Ghana, just like other African countries, has a language policy that seemingly marginalizes the significance of African languages in the educational sphere. The policy dictates that from kindergarten to Grade 3, mother tongues serve as the primary medium of instruction.
However, this pivotal role fades as students progress, with English gradually supplanting African languages as a subject of study and a medium of instruction after lower grades. By Grade 4 through to 9, Ghanaian languages are treated as subjects of study, losing their central position in the educational journey.
This shift not only downplays the importance of African languages but also threatens to erode the cultural fabric woven within these linguistic tradition. The discrepancy stemming from the discontinuity of the mother language (L1) presents a significant challenge in Ghana’s educational landscape. This gap hinders students’ ability to fully comprehend other subjects or navigate complex situations with proficiency.
Whether schools in Ghana effectively uphold the language policy outlined – where African languages are utilized as the primary medium of instruction in early grades and transition to a secondary role thereafter- is a topic ripe for investigation through empirical research. Such studies could shed light on the extent to which this policy is implemented in practice and its impact on students’ linguistic development, educational attainment, and cultural identity. By exploring these avenues, we can gain deeper insights into the effectiveness of Ghana’s language policy and its implications for the nation’s educational system as a whole.
However, if this policy is enforced and implemented, it could significantly enhance children’s learning. Specifically, it would support adequate language development from birth until kindergarten enrollment. During this crucial formative period, children are wholly exposed to their mother language at home for communication. It is assumed that mothers, who have a significant influence, nurture children in their first language.”
While times have changed and mothers are not entirely staying at home to care for the family and bring up the children, their role as primary social reproducers still remains paramount in the family expectations. This is particularly so in the African communities where mother’s social and cultural reproduction roles are culturally held in high esteem. In the spirit of celebrating mothers day, this article delves into the role of mothers in the preservation and promotion of the African languages and cultures.
African languages as mother tongue?
In most African societies, customs, traditions and language are passed down mostly through the mother. The family structure in most African homes is that mothers have the role of keeping the family together while fathers ensure the home is safe and well protected. The mother’s role of keeping the family together and protecting the lineage involves time spent with the children. In these moments spent with children, mothers influence the child’s first language as well as transfer the customs and traditions of the society to the child.
Leonard Bloomfield, a scholar who pioneered research in Linguistics, in his the book ‘Language’, writes that the term mother tongue originated from the idea that a child’s first linguistic skills are horned by its mother and thus a child picks the language spoken by the mother as she is the child’s primary caregiver in the early stages of growth.
However, Bloomfield counters this by explaining that the idea of mothers being the first source of language for a child is a culture-specific notion adding that this term was initially used by Catholic monks to define a language they used that was not Latin. Therefore insinuating that the term mother tongue originated from missionaries and was then inherited by colonies as part of colonial legacy to differentiate the language they spoke to that of the indigenous people.
As a culture-specific notion, the idea of motherhood in most African traditional settings still holds that mothers play a vital role in the initial stages of a child’s growth and thus become child’s first contact with the culture, language, traditions and mores of the society. This is despite the paradigm shift in family settings where fathers are also becoming evermore present in the growth of the child from the initial stages. Thus, mother tongue defines the first language a child is exposed to, also referred to as the L1, the first language a child understands and speaks.
African languages and the cultural idea of motherhood
Social constructs of motherhood in Africa have been largely influenced by misconstrued ideas of motherhood being termed as ‘emancipation’ of the roles of mothers and by extension women, in the society.
While this article does not in any way undermine the ideas of every woman and what motherhood means to them, it seeks to elevate the original values and traditional recognitions of the role of mothers in the preservation and promotion of African languages and cultures. Most African cultures and traditions view motherhood in good light and as a sacred assignment.
Maya Morsy, president of Egypt’s National Council for Women, in the article ‘Women: custodians of cultural, social and religious values,’ alludes that women as custodians of cultural, social and religious values have been uniquely positioned to transmit these ideals and ideas to the next generations.
Katrina Esau Ouma, a nonagenarian from South Africa, whose efforts in the preservation of the language, culture and identity of the N|uu language – threatened by extinction- have been recognized by the South African presidency through the Order of the Baobab in Silver award, is an example of the high relevance of mothers in the promotion and preservation of indigenous languages and cultures.
Katrina and her granddaughter, Claudia Synman, have co-authored a N|uu children’s book, Qhoi n|a Tijho (Tortoise and Ostrich), a San folktale about a race between a tortoise and an ostrich. This is a story that Katrina had been told as a child and now through her and her grandchild, many other generations will benefit by not only learning the language but also safeguarding the cultures of the San people for many generations to come.
According to Mazuru and Nyambi in the article, ‘Celebrating Africana Motherhood: the Shona Proverb and the Familial and Social Roles of Mothers as First Teachers, Cultural Bearers and Co-Partners,’ Shona/ Africana women hold an influential position in the promotion and preservation of Shona/ Africana cultural values and languages that is celebrated through Shona proverbs.
Contrary to misconstructs of motherhood in the ‘woke’ society, the Shona/Africana mother is held in high esteem as she is the child’s first teacher and the one that breaks down the Shona/ Africana struggle for well being, survival and transcendence. Mazuru and Nyambu’s definition of motherhood amongst the Shona embodies the idea of motherhood in most African societies.
Even though Africa today is a predominantly patriarchal society, life in an African family is centred around a mother and her ability to indelibly connect her family to society’s indigenous language, culture and traditions. Dominica Dipio in the article, ‘African motherhood proverbs and worldview: A matriarchal perspective,’ borrows from theoretical arguments of scholars like Cheik Anta Diop and Ifi Amadiume, who through their highly influential academic work have shown traces of matriarchal and matrilineal past before ideas of patriarchy invaded the African socio-cultural space and beliefs.
Through this research, using perspectives from observance of daily living, proverbs and symbolic expressions of culture, Dipio finds that Africa’s matriarchal status is undeniable. Mothers are the custodians of African cultures, language, traditions and values. Therefore, most African homes operate with mothers as the centre stage from which most information is acquired.
The mother is able to instil knowledge on traditions, cultures and values of the society through various cultural media often done through a common language understood by the mother and the child. Most mothers derive pleasure in carrying out these duties diligently as it brings some sort of fulfilment in achieving their roles within the society.
Therefore, while the concept of motherhood continues to undergo different external pressures in the name of empowerment, it is imperative that we begin to value and appreciate the very reason for which motherhood is held in high esteem within the African traditional society.
