brock-utne project

ONGOING RESEARCH/EVALUATION PROJECTS

Project Title: "Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa (LOITASA)"

Institution in Norway:	Institute for Educational Research, University of Oslo
Institution in collaboration:	Faculty of Education,University of Dar es Salaam and Faculty of Education, University of Western Cape
Name of researcher:	Prof. Birgit Brock-Utne
Name of co-researchers:	Prof.Justinian Galabawa,UDSM and Ass.Prof.Zubeida Desai,UWC
Year started:	2002
Planned year of completion:	2006
Source of Funding	NUFU
Executive summary of key ideas, context, methods etc.:	The LOITASA project contains two different research components apart from a staff development component. The first research component has to do with a description and analysis of the current language policies, their background, the forces working for and against change, and the manner in which teachers cope in the class-rooms in the secondary schools in Tanzania and the last part of primary school in South Africa. Work on this part of the project by Norwegian researchers has already started through a four year research grant(1.1. 2001 31.12.2004) from the Norwegian Research Council. The second research component involves an action component where we plan an experiment where we shall let some Form I and Form II classes in secondary school in Tanzania and fourth, fifth and sixth grade classes in primary school in South Africa be taught in mother tongue or at least in a language that is familiar to them (isiXhosa in the Western Cape region of South Africa, Kiswahili in Tanzania) in some subjects for two more years. This experiment necessitates the consent of Ministries, of school inspectors, of headmasters, teachers, parents and pupils. It further requires the production of text-books and teaching material. We shall use this year the first year of the project to negotiate with parents, teachers, pupils, school administrators as well as for producing material in isiXhosa and Kiswahili. The action phase will take place in 2003, 2004 and 2005, while 2006 will be a year for writing up results.
For further information :	Tanzanian coordinator: galabawa@edu.udsm.ac.tz South African coordinator: zdesai@uwc.ac.za or zdesai@intekom.co.za Norwegian coordinator: birgit.brock-utne@ped.uio.no

Project Title: "Language of Instruction in South Africa (LOISA)"

Institution in Norway:	Institute for Educational Research, University of Oslo
Institution in collaboration:	Faculty of Education,University of Western Cape
Name of researcher/evaluator:	Prof. Birgit Brock-Utne
Name of co-researchers/-evaluators:	Ass.Prof. Zubeida Desai, UDSM
Year started:	2003
Planned year of completion:	2005
Source of Funding	NFR- South-African-Norway research cooperation fund
Executive summary of key ideas, context, methods etc.:	The LOISA project will work in cooperation with the LOITASA project and contains like LOITASA two different research components. The first research component has to do with a description and analysis of the current language policies, their background, the forces working for and against change, and the manner in which teachers cope in the class-rooms in the last part of primary school in South Africa. Work on this part of the project by Norwegian researchers has already started through a four year research grant(1.1. 2001 31.12.2004) from the Norwegian Research Council and is also part of the LOITASA project. The second research component involves an action component where we plan an experiment where we shall let some fourth, fifth and sixth grade classes in primary school in South Africa be taught in mother tongue or at least in a language that is familiar to them (isiXhosa in this case) in some subjects for two more years. This experiment necessitates the consent of Ministries, of school inspectors, of headmasters, teachers, parents and pupils. It further requires the production of text-books and teaching material. When this component starts negotiations have already been held with parents, teachers, pupils, school administrators as well as some material in isiXhosa been produced. The action phase will take place in 2003,2004 and 2005 while 2006 (which will be paid by NUFU funding as part of the LOITASA project) will be a year for writing up results.
For further information :	South African coordinator: zdesai@uwc.ac.za or zdesai@intekom.co.za Norwegian coordinator: birgit.brock-utne@ped.uio.no

Project title: An analysis of policies and practices concerning language in education in primary schools in South Africa and secondary schools in Tanzania.

Institution in Norway:	University of Oslo
Institution in collaboration:	Faculty of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Faculty of Education, University of Western Cape
Name of researcher/evaluator:	Prof.Birgit Brock-Utne (project manager) with M.Phil. Halla Holmarsdottir as research assistant
Name of co-researchers/-evaluators:	Prof.Suleman Sumra, Ass.Prof.Martha Qorro, Ass.Prof.Casimir Rubugumya, Prof.Justin Galabawa, Ass.Prof.Mwajabu Possi, Prof.George Malekela, UDSM. Sen.Lecturer Zubeida Desai, Lecturer Vuyokazi Nomlomo, Prof. Harold Herman, UWC
Year started:	2001
Planned year of completion:	2004
Source of Funding	The Research Council of Norway.
Executive summary of key ideas, context, methods etc.:	In the project we aim at: Undertaking an historical as well as a contemporary description of the forces involved in determining the language in education policies and the implementation of these policies in the two countries in question. What has the role of the former colonial powers been like? Of various donor agencies? Of the African elites? What are the wishes of parents and pupils ? To what extent do globalization influences make themselves felt on the language in education policies? To what extent do the policies that have been adopted further democracy in the two countries concerned? How does the situation experienced by African children having a foreign language as a language of instruction differ from the situation minority children in the North experience, and what are the theoretical implications of this difference? Conducting observational studies in schools in the two countries mentioned to be able to throw some light on the extent to which the current language in education policies are implemented in the two countries and the advantages or disadvantages these policies have. The switch of languages of instruction between different educational levels and the transitional problems this may lead to will be studied especially. Contributing to the development of the theory of bilingualism in a setting where the high status language is only spoken by a minority in the country
For further information :	birgit.brock-utne@ped.uio.no http://www.uio.no/~bbrock/ http://www.uio.no/~bbrock/EduDev.html

Project title: The language of instruction in secondary class-rooms in Tanzania

Institution in Norway:	University of Oslo
Institution in collaboration:	Faculty of Education, University of Dar es Salaam
Name of researcher/evaluator:	Prof.Birgit Brock-Utne
Name of co-researchers/-evaluators:	Halima Mohammed Mwinsheikhe , Mwajuma Vuzo and Mary A.Mkwizu
Year started:	2000
Planned year of completion:	2003
Source of Funding	NORAD, Quota scholarships, Norwegian Research Foundation, Institute for Educational Research.
Executive summary of key ideas, context, methods etc.:	In this project we observe what is going on in class-rooms in secondary schools in Tanzania. Our focus is on the medium of communication that the teachers use in and out of school, for instructional purposes, for explaining new concepts, for disciplining students, for activating them. To what extent is a code switching or code-mixing going on? To what extent are teachers able to use the official language of instruction throughout the lesson? What do teachers and students think about the medium of instruction? Halima has also conducted an experiment where a class was taught some biology lessons through the official medium which is English and some other biology lessons through a medium more familiar to them, namely Kiswahili. There was no doubt that the students had a much better comprehesion when the lessons were taught in Kiswahili. Mwajuma Vuzo and Mary A.Mkwizu are also going to test the ability to express themselves among secondary school students writing in Kiswahili and writing in English.
For further information :	birgit.brock-utne@ped.uio.no http://www.uio.no/~bbrock/ http://www.uio.no/~bbrock/EduDev.html

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Editors: NETREED, netreed-post@ped.uio.no
Document created: 05.06.2001


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