Master Introducing the Nubian language in the Primary Schools : A feasibility Study ABDALRAHMAN MOHAMED ALI, Nemat Abstract Nubian language is an ancient language spoken in southern Egypt, northern and western Sudan. According to the Ethnologue catalogue, this is a threatened language that requires a program of revitalization possibly through introducing it as a subject in primary schools. To begin with, it is important to involve the pupils' parents as stakeholders to see whether they would accept the concept or not. This study aims to provide insight into that concept and used two methods of data- collection (questionnaires and interviews) to present parents' point of view and their overall attitude towards the language. The results are positive and encourage further efforts towards the implementation of the revitalization program. The study also illustrated two experiences of promoting native languages, one in the local context and the other in neighboring countries. The local case example appears to be more feasible for implementation in the case of the Nubian language. Reference ABDALRAHMAN MOHAMED ALI, Nemat. Introducing the Nubian language in the Primary Schools : A feasibility Study. Master : Univ. Genève, 2020 Available at: http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:144936 Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version. 1 / 1 University of Geneva, Collage of translation and interpreting, ABSTRACT “LANGUAGE IS THE Introducing Nubian Language In PERFECTThe INSTRUMENT OF EMPIRE” Primary Schools, (MORRIS,2003) A feasibility Study, Nemat Introducing the Nubian Abdalrahman Mohamed Supervised by Prof Language in Primary François Grin Prepared By: Nemat Abdalrahman Mohamed SchoolsSupervised By: prof, François Grin A Feasibility Study Page | 1 Acknowledgements The present study was motivated by my desire to preserve my own language, which has been prohibited in schools for a long time. I am grateful for the guidance and support of Professor François Grin, and Mr Marco Civico who offered a great amount of useful advice in meetings as well as over e-mail to enable the completion of this work. I thank Mr and Mrs Jaeger from Cologne, Germany, for providing me with numerous sources that are not available in Geneva. I also thank Dr Amany Syam of WHO for helping with the formatting and layout of the research and Dr Daniel Goldfischer for the linguistic editing. Finally, I thank all the respondents of the questionnaire and interviews as well as my family members specially my husband, Mr Abdelaziz Bushara This research is presented as a contribution towards a better understanding of the importance of Nubian—a language that has been looked upon as inferior but is of great cultural and even greater civilisational importance. Déclaration attestant le caractère original du travail effectué J’affirme avoir pris connaissance des documents d’information et de prévention du plagiat émis par l’Université de Genève et la Faculté de traduction et d’interprétation (notamment la Directive en matière de plagiat des étudiant‐e‐s, le Règlement d’études de la Faculté de traduction et d’interprétation ainsi que l’Aide‐mémoire à l’intention des étudiants préparant un mémoire de Ma en traduction). J’atteste que ce travail est le fruit d’un travail personnel et a été rédigé de manière autonome. Je déclare que toutes les sources d’information utilisées sont citées de manière complète et précise, y compris les sources sur Internet. Je suis conscient‐e que le fait de ne pas citer une source ou de ne pas la citer correctement est constitutif de plagiat et que le plagiat est considéré comme une faute grave au sein de l’Université, passible de sanctions. Au vu de ce qui précède, je déclare sur l’honneur que le présent travail est original. Nom et prénom : Lieu / date / signature : **************************************** Ce formulaire doit être dûment rempli par tout étudiant ou toute étudiante rédigeant un travail substantiel et remis à l’enseignant ou l’enseignante. Page | 2 Contents Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.2 General information about Nubian area and Nubian language .............................................. 6 1.2.1 Name and Boundaries ...................................................................................................... 6 1.2.2 The causes and effects of the exodus as well as migration from the homeland to Khartoum and other parts of Sudan .......................................................................................... 8 Supprimé: 7 1.3 Explaining the main question of the study: Would the parents accept introducing Nubian language in the primary schools? ................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 15 2.1 What is language revitalisation? ........................................................................................... 15 2.1.1 Fishman’s GIDS ............................................................................................................... 16 2.1.2 Ethnologue language vitality categories ........................................................................ 17 2.2 Education ............................................................................................................................... 21 2.2.1 Positive effects of mother tongue education .................................................................. 21 2.3 Language policy and planning in Sudan ................................................................................. 22 2.3.1 Historical background ..................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 3 ......................................................................................................................................... 28 3.1. A general linguistic context of Africa .................................................................................... 28 3.1.1 Before colonisation ......................................................................................................... 28 3.1.2. During colonialism ......................................................................................................... 32 3.2 Ethiopian experience in introducing minority languages ...................................................... 33 3.2.1. Historical background on language policy in Ethiopia ................................................... 33 3.3 The experience of Moro language literacy in Sudan: .............................................................. 0 Supprimé: 35 3.3.1 Historical background ..................................................................................................... 36 3.3.2 Literacy activities ............................................................................................................ 37 3.3.3 Isaac Kuku Academy ....................................................................................................... 37 Supprimé: 38 3.3.4 The objectives of the literacy program ........................................................................... 38 Supprimé: 39 3.3.5. Some recent activities .................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 4 ......................................................................................................................................... 42 4.1. Methodology and data collection ......................................................................................... 42 4.1.1 Questionnaires ................................................................................................................ 42 Page | 3 4.1.2. Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 45 4.1.3. Range of study ............................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 47 5.1 Data analysis .......................................................................................................................... 47 5.2 Analysis of questionnaires ..................................................................................................... 47 5.3 Analysis of Interviews ............................................................................................................ 59 Supprimé: 58 5.4 Families living in Khartoum City ............................................................................................ 62 Supprimé: 60 5.5 Families living in the Nubian Villages .................................................................................... 66 Supprimé: 64 5.6 Families living in the local town Dongola .............................................................................. 75 Supprimé: 72 5.7. Interviews with persons with special positions. ................................................................... 81 Supprimé: 77 5.9 Interview with the manager of curricula