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LINGUACOLONIALISM: SAVE THE AFRICAN SPECIES!

Abajuo Reason Emma.

Abstract

Language is not just a medium of communication, but it is fundamental for any

cognitive process. Thus, language not only aids interaction, but also reflects each

society‘s culture, norms, and values. African languages – the mirrors of African cultures

– have been continually threatened by hegemonic colonial languages, the most

reprehensible of which is English. This paper presents the effects of this menace, and

advocates the salvaging of these endangered language species by using them as the

languages of instruction (LOI) in the various places where they are spoken. Using

Nigeria as an instance, it also establishes a strong correlation between using these

native languages as LOI in science and increased technological advancement in Africa

— an aid to achieving the much needed economic independence.

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Linguacolonialism

If we are our tongue and our tongue we,

then, killing our tongue means killing us.

— Abajuo Reason Emma.

Colonialism, neo-colonialism, and imperialism are all overused concepts depicting

political and economic domination by most European countries. In fact, the history of

many African countries will not be told without a detailed analysis of their colonial past.

While considering factors viewed as colonial heritage and bequeathed by colonial

ancestors, many scholars mention various items, especially, benefits — economic,

social, political, etc.; also, others expose the bad sides of colonialism — exploitation,

cultural sequestration, etc.; however, very few look at one issue as a problem, many do

not even know of it: Linguacolonialism.

While colonialism is seen as political and economic domination of one population

by another, neo-colonialism defines the situation that operates in less industrialised

countries whereby their former foreign rulers continue to determine the terms and

language of their economic exchange. All these are forms of imperialism.

Linguacolonialism is yet another form of imperialism often called linguistic imperialism.

Linguacolonialism conceptualizes the product of the age-long scrimmage in the

language milieu: languages compete for hegemony, and in the end, when one language

wins it dominates the others around it. One may wonder, though: ―Is not language just

a medium of communication; or as Edward Sapir says, ‗a purely human and non-

instinctive method of communicating ideas‘? Why, then, is there a battle of languages

as there is a battle of the sexes?‖ Well, the truth is that ―language is not merely a

means of communication; it is also an expression of shared assumptions. Language,

thus, transmits implicit values and behavioural models to all those people who use it.‖1

To this end, as people interact, their various languages interact; consequently, if one

1 Attributed to Elizabeth Burr, Susan Dunn, and Norma Farqhuar in Language Awareness, eds. Paul A. Escholz et al

(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974), 105.

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population wears the crown over another, the language of the former prevails over that

of the latter: thus, Linguacolonialism.

Over the years, many languages have become victims of Linguacolonialism.

Worse still, as nationalists and economists fight for political and economic

independence, no one braces to fight for linguistic independence. In history one readily

notices the death of the Celtic languages in Western Europe and the death of several

Native American languages. For example, Cornish, spoken in Cornwall, became extinct

around the end of the nineteenth century, and is now only spoken in valiant attempts to

revive it as an artificial language; also, British, a now dead language which was the

origin of the Brytonic group and spoken long after Anglo-Saxon settlement in England

and lowland Scotland in the Celtic kingdoms of StrathClyde, Cumbria and Elmet, as well

as in Wales.2

In Africa the case is no less different. In fact, African languages have been

perpetually enslaved by hegemonic languages, and these African languages have no

other option than to remain servile because no one exists to fight for them. Arabic,

French, and English are the three lingual superpowers that have held sway in Africa.

Other foreign languages, though, are spoken in Africa, like Hindi, spoken in sizeable

Indian communities in South Africa and East Africa; Portuguese, spoken in Angola, Cape

Verde, Guinea Bissau, and São Tomé and Princípe; and Spanish, spoken in Equatorial

Guinea, and Morocco.

Spanish is Equatorial Guinea‘s official language because in 1778, Portugal ceded

the island to Spain, and Spain remained in control until 1968. Portuguese, itself, is

found in the populations listed above as a result of these populations‘ colonial history.

At least, history shows that at one time Angola was called ―Portuguese West Africa.‖

Today, Portuguese is the official language of these African territories. Hindi is an Indian

language and came to be spoken in those African settlements as a result of migration of

Indians to those places. Arabic is largely spoken in Muslim Africa. Among Muslims,

Arabic is considered sacred as it is the language in which the Qur‘an was written. Thus,

2 Awe, Celtic (Language), slb-itsu.hull.ac.uk/awe/index.php?title=Celtic_(language), (accessed February 28, 2012.)

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with the rise of Islam to dominance after AD 622, Arabic has gained hegemony in all

lands where Islam is practiced. French, like Portuguese, is a Romance language spoken

in many former French colonies in Africa. English, also, is spoken by many former

British colonies in Africa. Thus, apparently, when these colonial powers left the African

soil on the premise of independence, their language remained as a reminder to their

former subjects that they, the powers, were there. The result? The many indigenous

languages that had existed before the advent of colonialism have continued to

experience colonialism even after their native speakers have proclaimed themselves

free. African languages, truly, are not yet free.

True, subjugation and colonization of one population by another comes with

imposition of the latter‘s language on the former. Because the language of a people

reflects their values, when appendage territories are compelled to learn the values of

the main empire, they must, irresistibly, learn the language. However, one exception, at

least, exists: English survived the 1066 conquest of England by the Norman French.

More so, it is obvious that in the battle for hegemony, English has gained ascendancy

over Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Japanese, Arabic, Portuguese, and

Italian. Thus, today, when one thinks of Linguacolonialism – the dominance of one

language over another – in the world context, it is really anglocolonialism that is borne

in mind. Why?

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Anglocolonialism: An Incidence of Globalisation

It may not be very correct to assert that colonialism alone gave rise to the

spread of English. Why, in West Africa, for instance, Britain colonised only four

territories: Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Gambia; but France colonised many

others: Senegal, Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Cote D‘Ivoire, Benin, Mauritania, and

Niger. However, in these French West African territories, although French is the official

language, English occupies a supercilious position over the native languages. In other

African territories too, colonised by European countries as highlighted above, although

the language of their former masters remain official, English occupies a preeminent

position. Why, even the Qur‘an has been translated into English! These African

countries, thus, face a more complex problem: they are battle grounds for fights

between at least two hegemonic languages — English and one other. However, even

though these languages hit one another with bare knuckles, they unite to endanger

language species that had existed before they came. Why, though, has English gained

the upper hand? The reason is not far-fetched — globalization.

Globalization is the comprehensive term for the emergence of a global society in

which economic, political, environmental, and cultural events in one part of the world

quickly come to have significance for people in other parts of the world.3 Since the

biblical story of the incident in the tower of Babel, where ―Jehovah4 had confused the

language of all the earth‖,5 man has endeavoured endlessly to ―construct an ideal,

supranational language as a medium of intellectual exchange for all lands.‖6 A language

achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in

every country.7 This can be effected by making the language the official language of a

country, to be used in courts, parliaments, media, and schools; also, it can be effected

by making the language a priority in a country‘s foreign-language teaching, even

3 Microsoft Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia, s.v. “William K. Tabb, ‘Globalisation’” (Redmond, WA: Microsoft,

2009), CD-ROM. 4 Jehovah is the English rendering of the name of God used in many English translations as this one.

5 Genesis 11:9, (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures).

6 Lincoln Barnett, “The Linguistic Wonder of the Modern World,” from The Treasure of Our Tongue, by Lincoln

Barnett (1964), reprinted in Language Awareness, eds. Paul A. Escholz et al, op cit., 267. 7 David Crystal, English as a Global Language, 2d ed. (Cambridge: University Press, 2003), 3.

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though the language has no official status: children are taught the language at schools,

and in the markets it is used effectively.

In both ways the English language has succeeded: in countries like Nigeria,

Ghana, India, Singapore, and Vanuatu as in other sixty-five countries, English is the

official language;8 while in countries like China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Egypt, and

Brazil,9 the emphasis is on English. This is because of some factors highlighted below.

Simplicity:

The English language is relatively simple when compared to other languages

in the ring. For example, it takes less time to say jettison or job hunt than to say

their French equivalents, jeter par-dessus bord and être à la recherche d‘un emploi

respectively; it is, also, easier to say customer service than to say in Spanish,

atención al cliente, worse still, in Italian, servizio assistenza al cliente.

Though not even in the contest, African languages rank amongst the most

difficult. Consider Luganda, the most common of the more than 32 languages

spoken in Uganda, ―the pearl of Africa.‖10 This language is full of tongue twisters;

for instance, God‘s Kingdom, in Luganda, is translated Obwakabaka bwa Katonda.11

The thought of learning such language, indeed, will make a person creep. Igbo,

also, a language of the Igbo people of Nigeria, is an unnerving language to learn —

it has many dialects. For example, an irritated man who wants to exclaim: ―what is

this?!‖ will in the Ngwa dialect say: ―A kpọkwanụ hekenanịa nṅịrị?!‖ while in the

Anambra dialect he will say: ―K‘ezikwanu ife d‘ife a?!‖ This variation

notwithstanding, there exists the standard Igbo language, spoken and understood

by all, and used in writing. Moreover, one will not forget Swahili, a linguistic hybrid

of Arabic and Bantu: the mix makes it complex. Because of these complexities of the

African tongues, wherever European influence has left its mark, Africans talk to each

other, especially, in English, French, or Arabic.

8 Ibid, 4.

9 Ibid, 5.

10 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 2010 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses (2010), 72.

11 Ibid, 111-2.

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Political and Military Power:

True, simplicity of a language plays a role in making it global; however, when

Latin had been the global language, was it any easy; or when French had been the

global language, were not the masculine-feminine dichotomy of words in existence?

This shows that a much stronger reason must hold for a language to become global:

the power of the language‘s native speakers. David Crystal explains:

A language has traditionally become an international language for one chief

reason: the power of its people — especially their political and military

power. The explanation is the same throughout history. Why did Greek

become a language of international communication in the Middle East over

2,000 years ago? Not because of the intellects of Plato and Aristotle: the

answer lies in the swords and spears wielded by the armies of Alexander the

Great. Why did Latin become known throughout Europe? Ask the legions of

the Roman Empire. Why did Arabic come to be spoken so widely across

northern Africa and the Middle East? Follow the spread of Islam, carried

along by the force of the Moorish armies from the eighth century. Why did

Spanish, Portuguese, and French find their way into the Americas, Africa, and

the Far East? Study the colonial policies of the Renaissance kings and

queens, and the ways these policies were ruthlessly implemented by armies

and navies all over the known world. The history of a global language can be

traced through successful expeditions of its soldier/sailor speakers. And

English ... has been no exception.12

When British adventurers first carried their speech to far places of the earth,

erecting their initial bastions of empire, then British traders with their business

prowess came along, and subsequently, missionaries, what else should be the result

other than a global language? Lincoln Barnett explains:

The occupation troops that moved into defeated countries after World War I

and on incomparably greater scale after World War II did more to spread

English (particularly American English) than any other agency of

dissemination. From the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and their

12

David Crystal, op cit., 9

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dependents deployed throughout both hemispheres, English words and

phrases filtered down to every level of the diverse populations in every nation

and zone. No longer was English speech the limited possession of the

educated, the wealthy, and the peripatetic social elite. It became the

economically valuable property of all, from shopkeepers and salesgirls,

bellboys and bartenders, down to barefoot urchins in the streets of Tokyo,

Teheran, Berlin and Baghdad, who swiftly learned to chirp, ―Hey Joe, gimme

gum,‖ or ―Hey Joe, wanna some fun?‖ 13

Economic Might:

While it takes a militarily powerful country to broadcast the seeds of its

language, it takes an economically strong nation to water and fertilize the soils

wherein these seeds were sown.

David Crystal, in his exposition of the relationship between the native

speakers‘ economic progress and the language‘s global status, says of English:

Any language at the centre of such an explosion of international activity

would suddenly have found itself with a global status. And English ... was

apparently ‗in the right place at the right time‘. By the beginning of the

nineteenth century, Britain had become the world‘s leading industrial and

trading country. By the end of the century, the population of the USA (then

approaching 100 million) was larger than that of any of the countries of

Western Europe, and its economy was the most productive and the fastest

growing in the world. British imperialism had sent the language around the

globe, during the nineteenth century, so that it was a language ‗on which the

sun never sets‘.14 During the twentieth century, this world presence was

maintained and promoted almost single-handedly through the economic

supremacy of the new American superpower. Economics replaced politics as

the chief driving force. And the language behind the US dollar was English.15

By this, is it any wonder, then, that English is winning the battle of tongues?

13

Lincoln Barnett, op. cit., 264 14

An expression adapted from the nineteenth century aphorism about the British Empire. 15

David Crystal, op. cit., 10

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The Result

What has been the result of a web of these factors? People the world over chore

themselves with learning the English language. When China produces goods, it proudly

brands it in English, ―Made in China‖; when the UN‘s General Assembly meets, the

language spoken is English; when scientific theories are formulated and written down,

the language used is English — which other is preferable?; when fiction is written, it is

either, originally, in English, or translated into English from its original language; and

take a stock of the movies in the world, even many Chinese films are acted in English.

The internet has, also, in modern times, become a veritable instrument for the

spread of the English language. Why, the world has become ‗a global village‘ with one

language — English. Social networks, especially, have not helped matters. Youths, who

want to show superiority and class, use English in chat rooms and network sites. Worse

still, they have developed for use in chat rooms their own amorphous variant of English,

which I call twitenglish16 : a hybrid of mnemonics, colloquialisms, and slangs. An

excerpt from a chat between two friends on a social network is given here below as an

example:

F1: Wia u at? F2: ‗m jus cumin hom. F1: u wit ur gurl? F2: No. F1: Y? F2: Hmmm. Seems u re intrestd in her. Lmao17. F1: LOL18.

The few of them who want to distinguish themselves stick to Standard English.

In all sets of the Anglo-variants, however, the least common multiple is English.

The situation is as the former Indian Prime Minister Nehru described: ―[English]

is the major window for us to the outside world. We dare not close that window, and if

we do, it will spell peril for our future.‖19 Lincoln Barnett, himself, says that ―English [is]

a window, a magic casement opening on every horizon of loquacious men.‖

16

Derived from Twitter, a popular social network where this variant is used opulently. 17

Laugh my ass out 18

Laugh out loud. 19

Lincoln Barnett, 262.

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Frankly, this trend is relatively positive. After all, a literate Nigerian can only use

his cell phone effectively after having read the user manual written, at least, in English.

Scientists, moreover, do not risk the limitations of translation as almost all works are

now in English. Film producers, also, make more money from Anglo films, because, in

many cinemas across the globe, almost all persons who purchase tickets speak English.

However, this tenor has its downside: the colonised languages — especially,

those minorities not in the battlefield — are faced with the threat of extinction. The

African languages are not an exception. At a meeting of the foreign ministers of the

Organization of African Unity (now AU) early in 1964, the Egyptian delegate began an

address in Arabic. From all sides of the hall came cries of ―Speak English!‖ or ―Parlez

Français!‖20 That event illustrates what has happened to African tongues as a result of

the force of English – the most reprehensible poacher – and many other poacher

languages: African languages have been neglected and may soon face extinction.

Save the Species!

When the white man came to Africa, he had the

Bible and we had the land. And now? We have the

Bible and he has the land.

— Jomo Kenyatta

Given the capricious nature of man, a culturally integrated world envisioned by

crusaders of Anglo-globalization is unreal. Thus, while Africans accept English as their

―window to the world‖ – there is no gainsaying that – it is important that they save their

native languages, else the ―leaders of tomorrow‖ grow up sequestered from their

language — the mirror of their culture.

Governments should, therefore, launch massive awareness programs to

champion a renaissance of these dying languages. More so, the learning of these

languages should be made compulsory in basic schools and should be taught

vigorously. In polyglot populations like Nigeria, the educational institutions in each

20

Lincoln Barnett, op. cit., 259

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geopolitical zone should continually enforce the learning of native languages in their

zone.

It is here recommended that African languages should be used as the LOI in the

settlements wherein those languages are spoken. One may also suggest that African

countries develop and use a lingua franca. Well, the possibility of this should not be

ruled out. If Noah Webster could start the venture into what is now known as American

English, a venture borne by nationalist sentiments, why can‘t African linguists and

lexicographers in the world come up with a lingua franca for their respective countries

through the process of pidginization? In this way, threads from native languages mixed

with the ‗super language‘ of the country are woven into a unique language understood

by all. For instance, in West Africa today, a variant of English known as the West

African Pidgin is spoken. However, this variant is not uniform, given the differences in

cultural backgrounds. For example, while in Sierra Leone, the pidgin form of my boss is

me boss man, in Nigeria, it is my oga; and Cameroon has its own well developed pidgin

variant called Kamtok. This is how the Bible‘s Mark 6:1, 2 is rendered in Kamtok:

Den i bin lef dat ples, an i bin kam fo i on kontri, an i pipu bin folo i. An i bin di tich di pipu fo insai di Jew dem God haus...21

Given these variations, it is better that each African settlement develop its own

native language for use as LOI. African countries, furthermore, should not only develop

the language, but enforce its learning by everybody. As it has Nigerian authorship, this

paper‘s prognosis is in the Nigerian context. In Nigeria, the learning of native languages

and their use as the LOI should be enforced. For a start, Igbo, mostly spoken in the

South-East; Hausa in the North; Yoruba, mostly spoken in the South-West; and Pidgin

English in the Niger-Delta region should be enforced as LOI in these regions. Was

Pidgin English just mentioned? Yes. Why, in Rivers State Television (RSTV), Port

Harcourt, there is a news section tagged ―News in Pidgin‖; also, in Wazobia FM, no

other tongue is used by the presenters except Pidgin English. Thus, this variant can be

21 Microsoft Encarta Dictionary, s.v. “Pidgin” (Redmond, WA: Microsoft, 2009), CD-ROM. (The English

rendering reads: “Then he left that place, and he came into his own country and his people followed him. And he was teaching the people inside the synagogue...”)

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standardized in those places where it is gaining ascendancy – especially, in the Niger-

Delta region – for use as LOI. As time passes, the development of native languages and

their use as LOI will be spread to other languages in Nigeria. What benefits could be

gotten from this shift in LOI from English to the native languages?

Saving the Species: A Force for Technological Advancement

Innovation requires creative thinking, and creative thinking relies on language mastering as its major tool.

— Liliana Mammino

Science and technology are twin brothers used by many countries to achieve

economic independence. Both of them imply a thinking process, both of them are

concerned with causal relationships in the material world, and both of them employ an

experimental methodology that results in empirical demonstrations that can be verified

by repetition.22 It is said that technology is the application of scientific laws in

construction of tools and processes. However, it will not be very correct to assert that

knowledge of scientific laws and theories is indispensable for achievements in

technology. After all, the steam engine, developed first as piston engine by the French

inventor and physicist Denis Papin in 1690, was commonplace before the science of

thermodynamics, whose first law – the law of conservation of energy – formulated in

1842 by German physicist Julius Robert von Mayer, elucidated the physical principles

underlying the operations of the steam engine.23 Thus, there is no gainsaying the fact

that technology – the study of crafting – can exist without standard knowledge of its

underlying science.

Credence to this fact is seen from the activities of craftsmen in Aba, the

commercial centre of Abia state, Nigeria. In this paper, Aba is used just as an instance

of the vast potentials in Nigeria and Africa at large. As rightly described by a former

Nigerian Head of State, Aba is ―the Japan of Africa.‖ Majority of the people living there

are nothing less than innovative. They make shoes, clothes, furniture, doors (wood or

metal), etc. It is common saying among Aba youths that ―whatever finished material is

22

Microsoft Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia, op. cit., s.v. “Raymond H. Merritt, ‘Technology’”. 23

Ibid.

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imported from Europe or any other place in the world into Aba, Aba craftsmen can

produce its replica.‖ Surprisingly, when the state government banned the use of

motorcycles for commercial transport in Aba, even before BAJAJ cycle rickshaws were

imported from India into the town, Aba local engineers constructed relatively good cycle

rickshaws from erstwhile motorcycles for use in commercial transport. These innovative

men did not see the four walls of the university — most even did not complete their

basic education. They have not heard of or studied the laws of electricity,

thermodynamics, mechanics, hydraulics, etc; however, they produce works wherein

applications of these laws are showcased. In agriculture, the case is the same. Farmers

in Aba and neighbouring environs own pineapple orchards, and take care of these with

amazing expertise; yet, they have neither read nor been taught in a book or a school

how these are done. How, though, do they achieve these feats?

Observation and practice. Apprenticeship is rife in Aba. Youths whose parents

cannot afford university education – or sometimes basic education – are sent to learn a

craft under a skilled craftsman. This they do for about seven years after which they are

settled with a sum of money to start up on their own. During these seven years, they,

by observing their masters and practicing by observation, gradually learn the craft and

turn out to be skilled — even more than university graduates in that field! The learning,

thus, is strictly oral and informal — no books, no lectures. This practice is not peculiar

to Aba, but is seen virtually everywhere in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, although Nigerians are innovative and produce home-made

goods, foreign products gain more market in Nigeria than their local counterparts. Why?

It is not because Nigerians are xeno-centric24, but because the foreign finished products

are really superior and well-finished than their Nigerian counterparts. Thus, Nigeria

imports goods that it can conveniently produce. The fact is that Nigeria even imports

shirts — something Nigerian designers can more-than-efficiently produce. This

unfortunate menace affects Nigeria‘s GDP. The major output group of the economy is

the oil sector. In the non-oil sector, growth is seen only by the activities of the

24

Meaning the feeling that foreign culture is superior over one’s own: gotten from xeno, meaning foreign, and centric, meaning focus of interest or activity.

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wholesale and retail trade, telecommunications, finance and insurance, and building and

technology sub-sectors. Materials used or sold in these sub-sectors are imported even

when they could be produced in Nigeria. Why the preference for these imported

manufactured goods?

The reason is that the local inventors are crude and lack the standards dictated

by science. Although technology can exist without the knowledge of science, such

knowledge fine-tunes technology, thus, standardizing it. The concepts of observation,

experiment, analysis, logic, ethics, entrepreneurship, etc can only be enhanced using

the scientific method. However, these local technicians lack such knowledge. How can

they be taught?

Language. Without the use of language, Nigeria‘s local inventors will not gain the

desired proficiency in science and technology. The challenge, though, is that these

inventors and craftsmen are not English literate; however, English is seen and

acknowledged by many people – even Nigerians – as the language of science and

technology. Thus, it appears that if these craftsmen must be taught, they must be

taught in English language; and since they can‘t comprehend English so much as to use

it in science and technology, then things must remain the same.

It is here unreservedly said that English is not the language of science and

technology. Any language can be the language of science and technology; thus, if

science must be brought to the people, it has to be done in a language that people

understand and communicate well in.25 Which language is used to teach science in

China; or which language is used as the LOI for technology in Japan; or what other

language is used in Russia to train nuclear scientists; or which tongue is the LOI for

science in Germany? The answers to these questions reveal that if Nigeria wants to

develop with science and technology as its key, then the LOI must be indigenous, not

English:

Teaching students how to write science or engineering texts, both

in their mother tongue and in languages utilised for international

25

Birgit Brock-Utne, “But English is the language of science and technology” – the language of instruction in Africa – with a special look at Tanzania, www.netreed.ulo.no/../brock_utne.pdf. (accessed February 24, 2012).

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communication, is viewed as a relevant part of their preparation

for the requirements of professional activities in the modern

context.26

Analysis of the difficulties encountered by both science students and local inventors in

Nigeria leads to the irresistible inference that the shift to mother tongue instruction

would be fundamental for development.

Fafunwa has observed that a major factor impeding the dissemination of

knowledge and skills, and consequently, the rapid socio-economic wellbeing of the

majority of people in Africa, is the imposed medium of communication. Fafunwa sees a

possible correlation between underdevelopment and the use of a foreign language as

the official language of a given country in Africa. It is believed in this paper that the

correlation is not only possible, but definite and strong. Fafunwa says:

We impart knowledge and skills almost exclusively in these foreign

languages, while the majority of our people, farmers, and

craftsmen perform their daily tasks in Yoruba, Hausa, Wolof, Ga,

Igbo, Bambara, Kiswahili, etc...The question is: Why not help

them to improve their social, economic, and political activities via

their mother tongue? Why insist on their learning English or

French first before modern technology could be introduced to

them?27

Kwesi Kwaa Prah similarly affirms:

No society in the world has developed in a sustained and

democratic fashion on the basis of a borrowed or colonial

language…Underdeveloped countries in Africa remain under-

developed partly on account of the cultural alienation which is

structured in the context of the use of colonial languages.28

26

Liliana Mammino, The Essential Role of Language Mastering in Science and Technology Education, www.noun.org/../19-067.pdf. (accessed February 24, 2012)

27 Babs A. Fafunwa, “Using National Languages in Education: A Challenge to African Educators,” Unesco-Unicef,

1990: African Thoughts on the Prospects of Education for All, 103, quoted in Birgit Brock-Utne, op. cit. 28

Kwesi Kwaa Prah, African Languages for the Mass Education of Africans, CASAS Book Series No.7. (Cape Town: CASAS, 2000), 71, quoted in Birgit Brock-Utne, op. cit.

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These assertions by the scholars above show that the call for mother-tongue LOI

is not new in Africa. What, though, is hampering the progress of this movement? One

may say it is procrastination, but really, it is neglect. African leaders and scholars shirk

from embarking on zealous implementation of policies aimed at using native languages

as the LOI in Africa. This paper, having joined in the call, also makes practical

recommendations — albeit in the Nigerian context.

In Nigeria there is said to be three major native languages: Igbo, Hausa, and

Yoruba. They are really four if one adds Pidgin English, dominant in the Niger-Delta

region. If Nigeria must advance in science and technology, the LOI must be indigenous.

For a start, let the Igbos be taught science in Igbo, the Hausas in Hausa, the Yorubas in

Yoruba, and many others – especially in the Niger-Delta region – in Pidgin English.

Gradually, the development will reach other areas. For the already established local

technicians, workshops should be conducted wherein the LOI will be the technicians‘ or

the craftsmen‘s first language. In these workshops, business ethics, improved scientific

practices, and entrepreneurial skills will be taught. This, surely, will lead to a steady

growth of made-in-Nigeria goods, and not just the growth, but the preference of such

goods by Nigerians.

More so, in Nigeria‘s tertiary institutions, science and technology students have

as part of their curriculum, a six-month student industrial work experience. The goal of

this scheme, though, has not been achieved as students bastardize the program —

some choose industrial works very different from their course of study, while others do

not even engage in it at all. It is recommended here that the academic planners in

Nigeria redesign the system such that three out of the five school days in a week are

used for theoretical learning in the class, while the remaining two days will be used for

full-time workshop practice. Thus, students will be attached to skilled technicians

around who might not even be graduates. The tertiary institutions will have a list of the

approved workshops and will receive feedback of the students‘ performance each

semester from the workshop. This feedback will be used to grade the student. This will

lead to a marriage of theory and practice. While the university students may learn in

the class with English as the LOI, in the workshop where the learning is informal, the

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LOI will be the native language. To this end, the students will show the craftsmen

which laws they apply, and they will impart theoretical scientific knowledge to the non-

graduate craftsmen, while the latter will give practical skills back to the students. This

marriage of minds, surely, will be done using the native languages. Undoubtedly, this

design will mean skilled graduates and polished craftsmen in the end — a boost to

technological development.

Lest this recommendation sound more ideal than practical, it is worthwhile

mentioning some possible challenges to achievement of effective mother-tongue

instruction:

— The difficulty of translating scientific and technical terms from English into the

local languages;

— The cost of such translation; and

— Absence of proficient teachers.

True, while some technical terms cannot be used in a local language form,

others can. Meanwhile, it is remarkable that words have meaning when they are

attached as symbols to objects or terms. Thus, if no word exists for any technical term,

a word can be created and attached to that term. With continuous usage by the media

and in teaching, this word can gain acceptance as a word denoting that term or that

symbol. Even in English, words are created that way. Before the advent of the www,

there had been no word like ‗internet‘ or ‗sexting‘ or ‗social networking‘; but as the

world got ‗global‘, these words evolved. Hence, it will be wrong to say that an English

term cannot have its mother-tongue equivalent. For example, if in Igbo, it becomes

difficult to translate the word ‗science‘, the form ‗sayensị‘ can be used; at least,

‗technology‘ in Igbo is translated ‗nka na ụzụ‘. In some cases, teachers and workshop

instructors will achieve success by using both the native language and English. To

illustrate the importance of using native languages as the LOI in science, consider this

conversation between a teacher and two pupils who failed a test in a public school in

one of the remote areas in South-East Nigeria; one of the questions failed was ―What is

used for grinding?‖ The teacher brought the pupils to her table and was ready to flog

them.

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―What do you use for grinding?‖ The teacher asked them in English. The pupils

remained silent.

―Gịnị ka unu na-eji akwọ ihe?‖ The teacher asked again, this time in Igbo. The

pupils‘ eyes beamed.

―Inginụ a na-eji akwọ ihe,‖ 29 one of the pupils answered.

―Ọdụ na ikwe,‖ 30 the other one added almost immediately.

Obviously, they knew the possible answers to the question; yet, they failed it

because the question was in English and the answers required were to be in English.

The important thing for teachers and instructors should be to get the subject matter

across. No matter how hard Nigerians try to learn it, English remains a second

language. Thus, it is necessary to learn science primarily with the first language; the

second can be learnt with the passage of time. With this, the activity- and inquiry-based

approach to scientific learning will be enhanced; and undoubtedly, there will be

commensurate advancement in science and technology, which will help to achieve

Nigeria‘s vision of an economic independence by 2020.

The cost of translating science materials from English to the native languages is

not more than that involved in children dropping out of school, repeating grade after

grade, or only copying notes in school. It is not even more than that involved in

importing foreign textbooks into Nigeria — something that fattens the countries where

these texts are published. With advancement in technology, Nigerians – Africans – can

translate effectively at reduced cost. Permission should be gotten from the foreign

authors to translate and publish their books in the native languages. That will help.

Nigeria‘s teeming population is full of unemployed youths — graduates in science

and technology. These youths, also, can speak their various native languages. Thus,

their bilingual knowledge should be put to good use in making native languages the

LOI. Workshops should be conducted to train teachers — especially science teachers —

in using native languages as LOI. With that, there will not be absence of proficient

teachers.

29

Grinding machine 30

Pestle and mortar.

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While emphasizing the need to save Africa‘s language species by using them as

LOI in science and technology, thus, developing the continent, one cannot but agree

with Kwesi Kwaa Prah:

Where LOI is the same as the mother tongue/home language, it

not only affirms the developmental capacity of the mother tongue

to grow as a language of culture, science and technology, it also

gives confidence to a people, with respect to their historical and

cultural baggage. LOI in the home language or mother tongue is

an instrument for the cultural and scientific empowerment of

people. Its denial signifies the social and cultural inferiority of the

culture and people whose mother-tongue-use is denied.

Therefore, in free societies, knowledge transfer takes place in the

language or languages of the masses; the languages in which the

masses are most creative and innovative; languages which speak

to them in their hearts and minds most primordially. Cultural

freedom and African emancipation therefore cannot be cultivated,

expanded or developed where the LOI is different from the

languages or language the people normally speak in their

everyday lives.31

31

Kwesi Kwaa Prah, “Going Native: Language of Instruction for Education, Development and African Participation,” in Brock-Utne,Birgit, Zubeida Desai and Martha Qorro (eds.), Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa. (LOITASA) (Dar es Salaam: E & D Limited, 2003), 14 – 35, quoted in Birgit Brock_Utne, op. cit.

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Conclusion

Critics may readily say that this prognosis is typical of fiction. However, when

Noah Webster had begun changing reasoning to reezoning , young to yung, reading

to reeding, and zeal to zeel, it must have seemed as a project in futility. Now, though,

with the help of economic advancement, Ame is blazoned beside English words of the

American variant. In many other fields, history shows that impossibilities can become

impressive possibilities: Ferdinand Magellan with his sail around the world, Thomas

Edison with his light bulb, and Henry Ford with his quadricycle to mention but a few.

The secret, thus, to a successful mother-tongue instruction for Nigeria and all other

African countries is dedication and adventurous patience.

Indubitably, while African languages surrender helplessly to Linguacolonialism,

Africans can still keep their tongues alive by ―saving the species.‖ Yes, each indigenous

language can be standardized into a unique code as LOI, that when future generations

learn arts, science, and technology using their mother tongue and inquire into the

etymology of words they encounter, they will remain in touch with their culture, values,

and norms — the whole essence of language, the whole essence of existence.