World of Education/World of Education.iso/world_a/afr_july.zip/AFR7-15.ZIP/GHANA.TXT

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From:    IN%"[e-mail]"   "Adams Bodomo" 28-JUN-1993 08:21:10.06
To:      [e-mail]
Subject: A Case for Ghanaian Languages (2)


LANGUAGE, EDUCATION AND POLITICS:
An Interplay on the Study of Ghanaian Languages.


by

Adams B. Bodomo,
Department of Linguistics,


University of  Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract
In this paper, linguistic, educational and political bricks in the Ghanaian
society are put together to  build a case for emphasising the study
 of Ghana's indigenous languages in the  educational system of the country.
 The problems and prospects of the case are examined. It is
demonstrated that the superordinate problem  hindering an emphasis
 of these languages in schools is the lack of adequate policies and the poor
implementation of the sketchy ones available. Future gains for the study of
Ghanaian languages include the fact that the educational system
will produce Ghanaians who are well appreciative and empathic of
their cultural set-up.

1. Introduction
    The teaching of  indigenous Ghanaian languages is a topic of
 considerable interest in our governmental, academic and other
 intellectual circles. The discussions held at various conferences,
 seminars and meetings, though sporadic, have enabled people
 concerned with the study of these languages in our educational
 institutions  not only to take stock of the problems that have
 hampered the teaching of these languages but also to propose
 some solutions to these problems.
    In this paper ones does not intend to present a comprehensive
 picture of the language  teaching situation in Ghana, nor does one
 pretend to give a catalogue of all the problems  of language
teaching in Ghana.  The main argument in this paper would be
  that most, if not all, the problems that have usually been
identified by various people can be put in the framework
 of a more superordinate problem - the lack of serious,
well-intentioned and consistent language policies and their
 implementation in the past. Finally, it will then be suggested
 that a better future for the study of Ghanaian languages
 in our educational institutions can be ensured only if we take
 the necessary steps to put in place more systematic and
 dynamic language policies.

2. Problems
    But first of all, let us take a quick look at some of the
problems commonly found in the literature on teaching
African languages. Awoyini (1982; p.58) classifies the
 problems of teaching African languages in the following
perspectives:

    i. The lack of secondary school teachers of African
 languages, especially  well-trained graduates.
    ii. Little enthusiasm in the study of African languages
 by students and        especially their parents because of the s
tatus and emphasis on English  in       most anglophone
African countries.
    iii. inadequate supply of textbooks.
    iv. inadequate teaching resources.
    v. inadequate evaluation and testing techniques, and
 finally for him,
    vi. Tthe most significant reason why the teaching of
African languages is so         inadequate is because of the defects
in the curriculum.U

    In Ghana various people have also identified the problems
 on similar lines. One of the most popular reasons used to
 discourage the teaching of Ghanaian languages in our schools
is that there is no adequate supply of textbooks and other forms
 of literature in these languages, therefore making it difficult
to train the child to use such languages as a medium of  expression
 to meet new situations in our fast changing world. This, in
particular, was the view of the Colonial Administration as is
manifest in the 1956 Minority Report on the use of English:

    TIt is pointless to teach any of the vernacular languages as a
 subject in     schools; for such insignificant and uncultivated local
 dialects can never     become so flexible as to assimilate readily new
 words, and to expand their     vocabularies to meet new
situations........their absence of literature   discredits them
and the use of any of them as a medium of expression.U

This is undoubtedly an exaggerated view of the problem; for one
 realises that this point was frequently and intentionally
overemphasised so as to favour the teaching of English
in place of the Ghanaian languages.
    Dr. Dowuona, (then commissioner for Education
giving an openning address at a conference on the study
of Ghanaian languages held at Legon in 1968) also outlined
among others,

    i. the competition between our Ghanaian languages and
English in our  educational system and
    ii. the controversies over orthography and lack of agreement
on what the     standard form of each language should be

as some of the problems hindering the study of Ghanaian languages.
    One other problem that confronts the teaching of these
languages is the discontinuous manner in which certain languages
 are taught and examined from the lower to the higher rungs of the
 educational ladder. With the exception of Akan and Ewe in which
 students can take the ordinary and advanced level examinations
 of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), a diploma
 examination at the school of Ghana languages, Ajumako, a
 bachelors degree examinationa at Cape Coast University and
 a Post-graduate degree examination at Legon, no other language
 in  Ghana has  such a continuous system of examinations. Ga, for
 instance, is examined at the ordinary level of WAEC but not at the
 advanced level and yet there are diploma and post-graduate degree
courses in it. AS for languages like Dangbe, Dagaare, Dagbane,
Gonja, Kasem and Nzema, there is a gap up to the diploma level
and thereafter except for  single papers, long essays and theses projects
 that can be written on them there are no other examinations. For
other languages still, there is no examination of any sort on them.
This situation does not augur well for a smooth teaching programme
 for these languages. It is a fact that in Ghana pupils and students
do not read materials written in Ghanaian languages (and even in
English) for the sake of pleasure but in order to pass examinations.
 This is one of the reasons why students do not show enthusiasm
in learning these languages in the first and second cycle schools.

2.1 Lack of  Systematic Language Policies.
    All these and other problems not mentioned above can be
traced to  the absence of well-defined and systematic language planning
 policies and their implementation, both in the pre- and post- independence
 eras.
    In the pre-independence era eventhough groups of missionaries
 did a lot to write down and teach some of our languages like Akan,
Ewe and Ga, from the Minority Report quoted above, it is not surprising
 that the Colonial Government itself had no serious policy for the
teaching of Ghanain languages.
    What is surprising is the attitude of our own politicians towards
 our own languages immediately after independence. They had no
definite and clear-cut policy statement as regards the teaching of
these languages. On the contrary, these politicians began to put
 more emphasis on the English language to the neglect of
the Ghanaian languages. Dowuona echoes these facts in the following
words:

    TThere was a new emphasis on English. Although the study
of Ghanaian     languages as a subject was retained, this new
emphasis led to a gradual       neglect of Ghanaian languages.
The allocation of periods for these     languages was progressively
 reduced in the upper rungs of the school       ladder.U

The reasons for  this kind of neglect are not far-fetched. In a sense
the politicians saw these languages as barriers to national integration
since every TtribalU or ethnic group would strive to  promote
their language, thereby fuelling up tribalism. English, on the other
 hand, is a neutral language. This thinking is brought to light from
 a resolution taken in Parliament under the First Republic concerning
the debate for a national language.

    TThe English language now serves to bind together all the tribes
 and    cultures which constitute Ghana as a nation and to impose a
Ghanaian        language in place of it might provoke resentment of other
 languages as   happened in India and Cylon.U

    The problem of policy implementation further complicates the
 situation. Even in later years when it looked as if Ghanaian languages
 were to be encouraged - as this is evidenced by the setting up of
structures such as the Bureau of Ghana Languages, the
School of Ghana Languages and various departments and
units dealing with these languages at the Universities and in the
 Ministry of Education - the implementation of these laid down
policies were half-hearted. Even directors and education officers
 who were supposed to implement these policies did this only by word
 of mouth, but sent their own children to international schools
where no Ghanaian languages were taught. In fact, up to date, some
people still speak only English to their children at home and
many parents measure their childrenUs rate of progress at school,
 not by the amount of Akan, Dagaare, Ewe or Kasem they can
speak and write, but by their level of proficiency in spoken and
written English.
    The lack of a well-defined policy and a half-hearted
implementation of even the sketchy ones where they exist is
undoubtedly then, the major problem confronting the teaching
of Ghanaian languages in schools and all the other problems
can always be traced to it. Ansre (1969) sees the problem in the right
perspective with the following obsevation:

    Tone of the root causes, if not the only one, is the lack of  a
clearly-stated  policy on the study of Ghanaian languages in

the educational         system......There is no policy statement on what
should be the ultimate aim      in their study, no suggestions on
the content of the course and no        provision for obtaining
 adequately trained staff and carefully prepared        teaching material.
 As a result of this absence of policy there is lack of         coordination
between what is done at the various levels of the educational
system.U

The point about lack of coordination is pertinent. That is why there
are gaps in the examining of some of the languages  throughout the
 educational system since there is hardly any liaison between the WAEC
  and the educational institutions. That is why there is the absence of
 suitable textbook  since there is no provision for  an annual
 workshop for textbook writers in the various languages. And
 that why the Bureau Ghana Languages claims that it does not
 receive suitable literature for publication from the Public (Otoo  1969)
 for it does not liaise with the higher institutions like the Universities
 and the School of Ghana Languages where , presumably, there
exist a good number of long essays and dissertations that could be
adapted and published.....
    The forgoing analysis is an unfortunate picture if we begin
to consider how important the teaching of Ghanaian languages is to
 our children and to the nation as a whole.

3. Importance
    In sociolinguistic terms, language is hardly separable from
culture. The former is even the vehicle through which the latter
is transmitted and manifested. To deny a child literacy in his or
 her mother-tongue by not including it in the educational system
will only be a means of  helping the child to look down on his or her
own culture. This point is sufficiently illustrated by
Armstrong (1963):

    Tif  we despise the language of a people then by that very
 token we despise       that people. If we are ashamed of our own
 language then we must  certainly lack that minimum of self-respect
 which is necessary for the     healthy functioning of society.U

In order that a child may appreciate and love his or her own
background and culture, s/he must be encouraged to learn his or
 her language more enthusiastically. This can only be done
effectively with its inclusion in the educational programme.
    When we come to look at the practical use of language issues
such as level of proficiency and the typological functioning
of particular languages in society have to be considered. The
fact is that the  Ghanaian child enters the classroom sufficiently
equipped with native speakers competence in at least one Ghanaian
language.  With such a good degree of proficiency, the Ga,  Ewe or
 Nzema child will quickly pick up language skills  like reading and
 writing only if they were exposed to him in his L1.
    Beside this point is the fact that a good L1 teaching
programme could  enhance the teaching and learning of any L2
that is exposed to the child.  For example, if a Gonja speaking-child
 achieves competency and some intellectual skills like essay writing
 in  his L1 this can lead to about thesame level of competency in
 essaywriting  when he is later exposed to English, French or
Russian. It is therefore not true to say that the addition of Ghanaian
 languages in the curriculum  is one of the causes of the low level
of English in our schools.
    One of the reasons why we should take a new look at the
 teaching of Ghanaian languages in our schools is to be found in the
 way these languages are put to use by the school leavers. Most of our
 first and second-cycle school graduates use mainly their L1 and
 probably one other Ghanaian language in their day to day activities.
English is hardly used partly because of their low level of proficiency
in it. Boadi (1971) confirms that as far as the majority of school
 leavers is concerned if there is any agreement about the level of
 attainment which they reach in English, it is that this  is low and
 inadequate for most ordinary purposes. If this then is the plight
of the Ghanaian school leaver in the use of English, instead of directing
  almost all energies at the teaching of English, emphasis should
equally be placed on the good, old Ghanaian languages which
 will be of immediate and practical use to them when they leave school.
    Finally, if we realise that the fact that our educational
 policies and programmes should reflect our national goals and
 aspirations we will also realise the extent to which a serious approach
 to the teaching of Ghanaian languages is of prime importance. This
is because in order that government policies such as increased
 productivity, decentralisation, rural development and
industralisation may succeed the broad masses of the population
of Ghana need to be involved. This can only be possible with
the Ghanaian languages rather than with English. As
paliament in 1971 indicated:

    Tthe continued use of English condemns the overwhelming
majority of the         people of Ghana to second-rate citizenship
 by disqualifying them from     discussions of serious national issues.U

Apart from the mass functional literacy campaigns under the
non-formal unit of the Ministry of Education and under some
non-governmental organisations , it will be a step in the right
direction if the bulk of our school leavers are equipped with
 a good working knowledge of their written mother-tongues
 through an emphasis on  Ghanaian language education in
 the formal educational system.
    If these then are some of the many advantages to be
derived from the conscientious study of Ghanaian languages,
what is being done or what should be done  to pave the way
for a brighter future?

4. Suggestions For A Better Future
    The answers to the  many problems confronting the teaching
of Ghanaian languages in schools lie in the formulation of
more coherent languages policies. Two types of language planning
policies may be distinguished: intra-language planning and
inter-language planning policies.
    Intra-language planning deals with the relationship betweeen
dialects of  a single language and this mostly concerns how to achieve
 a standard written form  of a language. For effective educational
material to develop and in order to avoid having to publish the same
material in the various dialects of a single language, measures should be taken so that in the next five or ten years all Ghanaian languages,
especially the government promoted ones, have standard written
 forms. Now that the Akan language for instance has a unified orthography
it is possible to set up more effective, comprehensive and uniform
 teaching programmes in all the schools where Akan is taught.
The other language groups should also have language committees set
up to take charge of standardisation and / or revision of already
existing standard forms from time to time.
    Inter-language planning grapples with what functions to
 assign to particular languages within a multilingual set up and is
definitely a crucial issue in a multilingual country like Ghana where
we need to decide on  issues  like what languages to publish in, which
of them to use in the mass media and which to teach at various
 stages in the educational ladder.... We need a definite policy statement
on this. Again there are prospects for a better future now that there seems
to be a clear insistence on the teaching of Ghanaian languages in
the Junior Secondary School (J.S.S.) system. We, however, need
such policy statements beyond the J.S.S. structure if we must
advance  any further .
    But a policy statement on paper is not enough in itself.
 It is the implementation which matters very much. And with
 implementation the all-important aspect of coordination comes to
mind. Efforts should be made by the authorities concerned to bring
 together the various bodies dealing with the  development and
 teaching of Ghanaian languages, at least, once a year. Annual workshops
 for the production of primers, textbooks and other forms of
literature should be instituted for bodies such as the Bureau of
Ghana languages,  the WAEC,  the Universities, Schools and
 Colleges. The Ghana Institute of  Linguistics, Literacy and (Bible)
Translation (GILL(B)T) could collaborate in this area because of their
 experience in producing a lot of primers for adult literacy in Northern
 Ghanaian languages. A biennial conference involving all these bodies
and other experts could be established to assess and review all the
policies and the extent of their implementation each time they meet.
    Another suggestion which, in our opinion, is worthwhile is that
literacy in certain Ghanaian languages must immediately be included
in the requirements for certain professions in Ghana. People
advertising to employ certain professionals such as  journalists,
public relations officers, broadcasters, nurses, doctors,  receptionists,
 revenue collectors etc. must be made aware of the functional
importance of certain Ghanaian languages in certain localities.
This is a fact we cannot continue to ignore.
    For a start, since we cannot include all the Ghanaian
languages in qualifying examinations for these professions, the nine g
overnment-sponsored languages - Akan, Dagaare, Dagbane, Dangbe,
 Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem and Nzema - (which happen to be  quite
well-distributed in all the ten regions of Ghana) should be taught
in the training programmes for such professions and the student
required to pass in one of these languages. We do not see how,
for instance, journalists, public relations officers and broadcasters
can function well, without being literate in at least one Ghanaian
language, in modern day Ghanaian society where local FM
stations and newspapers are springing up in all regions and where
very soon the Ghanaian languages will be used in political institutions
 like the District Level Assemblies.
    The Ghanaian Universities on their part have an important role
 to play. As Neville (1963) suggests:

    Tthey can  ensure that facilities are made available for research
into African    languages and for the study of these
languages at undergraduate and  postgraduate levels.U

That is why plans to establish a department of Ghanaian
languages and literatures at  Legon  and the upgrading of the School
 of Ghana Languages to a degree awarding institution at the
University College of Winneba is a step in the right direction.

5. Conclusion
    In conclusion the Ghanaian languages constitute an important
 set of the human resources of Ghana and all available means must be
used to tap them. Infact, English, though admittedly an international
 language of communication can hardly replace Ghanaian languages,
 for they constitute the bedrock of our cultural manifestations. In
 the words of Chinebuah (1976):

    TIf the Ghanaian and, for that matter, the  African is to have
 roots in the   way of life into which he is born and in which
 his  earliest emotional and    social experience have their setting,
 he must be taught an appreciation of   the culture of his people and
 his native tongue in which that culture finds  its fullest
expressions. Otherwise our educational system will only succeed
    in producing men and women who are linguistically and t
herefore        culturally displaced persons.U

This linguistic and cultural derailment can be prevented only if we
 take a serious look at the teaching of Ghanaian languages to
our children by putting in place well-defined, coherent and
continuous language policies in our educational system.


7. References
 Ansre, G. (1969) TThe Need for a Specific and Comprehensive Policy
 on the Teaching of Ghanaian LanguagesU in Proceedings of the Conference o
n the Study of Ghanaian Languages. ed. Birnie and Ansre IAS Legon
1969.
Amrstrong, R. G. (1963) TVernacular Languages and CulturesU in
Language in Africa. ed. Spencer J. 1963.
Awoniyi, T.A. (1982) The Teaching of African Languages. Hodder and
 Stoughton, London.
Boadi, L. A. TEducation and the Role of English in GhanaU in The English
Language in West Africa ed. Spencer 1971.
Bodomo,  A. B. (1988) TThe Teaching of Ghanaian Languages in Schools: Problems and ProspectsU seminar paper, Linguistic Circle of
 Accra.
Bodomo, A. B. (1988) TWhat Language to Use in Schools?U in Peoples
Daily Graphic, June 1. 1988 ed. Sam Clegg, Accra.
Bodomo, A. B. (1990) T En Sammenlignende Analyse av Sprkplanleggingen
i Ghana og NorgeU in NOA   nr. 12,  ed. Golden et al, Univ. of Oslo.
Chinebuah, I.K. (1976) TThe National Language issue in AfricaU Unpublished
 ms
Dowuona, M. (1969) TOpenning AddressU in Proceedings of the Conference
on the Study of Ghanaian Languages ed. Binnie and Ansre, IAS, Legon 1969.
Neville, D. (1963) TLanguage and Education in AfricaU in Language in Africa. Spencer J. 1963.


 [ Fellows netters, if I had the opportunity to influence parts or  the
 whole
of the Education Ministry,  these are some of the issues I would try to
 pursue. I therefore invite  Dr. Kwabia or anybody who has the chance
 to lobby for educational reforms in the near future to consider
these issues closely.  Thank you for your quality attention. ]