Literacy in Senegal; languages unmentioned

I first got interested in African languages after my experience working in the field in Togo, where so much happened around me in languages that I never mastered beyond greetings and a few phrases. Later in Mali and Guinea, I made special efforts to learn their languages for working and living on community levels. This experience and subsequent research and observation have convinced me of the importance of African languages in development work (even for foreigners and outside-funded projects), and attuned me to how language is and is not mentioned in various discussions and descriptions of development work in Africa.

Source: EDC, "Youth Volunteers Can Contribute to Significant Reading
Gains: Evidence from the HYVALL project in Senegal," March 2015

So it was with interest that I looked at some articles on the "Harnessing Youth Volunteers as Literacy Leaders" (HYVALL) project in Senegal, which is funded by USAID under its All Children Reading Grand Challenge program, and implemented by YMCA Senegal with the US non-governmental organization, Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). I found it striking that one, and another, and then another article about this literacy effort made no mention at all of the language or languages used.

Only when listening to a YouTube video by two members of  YMCA Senegal could one learn that the students were discussing French lessons in "mother tongues" (French being the medium of instruction). But those languages for some reason were not named (presumably Wolof, the most spoken language in Senegal, is one of them).

This is an interesting approach, making more formal outside of school and via peer tutoring the informal practice sometimes seen in African classrooms of the teacher explaining aspects of a lesson formally given in the Europhone language of instruction in the students' first language. However it also raises the question whether HYVALL makes any effort to expand students' literacy skills in their first language, and towards achieving "pluriliteracy" - or "multilingual literacy" in all their spoken languages.

I've discussed pluriliteracy in African Languages in a Digital Age (pp. 40-41), as well as in a blog posting last year. Puriliteracy may not be the explicit goal of education or literacy efforts in Africa, although mother-tongue based/multilingual education may imply that outcome to a degree, and literacy in different languages or scripts is rarely if ever discussed in statistics. However it would seem to merit prioritization by programs such as All Children Reading.

As much as mention of languages, and African languages in particular, might be omitted from communication about foreign-funded literacy projects, African languages seem often to be absent from the design and content of the projects themselves.

Languages & communication in Senegal's ebola success

Ebola prevention poster in Wolof.
Y'en a marre and An@fa. 
Source: TWB via Alexandria blog

Senegal was declared ebola-free in mid-October, just before a similar declaration for Nigeria. Having previously looked at languages and communication in Nigeria's success, this post will do the same (belatedly) for Senegal. Language is a key consideration in ebola messaging in the multilingual states of West Africa, even if that fact is sometimes overlooked (such as by a National Geographic article on four lessons from Nigeria and Senegal, or a US Embassy Dakar sponsored conference for journalists on responsible ebola reporting).

By way of background, French is the official language of Senegal, and Wolof the most widely spoken. Of the country's 38 languages (by Ethnologue's count). Wolof and five other languages - Jola (Diola in French spelling), Malinke, Pulaar (as Fula is known there), Serer, and Soninke - are the main national languages. I'll return below to more detailed discussion of categorizating indigenous languages in Senegal, as it could be relevant to planning messaging strategies in similar multilingual countries like Mali, which is the latest country in the region to have an ebola crisis.

Enter, ebola

Prior to the sole ebola case in the Senegal - an infected man who came from Guinea to Dakar before the closing of the Guinea-Senegal border on August 21 (he ultimately recovered) - the country had been "well-prepared with an Ebola response plan as early as March." From what information I've been able to gather, information and public education aspects of this plan used a number of languages, but mainly Wolof and French. (An earlier posting included some links to videos and other web-based info in Wolof and Fula/Pulaar.)

A Senegalese source I consulted (Dr. Ibra Sene) indicated that Wolof and French were used in various media as part of the "massive campaign" to educate people about ebola. However, a report in International Business Times (25 September), characterized radio and television broadcasts of ebola prevention messages as "all day long, in all languages" (without specifying which). If the latter is accurate, it is likely that local community radio stations extended the campaign in additional languages (more on community radio below).

Still, an SIL-led initiative for translation in southern Senegal was a response to the perception of insufficient attention to communicating about ebola in less-widely spoken languages. It focused on developing ebola materials in the Bandial Gusilay, Jola (Jola-Fonyi), and Manjaku languages of Casamance. Two expat literacy workers in Senegal who facilitated the workshop, Clare Orr and Elisabeth Gerger,  framed it this way

"These days, a lot of awareness-raising about Ebola is going on across Senegal on the radio and TV. However, many people in the villages don't speak enough French, Senegal's official language, or Wolof, the most widely-used national language, to understand the message well. This is why we are trying to reach them through documents and information in their own languages. Those who are able to read in their language can always read the information aloud for those who can't."

 Community radio

Community radio is a key component of development communication in much of Africa (see here and here, for example), including Senegal. A grant by OSIWA in September to the Senegalese Union des Radios Associatives et Communautaires (URAC) for an ebola education program on 73 radio stations reflects the importance of this medium.

A couple of articles have highlighted community radio broadcasts about ebola in first languages of other countries - Guinea, and Liberia and West Africa in general - so one may assume that something similar has been happening in on community radio stations in Senegal. Questions relating to African language broadcasts about ebola on community radio include: which languages?; how was the material developed/translated?; and is any of it available in recordings or transcriptions?

An interesting dimension of communication via local radio in West Africa is that of associated radio listeners' clubs. The UN FAO noted use of these (and a training for club leaders) to address ebola in communities in Senegal.

Social media

On social media, an interesting initiative launched at the end of August as a Facebook group called SenStopEbola, with an associated Twitter account @senstopebola, translated notices and advice on ebola into seven Senegalese languages (see also here; the languages were not specified, but presumably included French and the 6 main national languages). .

Senegal made use of SMS to send text messages about ebola, but reports I've seen have not indicated what languages were used or the content of messages. Also, it's not clear whether the multilingual GooglePlay app - "About Ebola" (which was created last April, and mentioned in a previous posting on this blog) - is counted as part of this effort. Another GooglePlay app, SenStopEbola, which is evidently related to the initiative on Facebook, was mentioned as having Wolof content, but again, no information on how it has figured in wider efforts.

The national languages of Senegal

Of the 38 languages of Senegal, the six most widely spoken - Wolof, Pulaar, Seser, Soninke, Malinke, and Jola - were denoted "national languages" first by presidential decree in 1971, and are specifically named as such in the Senegalese constitution of 2001. The constitution allows for other national languages once "codified" (which includes establishing an "official" standardized orthography).

From 2001, the policy has been to expand the number of national languages, and to that end, several others were codified by 2002: Hassaniya Arabic; Balanta; Bassari (a.k.a. Oniyan); Manjaku; Mankanya; Noon; and Saafi (a.k.a. Safen). Codification of others has apparently proceeded since then.

The result is three "groups" of Senegalese languages that reflect history and number of speakers (without implying a hierarchy of value):

• Those recognized early as national languages, which tend to have the largest numbers of speakers, and for which there is some notable amount of written material.
• Those codified more recently, but which still need further research 
• Those still needing further study towards codification.

Such a grouping of languages in a multilingual state might be a useful parameter to consider when planning out messaging on health topics such as ebola, or other development communication. The first group is readily used, with standard orthography, perhaps also having resources available to consult on the subject area involved - and it reaches the largest number of people. It may be possible even to work on materials outside of the country. The second group may require more effort, including consultation with experts in country. The third may require work mainly on the local level, and where there is not time to develop a standard orthography, use of phonetic transcriptions.

The experience in Senegal may have followed the above to a degree, but further information is needed. In any event, the first group is divided between Wolof, which was widely used, and the other 5 established national languages, which presumably had varying use (ebola info in Pulaar was on the web, for instance, and the others were  probably used on community radio).

Spelling again

As a small contribution to review of ebola materials, the ebola poster in Wolof above has one apparent misspelling - "Fagaroul" - with the French "ou" taking the place of the Wolof "u." It is interesting to note, however, that the same title and spelling is used on the French version of the poster (i.e., a Wolof title, with French influenced spelling, on a French language ebola poster).

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.

---

* 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.

More on ebola and health information in African languages

Quick follow-up on last week's post on Ebola and health information in African languages, to share some more information about initiatives on ebola education and reporting in African languages.

Following tweets on the previous post, there was additional information via Twitter on some videos in Nigerian languages:

@babatabita Check @LensOnEbola for more #Ebola videos from #Nigeria, in #Yoruba, #Pidgin and #English. @donosborn #NgHlth
— Nigeria Health Watch (@nighealthwatch) September 5, 2014

The Nigerian language videos (YouTube) that I'm aware of so far are as follows (would appreciate more links from those who have them):

• In Yoruba, "Owó Fifò," on hand washing
• In Pidgin, on ebola symptoms and what to do if one experiences them

Also from Nigeria, there is an official poster in Igbo - Nje Ọrịa Ebola - which since it is from the Nigerian government, may also be in other languages like Hausa and Yoruba.

There is a Senegalese video (also on YouTube) about ebola in Wolof, with some written French. (An August 29 newscast in Wolof on ebola in Senegal is also on YouTube.)

A GooglePlay app "About Ebola" is available in English, Jola (Diola in French spelling), Krio, Liberian English, and Wolof.

There appears to be significant information on ebola in Fula, notably on pulaar.org, including a recent long article "Ebola Hol no haɓtortee?" (ebola, how can it be fought/countered?). Peeral Media has a short piece in Fula on Facebook, with a parallel English version. A 5-minute audio "Info sur Ebola en Pulaar/Fulfulde" is available on YouTube (accompanied by one graphic). Another example is a story on Voice of Nigeria about the Nigerian Hajj Commission's screening of pilgrims going to Mecca: "Hukuuma hijju Najeeriya wiɗitay hijooɓe Najeeriya."

In Guinea, Studio Hirondelle in collaboration with the rural radio network has produced radio programs on ebola in Fula (Peulh in French; the endonym in Guinea is Pular) and Malinké (a Manding language for which the endonym is Maninka or Maninkakan).

WHO and Athinkra

Athinkra LLC is coordinating translations of a FAQ on ebola provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). Languages on its list so far include N'Ko (an alphabet for Manding), Vai (in its own script and Latin alphabet), and Fula (in the new Adlam script - more on the latter in another post). (Thanks to Coleman Donaldson for calling my attention to this.)

Rubric, Wikimedia ZA, and WikiProject Medicine

Further afield, there is a collaboration in South Africa among Rubric (a languages services company), Wikimedia ZA, and WikiProject Medicine (which has a Translation Task Force/Project) to translate ebola health info on Wikipedia into the official languages of that country.

Summary and thoughts

The above is an eclectic sampling of initiatives and reporting on ebola in some African languages. Much of this is happening on country levels or by individual or small group initiatives. This post helps fill out blank spots in the picture as portrayed in the previous posting, but it is far from complete.

At this point it would seem very useful to have a way of monitoring such efforts and products with an eye to facilitating communication and sharing among them (particularly important, I'd argue, for cross-border and closely-related languages), reviewing material for accuracy, and building a data bank of medical translations in African languages about ebola and related public health topics.

Ethnologue and "national languages" in Africa

In this post I'll discuss the second of two aspects of Ethnologue's presentation that seem to me to detract from its overall quality. The previous one was on cross-border languages being titled simply as "a language of" a single country. This one deals with how the new, 17th edition of Ethnologue* uses the term "national language" in presenting summary information about countries.

The Country information/summary pages in the current version of Ethnologue appear as the first tab in a set of pages for each country. These Country information pages feature a table that in the third row indicates "National languages." This replaces "National or official language(s)" in the 16th edition** (there is also a significant redesign of the presentation). This seeming simplification actually is problematic in the case of many African countries which use the term national language in a way different than that in the current Ethnologue. .

For example, if one goes to Ethnologue's current page on Niger, one sees a single language - French - listed as the national language (compare the page in the previous edition) - the same as for France. However in Niger and by Nigeriens, French is not called the national language, but rather the official language. "National language" (langue nationale in French) is a legal and widely understood category for the endogenous languages, that is separate and distinguished from "official language." Same with perhaps 20 other countries in Africa. The choice of terms by these countries was (is) deliberate and meaningful, but was it taken into account when revising Ethnologue's use of terms?

Although one appreciates the challenges of finding terms that work in a reference that seeks to cover all languages and all countries, this particular choice of term on a summary page does not seem at all fortuitous from the point of view of information on Africa.

Official, national, and local languages: An example

When I was on the Peace Corps staff in Niger in the early 2000s, a somewhat similar question arose. The then new regional training officer for West Africa - an American - referred to the consideration of language training approaches in terms of a choice of emphasis on "national language or local languages." However, "national language" in most of the countries we were talking about actually means what in Peace Corps is often referred to as "local language." The real distinction for our use, I suggested, was actually between "official language" and "local languages" (although those terms also have some shortcomings).

The issue was communication, not just semantics or formality of usage. If we started using the term "national language" in a way different from our host country colleagues and counterparts, it could create unnecessary confusion (aside from appearing to ignore what is effectively a common regional usage). And by the same token, since many American staff would tend to hear "national language" as "nationwide" language, it would not make sense to oblige everyone to conform to host countries' use of the term. Better simply to avoid the term "national language" in our planning in favor of alternatives that were known and clear to all.

The choice in this case was fairly straightforward, but it may be worth keeping in mind when considering the more complicated set of terminology choices facing Ethnologue.

"National language" in Ethnologue

Ethnologue defines its current use of the term "national languages" on the country information pages in this way:

"Languages which have been categorized as national languages at EGIDS [Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale] level 1 are listed here. This includes all the languages that are actually used for education, work, mass media, and government at the nationwide level, regardless of how they are classified in legislation."

Ethnologue's use of the term national languages on the initial country information page therefore comes out of a broader system for classifying languages and helping to understand their status and condition. This is important work and the schema they have developed is of great value. The issue here however is terminology.

In that system, references to "official language" have effectively been eliminated. Editor Paul Lewis, in discussing the terminology changes in his Ethnoblog posting, "Functions of Languages in Countries" (31 October 2013), gave the example of the Turkish language, which is listed as a "statutory national language," even though in the Turkish constitution reference cited (article 3) it is actually called the official language.

However this schema also relies on various modifications of "national language" (and terms relating to nation and nationality):

• Under EGIDS, "national" (meaning effectively "nationwide" but overlapping a lot with common and language policy use of "official language")
• Under "Official recognition categories and definitions," which is how Ethnologue now deals with official status, several descriptors:
• Statutory national language
• Statutory national working language
• Statutory language of national identity
• De facto national language
• De facto national working language
• De facto language of national identity
• Language of recognized nationality

As it stands, it does not seem that Ethnologue has a way of describing the language situation in many African countries that does not collide with established local and indeed regional usage. The official language is called "national" and the national languages seem to fall mainly under the somewhat sterile rubric "recognized."

Nation, national, nationality ...

A lot revolves around the meanings assigned to and understood by the term "nation" and its derivatives. These can on the one hand refer to a country or nation-state (nationwide, or in/by all of the country), which is how Ethnologue appears to use them. On the other hand, they may also have more visceral and identity-related meanings, which is how I understand the main African use of the term. Ethnologue's categories relating to languages of national idendity are also along the latter lines.

Part of  the problem is that Ethnologue uses "national" across this range of meanings, even if primarily in the "nationwide" sense. And in the case of many countries of Africa it has in effect switched the potentially more identity-related term "national" with the more formal term "official" for some languages, and the more formal term "recognized" for "national" in the case of other languages.

To a certain extent, one can in academic and reference publications use a term in a particular way by defining it clearly, as Ethnologue attempts with the above. However, when one's chosen usage is at variance with an existing legal and common use of the term, and the term itself has many applications and colors of meaning, it is often worth looking for alternatives.

Distinct meanings of "national  language"

The term "national language" actually turns out to have more than just the two uses discussed above (per "nationwide" and legal status as "national language"). Conrad Brann, who has taught and researched on language policy and multilingual societies for decades in Nigeria, suggests that in Africa there are actually "four quite distinctive meanings" of the term*** (which I've numbered for ease of reference):

1. "Territorial language" (chthonolect or chtonolect) of a particular people
2. "Regional language" (choralect)
3. "Language-in-common or community language" (demolect) used throughout a country
4. "Central language" (politolect) used by government and perhaps having a symbolic value.

The African usage that I highlight above is probably mainly under #1, but depending on the country, nos. 2 (DRC, Ethiopia) and/or 3 (see below). In a few African countries it corresponds with #4 and with Ethnologue's usage (Lesotho, Burundi).

Ethnologue's definition of "national language" seems to overlap #4 and in some cases #3 in Brann's typology. However, in some countries more than others, the official languages Ethologue lists as national languages may be less "languages-in-common" (#3) than some languages that those countries call national: The case of Wolof in Senegal, used widely as a first or second language, comes to mind.

Looked at from this perspective, "national language" seems to be a conglomerate of concepts, which requires clarification as to intent based on the context and intent. As such, it seems ill-suited for using in a quick reference page of any sort. Add to that the fact that many African countries use the term in a particular way, it would seem less than fortuitous for Ethnologue to choose it to use as a simple category for all countries.

Another look at Ethnologue's Country information pages

Another problem with Ethnologue's current approach to listing "National languages" is that for countries like Niger or Senegal, the top of the language summary gives the impression that French is the only language of importance. On the Senegal page, Wolof, for instance, does not appear anywhere. Nor do any of the other main languages of the country. On the other hand, there is a list of "immigrant languages" by name. As such the country information page - the first place a user would come in this reference to find information on languages in a country - seems very selective in the information it highlights.

A related question: Paul Lewis's Ethnoblog posting referred to above refers to continued use of the category "National or Official Languages" on the Country information tab, under which one would find all languages that they "have identified as national languages, or national working languages, or national languages of identity whether statutory or de facto." Is it possible that the issues discussed in my posting here may have arisen from a recent change within Ethnologue 17th edition's presentation of information on the Country information pages?

Alternatives

For a reference like Ethnologue that aims to cover all countries and all languages, a term that means different things to different people by itself would seem to make it a problematic choice for an information heading. One simple way to resolve this would be to return to the use of the former rubric - "National or Official Languages"- or something similarly broad, which allows naming of principal languages on the Country information pages.

Considering the issues I've raised with "national language" as well as the range of uses of the term highlighted by Prof. Brann and indeed by Ethnologue's own schema, it may also be worth considering whether and how to avoid using "national language" altogether in the schema and the titling, just as Ethnologue now omits "official language."

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* Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2013. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17th ed. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com
** Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th ed. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/16
*** Brann, C.M.B. 1994. "The National Language Question: Concepts and Terminology." Logos [University of Namibia, Windhoek] Vol 14: 125–134.

What does "bilingualism" mean in multilingual Africa?

A couple of questions seen in a recent tweet raise a number of issues about perceptions of languages, bilingualism, and multilingualism in Africa:

@mwasa BTW,Why is "Bi-lingualism" only limited to the knowledge of 2 european languages? What if I know 2 African languages fluently?
— Mukizawabo. (@mukizaedwin) November 20, 2013

The answer to the last question would seem straightforward wouldn't it? Bilingual of course! Yet it does seem that the description of "bilingual" in Africa is often applied to the ability to speak two "Europhone" languages without consideration of African languages, despite the fact that there are many of the latter, spoken by many polyglot people in the many multilingual societies of the continent.

There is no shortage of examples, but one that comes to mind is a statement in 2003 by then Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade during a state visit to the Nigerian capital Abuja. Speaking of regional cooperation, he chose to broach the issue of language, remarking that it is too bad the peoples of their two countries are not bilingual* (the implied languages being English and French). Although I do not have a complete reference at hand, it is mentioned in a later discussion of  remarks by a Ghanaian scholar on the occasion of release of a book on the history of the Ewe people of Togo and Benin,** to the effect that more bilingual education was needed - again in terms of English and French. There was specific reference in this case to linking "Ewe-speaking" scholars who work academically in English or French, but with no mention of the language that this group has in common across all borders.

"Official" bilingualism?

Part of the issue certainly is focus on the official languages, which for so many African countries are only those languages inherited from the colonial period and put to use since independence for administration, education, and wider communication. This appears to be the case for example in a Q&A between a reporter from the Senegalese daily Le Soleil and the French ambassador in Dakar in 2012. The question had to do with the "temptation" of some Francophone states in Africa to "bilingualism,"*** again bypassing the multilingual context of Africa and attending to official languages and language policies. This particular question was likely a reference to Rwanda's addition of English as an official language, and Burundi and Gabon considering similar moves (although Rwanda's move made it officially trilingual as Kinyarwanda, the first language of the population, and French, inherited from the colonial period, were retained as official languages).

In any event, the French ambassador's response reframed the question slightly to distinguish between the policies of countries and the decisions of individuals, including reference to maternal languages under the latter. I won't venture any interpretations other than to speculate that in some cases, it almost seems that "bilingual" is used as a code word for "adding English at the same official level as French" (I hope in the future to treat the area of policies of donor nations - former colonial powers among them - with regard to language and languages in Africa).

Bilingual and multilingual education

The term "bilingual" is also used in the context of so-called mother tongue/bilingual education, which typically involves an African language and a Europhone official language. This is a topic that has received significant attention from organizations and scholars involved in aid to and study of education in Africa (including Maurice Tadadjeu of Cameroon and Neville Alexander of South Africa, whose work has been mentioned previously on this blog). And it is a major focus in other world regions as well (a major Asian conference on mother tongue based/multilingual education - MTB/MLE - was just held in Bangkok earlier this month).

However, one notes that in some contexts references to bilingual education in Africa actually mean instruction/learning only in Europhone languages.

African multilingualism has been implicitly or explicitly recognized in various policy and applied contexts including a number of expert or ministerial-level conferences. In recent years, the African Academy of Languages, which functions under the auspices of the African Union, has sponsored a number of activities including the Bamako International Forum on Multilingualism (19-21 January 2009) whose recommendations included adoption of MTB/MLE. .

The case of Cameroon

The country of Cameroon is an interesting case to consider here, as it has two Europhone official languages - English and French - while also having some of the greatest linguistic diversity on the continent. It is common to hear the country described as bilingual, when in fact it is multilingual, with 280 living languages (by Ethnologue's count) . It is this juxtaposition that Prince Kum'a Ndumbe III was addressing when, on the occasion of a book fair his organization AfricAvenir sponsored in 2007, he stated: "The Cameroonian is not bilingual, he is multilingual."

Some of the complexities of the situation in Cameroon are explored in a short paper entitled "Bilingualism" by Usmang Salle Leinyui, which includes a discussion of different kinds of bilingualism in the country, and in an overview entitled "Multilingual Cameroon: Policy, Practice, Problems and Solutions" by Tove Rosendal (2008; University of Gothenberg Africana Informal Series, No. 7).

Cameroon has had an interesting history of efforts to promote literacy in its national languages (that term in much of Africa used for African first languages, and is a usage I would like to return to later). Much of Tadadjeu's work related to that, as did the AfricAvenir event mentioned above. However, "bilingual education" officially involves only English and French, as do various references to "bilingualism" in official documents (see Jacques Leclerc's L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde for more on this and related language policy issues). And although there have been efforts to promote use of and literacy in Cameroon's national languages (including proposal of a trilingual education model), and the constitution and high level documents mention them, Leclerc describes official "indifference" towards national languages, and Rosendal notes lack of implementation of policies to favor them.

Summary and closing question

So part of the issue of "bilingualism" in multilingual Africa often referring to Europhone languages and not African languages has to do with what have been designated "official languages." Another part may have to do with the status of languages - with it often seeming the case that knowledge of European languages is accorded more prestige than knowledge of African languages. Those two parts are certainly interrelated.

How then would a person be called who speaks one African language, one Europhone language, and, say, one Asian language?

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* "Helas! nos peuples ne sont pas bilingues."
** Lawrance, Benjamin N., ed. 2005. The Ewe of Togo and Benin. Woeli Publishing Services (Ghana).
*** "Des pays africains francophones sont de plus en plus tentés par le bilinguisme. Que pensez-vous de cette évolution ?"

Texting in Wolof & implicatons for standard orthographies

In a recent post on Think Africa Press entitled "Wolof 2.0: Spoken Languages in a Digital Age," Juliana Friend offers a very interesting snapshot (and video) of the meeting of the Wolof language in Senegal with information and communications technology.

A remark by a Senegalese woman quoted in the post about spelling in Wolof not mattering as much as getting the message across oddly had me remembering a long discussion on H-Africa in December 2007 ("Names for African peoples & languages") wherein one of the topics was whether scholars should use the official orthographies of languages whose terms they used in publication.

Standardized spellings and orthographies of course have a reason, or really several functions (from clarity of meaning to facilitating learning to read). They are more critical in long texts and formalized uses, such as a localized interface on computer or mobile device, than they are in texting or citing an occasional word in an academic publication. So one sees for example attention to Wolof spelling and orthographies in both the content and the interface of the Wolof Wikipedia.

Ms. Friend's post focuses on Senegal - the main country where Wolof is spoken - but it's important to remember that the language is also spoken by significant segments of the populations of Gambia and southern Mauritania. The issue of transnational harmonization of the written forms of the many cross-border languages of Africa is a subject that has been given official attention since the 1960s. It would be interesting to know whether written Wolof is still "unified" in this sense across the countries where it is spoken. (I'll come back to this general subject in a later post.)

It's also probably worth thinking about how it came about that in Senegal "French was traditionally the language of writing, Wolof the language of speaking." In fact, Wolof was historically written in Wolofal, an Arabic-based script whose use has persisted.

Part of the reason that a language like Wolof is spoken "not" written has to do in large measure with education policies under which generations of students were not taught to read anything but French (or in Gambia, English). In Saint-Louis, Senegal, an early effort to teach in Wolof was stopped in 1829, setting the tone of French monolingual education policy in colonies acquired later.

The latter historic anecdote came from an article several years ago on spell checkers for certain African languages. In the case of Wolof, maybe a new generation of spell checker apps for devices on which one texts might be an important piece of the establishment of its official written form. Other pieces might range from first-language literacy apps for smart mobile devices to evolution of education policies.