Official Language Education in Africa

Most African countries face a very complicated multilingual situation. Although there may be dozens or even hundreds of languages represented in a single country, most countries have adopted one or more of the languages of the former colonial powers of the continent (English, French, and Portuguese) as their official language; this language is required to be used in business, trade, politics, and education. The country may also use a major indigenous language as a national language, which may also be used in various avenues of public life.

While this may help the country's politicians and businessmen to communicate with other countries, it does complicate matters for the majority of the population. And it certainly doesn't mean that most people can speak the official language. In fact, according to the book African Voices, "after almost a century of continuous teaching of English and French (several centuries in the case of Portuguese), there is hardly any country in Africa where these languages are adequately spoken by a significant proportion of its inhabitants." (1) That's a pretty shocking statement, when you think about it! But from what I have learned through reading and personal experience about various African countries, it seems to be true. Why is this the case?

The same book outlines several reasons for the problem:

• Perhaps the major reason is that students don't use these languages outside of the classroom. "These languages [English, French, and Portuguese, dubbed "ex-colonial languages"] often play no meaningful part in the lives of the communities from which pupils come. You could liken it to the way pupils in American and Australia learn foreign languages in school such as Spanish or Italian. How many English-speaking Americans and Aussies can really communicate in the languages they studied in high school? Probably not many! Other reasons include:
  
• Poor facilities (not enough desks, poor lighting, lack of space, etc);
• Too many students per class (say, 50 or so), which makes one-on-one tutoring nearly impossible;
• Not enough textbooks to go around;
• Interrupted classes because of various events, such as political rallies;
• Lack of interest and dedication on the part of pupils (not surprisingly if you've ever tried to teach a foreign language!);
• Inadequately trained teachers - nothing to do with personal ability, just a vicious cycle of inadequately taught students becoming inadequate teachers;
• Ineffective teaching methods. For example, sometimes the ex-colonial languages are taught in the same way that first languages are taught - like your English grammar courses in school - focusing on the grammar and not on learning to communicate. (2)

Whatever the reasons, it seems clear that we cannot assume that within a few years, everyone in Africa will be speaking English, French, or Portuguese as their first language. Therefore, if we are going to reach this generation of Africans with the Word of God, Bible translation is still a vital ministry. The people of Africa do still need the Bible in their own language!

(1) Webb, Vic and Kembo-Sure (editors) 2000, African Voices: An Introduction to the Languages and Linguistics of Africa, Oxford University Press, South Africa, page 283.

(2) Same as above, pages 293, 294, and 306.