International Mother Language Day 2015 in Africa

Poster for IMLD 2015

Yes, the 16th annual International Mother Language Day was observed several months ago (21 February), but it's still worth highlighting a few of the IMLD 2015 events and articles in Africa. In the absence (as far as I've seen) of any comprehensive summary of IMLD activities on the continent, perhaps this can serve as a small way of facilitating exchange of information about the different kinds of activities that governments, NGOs, and universities have organized. (It's only 4 months until the next observance, by the way.)

The below list is only a selection, and not in any way comprehensive. A note about this posting is included at the end.

Angola:

 

"Culture Minister Calls Angolans for Natural Coexistence of Mother Tongues" (the Culture Minister, Rosa Cruz e Silva, called attention to the plurilingual nature of Angolan society. Theme of IMLD there was "United in the linguistic and cultural diversity in Angola, let's valorize our integrity")

 

Benin:

 

"16ème journée internationale de la langue maternelle : Pour une éducation inclusive à travers et par la langue" (summary of observance in Kétou commune, which featured several government officials including the minister of culture, as well as the Nigerian ambassador)

Cameroon:

"La Journée Internationale de la Langue Maternelle - Le 21 février 2015" (Ceremony at the Ministère de l’Éducation de Base in Yaoundé, including young students who were taking part in experimental bilingual classes of a project of ELAN-Afrique)


Congo (DRC):

"Le ministre de la Culture et des Arts Banza Mulakaly s’investit dans la promotion des langues maternelles" (the minister of Culture and Arts spoke at a ceremony organized by the Observatoire des langues)

From "International Mother Language Day 2015 Celebrations" compilation  (Shalom University of Bunia planned two half-day conferences with activities including presentations from eleven researchers involved with the region’s languages and speeches from academics and public officials about the value of the mother tongue.)

Ghana: 

 

"Ghana joins the world to celebrate International Mother Language Day" (observance at University of Education, Winneba, Ajumako Campus, featuring a talk by Dr. Avea Ephraim Nosh; alternate link here)

"EDUCATION: UEW students mark Int’l Mother Language Day" [website now offline] (another story on the above event, mentioning contributions to the discussion by Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, Prof. Samuel Asiedu Addo, and Mr. Samuel Donkoh)

"Radio broadcast in Akan, by Peter Essien" (calls for the same amount of attention to using Akan correctly on the air as is given to using English correctly)

"How Bible saved 8 Ghanaian languages" (highlights discussion by Rev. Erasmus Odonkor that translations of the Bible have played a key role in maintaining vitality of and literacy in several Ghanaian languages)

"Government urged to revive minority languages" (very brief item on observance in Accra in which experts called for language policy to promote mother tongue education for minority languages)

Kenya:

"International Mother Language Day: How well do you know your mother tongue?" (TV feature on IMLD including visit to classroom and interviews with people in the street)

"UoN Hosts International Mother Language Day" (a 2-day event hosted by University of Nairobi and co-organized by the Dept. of Linguistics and Languages, UNESCO, and an organization called Bible Translation and Literacy)

Madagascar:

"Tenin-dreny - La langue maternelle importe pour l'éducation" (highlights role of first lady Voahangy Rajaonarimampianina, the ministers of l'Artisanat, de la Culture et du Patrimoine [Brigitte Rasamoelina] and of Communication [Vonison Andrianjato] in the observance, which included, the awarding of the "Fantaro" prize; mention also of other events) 

Mali:

 

"Langues maternelles : UN LEVIER PRIVILEGIE POUR L’INTEGRATION SOCIALE" (Observance in Ouelessebougou, organized by l'Académie malienne des langues [AMALAN] and presided over by minister of education Kénékouo "Barthélemy" Togo)

Namibia:

 

"Chinamibia celebrates International Mother Language day" (Children of Namibia - ChiNamibia - and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre held an event including dance, drama, music, and poetry that was intended to highlight the importance of mother tongues)

Nigeria:

 

"NICO Supports International Mother Language Day Celebration 2015" (article on the National Institute for Cultural Orientation site about planning for a later observance of IMLD)

"Nwaozor - The Significance of Mother Tongue" (newspaper op-ed on IMLD in which the author discusses the importance of first languages and makes some policy recommendations)

Seychelles:

 

"International Mother Language Day – Discovering poetry in Seychelles" (Seychelles Writers’ Association, known locally as " Lardwaz" held a short ceremony on IMLD, in which they revealed their proposed calendar for 2015)

 

Somalia:

 

"International Mother Language Day marked in Mogadishu" (the president of Djibouti and government representatives from Ethiopia and Kenya joined the observance in Mogadishu; article also mentions laying the cornerstone of the Somali Language Academy, about which more here)

South Africa:

"Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi observes International Mother Language Day, 21 Feb" (scheduled meeting with "future language practitioners" at University of Limpopo, Turf loop Campus, in Mankweng, Limpopo Province)

Tanzania:

"International Mother Language Day 2015" (blog posting by a Welsh person working in Tanzania, making connection between most children not speaking at home a language other than the Swahili used in school, and their lower scores in Standard 3 exams than native Swahili speakers)

Uganda:

From "International Mother Language Day 2015 Celebrations" compilation (Literacy and Adult Basic Education [LABE], a local NGO, planned language activities including reading and storytelling competitions in 6 post-conflict districts of northern Uganda)

Zimbabwe:

"Celebrate International Mother Language Day" (about preparations for celebrating IMLD by the San people in Tsholotsho)

Notes about this post & holding reserve posts

I actually started this post just after IMLD in February, but put it aside to focus on some other items. I added to it on a couple of occasions, and ultimately decided it was time to finish and publish.

As such this is a special case in an aspect of blogging I discovered over the years - having a number of drafts in the cooker, as it were. Some of those eventually I return to and complete more or less as planned, some change, and for others, the material in the draft might get repurposed. In this case, there was an obvious time limit on material related to an annual event (yours to decide if it already passed a more functional limit of utility). It turned out as intended, except that there was a second section to the original draft of this post that ultimately was not necessary, but that I may use later.

Balancing Act Africa media survey and languages

Yesterday evening I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a longtime virtual acquaintance, Russell Southwood of Balancing Act Africa. Russell and I have been in email contact since 2000 or so, when Balancing Act was establishing itself as an authoritative site on internet, media, and communications in Africa, and when I was developing the concept for Bisharat. And in 2001, the Balancing Act newsletter No. 69 featured an early article I wrote on support for African languages in text.

Russell and Balancing Act recently published the results of a 2013 "detailed market research study in seven Sub-Saharan countries [Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania] in the vanguard of adopting the Internet and social media," available via Balancing Act's issue No. 724 (19 September 2014). The report mentions languages in several parts, which I'll briefly touch on below. A key takeaway from the report is:

There is not a great deal of research on what language is used in relation to media in Sub-Saharan Africa: what does exist are largely academic studies from within the field of linguistics. (p. 6)

Overall, the report discusses trends in Africa that:

• affect media and communication delivery
• (5 areas) rise of social media; growth of feature & smartphone ownership; liberalization of media; mass media vs. niche audiences; and news
• affect media and communication use
• (4 "recurring patterns") urban vs. rural; education levels; income; and language
• (5 country profiles) Ghana; Kenya; Nigeria; Senegal; and Tanzania
• will affect communication and media over the next 5 years
• (3 "known futures") more media & fragmentation; more devices; continuing growth of internet & social media
• (6 "speculative futures") closing the rural media deficit; mobile media; edutainment; learning channels; public interest media; and online platforms with reliable info.

The subject of language(s) is touched on in several places. In discussion of "fragmentation" of radio and TV audiences, language specialization is mentioned as one possible characteristic of "niche" channels (another one is topical specialization).

In the context of what the report terms "the rural media deficit" (by comparison with urban areas), I read language as an implied factor. Likewise for education levels.

The importance of Africa languages is discussed at some length as one of four "recurring patterns" in a section entitled "Beyond Official Languages – Reaching People in Vernacular Languages." Here there are anecdotes concerning audience preference for or greater facility in use of what I'd call first languages and local lingua francas. It also mentions the role of media liberalization in facilitating formation of language specialized stations.

In discussing "known" future trends, an increase in African language broadcasting is foreseen. The possibility of social media platforms in major African languages is indicated as a possibility as social media use increases.

In general it is good to see the attention given to the linguistic dimension of media and communications in Africa. hopefully this will spur more interest in and research on the topic. A few quick comments bear mentioning:

• The report cites the possible figure of 3000 languages in Africa. Indeed there are counts that go that high. However many groups of separately counted "languages" in such large figures may have high mutual intelligibility, and alternatively be considered by to be dialects or varieties of the same language. This is important for media in that often one language variety can be understood by speakers of close varieties in the broadcast radius. For example, when I worked in Djenné, Mali in the mid 1980s, I had Songhai-speaking co-workers originally from the Gourma-Rharous area of Mali who listened to the Zarma language broadcasts from neighboring Niger.
• Further discussion of fragmentation of the media market and language-oriented niche stations would benefit from three perspectives:
• the previous point about mutually intelligible languages;
• the existence of so many cross-border languages in Africa (the previous point illustrates that too), which would add another dynamic to language specific broadcasts; and
• the fact that many stations historically have divided their broadcast day among emissions in different languages of the audience (I've noted this on national level, official and commercial stations, as well as in community radio stations) - how might this approach blunt the "fragmentation" while serving different segments of clearly multilingual audiences?
• The report uses the term "vernacular" in discussion of African languages. On one level this is technically correct, but on another, it is problematic, implying a lesser status form of speech. Personally I avoid it, especially after hearing a prominent African expert in African language policy criticizing another African for using the term (in French) to refer to African languages.
• One gap for attention in future research is localization of content and software/apps in African languages. This relates to the mention in the report under social media futures of localized interfaces, as well as to wider use and usability of internet content for various purposes like education and extension as we move forward.

Ethnologue: "National" and "Principal" languages in Africa

Since raising the issue of Ethnologue's use of the term national language last December, that resource has undergone some revisions. Among the changes is replacing the problematic heading of "National Languages" (problematic because it is used in various distinct ways) with "Principal Languages" on the "Country" tab of the country information pages.

This is a positive step as far as it goes (I'll come back to that below), but the new heading raises new issues. I believe these are important to review since Ethnologue is a major reference on the world's languages, and as such its presentation of data will influence how people (especially those from outside the region concerned) understand or misunderstand linguistic situations, with the potential to influence approaches taken to extension, public education, training, etc. for emergencies like the ebola outbreak in West Africa.

What counts as a "Principal language"?

A  reader looking up information on the languages of Niger would first come to the "Country" tab of the Niger page (a screenshot is pictured). On it, they would see under "Principal Languages," one language, French. A logical assumption the reader might make is that this language is unambiguously the "most important, consequential, or influential" (per Merriam-Webster.com's definition) in the country. But what of Hausa, spoken by perhaps half the population as a first language, which Ethnologue itself notes is also "the main trade language of Niger"? Or Zarma, spoken by 18-25% of the population,^* which although concentrated in the west of the country, represents a number greater than the number of French speakers (5-15% of the population)? The Peace Corps program in Niger for many years (before its closure) prioritized Hausa and Zarma language training for rural development volunteers since French, however important on the governmental level, was not as useful where they worked.

So where to draw the line in what is considered "principal" is a new problem. It turns out, however, that Ethnologue has a narrower definition of "Principal Languages":

"Languages that have been identified as having a function at the nation-wide level are listed here. This includes all the languages that function at the national level as a working language or a language of identity or both, whether this is by statute or is the de facto situation. For a fuller discussion, see Official recognition."

But even stated this way, couldn't Hausa, as the main trade language and one of Niger's statutory "national languages," still be considered a "principal language" in its own right? Also, from personal observation, Hausa as well as Zarma have been used de facto in local government work (as spoke languages), even though everyone knows French is the de jure language of governance. So there are several criteria on which one might add Hausa and perhaps Zarma as "Principal Languages."

 

In this regard, the treatment of  Senegal (another example used in the previous posting) seems even more problematic. Here too, only French is listed in the category "Principal Languages," although Wolof is the most widely spoken language in the country, as well as being statutorily a national language. 

Similarly, in Mali, Bambara is most widely spoken, and by a number of people larger than those speaking French. It is also statutorily a national language.But only the official language French is listed among "Principal Languages."

Part of the reason for citing these examples is that by a common understanding of this new category "principal language," and arguably by a broader reading of Ethnologue's definition of the term, major languages other than the official one in some countries would seem to qualify. Certainly what one counts as "principal language" in many multilingual countries may depend on the criteria used, and a that in turn would depend on the intended application.

Levels of official recognition

One criterion in Ethnologue's treatment of "Principal Languages" in these countries is evidently the kind of official recognition involved. So in the case of South Africa, which has eleven official languages, all eleven are listed as "Principal Languages." Same for Chad's two designated official languages - French and Arabic.

However, for the Republic of the Congo, three languages are listed as "Principal Languages": French, which is official; and Kituba and Lingala, which are statutorily national and vehicular languages (which seems similar to Hausa in Niger, Wolof in Senegal, and Bambara in Mali).

What of countries where no language is designated in the constitution or legislation as official? (This is the case for quite a number of countries, including the US.) For Kenya and Tanzania, which each have English and Swahili as de facto official languages, both are "Principal Languages" for each.

On the other hand, the page for Sierra Leone lists only English (de facto official) under "Principal Languages" even though Krio is used more widely (by at least 90% of the population). Though not formalized, Krio in practical terms could be regarded as a "principal language" of the country, since it is so widely used and arguably serves in part as a language of identity (another criterion in Ethnologue's definition). English, on the other hand, is reportedly understood well by only 13% of Sierra Leonean women - how principal is it from their perspective?

How useful are Ebola messages in English when only 13% of women in Sierra Leone understand English? @TranslatorsWB
— Lori Thicke (@lorithicke) October 13, 2014

An exhaustive review is beyond the purpose of this posting, but from the various examples, it seems that a narrow application of Ethnologue's definition for "Principal languages" on that important first page of country language information gives an incomplete picture of the linguistic reality in a number of African countries.

Suggestions regarding "Principal Languages"

Changing the heading "National Languages" to "Principal Languages" on the "Country" tab of Ethnologue's country information pages was a positive step for presenting first-glance information on the linguistic situations of multilingual African countries. A next step would be to review the criteria for giving languages that categorization. It might be useful to think of this as a way to give the readers a quick sense of the linguistic reality, which in multilingual states may be complicated, involving more than one language playing important roles in different ways.

Part of the problem is using a commonly understood term like "principal" in a very limited way, requiring the reader to find the specific definition and adjust their understanding accordingly. I suspect that many readers will, like I did when first looking at the page, assume the common definition of "principal."

Maybe a key would be to make the definition of "principal language" less dependent on the EGIDS framework. That would lead to another problem, mentioned above in the case of Hausa and Zarma in Niger - where to draw the line in a more flexible application of the term. One way to address this would be short annotation highlighting the criteria used. For example (not advocating this but giving as example), one could list for Niger: French (official); Hausa (main trade language). Or for Senegal: French (official); Wolof (most widely spoken). Sierra Leone: English (official); Krio (most widely spoken; identity). And so on.

"National language," cont'd

When one gets past the "Country" tab of the country information pages to the "Languages" and "Status" tabs, Ethnologue still uses "national language" in the way it previously did. This is again a question of nomenclature, important I would argue in the case of African countries that use the term in different ways (see the previous posting on this topic for a more complete discussion). Ethnologue has evidently reduced its use of the term "official language," so maybe "national language" could also be replaced by a term not already used in divergent senses or (like "principal language") carrying a generic meaning beyond that intended.

Concluding note

As in my previous posts about Ethnologue's content, I would like to stress that the purpose here is to offer constructive criticism and contribute to improving this important resource.

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* There do not appear to be any published percentage estimates of speakers of Zarma (including closely related and mutually intelligible varieties of Songhai) in Niger. When I worked there in 2000-04, the common understanding was that 25% of the country's population spoke it (as a first language). Ethnologue's 2006 estimate of 2.35 million speakers would be about 18% of the 2006 total estimated population of 13.248 million.