User:Alma Riby/sandbox

Topic Paragraph
This article will examine Zambian language policy in education, explaining how it is employed contemporarily, the historical changes it has been through, the colonial legacy on language policy in education, and the implications/impacts that this has today on (specific topics). Initially, there will be a brief account of the history of education in Zambia (unless there is an already existing Wikipedia link). The contemporary language policy in Zambia has not changed much from the Education Act in 1966. English is the language of instruction from grade 1, and in all levels above. The language for initial literacy can be one of seven official Zambian languages. The latter is offered only for initial literacy during the daily literacy hour, while the rest of the subjects in schools are taught in English throughout all levels of the education system. The language policy in education in Zambia has gone through different stages of reformation. The periods distinguishable are pre-colonial, colonial, post-independence, the 1966 Education Act, the PRP (1993-2013), the PLP (2013-2018), and the current system in place. There is little information on the pre-colonial language policy in education. The 1966 Education Act entailed that English be the dominant language of instruction and initial literacy, although the PRP, emphasized the importance of using ones mother tongue in literacy as this was proven to be helpful and lead to more ‘long term’ literacy, as well as better comprehension/shift into English teaching. Contemporary debates underline the economic aspects of educating teachers, supplying course material and other potential costs of reforming the language policy into including the indigenous languages as well. Zambia is one of the former British colonies that had the lowest levels of literacy and educational attainment at the time of British decolonization. I am interested in looking at how colonialism has affected the multilingual country’s language policy in education and how this has affected children’s learning and literacy. There are debates regarding the efficiency of employing English as both the language of instruction and initial literacy, as opposed to mother tongue, and the effect that this has on literacy levels and learning proficiency.

Annotated Bibliography

 * Banda, D., Mostert, L., Wikan, G. (2012) The language of education policy Implementation, practice and learning outcomes in Zambia, Namibia and Norway. OppdragsRapport- Hedmark University College. pp 39.

The text gives a (rather simplified and brief) overview and background of language policy in education in Zambia in a comparative way, and is based on a pilot study of a few multilingual schools in three countries (Zambia included). The article problematizes certain perspectives underlying the policy changes made. The main outcome (from the part about Zambia) is that there is no panacea to education reform that will solve the problems of multilingualism in the education system, and that the discussion is more complex than it seems.This may prompt the applied methodology to be of a certain kind to facilitate comparison and analysis, or narrow the focus/scope for practical reasons. Conducted in 2011/2012, the research may be outdated since there have been made language-in-education reforms since then in  Zambia. The text is a useful source since it both gives other perspectives/facts that I haven’t found in other sources, and


 * Banda, F., Mwanza, D. (2019). Language-In-Education Policy and Linguistic Diversity in Zambia: An Alternative Explanation to Low Reading Levels among Primary School Pupils.

This recent article on Language in Education policy gives a critical account of English instruction in education as a proponent of multilingualism. The authors draw on multiple studies executed in Zambia to compare and contrast the effects that different education policies have had on outcomes in literacy, educational attainment, and language standardisation and later elaborations based on Haugen’s 4-step model of norm selection/codification/implementation/elaboration. The article starts off by giving some historical background, and then stating that cultural heritage and linguistic repertoires are central to bridge a way between education and the home, while also problematizing monolingualism in the Western sense as it deprives children of learning abilities/achievements in literacy. This also negatively impacts the relation between the school and the home, which may affect parental participation as well as literacy, and the authors links this to a wider discussion about national literacy rates. The article concludes that Zambia needs another model than that handed down from the colonial era in order to account for multilingualism in education and the positive effects that this can have. The article is important for my essay because it gives many perspectives and aspects of contemporary and recent debates regarding language policy in education. It contains an broad literature review as well which provides a reliable pool of sources that I can use as well.


 * Gordon, Rebekah (2014) "Language of Education Planning in Zambia," Linguistic Portfolios: Vol. 3, Article 6.

The paper gives a historical account of language policy changes and their use in the educational system. The article covers different debates on language policy, however not too much in-depth. This is then analysed using Game theory in order to predict which “language of education policy would be most agreed upon in contemporary Zambia”, with the results showing that most Zambians would agree to having English as the language of instruction be imposed at Grade 3, two years later than it currently is. The application of the results is however slightly outdated as well, such is the article too, as it was conducted and written in 2014, and there have been policy reforms in education in Zambia since. It is however a useful source because it introduces Game Theory, and the results make an interesting point in what would be generally accepted and desired in the debate of being for and against English as the language of instruction. This makes it possible to draw more holistic and insightful, analytically backed conclusions for the topic.


 * Chishiba, G. M., Manchishi, P. C. (2016). The Language Strategy in the Zambian Educational System from 1924 to 2014. International Journal of Language and Literature. Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 54-59

The paper contains a brief but concise and detailed timeline of educational reforms and introduces the proponents and opponents of English as the language of instruction in education as a main discussion that permeates the policy reforms, as well as the proponents/opponents of using local languages in education instead. The authors give an in-depth account of missionary language policy and seem to have ‘niche’ knowledge of it. The paper highlights points in time that relate to the (changing of) education policy, which may be important to think about or analyse in the future of my own essay, despite not being too in-depth. They discuss current language policy with related aspects and considerations had in mind when changing it, taking into account political, social and cultural perspectives, which enrichens their analysis. The authors highlight that the current educational language policy is similar to the precolonial and colonial approach which favours local languages, and that the post-independence-to-2014 approach rather supported use of English in education, which brings the question of colonial continuity/legacy into light. The paper has a good use of other sources that complement each other, which underlines the legitimacy and accuracy of the arguments.


 * Chileshe, A. C., Mkandawire, S. B., Tambulukani, G. K. (2018). Primary Reading Programme versus Primary Literacy Programme in Zambia: Exploring their Similarities and Differences. Journal of Lexicography and Terminology, Vol 2;2.

The article is an analytic research/document analysis of published and unpublished documents from 2000-2018 on Primary Reading Programmes (PRP, 1999-2013) and Primary Literacy Programme (PLP, 2013-2018), in which in-depth accounts as well as themes of interest were coded to establish qualitative and quantitative similarities and differences between the two. The authors conclude that both the PRP and the PLP aim to increase literacy levels, and experienced similar struggles attributed to family-, pupil-, school- and teacher-related factors. The article also assesses the weaknesses and strengths of the policies as well, while additionally doing a literature review of some causes of low literacy levels. The authors identify key players/stakeholders behind decision-making regarding language policy in education, and go through the different steps leading up to changes, as well as their motivations. The authors add to my own essay by discussing the ‘smaller’ policies underlying the educational reforms, which may be important when analysing the mismatch between plan and action. As much as their critique and praise of the two reading/literacy programmes are important to understand the context in which they existed as well as their outcomes, there is no focus on or analysis of the actual language of education, being English or Zambian local languages, rather only the actual policy implementation and its effects on literacy levels.

Draft Essay
Zambia is a former British colony that had among the lowest levels of literacy and educational attainment at the time of independence and British decolonization. Among the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals is Goal 4 - Quality Education, which aims to “[e]nsure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” with indicators such as participation and completion rate (United Nations, 2015). Language policy in education is part of this, and carries importance in an increasingly globalised world. In Zambia there are 73 different languages and dialects, English being the only official one, and an additional 7 national languages (Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi, Luvale, Kaonde, Tonga, and Lunda). Contemporarily, English is used as the language of instruction, while there are literacy hours and initial learning taking place in one of the seven national languages. There are debates regarding the efficiency of employing English as both the language of instruction and initial literacy, as opposed to mother tongue or locally used languages, and the effect that this has on literacy levels and learning proficiency. There is also research supporting the notion of loss of cultural heritage and identity as a result of language policies in education, as well as the effects that this has on parental participation and relations between the home and the school, mainly regarding the restriction of the use of local languages and the implementation of predominantly English (curriculum) (See e.g Banda & Bellononjengele, 2010). The aim of the essay is to add to the existing literature surrounding language policy in education, with a focus on Zambia and children’s learning outcomes and the role that education plays in the issue of multilingualism in education, with regard to cultural heritage, identity and it’s implications for parents’ attitudes and engagement in their child/ren’s education. The question to guide the essay is ‘How has monolingualism in language policy affected educational outcomes in terms of children’s literacy, level of educational attainment, parental involvement and cultural heritage in Zambia?’

First, the essay will identity and explain the historical stages of language policy in education and examine when, how and why these changed. Secondly, a discussion regarding the contemporary debates surrounding the language policy will take place, followed by a discussion about the effects this has on certain aspects such as educational outcomes, cultural heritage and identity, parental participation, and exploring the role that education plays in preserving local languages.

Background

Zambia is situated in south central Africa and is a landlocked country with approximately 19,2 million inhabitants and a total land area of ​​743,390 km² (worldometers, 2022). The nation has had many names, from North Eastern and North Western Rhodesia (while geographically divided into two between 1890-1911), later combined to Northern Rhodesia under the British South African Company (BSA), then the Northern Rhodesia Protectorate under the British government in 1924-1953, further on as part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and finally, Zambia, from independence in 1964 onward under first president Kenneth Kaunda (Mukoboto, 1978). Although there are 73 languages and dialects in Zambia, there is only one official language, English, and an additional 7 recognised national languages - Bemba, Nyanja, Luvale, Kaonde, Tonga, Lozi, Lunda. The seven national languages, in addition to the absolute majority of local languages in Zambia, belong to the Bantu family, and the seven languages were chosen as national languages because of their influence in different parts of the country (Gordon, 2014). Bemba and Nyanja are the most widely spoken of these languages, with respectively 50.3% and 30.2% of Zambians speaking these (in 2000), with a prevalence of English allover at 28%, predominantly as a second language (Gordon, 2014). The remaining national languages have a spread/use of less that 15% use. Despite the dominance of Bemba and Nyanja, education is predominantly in English. Contemporary language policy in education is formed in a way where English is the language of instruction from Grade 1, with additional literacy hours in one of the seven local languages (more information pending).

History of language policy in education:

English first took a prominent role in education and curriculum when the British colonial office/administration took over from the British South African Company (BSA) in 1924/5 (Banda & Mwanza, 2019). Before this there was no official/defined education policy, when the BSA (1890-1924) controlled colonial efforts and aimed at exploiting the natural wealth in form of minerals that the country had (Mukoboto, 1978). The only form of colonial education that took place at that time and before was missionary work, where African indigenous populations were introduced to a limited amount of English from missionaries who combined using one of four local languages ((Cewa)Nyanja, Bemba, Lozi and Tonga) and English to teach the indigenous population small amounts of literacy, writing and numeracy up to grade 4 (Banda & Mwanza, 2019). This type of education however took a turn when the BSA came into the picture as they expected the missionaries to provide working Africans to support the Europeans and introduced English mother tongue settlers and hunters. Missionary work instead turned to teaching Christian values rather than reading and writing. The colonial administration’s goals were rather to ‘create’ an artisan class of employable workers, and to exploit the natural advantage in mining that the country had. The BSA built one school, the Barotse National School, and that was the extent of their contribution to educational infrastructure, perhaps because there was no budget for education, which is also why the missionaries received such a large role in education and their direct control of schools resulted in an unsatisfactory niveau of education (Banda & Mwanza, 2019). The British Colonial administration came with a new language policy and curriculum reform of which English became a core element. With the mining industry growing, the administrative positions within this called for ‘an educated civil service sector’ in which English became an advantageous ‘skill’ to have, which led to certain status benefits, placing them “second to white colonialists and missionaries” (Banda & Mwanza, 2019). The hegemony of the English language both locally, nationally and (perceived) globally can be seen to have commenced here as English knowledge was rewarded with high status in society.

After 1925, the Phelps-Stokes commission of Adaptation Strategy, which was similar to the adaption strategy of many African Americans in the Southern states, aimed at keeping Africans in a low status position with sentiments to ‘enlighten’ them and turn them away from their ‘savagery, ignorance and general inferiority’ (Mukoboto, 1978). Language policy changed to a three-tier model, in which a local language, as a lingua franca, was used for the first two years of education, followed by regional language of wider communication (LWC) for the next 5 years, and only English after that (if that level of education was attained) (Muyebaa, 2009). This led to regional integration and increased/facilitated communication between both different African tribes and with British settlers, especially in the Copperbelt area.

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After independence in 1964, English was used as a means of achieving unity in the country under the one-party democratic state that emerged, a unity that was reflected in the nation’s mantra ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ (Gordon, 2014).