Language Of Instruction In Tanzania And South Africa Highlights From A Project

This book is based on chapters in a series of four books from the first five years (2002-2006) of the Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa (LOITASA) project. LOITASA is a NUFU-funded (Norwegian University Fund) project which began in January 2002 and will continue through to the end of 2011. The chapters reflect the state of the research at the end of the first five years of LOITASA in 2006 and were selected by reviewers independent of the project.

This is a series of books from the LOITASA (Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa) project. LOITASA is a NUFU-funded (Norwegian University Fund) project which began in January 2002 and continued till the end of 2006. It is, what in donor circles is known as a 'South-South-North' cooperation project which, in this case, involves research cooperation between South Africa, Tanzania and Norway. The first book, entitled Language of instruction in Tanzania and South Africa (LOITASA), focused on the current language in education situation in the two countries by providing a description and analysis of existing language policies and practices.

This book covers research findings on the language and education situations in Tanzania and South Africa. It outlines the policies governing language of instruction for education in the two countries, and assesses the extent to which existing policies are being implemented. It presents the history of the development of language policies in the two countries and considers how they are actually working in practice at classroom level. The contributors further consider the economic viabilities of language policies, and the necessity to rationalise languages and dialects for education purposes.

The start and progress of a language of instruction research project in Africa : the spirit of Bagamoyo /Harold D. Herman --A review of the literature on the language of instruction research in Tanzania /Martha Qorro --Language in education policies and practices among two isiXhosa speaking schools in the Western Cape, South Africa /Zubeida Desai and Birgit Brock-Utne --IsiXhosa as a medium of instruction in science teaching in primary education in South Africa : challenges and prospects /Vuyokazi Nomlomo --Revisiting the language policy in Tanzania : a comparative study of geography classes taught in Kiswahili and English /Mwajuma Vuzo --Overcoming the language barrier : an in-depth study of the strategies used by Tanzania secondary science teachers and students in coping with the English-Kiswahili dilemma /Halima Mwinsheikhe --Going through the motions of learning : classroom interaction in Tanzania /Casmir M. Rubagumya --Why has the language of instruction policy in Tanzania been so ambivalent over the last forty years? /Moshi Mussa Kimizi --"English is not our mother land" : anecdotal discussions and views on the language question in Tanzania /F.E.M.K. Senkoro --Tanzanian cartoonists "among most free in Africa" : Monday, Jan. 1, 2001 /Henry Lyimo --Developing digital literacy in higher education in Tanzania -- in whose language? /Torill Aagot Halvorsen --Language implications of implementing information and communication technology in classrooms in the Western Cape, South Africa /Greta Bjork Gudmundsdottir --Translating mathematical text for mother tongue teaching and learning of mathematics /Monde Mbekwa.

This book offers critical perspectives on global literacies, connecting research, theory, and practice. An emerging concept in the literacy field, many scholars agree on the need for students to develop global literacies, yet few agree on a widely accepted definition. Based on a synthesis of the literature, the editors formulate a definition of global literacies with four dimensions, including: literacy as a human right in all nations around the world; critical reading and creation of multimodal texts about global issues; intercultural communication and reciprocal collaboration with globally diverse others; and transformative action for social and environmental justice that traverses borders. Taking this shared, proposed definition as a starting point, the chapters then offer contextualized examples of global literacies from K-12 and teacher education classrooms to make explicit links between research and practice. The contributors interact with and interrogate the book’s definition of global literacies using a common framework of critical theory. As such, this book provides both emerging and established scholars with critical frameworks for positioning global literacies in ways that are relevant, dynamic, and forward thinking.

This volume explores the challenges of teaching and learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in local languages and local contexts in a range of countries around the world. Many countries around the world, including African countries, have been largely excluded from the transformation that is going on in STEM pedagogy in the USA, where the emphasis is on the importance of language choice and the development of English Language Learner (ELL). STEM subjects in many parts of the world have been taught in a global language, mainly English, rather than using a local language and local curriculum. This creates pedagogical challenges to the teaching of STEM. The contributions to this book review evidence and arguments for the teaching of STEM subjects in local languages and several chapters make this case that this should be considered a human right, both in national educational programs and in development aid. Working across disciplines and domains has the potential to lead to new understanding and the removal of barriers to progress with the ultimate goal of creating solutions to persistent problems in education. Cross-disciplinary work in science, language and literacy has shown much promise and demonstrated the importance of developing language along with disciplinary knowledge. This volume provides a deep dive into this topic, with articles by several scholars in the field of language in STEM.” – Jaqueline Barber, Director of the Learning Design Group at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California-Berkeley, USA “In an increasingly technological world, STEM Education has become a priority on national agendas and in educational institutions. Meaningful access to STEM education can enable or hinder young people from gaining entry into the world of work. It is against this backdrop that the edited collection, Human Rights and Language in STEM Education, needs to be welcomed. The various chapters tackle the big questions of access and many others. This edited collection is required reading for all those working in STEM and for policy makers who tend to see language and STEM as binaries, rather than as interdependent.” – Zubeida Desai, Professor and Dean of Education, University of the Western Cape, South Africa This volume by researchers from 10 countries provides a thought-and-action provoking multidimensional analysis of issues on the dignity of the use of STEM subjects in local education in the perspective of human rights. This book is especially recommended to researchers and education policy makers in such areas as STEM Educational Theory and Praxis, Human Rights, Future/sustainable Development, Science and Technology Literacy. May it inspire similar volumes in today’s politically ebullient world.” – Francisco Gomes de Matos, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, human linguistic rights scholar, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.

"Most of the chapters in this book were presented at the Sixth LOITASA [Language of instruction in Tanzania and South Africa] Workshop held at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa in May 2009"--P. 4 of cover.

This book sets out to bring voices of the South to the debate on localization of education and makes the case that it should be considered a right in education. Despite all the scientifically-based evidence on the improved quality of education through the use of a local language and local knowledge, English as a language of instruction and “Western” knowledge based curriculum continue to be used at all educational levels in many developing nations. This means that in many African countries, the goal of rights to education is becoming increasingly remote, let alone that of rights in education. With this understanding and with the awareness of the education challenges of millions of children throughout Africa, the authors argue that local curriculum through local languages needs to be valued and to be preserved, and that children need to be prepared for the world in a language that promotes understanding. The authors make a clear case that policy makers are in a position to work towards a quality education for all as part of a more comprehensive right-based approach. We owe it to the children of the South to offer the best quality education possible in order to achieve social justice.