A study investigated the ways in which native and non-native speakers of Kiswahili close conversations. Native speaker data were obtained from observation and field notes, recorded face-to-face interactions, recorded telephone conversations, reconstructed dialogues, and televised plays. Non-native speaker (American) data were drawn from role-play…

Five brief articles from a journal published by the Public Affairs Department of the University of Natal, South Africa, discuss issues related to empowering adults through literacy education in that country. "Meeting Needs" (Gwyneth van Heerden) describes the extent and nature of adult illiteracy in South Africa and the activities of the…

Four papers address trends and issues in Hispanic linguistics. "Recent Trends in Hispanic Linguistics" (Frank Nuessel) gives an overview of benchmarks in research on diachronic, sociolinguistic, and applied aspects of Spanish phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. "African Influence on Hispanic Dialects" (John Lipski)…

National language planning involves four interdependent processes that ideally constitute a cycle: fact-finding, policy formation, implementation, and evaluation. Each of these processes is more difficult in the relatively young but highly pluralistic nations of Africa. A community-based model of language planning offers ways to alleviate or…

A detailed grammar of Buem, one of the Togo-Remnant Languages spoken in Ghana's Volta region, describes the major structures and many minor structures occurring in informal and semi-formal speech. The phonetics and much of the phonology are described in taxonomic terms, and the vowel harmony system, syntax, and morphology are described in a…

Using the notion of interlanguage, this paper illustrates how a useful characterization may be obtained of some aspects of the English of Shona speakers. The interference hypothesis in language learning is demoted, while the interlanguage hypothesis in which interference plays a part, is promoted. Application of the interlanguage concept…

This handbook contains two types of materials: (1) texts in Swahili with English translations, and (2) vocabulary lists. The introduction of the book provides numerous suggestions for using the texts and lists to expand vocabulary, improve ability in using grammatical structures, developing writing and speaking ability, and improving listening…

This audiolingual course in Fulfulde, a lingua franca for much of West Africa, is designed for teacher-assisted self-instruction. The course is designed to impart communicative competence in Fulfulde. Dialog memorization, vocabulary acquisition, and pronunciation drills are emphasized. Each of the 41 lessons covers two or three grammatical…

A survey was conducted from 1967 to 1970 with the following goals: (1) to gather information on the use and teaching of languages in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia; (2) to stimulate research and development in linguistics and language pedagogy in East Africa; (3) to assist in strengthening the resources of East African institutions…

Problems encountered by language teachers involved in teaching culture are discussed in the introductory remarks of this paper. Leopold Senghor's definition of negritude as it is expressed primarily through literature is equated with the "...sum total of the values of the civilization of the African world." An educational experiment conducted at…

This revised version of a lecture on the relationship of African language and Hispano-American literature illustrates the historical influence of the African slave on representative literature and modern culture of the Caribbean Islands. Introductory remarks focus on the migratory patterns of the African slaves. The concept of negritude is then…

This study investigated the languages that interfered with Nigerian secondary school students' learning of French, focusing on the Esan-West and Esan Central local government areas of Edo State. It also examined error types identified in students' scripts, error types caused by the most interfering language, error types occurring most frequently,…

Describes the African language program at Michigan State University, which provides (1) supervised, individualized instruction for high-demand languages, on two levels; (2) regular classroom instruction for Swahili and Hausa; and (3) non-credit, self-instructional programs for low-demand languages. Sample forms are appended. (AM)

Assesses the potential of selected aspects of geolinguistic analysis for the understanding of multilingual cities and outlines a research agenda highlighting the need for increased comparative research on urban multilingualism. The article illustrates the agenda with reference to a geographical information systems (GIS) analysis of language in…

Examines how teachers and learners in eastern and southern Africa code switch between English and their first languages in science and mathematics lessons. Uses empirical classroom data to show that code switching is a valuable linguistic resource in education. (Author/VWL)