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- Convenors:
-
Comfort Beyang Oben Ojongnkpot
(University of Buea- Cameroon)
Sylvanus Effiom (Moorfields Eye Hospital)
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- Chair:
-
Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju
(University of Ilorin)
- Discussants:
-
Emilisco Jones Enoachuo
(University of Buea)
Kula Maria Thompson-Williams (University of Liberia)
- Format:
- Panel
- Streams:
- Language and Literature (x) Infrastructure (y)
- Location:
- Philosophikum, S78
- Sessions:
- Friday 2 June, -, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Berlin
Short Abstract:
For Africa to benefit from the opportunities of digitization and the 4th Industrial Revolution, stakeholders must reflect on how to break language barriers. Thus, contributions explore opportunities and challenges of propagating digital footprints of African languages for economic development.
Long Abstract:
The world is today involved in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Africa cannot be left indifferent. One way of being armed for this is through language digitization, which arguably includes economic development and wellbeing. Indeed, digitization is a key infrastructure for the future of the African economy. Thus, Kone (2021) maintains that “African countries need to adapt to this reality and ensure that technology becomes a central component of people’s lives and businesses.” In this vein, the African union launched the Digital Economy Blueprint(2013), dubbed, Smart Africa, to benchmark the progress of member states towards unlocking the digital economy. Language is a main driver of economic development, and failure to integrate it in the digitization process may enhance language extinction. African languages should become an instrument for achieving the digital revolution. Therefore, to what extent are African languages prepared to face the Fourth Industrial Revolution? What mechanisms have been devised to avail African languages of digitization initiatives, and what are the opportunities and challenges presented by the digital infrastructure to the valorization of African languages as engines of economic development? This panel seeks to explore the future of African languages and how development can be fast-tracked with digitization, so as to enable Africa share equally in the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Papers should reflect on ways of integrating African languages into the digital infrastructure for economic development through topics such as Language and Digitization, Language and Economic Development, Language Pedagogy, Translation, and Language Revitalization and Documentation.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 2 June, 2023, -Liqhwa Siziba (North West)
Paper long abstract:
Interest on the economics of language and language planning has been increasing. Much of it focuses on how global languages like English facilitate speakers’ entry into job markets. In communities whose languages are still breaking into public domains of usage following years of marginalisation, proficiency in such languages has proven to be an important part of individual speakers’ human capital portfolio. This study discusses the economic consequences of language planning and language revitalisation efforts in Zimbabwe. We focus on the perspectives of selected Tonga language teachers to understand how language planning efforts in Zimbabwe impact their material conditions as speakers of the previously marginalised Tonga language. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with selected Tonga teachers drawn from schools in Binga district and a review of official language policy documents. We argue that the official recognition of Tonga has increased opportunities in the language teaching labour market and improved livelihoods and wellbeing of those involved in Tonga language teaching. We therefore advocate for a more comprehensive language policy to consolidate the gains made in language revitalisation.
Fridah Erastus (Kenyatta University)
Paper short abstract:
For Kenya to breakthrough in her economic development agenda, African languages must be adopted in education, and adapted to fufil the needs of the changing technological space, for the general population to benefit from digitisation, globalisation and economic empowerment initiatives.
Paper long abstract:
Deumert (2015:562), while describing language in the media, opines that “Sociolinguists, have been exploring new media as an area of study which allows fresh perspectives on topics which are central to the discipline: multilingualism and linguistic diversity, language variation and change, style and register, language and identity, language ideologies, interactional linguistics, and language and globalization”. With changing technological space in Africa, African languages have penetrated digital spaces as communities attempt to engage in their native tongues. The internet is increasingly regarded as a linguistic or virtual linguistic landscape which can be researched like any other context of language use. This paper attempts to give an overview of the use of African languages in digital space, the tenacity of these languages in promoting social change, development and learning. It also highlights some grassroots and social initiatives to promote the use of African languages in the media and their impact on Africa’s development agenda. The political and social implications for the presence or absence of these languages will be discussed including various national language policies as the government of Kenya re-introduces learning in African languages in formative years of schooling. Data and examples used to illustrate the arguments in this paper will be drawn mostly from Kenya, with additional examples from other parts of Africa.
References
Deumert, A. (2015). Linguistics and social media. In Allan Keith (ed.) The Routledge Handbook in Linguistics, 561-573. New York: Routledge
Olupemi Oludare (University of Lagos)
Paper short abstract:
By engaging speech surrogacy system as a formal sociolinguistic tool, this study aims to promote Yorùbá drum language, by exploring how the talking drums, a traditional didactic and activity tool, can be integrated in classrooms to achieve same pedagogical and cultural benefits in a modern context.
Paper long abstract:
The Yorùbá people are known for their exuberant cultural heritage, passed down orally through generations. Until the incursion of ‘colonial’ language and education system based on Western epistemology, Yorùbá societies had their independent knowledge systems. These traditional systems successfully functioned as the authentic instructive model of communication and knowledge production. Amongst these is the Yorùbá drum language, a surrogate language achieved on the talking drums through the imitation of the language’s tonal inflections. Traditionally, the drummers employ oral genres as sources of the drum’s surrogate language, in conjunction with socio-cultural contexts in the drum lexicon formation and communication. By engaging the speech surrogacy system as a formal sociolinguistic tool, this research aims at promoting the Yorùbá drum language as not just archival resources, but also exploring how the talking drums, traditionally employed in Yorùbá societies as a communal didactic tool and cultural knowledge activities, can be incorporated in classrooms to achieve similar pedagogical and cultural benefits in a modern context. Data was elicited through observations, interviews, questionnaires and bibliographic sources. The findings reveal that the talking drums and drum language enhance Yorùbá language learning in classrooms, also indigenous languages can be incorporated in teaching modes in formal education. The research recommends that such drive in disentangling the drum language from the entrapment and stagnancy effect of the current colonial language pedagogy, engenders African indigenous language development and preservation, towards the future of African languages, cultural heritage and critical discourse on African scholarship and epistemologies.
Comfort Beyang Oben Ojongnkpot (University of Buea- Cameroon)
Paper short abstract:
The digitization of Ejagham not only enhance telecommunication and infrastructural development across the globe, but also ensures its reinvigoration , preservation and retrieval. It is thus important to explore factors that impede or facilitate its digitization.
Paper long abstract:
The language question in Africa places constraints on infrastructural development. There is no better way of attaining the 4th Industrial Revolution, than through language digitization. Hence, Kone (2021) entreats African countries to adopt digitization for technological development. However, the alarm bell on the digitization of African languages is yet to receive the attention it deserves. Ejagham in Manyu, Cameroon, is moribund (Ojongnkpot, 2015 P. 202). There have been efforts to promote indigenous languages (Njock, 1966;Tadajeu,1975; Chumbow, 2013; Ojongnkpot,2015;); the future of these languages appears threatening, in relation to digitization. Osborn (2010) affirms that “ there is still a long way to go before all world languages appear on the World Wide Web” (P.29). Indeed, bridging the digital divide gets the languages invigorated, gets people well connected and engenders socio-economic development. No language in Cameroon is served by ICT,(social media, email). Given the place of Ejagham as store house of knowledge , intangible resources, and driver of development, we aimed at exploring factors that impede and enhance the digitization of Ejagham, in order to devise ways and means of bridging the digital divide.
Questions:
1. What is the relevance of digitization to Ejagham speakers?
2. What are the challenges /opportunities of digitizing Ejagham?
The study adopts a Mixed-Methods Design, with N=500 , aged 15-70 respondents from all walks of life.Adopts Haugen’s (1971/1972)(PLETES Model of Language Ecology) Framework. Quantitative data analyzed through SPSS , while Qualitative data used Content Analysis.
The study has implication for language preservation, storage, retrieval and technological exploitation.
Emilisco Jones Enoachuo (University of Buea)
Paper short abstract:
African languages are a wet well of traditional knowledges. For her to fit in the global economy as a contributor, the medicinal knowledge needs to be digitised to carter for the health challenges of benefactors beyond a defined community and widen her scope to stand the test of time.
Paper long abstract:
Indigenous knowledges on healthcare medicine are embedded in African languages and culture but in oral form. These decline with language endangerment. There is economic growth retardation at the global win-win development platform. The precolonial Africa had a strong indigenous knowledge on handling health challenges such as childbirth and diseases (eclampsia, difficult delivery, cancers, STDs and chlamydia, fractures, and fevers) which shifted to exoglossic languages they do not have mastery of. These health issues are challenging to Africa today, while making waves in the world. The poor economy of Africa leaves her people wanting while resolving to unfounded superstition. The people do not understand these costly and demanding alien concepts, though these knowledges existed before, but not digitised, now coded, and considered mysterious. This paper seeks to document the crucial knowledges that can foster a holistic development and revitalise moribund languages of Africa, while valorising her economy, and demystifying the exigences. Digitising these health challenges and their remedies will step Africa up the ladder on the global terrain. Sequentially to healthcare, focus will be speaker-centre, using snowball and purposive sampling techniques to elicit data from 2 language custodians (from 2 different communities) and 3 traditional healers. A survey guided by ten-disease wordlist and remedies use to record audio and video, transcribed, and archived using the digital technology to increase Nyang vocabulary, knowledge as well as boost economic strength of the beneficiaries.