Collaborative Research on Multilingual Literacies in African Communities

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

Collaborative research on the promotion of multilingual literacies in Africa responds to the Millennium Development Goal of forging new global partnerships that will reduce educational inequities between nations, and enhance educational opportunities for teachers and students in poorly resourced communities. This panel draws on research in Morocco, Uganda, and South Africa to contribute to scholarly debates with respect to (i) the transcription of minority languages; (ii) the relationship between school and community literacy practices; (iii) divergences in educational policy and practice; and (iv) the potential of digital innovations to promote multilingual literacies in schools. The research projects have been conducted in the spirit of the collaborative and egalitarian principles advocated by the indigenous scholar, Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999)

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Section 3: Social Context of Multiple Languages and Literacies

Chair

• Penny Moanakwena, University of Botswana and University of British Columbia

Papers

• The Story of the Amazigh Language in Morocco: Identity and the Semiotic of Resiliency - Awad Ibrahim, University of Ottawa

• Multilingual Cultural Resources and New Contexts of Use in Ugandan Classrooms and Families - Maureen Kendrick, The University of British Columbia; Elizabeth Beatrice Namazzi, The University of British Columbia

• Divergences Between Educational Policy and Practice in Multilingual South Africa - Mastin Prinsloo, University of Cape Town

• Digital Possibilities for Literacy Across the Curriculum in Ugandan Schooling - Margaret Mary Early, The University of British Columbia; Bonny P. Norton, The University of British Columbia