Literacy and education in West Africa: from Ajami to Francophonie
Date
2016
Authors
Diallo, I.
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Africa Review, 2016; 8(1):60-70
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Abstract
Following contacts with Arab nomads and traders and the conversion of West Africans to Islam, Ajami, the writing of African languages using Qur'anic Arabic script, developed as an offshoot of Qur'anic education. Subsequently, both Ajami and Arabic became the transnational medium of written and spoken communication in pre-colonial West Africa. However, with colonization, the linguistic ecology in the region experienced a radical change. Following subjugation by the French military, West Africans had the French language and the French secular education models imposed on them. As a result, education and literacy shifted from (Qur'anic) Arabic and Ajami to French. Ironically, the West Africans who staunchly opposed French colonization became the most fervent advocates of French in postcolonial Africa in their own countries, in other parts of Africa and the rest of the world. However, the attachment to the French language seems so deep that it has obscured any language policies or language in-education vision to effectively address the national language issues in education and anticipate changing language needs in Francophone Africa
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Copyright 2015 African Studies Association of India