Language is an interesting concept. It’s one word, yet it carries with it much meaning. How we make sense of the world ultimately begins with the way in which we communicate with one another. How we interact with society also largely depends on our ability to interpret signs and codes and draw meaning and context from them – semiotics, if you will.
But not all languages are the same, nor – sadly – are they deemed equal. Why, you may ask?
It all starts with the cultural context.
You see, embedded within every language is a rich sense of culture, and without a thorough understanding or even a slight grasp of the cultural connections infused within language use, we face a breakdown in our ability to comprehend and appreciate culture itself.
Take for instance, the English language. Not surprisingly, the large majority of curriculum instruction in the African continent occurs in English. When asked which of the 11 national languages should be used for classroom instruction, 67% of parents voted English as the main language for course instruction. Even China has established a mandate that preferences English as the language of instruction in many subject disciplines.
Now, with English being universal, one cannot argue that learning the English language would be useless in the future – it poses many benefits. But what educational policy makers and educators may fail to recognise is the difference between high context and low cultural context languages.
What do we mean by that?
As a language, English is very literal. Despite the excess of grammatical rules and (lest we forget!) the exceptions to the rule, much of what we say in English is explicit.
In contrast, many Asian, Middle Eastern and African languages are quite the opposite – we class these as high context cultural languages.
Take for example Nigerian languages, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, or South African tribal languages Xhosa and Zulu or perhaps Urdu or Arabic. Many of these languages are idiomatic and some sayings rely heavily on tone, eye contact, gesture or a wider understanding of the culture itself. As my father – who was exposed to Xhosa and Zulu, but who was also governed by the Eurocentric languages of apartheid – once explained to me, often the direct translation to English from these languages tends to lose its impact.
So why does any of this matter when it comes to our curriculum and teaching?
Two reasons. The first being that the African people make up the majority of students who study abroad – currently 404,000 students hail from Sub-Saharan Africa. Unsurprisingly, Nigeria leads the pack here, with its volume of student mobility growing by 50% in just 5 years. This means that African students are most likely studying a program that is delivered in a language which is different to their own mother tongue, and more than likely, the instruction is in English.
Educators who enter into this transnational teaching environment must understand that the cookie cutter approach of ‘this is how we do it in the UK, or Australia, or the USA’ is outdated. Students from high context cultural language backgrounds often face an invisible learning barrier that is rarely considered, and that is the difference in implicit and explicit cultural language differences.
The fact is, it is our duty to understand the cultural context of our students. Rather than ignore the stories and rich heritage they bring to the learning environment, as educators we must ask ourselves how we can embed this cultural capital into our curriculum, instead of disregarding it.
As Halliday (2007) so eloquently states, “When we learn the language, we also appropriate the social context within which the meaning is created. By learning French or English, for example, we also acquire French or English cultures. We try to integrate their social contexts so that we can understand what is said and why. This discussion explains partly how the competence of African graduates sometimes becomes “inefficient competence” due to semantically impoverished classroom situations they experience when they come back to their countries of origin”.
Here’s a thought that I’m sure many will disagree with. Can we not offer a Harvard level degree in Igbo, or Yoruba? Could it not be just as beneficial for students to learn in the language they understand better?
It’s a challenge we’d be willing to embrace and gladly accept.
Educational policy makers, would you?
References
Bouazza, S., Abbouyi, S., Kinany, S.E., Rhazi, K.E. & Zarrouq, B. 2023, “Association between Problematic Use of Smartphones and Mental Health in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region: A Systematic Review”, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 2891.
Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin / Sage.
Mukama, E (2007) ‘Rethinking languages of instruction in African schools’, Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, Vol. 4, Spring, pp. 53-56.
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Stephanie Martin
Hailing from South Africa and Australia, Stephanie is the co-founder of Edvance Education Consultants and has over 10 years of experience as an educator and thought leader in the education profession – both in Australian and international school systems. As an educator in universities and schools, Stephanie focuses on building and sustaining high quality pedagogical practices to enhance teaching and learning, as well assisting organisations to implement assessment methods that foster 21st century skills. Stephanie is a published co-author, researcher and a dynamic keynote speaker.
Dr Afnan Boutrid
Dr Afnan Boutrid (Ed.D), an AlgerianAmerican is the co-founder of Edvance Education Consultants and a practising Assistant Professor in academia with a wealth of experience in the education profession, both in the United States and Middle East region. Afnan specialises in curriculum design, assessment and culturally responsive teaching practices and is an active researcher, lead author and lecturer in Dubai, UAE. As a thriving researcher, Afnan believes in the power of bridging the gap between theory and practice, ultimately bringing change and empowerment to the field of education.
@edvanceconsultants
info@edvanceconsultants.com.
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.