Wednesday 8 June 2022, 16:00-17:00

Room 213 St Andrew's Building, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow G3 6NH

Beyond the Codes: Reconceptualising Language in Education Planning in Multilingual Contexts – Ghana in Focus

Multilingual code choices permeate formal and informal contexts of communication in Ghana. The country has about 79 indigenous languages with approximately 50 non-mutually intelligible languages. English is the official language for all formal communication, and it is adopted as the main medium of instruction from primary grade 4 to tertiary level. Multilingual code choices have been documented in the literature to be prevalent in the classroom, particularly at the lower primary levels where the policy stipulates L1 as the medium of instruction. Using data from recordings of classroom interactions, teacher interviews, pupil focused groups, ethnographic notes, and questionnaire surveys, this talk focuses on the multilingual situation at the lower primary levels exploring how multiple but inter-related factors influence code choices in the classroom. The talk also unpacked the complex social and linguistic experiences of learners and teachers and the country's socio-linguistic situation, analysing how crucial these factors are in formulating a feasible language in education policy. It is, therefore, argued that language in education planning should be reconceptualised to reflect the complex socio-linguistic situations at the individual, educational and national levels.

About the speaker

Elvis ResCue completed his PhD and Masters in Applied Linguistics at Aston University, and BA in Linguistics with English at the University of Ghana, Legon. His research interests and expertise lie in the area of Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Bilingual Education, Language Planning and Development; and Language Contact in multilingual contexts. His recent publications explore language of education in Ghana, and minority languages in new media.

First published: 29 March 2022

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