon?
Just like a study I did in Nigeria primary school
classrooms?
Dipo Salami
--- "Harold F. Schiffman"
<haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu> wrote:

> Forwarded from Linguist-List, Date: 25-Oct-2005
> 
> 
> Institution: University of Reading Program:
> Institute of Education
> Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2003
> 
> Author: Maggie Canvin
> 
> Dissertation Title: Language and Education in Mali:
> A consideration of two
> approaches
> 
> Dissertation Abstract:
> 
> Issues surrounding the decision of which language/s
> to use in formal
> education are of great importance to education
> policy makers in developing
> countries. However, this area is often ignored in
> studies of education
> systems. This study explores issues surrounding
> linguistic diversity and
> its implications for education, together with
> political concerns about
> language and resultant government language policies.
> Many countries in
> sub-Saharan Africa, such as Mali, are linguistically
> complex and have low
> literacy rates. These countries are concerned about
> the high levels of
> drop-outs and retakes in their school systems. In
> order to alleviate this,
> many have tried the introduction of indigenous
> languages in a variety of
> bilingual education programmes. One such programme,
> Pdagogie Convergente,
> combines the use of indigenous languages with an
> innovative pedagogy. This
> study contributes to the debate on linguistic
> diversity and language and
> education in Mali in Mali by researching the
> Pdagogie Convergente
> approach, and contrasting this with the Traditional
> French approach still
> being used in most Malian schools. It does this by
> focussing on the
> realities of everyday school life in one school
> complex. Data was
> collected using a variety of ethnographic research
> methods, including
> classroom observations, interviews, questionnaires
> and various recording
> techniques.  The study concludes that Pdagogie
> Convergente appears to
> deliver a better education for Mali because students
> pass through the
> system more quickly, fewer drop out and students
> receive a better
> educational experience. But it argues that there are
> factors other than
> language and that the new pedagogy needs to be taken
> into account when
> evaluating the true benefit of the innovative
> approach.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 



		
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