ERIC Number: EJ1369991
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-4632
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7557
Available Date: N/A
Language Ideologies in Multilingual Tanzania: Parental Discourses, School Realities, and Contested Visions of Schooling
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v43 n7 p679-693 2022
Language ideologies shape ways in which different learners' linguistic repertoires are positioned as resources or problems, with significant implications for educational access and equity. In Tanzania, tensions between the national language of Kiswahili and high-status English have given rise to two parallel schooling systems, while 130+ local languages are effectively muted in formal schooling. This comparative study explores how Maa (Maasai language), Kiswahili, and English are discursively constructed by parents and teachers at one Kiswahili-medium government school and one English-medium private school in a predominantly Maasai community in northern Tanzania, and examines how these languages are positioned pedagogically at both schools. Education for Self-Reliance (Nyerere 1967/2004. "Education for Self Reliance." In "Nyerere on Education/Nyerere Kuhusu Elimu," edited by Elieshi Lema, Marjorie Mbilinyi, and Rakesh Rajani, 67-88. Dar es Salaam: E&D Limited) and DuchĂȘne and Heller's (2012. "Language in Late Capitalism: Pride and Profit." New York: Routledge) work on 'pride and profit' provide theoretical lenses. Findings show that parents' strong appreciation for multilingualism contrasts with schools' monoglossic ideologies; discourses of nationalism and identity vary dramatically depending on parents' educational background; and Maasai language and culture are constructed unambiguously as problems in schooling. The linguistic, ideological, and cultural divide between home and school, and between respective schools, is problematised. This paper addresses implications for debates on language education in Tanzania and beyond, exploring possibilities for pluralistic ideologies of nationalism that create space for multilingual and multicultural resources.
Descriptors: Language Attitudes, Multilingualism, African Languages, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Parent Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Foreign Countries, Public Schools, Private Schools, Language of Instruction, Parent Background, Educational Attainment, Nationalism, Cultural Pluralism, Access to Education, Equal Education, Language Minorities, Self Concept, Barriers, Social Mobility
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Tanzania
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A