LANGUAGE AND LITERACY POLICIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: TOWARDS A BILINGUAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICY IN ANGOLA By NICOLAU NKIAWETE MANUEL A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Department of Teaching and Learning MAY 2015 © Copyright by NICOLAU NKIAWETE MANUEL, 2015 All Rights Reserved © Copyright by NICOLAU NKIAWETE MANUEL, 2015 All Rights Reserved To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of NICOLAU NKIAWETE MANUEL find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. ____________________________________ Pamela Jean Bettis, Ph.D., Chair _____________________________________ David Cassels Johnson, Ph.D. _____________________________________ Paula Groves Price, Ph.D. _____________________________________ Olusola Adesope, Ph.D. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance, patience, and dedication of my supervisors, Dr. Pamela J. Bettis and Dr. David C. Johnson, who devoted their time and energy to help me understand the mechanics and knowledge of dissertation writing. My special thanks go to Dr. Paula Groves Price who believed in me and granted me an assistantship with the Western Journal of Black Studies and Dr. David C. Johnson who passionately provided critical insights that shaped this project since the beginning. I am equally thankful to the members my dissertation committee, namely Dr. Olusola Adesope and Dr. Paula G. Price for their support and insights. I am indebted to my family, my mother Isabel Nkengue Nlandu, mama Isabel Mambu Wankaya, my sisters Margarida Manuel (Maguy), Georgette Manuel, Bankwansambu Rosita, Teresa Kwanzambi for their prayers, love, and support. I am most grateful to all the participants for their time and for providing the rich insights that helped to answer the research questions addressed in this dissertation. Additionally, I would like to thank my friends and brothers Pedro Mussungo Panzo and Francisco Mateta, for their love and support. I am thankful to brother Ahmed Aghalli Omaar for his unconditional love, support, and patience during the years of my study. I am also indebted to my friend and colleague Adam Attwood for his insights and support during my studies. Last but not least, I thank Douglas Hoston Jr., (Sage) for his support. My thanks are extended to the faculty in the cultural studies program, Dr. Johnny Lupinacci and Dr. A. G. Rud and the cultural studies cohort for their support during my program of study. I am most grateful to the chair, faculty, and staff in the Department of Teaching and Learning for their support and caring. iii LANGUAGE AND LITERACY POLICIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: TOWARDS A BILINGUAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICY IN ANGOLA Abstract by Nicolau Nkiawete Manuel, Ph.D. Washington State University May 2015 Chair: Pamela J. Bettis Recently the Angolan government piloted a new language policy that will introduce six African languages as media of instruction into the school system from first through third grade. Using Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis three dimensional framework, Foucault’s discourse insights and the theoretical tools developed in linguistic anthropology, this study conducted a discursive and linguistic analysis of Angolan language policy discourses. The study conceptualized language education policy as involving struggles, negotiations, and compromise— language policy as a hegemonic, symbolic, and discursive act that is socially, historically, and politically situated and involving various actors and social agents. The purpose of this study was to question and problematize the above mentioned language policy and examine the attitudes, beliefs, ideologies, and discursive practices of a variety of social agents including parents, students, teachers, administrators and policy-makers; and the socio-historical conditions that have shaped this policy. Another purpose of this study was, to use the findings and the insights from best practices in second language and bilingual pedagogy to propose alternative avenues for the ongoing language education reform. The findings demonstrated that the various cultural and discursive practices are dynamic, locally, and contextually situated. iv This dynamic created tension between the local and the global discursive practices, specifically between the discourses of national unity, English as a global language and African indigenous languages as the languages of cultural identity and heritage. The findings also revealed that the choices of language of instruction and use are embedded in economic, political, and ideological interests of the various social groups. Parents, teachers, linguists, and policy- makers alike, recognized the advantages of bilingual education. However, entrenched negative attitudes, the high status, and the prestige attached to Portuguese and English pose additional challenges for the promotion of African languages in education and social life. The findings also suggested the need to challenge positions of power and privilege that are reinforced by the use of disciplinary knowledge in the domains of language teaching and learning. In conclusion, the findings suggested that top-down and bottom up processes should work in tandem to promote an inclusive language policy towards, bilingualism, and linguistic diversity. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... iv-v LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ xi DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM...................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .........................................................................................3 The Purpose of the Study and Research Questions .................................................4 Qualitative Research:Philosophical Considerations ................................................5 Critical Discourse Analysis ......................................................................................6 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................7 Researcher Positionality.........................................................................................11 The Significance of the Study ................................................................................14 Overview of the Dissertation .................................................................................15 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................18 Language planning and language policy ................................................................18 Language Policy Perspectives………………………………………………. 21 Critical language policy .................................................................................21 Ecological language policy ...........................................................................23 vi Linguistic human rights approach .................................................................26 Language policy as text and discourse ...........................................................28 Bilingual Education Research: Overview ..............................................................33 Language Planning and Literacy ...........................................................................38 Critical literacy……………………………………………………………...40 Language Ideology.................................................................................................42 Language Attitudes ................................................................................................48 3. THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY ........................................................................55 Language Planning and Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa .........................................55 Colonial language policy ...............................................................................57 Postcolonial language policy .........................................................................60 Bilingual education programs in Sub-Saharan Africa ...................................71 Language Policy in Angola ....................................................................................77 Sociolinguistic overview ................................................................................77 Colonial language policy in Angola ………………………………………..80 The status agenda in LPP debate in Angola..................................................81 The Luso-Brazilian orthographic accord and the PALOPs ...........................84 Cultural discourses and ideological debates .................................................86 The challenges of the orthographic accord: The way forward .....................90 4. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS ............................................................92 Setting and Participants..........................................................................................92