Department of Language and Literature

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Browsing Department of Language and Literature by Subject "Multilingualism, Ethnic Community Languages, Language Policy, Education Policy"

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    Promoting Multilingualism in Tanzanian Education Policy: Challenges and Options
    (The Cradle of Knowlegde African Journal of Educational and Social Science Research, 2017-12) John, Philpo
    This paper presents a discussion that explains how the Tanzanian language in education policy could promote multilingualism in education, its challenges and options available.Using literature evidence, as part of its methodology, the paper argues that many Africans including Tanzanians are naturally multilingual. In Tanzania, for example, due to intermarriages a child may find him/herself acquiring two or three languages simultaneously. The discussion also shows that language in education policy in Tanzania does not implement a language policy that promotes multilingual education, instead, it has continued to implement language policy that perpetuates Eurocentric view of bilingualism for which, of the two languages claimed to be used in education, one is by necessity of European nation (English), the language that is foreign and unfamiliar to both teachers and students. The study also reveals that although, Ethnic Community Languages (ECLs) are the means of interaction in rural communities and mother tongues of the majority children in rural, yet these ECLs have no room in the language policy in force. The paper has also shown that, a child learns better when he/she learns in the mother tongue or the language he/she knows better. This, in principle, supports child's acquisition of literacy foundation in the learning of any additional language. The paper has also noted that there are challenges of promoting multilingual education model in Tanzania. Some of these challenges are due to the continued domination of economic power by the ex-colonial masters; others are due to lack of political will. A few others are attitudinal. On the language attitude, both academics and politicians are divided. Since benefits of multilingual education are massive, in this paper, a multilingual model for Tanzania is proposed. Thus, the government should seek to understand the logic behind multilingual education to better address problems associated with literacy learning in early childhood education.