Mother-tongue education?

This week’s issue of Mail & Guardian has got three articles about this much debated issue in South Africa. There are reasons for this debate. The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, said in her Basic Education Budget Vote Speech on 7 May to the National Assembly in Cape Town:

In 2014, a new policy will come into effect mandating the learning of an African language in all schools.

On top of that the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, Renuka Vithal,  at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) issued this communique on 15 May this year, as I have already reported in an earlier blogpost:

I am pleased to advise that the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is pioneering the introduction of isiZulu proficiency as a module in all undergraduate degree programmes.

Accordning to the Deputy Vice-Changellor this is

… in line with the University Language Policy and Plan and our Transformation Charter which seeks to develop African languages as academic languages.

There are obviously two parts of this discussion. One is about whether or not mother-tongue education is to prefer on every level. For mere educational reasons. The other one is about transformation and reconciliation. One can of course understand that those who have English or Afrikaans as their mother-tongue get upset to hear that they or their children have to learn one of the African languages. According to M&G somebody in radio had described it as

… dragging us back to the days of apartheid.

But that person was said to be “ … a mother-tongue speaker of an African language”. South Africans know that the riots in Soweto 1976 had to do with this. A new policy said that Black learners were going to be taught in Afrikaans. They took to the streets and police started to shoot children. Some citizens fear that the decision is reversed apartheid. I am not of that opinion.

But allow me to deal with one article at the time.

Russel H Kaschula is professor of African languages at Rhodes University and the author of one of the three articles in M&G. He is in favour of teaching in local languages. He admits that there are problems but argues that these are solvable. His argument is simple:

[W]e must teach our children in a language that they understand best, thereby creating better conceptual understanding ….

I totally agree. In my own teaching I already realize how those who have another mother-tongue than English struggle. (I do it myself!) Especially to conceptualize. I believe that it would make a difference if they were able to express themesleves in their mother-tongue. Even for the ability of conceptualizing in English. Kaschula continues by also admitting that there is a huge need for good language teachers and that concepts need to be developed. According to Kaschula language is the reason why only one in three learners reach matric. I like one of his last punch lines:

What makes us racist or “tribalist” is not the language that we speak but the attitude we hold.

Professor Robert Balfour, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the North-West University, speaks more about the transformation side of the debate. The article that contains the interview with him has the heading

One language is not enough

He speaks about “subtractive bilingualism” which means that one language overshadows another. This is of course what happens in many middleclass schools in South Africa today. Children, who possess more than two or three languages, are being taught in English or Afrikaans, which are the only languages the teacher knows. His argument is summarised like this:

The consequence is that educators do not take advantage of the opportunities for mental development that are available to bilingual children, and thus the asset of bilingualism becomes a loss.

But there is also a critical voice. Dr Anthony Essien is a lecturer in mathematics education in the school of education at the University of Witwatersrand. He believes that at least maths is still best taught in English. His arguments are:

1. Most teachers are trained in English.

2. There has been no real effort to co-ordinate the development of the indigenous languages to become languages of scholarship. Lexicons are needed and a body needs to oversee the standardisation of a developed terminology.

3. There are too many negative attitudes to combat.

Well, his arguments are of course valid but I think he himself understands that they are just the kind of problems Russel H Kaschula says are solvable. And Essien also concludes by saying that

… the use of an indigenous language as a medium of instruction comes at a price …

Of course. Transformation has a price. Many South Africans in the past have been ready to pay that price. The question is whether or not the leaders of today’s South Africa are.

At the Lutheran Theological Institute

This morning we go up before 7, had a nice breakfast and went to the Lutheran Theological Institute. We got the information yesterday, that the morning service would start at 8. So it did. Although the church was almost empty. The church bell rang. In the procession were a priest and a number of theology students. After about 30 minutes the church was almost full. The students did almost everything up to the Eucharist. The priest gave the absolution, read the words of institution and gave us the blessing.

It was a very nice and inclusive service. We think we heard three different languages. Most of it was in English, some in isiZulu and even e few parts in either seTswana or seSotho. It was not a long service. Only 1,5 hours (which is a pretty short service in South Africa). We sang out of an American Lutheran hymnbook, which is quite common in English speaking Lutheran congregations in South Africa.

At the end of the service we were asked to introduce ourselves (which is quite common). After that those who had celebrated their birthdays during the week were asked to rise. We are used to all this. We felt at home!

Most of all we liked the sermon. One of the students preached in that African, powerful way. A loud voice and a strong message. Today about wealth. The preacher said there is nothing wrong in being rich. It’s when we prioritise the wealth before God that the problems start. He spoke about this in general and the situation in South Africa today in particular. He especially addressed those students in the congregation who study to become medical doctors, lawyers or others who might get well-paid jobs in the future. He challenged them and urged them to always think about the poor. This is maybe one of my future students! I like!

After the service we met a young women from Mozambique with a “pearls of life”-bracelet. She had visited Lund in 2007 for the 60th Anniversary of the Lutheran World Federation and that’s when she got the pearls of life. We also spoke to Pontso, a young student we met yesterday. And we had a chat with the priest, one of my future teacher colleagues.

The rest of the day we have been going around in Pietermaritzburg just to get a picture. It is a nice city with a lot of hills. We got a copy of the local newspaper, the Witness, and especially the Property part, issued every Saturday. So in the late afternoon I have spent some time in front of my laptop to prepare for tomorrow. I will visit a number of real estate agencies and right now both Kristina and I feel quite optimistic.

A very good first day in Pietermaritzburg. Our home the next three years.

English lesson

We really learn useful things when we meet our teacher, David, from Semantix. Last time about prepositions like "in", "on" and "at". Look at the illustration:

On the timeline you say "in August 2012", because it is such a wide timeframe. The closer you get to the point you switch to “on”. Consequently the phrase is ”on a Monday” but ”at 8 o’clock”. Likewise we live “in” Kalmar, “on” Skogsliden “at” no. 59. Isn’t it beautiful. Who said English is difficult? (I’m sure there are thousands of exceptions but allow me to be happy at least this day!)

English lesson no 1

Today we met with our English teacher, David, at Kullzénska Caféet in Kalmar. We had a cup of tea/coffee and a nice chat. Both Kristina and I believe we are in for a very nice autumn together with David. We’ll meet mainly Friday mornings but also a few Wednesday evenings. Altogether we’ll come together 10 times and two hours every occasion. Today we covered a number of topics amongst others the title of the wife. How does one translate “församlingspedagog” into English? I suggested “Parish Pedagogue”. We had a nice laugh when David told us that “pedagogue” has another connotation than we thought. In our “Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English” the explanation is:

A teacher who cares too much about rules

David used the Swedish word “pedant” as a possible synonym. After this nobody will describe my wife as a pedagogue, at least if they know her and this explanation. Kristina herself felt that the word educator could be useful. Parish Educator sounds quite OK to me. So, we look forward to many more revelations. And we are so pleased to have David as our educator or teacher or trainer. But he is not our pedagogue.