Multilingualism in Africa

Abstract

Abstract Despite often multilingual local and national contexts, many African countries have chosen monolingual language-in-education policies which privilege the use of a single language at a given stage in education. In many instances, the language policy reflects the country’s colonial history, as well as monolingual, often colonial, conceptualisations of language practices. This chapter examines some of the issues involved in the question of language-in-education policies in Africa, highlighting several approaches that have been adopted across the continent. Monolingual policies which do not accurately reflect people’s lived experiences may restrict access to services and resources, including education, and perpetuate or further embed inequalities. However, these are not the only options. The authors highlight different approaches that have been taken to support multilingual learning, such as language-supportive pedagogy and translanguaging practices. The chapter also outlines recommendations that have been made to improve language-in-education policies and bring these more in line with individuals’ lived multilingual realities.

Authors 4

1. Tracey Costley

   University of Essex

   Affiliation as printed

   Tracey Costley, Language and Linguistics , University of Essex

2. Hannah Gibson

   University of Essex

   Affiliation as printed

   Hannah Gibson, Department of Language and Linguistics , University of Essex

3. Nancy C. Kula Aachen Nancy C. Kula

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Nancy C. Kula, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics , University of Leiden,

4. Colin Reilly

   University of Stirling

   Affiliation as printed

   Colin Reilly, Lecturer in Linguistics , University of Stirling