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Mother Tongue Literacy in Ghana Examining the roots of Ghana’s language attitudes

Mother Tongue Literacy in Ghana Examining the roots of Ghana’s language attitudes. Brittany Murlas. Kate Adoo-Adeku Erin Murphy-Graham School of Adult Education School of Education University of Ghana, Legon University of California, Berkeley.

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Mother Tongue Literacy in Ghana Examining the roots of Ghana’s language attitudes

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  1. Mother Tongue Literacy in GhanaExamining the roots of Ghana’s language attitudes Brittany Murlas Kate Adoo-Adeku Erin Murphy-Graham School of Adult Education School of Education University of Ghana, Legon University of California, Berkeley University of Ghana, Legon University of California, Berkeley

  2. Background • Only 3.2% of children are out-of-primary school • Literacy: 74.8% of Ghanaians can read and write • Male: 82.7% • Female: 67.1% • Official language: English • Ghanaian languages: 56 • National language: ?

  3. What is the language of instruction . policy in Ghana? Why?

  4. Research Methodology • Interviews (rural & urban) • 2 Principles • 4 Teachers • 6 Students • 2 Staff at the Ghanaian Ministry of Education • and not without complications… • Tape recording • Library resources • Ghana time

  5. Exact POLICY: “Cabinet has decided that henceforth, English language should be used as the only medium of instruction at all levels of education.” - Ghanaian Daily Graphic , May 17th 2002 Why did Ghana switch to an English-only language policy?

  6. Emergent Findings Ghanaian Language Policy Challenges • Multilingual state • No monitoring, supervision, or research • Divergent implementation • Untrained teachers • Lack of classroom materials • Gap between public and private • English is the official language • Negative views of Ghanaian Languages

  7. Why is mother tongue literacy perceived negatively? “…when it comes to the choice of language of instruction in African schools, sociocultural politics, sociolinguistics, and education are so closely interrelated that it is difficult to sort out the arguments.”(Mfum-Mensah, 2005)

  8. Explaining Public Perception

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