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- Convenors:
-
Ayodele Yusuff
(University of Lagos, Nigeria)
Tom Michael Mboya (Moi University)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Streams:
- Language and Literature (x) Decoloniality & Knowledge Production (y)
- Location:
- Neues Seminargebäude, Seminarraum 16
- Sessions:
- Friday 2 June, -
Time zone: Europe/Berlin
Short Abstract:
Worried about the future of African languages, this panel seeks critical and reflective contributions that examine the entrapment and stagnancy of African indigenous languages in informality, and pursue ways of elevating them to formal scientific linguistic devices.
Long Abstract:
One of the paradoxes of African scholarship and epistemologies, as this abstract itself suggests, is the expression of the African world through non-African language(s). Despite the traceable popularity of languages such as Hausa, Swahili, Wolof, Yoruba, and the adoption of Swahili as the official language of the African Union, indigenous languages policies have not been implemented to pass the test of linguistic viability for science and technology. Beyond their use in informal settings and in other areas such as arts and culture, tourism and religion, indigenous African languages are mere archival resources. This development is attributable to either the colonial language pedagogy initiative which tended to be self-serving rather than indigenous people-centred, or the inability of postcolonial indigenous language pedagogy to thrive within a dominant colonial heritage. All of this assumes a state of entrapment and stagnancy in indigenous African language development. It is also argued in some quarters that given this state of aporia in Indigenous African language pedagogy, indigenous languages not only risk extinction, they also have dire consequences for human resources development, knowledge production and social relations. But is that really the case? Is the future of African languages, and by extension, its development goals tied to powers outside Africa? Is the sustainability of African languages entangled with global power dynamics? This panel, therefore, seeks critical and reflective contributions that examine the entrapment and stagnancy of African indigenous languages in informality and pseudo-formal settings, and seek ways of elevating them to formal scientific linguistic devices.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 2 June, 2023, -Peter Chonka (King's College London) Stephanie Diepeveen (University of Cambridge) Yidnekachew Haile (Royal Holloway University of London)
Paper short abstract:
Drawing on a study on a search 'autocomplete' algorithm's interaction with 3 east African languages, this paper highlights dilemmas related to their 'inclusion' in natural language processing/generation technologies that relate to accountability for digital harms and digital linguistic survival.
Paper long abstract:
Ongoing developments in natural language processing (NLP) and natural language generation (NLG) raise critical questions about linguistic bias and the dominance of English datasets. This paper addresses the dilemmas emerging from intentional and unintentional forms of inclusion of globally marginalised African languages in NLP and NLG, and queries whether/how digital 'inclusion' is essential for linguistic survival. We draw upon a study of how Google Search autocomplete algorithms interact with three languages indigenous to East Africa: Amharic, Kiswahili and Somali, each with its own historical, political and orthographic features. The paper explores different forms of harm that result through the operation of autocomplete algorithms in each language, and situates the experiences of marginalised languages and NLP algorithms within specific historical, cultural and political contexts. Our results raise important questions about the desirability of digital linguistic inclusion in the context of local and global power imbalances. The paper also reflects on the significance of our results in relation to recent developments in NLG (e.g. ChatGPT) and suggests the importance of future research into the contextual factors that inform how languages engage with these technologies.
Adedoyinsola Eleshin (University of Lagos)
Paper short abstract:
This study pursues the introduction of terminology development as a linguistic strategy that can be employed to fill the gaps that can be identified between indigenous languages and its contribution to the development of African feature praxes.
Paper long abstract:
Terminology development is a veritable tool that can be harnessed for the continuous alignment of indigenous languages to meet global demands in diverse spheres of fields. For instance, terminology development contributes to the quality of translation and transfer of ideas in subject-related communications, it is inextricably linked to language development. This study seeks to introduce terminology development as a linguistic strategy that can be employed to fill the gaps that can be identified between indigenous languages and its contribution to the development of African feature praxes. This will be achieved through linguistic engagements in indigenous news media. The haphazard use of terms in the news media could be a serious communicative challenge for the achievement of language originality in Yorùbá language and this poses a challenge for the future usage of the language. The focus of the study is to foster adequate communication and oral dissemination of the outcome of research activities that could help the feature of African indigenous languages in general and Yorùbá language in particular. The study will adopt mixed research methodology, data will be gathered from Yorùbá news media from two radio stations in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria. The analysis of the data will be geared towards development of a model for Yorùbá terminology development which can be adopted for all disciplines in any African language.
Keywords: Terminology Development, News Media, Communications, Indigenous language
Feyisayo Ademola-Adeoye (University of Lagos)
Paper short abstract:
Paper examines how far efforts of National Institute for Cultural Orientation to intervene through Nigerian Indigenous Language Programmes has achieved its objectives and suggests how indigenous languages can be further empowered to handle concepts, abstract notions and scientific linguistic tools.
Paper long abstract:
Language is an integral part of indigenous knowledge that encapsulates a people’s identity and way of life. Indigenous languages being a veritable vehicle for transmitting culture, norms, values and beliefs from generation to generation, their use in the formal educational system is key to achieving holistic national development. As Prah (1995) notes, the mother tongue is the primary code for the perception of reality and allows for the creative display and application of human ingenuity. Such languages facilitate the grasping of abstract scientific concepts and notions within institutional settings, thus helping learners to more competently interpret reality. Studies on basic education by the World Bank and UNESCO found that learning is more effective and efficient when instruction is given in the mother tongue. Other studies found that countries ranking highest in mathematics and science tests are mostly those heavily invested in instructing pupils in the mother tongue. Preliminary findings indicate some efforts are being made at micro and macro levels to develop the capacity of local languages to serve as effective tools for teaching mathematics and science subjects. One of such efforts is the initiative of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) to intervene through the Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP) platform. Thus, the study examines how far NILP has achieved its objectives and suggests how indigenous languages can be further empowered to handle concepts, abstract notions and scientific linguistic tools.
Keywords: Indigenous languages/Mother Tongue, Development, Scientific Knowledge, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP)
Bolatito Kolawole (University of Lagos)
Paper short abstract:
More and more Nigerians are growing up unable to speak their indigenous languages and experience shaming from older generations as a result. This paper explores how cultural rigidity may hinder indigenous language regeneration and emphasises the importance of considering “Nonspeaker” perspectives.
Paper long abstract:
Debates concerning the future of African languages often fall prey to over-simplified dichotomies which portray African languages as authentic and European languages as unnatural. Nevertheless, the situation on ground is much more complex especially as an increasing number of Africans are growing up without ever attaining native proficiency in an indigenous language. For the purpose of this study, “Nonspeakers” refers to people who never attained full, native competency in the indigenous language of the ethnic group that they belong to. While this reality is often ignored or dismissed as the experience of a small, privileged elite, the growing demographic of Nonspeakers in urban centers like Lagos, Nigeria due to intergenerational language shift, along with the mass exodus of Nigerians to Western countries in what is colloquially termed as “Japa,” has made the place of Nonspeakers more and more relevant.
Through interviews with millennial-aged Nigerian Nonspeakers, both in Nigeria and in the diaspora, this paper explores how Nonspeakers relate to their indigenous cultures amidst linguistic barriers and seeks to answer the question of whether there is life after language loss. It further explores the role of parents and older generations as cultural gatekeepers and the resultant power that this position confers, particularly in light of exclusionary practices such as linguistic shaming. Finally, the paper critiques the insistence on authenticity and purity within the indigenous language debate as a colonial byproduct and argues that environments of cultural rigidity may ultimately hinder rather than encourage indigenous language regeneration.
Bert van Pinxteren (Leiden University)
Paper short abstract:
What does the SDG4 ‘Education for All’ goal mean for medium of instruction (MoI)? I argue that increased enrolment must lead to indigenous languages as MoI. I attack the fiction that African educational systems can expand indefinitely using colonial languages as MoI.
Paper long abstract:
The SDG 4 goal of ‘Education for All’ represents a radical break away from colonial educational systems, which were essentially aimed at providing substandard education for a large group and higher education only for a small minority. What does such a radical break mean for medium of instruction (MoI)? This paper will argue that for as long as higher education remains aimed at a small elite, MoI does not matter: there will always be enough bright youngsters able to profit from such education. However, for educational systems aimed at the masses, MoI does matter: as enrolment increases, so will the demands increase for a MoI that is easily accessible for students – therefore, demands for indigenous languages as Medium of Instruction is bound to increase. This is especially true for the area of Technical and Vocational Training and Education, but also for higher education.
This relationship between enrolment and MoI will be investigated using data from educational systems in different parts of the world. The paper exposes the fiction that African educational systems will be able to expand indefinitely using former colonial languages as MoI. It will show that as enrolment increases, a MoI close to what students already know becomes imperative. This is also practically possible.