Community Elders' Narrative Accounts of "Ubuntu" Translanguaging: Learning and Teaching in African Education

Autor/in	Makalela, Leketi
Titel	Community Elders' Narrative Accounts of "Ubuntu" Translanguaging: Learning and Teaching in African Education
Quelle	In: International Review of Education, 64 (2018) 6, S.823-843 (21 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0020-8566
DOI	10.1007/s11159-018-9752-8
Schlagwörter	African Culture; Multilingualism; Monolingualism; African Languages; Foreign Policy; Sociolinguistics; Cultural Awareness; Older Adults; Personal Narratives; Indigenous Knowledge; Teaching Methods; Literacy Education; Self Concept; Foreign Countries; Code Switching (Language) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Africa; Culture; Afrika; Kultur; Mehrsprachigkeit; Multilingualismus; Language; Languages; Sprachen; Afrikanische Sprache; Außenpolitik; Soziolinguistik; Cultural identity; Kulturelle Identität; Älterer Erwachsener; Erlebniserzählung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Selbstkonzept; Ausland
Abstract	While South Africa has been lauded as a multilingual country that accorded official status to 11 languages, the academic notion of multilingualism has always been conceived from a monolingual perspective. Monolingual ideologies, which inadvertently favoured European languages to the detriment of local languages, were passed on to African countries through the occupation, division and colonisation of African territory by European powers in the early 1880s. Surprisingly, however, to date hardly any research has investigated African multilingualism predating the colonial era, or analysed pre-colonial narratives to offer alternative insights into African sociolinguistic and cultural realities. Aiming to shed some light on indigenous ways of knowing and the nature of translingual practices in local South African communities, the author of this article presents a study which collected and analysed storied narratives of six community elders--a glimpse into the pre-colonial period. The results of this study show that there is still a prevalent cultural competence of "ubuntu" (humanity towards others), which is highly relevant for teaching and learning indigenous knowledge and for identity formation among speakers of Bantu languages. Using a framework of "ubuntu translanguaging" to account for complex multilingual encounters, the author contends that a preferred literacy methodology for learners should be porous and value interdependence in tandem with ancient plural value systems and indigenous ways of knowing. Recommendations for future research involving narrative accounts of African community elders and practical applications in classroom encounters are considered at the end of the article. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01