Institutionalising African Language Journalism Studies
Prof Abiodun Salawu, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.
asalawu@ufh.ac.za
Introduction
In the book (Minority Language Media: Concepts, Critiques and Case Studies) co-edited
by him and Niamh Hourigan, Mike Cormack (2007a: 6) noted that minority language
media studies are energised by two sources: the practicalities of how the media can be
used to support languages under threat and the rather more academic view of minority
language media as an intriguing example of the media’s role in society. This assertion is
true for all languages that I elsewhere (Salawu, 2006a) referred to as the languages of the
fringe. While the first source of energy for the study of (minority) language media is
unarguably the concern of most of those involved in indigenous language media studies,
the second source provides the link with more mainstream media studies. Cormack
(2007a) further recalls seven purposes for indigenous (language) media as given by
Browne (1996: 59): (1.) to rescue the language; (2.) to increase self-esteem; (3.) to
combat negative images; (4.) to work for greater cohesiveness and, through this, for
political influence; (5.) to provide a visible and audible symbol of indigenous society; (6.)
to provide an outlet for creative production; (7.) to provide a source of employment.
While there has been so much euphoria about the importance of local language media for
the sustenance of such languages, there is yet paucity of empirical evidence as to the
plausibility of this (Cormack, 2007b). What however is of focus here is to present
indigenous language journalism as a category of its own, with its distinctive problems
and issues, while keeping it within the mainstream of journalism practice and studies. It
is possible for us to begin to lay a foundation for a theory of indigenous language media,
or at least the development of a framework within which such media might be
considered. Cormack (2007a) notes that the field is delineated by the politics of language
and the media’s relation to that. It is driven by the attempt to understand the role of
minority languages in contemporary society, thereby intending to contribute to their
survival. The field stands to benefit a lot and goes along with issues around
sociolinguistics, critical political economy, cultural studies, and the general media
studies.
Essentials of Indigenous Language to Journalism Education
Every educational programme should be socially relevant and culturally sensitive. In
other words, application of learning outcomes should benefit the immediate community
of the learner; and should suit and impact on the learner’s cultural background. Any
educational programme that seeks to isolate the learner from his cultural background
should be held suspect. After all, as Ehindero (1986: 13) notes, the aims of education and
curriculum are to serve the society in some important ways, which include:
(i)
preserving, rediscovering and critically transmitting the cultural heritage; and
(ii)
contributing to the improvement of the society by helping to refine and redefine
national aims and techniques (indigenous and contemporary) through the use of
the best and most relevant knowledge, currently available.
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So, every curriculum should strive to be sensitive to and reflect this important value.
Communication is not possible without language. Again, language occupies a central
position in the aspects of culture. Thus, any curriculum for communication education,
and precisely, in this case, journalism education, is expected to pay high premium to the
issue of language. For journalism curriculum to be socially relevant and culturally
sensitive, it must emphasise teaching in the indigenous language(s) of the society, which
such learning outcomes will benefit. While the universality of education is recognized,
the social and cultural specificity of the nature of training cannot be downplayed. While it
is not out of place for a journalist to be global in orientation and application, thereby
equipping himself with proficiency in a very international language like English, it will,
however, be out of place for him if he is not able to, effectively, communicate with his
own very people. Again while we appreciate and grapple with the use of information
technologies for the better communication within and around the world, our indigenous
languages still remain relevant. The appreciation of technologies does not discard our
languages. What we rather need to do is to harness the opportunities and potential of the
hardware and let our languages as software use them as vehicle for transmission.
Unfortunately in most African countries, journalism curriculum has not been giving
premium to indigenous languages. Contrary to what obtains for English Language in
Nigerian polytechnic and university mass communication/journalism curriculum, for
instance, the teaching and learning of indigenous languages is not underscored. In fact,
English Language is a general study for every student of tertiary institutions in Nigeria,
irrespective of disciplines (Salawu, 2008, 2007).
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Aside course curriculum, admission requirements for journalism education, both at the
polytechnic and university levels, equally do not give any special recognition to
indigenous languages.
Curriculum and Journalism Education
Kerr defines curriculum as all the learning which is planned and guided by the school,
whether it is carried on by the groups or individually, inside or outside the school (cited
in Kelly 1983, 1999). Tyler (1949, referred to in Smith, 1996, 2000) counsels that if
curriculum is to serve its real purpose, it must assist the pupil to see the value of the past
in relation to the present and the future. It must equip the child with the necessary skills
for modern living; and it must help to keep the child a fully integrated member of his
community. The question we may want to ask here is this: to what extent is the current
journalism curriculum in Africa assisting the student journalist to see the value of the past
in relation to the present and the future? The current journalism/mass communication
curriculum for Nigerian universities as drawn by the National Universities Commission
(NUC) provides for the teaching of a course in African indigenous communication
systems. The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) journalism/mass
communication curriculum for Nigerian polytechnics does not make any provision for
this. Even in certain Nigerian universities where mass communication-related disciplines
are offered, no regard is given to the African indigenous communication system in the
undergraduate programme (Salawu, 2007: 18). An example is the Communication and
Language Arts (undergraduate) programme of the University of Ibadan. The course is,
however, offered in the Masters’ programme of the Department (CLA, 1988).
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The aim of the African Indigenous Communication Systems course is to teach the
students about how Africans in the past, before the advent of printing and broadcasting
technologies in the continent, were communicating with one another in diverse settings.
But beyond this, Tyler (1949) advocates that a curriculum must equip the child with the
necessary skills for modern living while yet keeping the child a fully integrated member
of his community. Modern communication modes are characterized of printing,
broadcasting and the internet. A modern African journalist must avail himself the use of
all these, but to remain a fully integrated member of his community, the journalist must
be able to communicate in the language of his community; language being the totality of
expression of his people’s culture.
At the risk of over-emphasis, language is very central to culture. If a culture must survive,
the language must be constant. If a language must have life as to be constant, the media
must be seen to be using it. In other words, the survival of our language is, in some way,
dependent on the media (Salawu, 2001; 2004). And if the media, print especially, must
use it, the practitioners must be trained to use it. Therefore, we must tailor our
Curriculum towards achieving this objective.
In a 2007 work (Salawu, 2007: 22 - 25), I suggested a Course Outline for the teaching of
a course in Indigenous Language Journalism in Nigeria. I have equally adapted the
Course Outline for probable teaching of a similar course in South Africa. For the first
time, the course was taught in the first semester 2007/2008 session to the third year
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students of Communication and Media Studies at the Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo,
Nigeria. I taught the course then as a compulsory one for all the students at that level in
the Department. What later happened to the status of the course confirms the fact that
many of our colleagues do not see any need for journalism/media training in indigenous
language. Immediately, I left the institution, the course status changed from being
compulsory to being an elective. The lecturer who was then saddled with the
responsibility of teaching the course then later complained to me about the low
registration for the course by the students, which also confirms general societal apathy to
indigenous languages. I believe that the fact that the course was not even totally yanked
off the Department’s curriculum was to at least give some respect to my innovation. How
far this would hold is what I cannot say. I also want to believe that the course (module) at
Ajayi Crowther University remains the only one of its kind throughout the length and
breadth of Nigeria. The level of my excitement could then be imagined when sometime
in May of 2009, I saw the University of Cape Town’s Centre for Film and Media Studies’
vacancy advertisement seeking, amongst others, to employ a lecturer for its African
Language Media Programme. The advertisement states inter alia that the programme is
intended to develop the Centre’s teaching, production and research capacities in African
language media. When I contacted the Head of the Centre, Professor Ian Glenn, to
express my excitement about the development, he agreed with me that the programme
would generate interest in the study of South African language media, which, has for
long, been neglected. Below is the Course Outline I earlier referred to:
COURSE: INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE PRESS IN NIGERIA
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GOAL: This course is designed to help students appreciate the indigenous language
press and the need to communicate in the indigenous languages through the media
General Objectives
On completion of the course, students should:
1. Appreciate the essence of communicating in indigenous language;
2. Appreciate the history of the indigenous language press;
3. Appreciate the developments in the indigenous language press;
4. Evaluate the contents of the indigenous language press;
5. Evaluate the graphics and designs of indigenous language press;
6. Evaluate the writing styles in the indigenous language publications;
7. Appreciate the management and problems in the management of indigenous language
press;
8. Evaluate the use of indigenous language press for development purpose: ethics, health,
democracy, literacy/education etc;
9. Engage in editorial, commercial (advert. and marketing), and production activities of a
training indigenous language publication.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
On completion of this course, students should:
Language
1.0
Appreciate the essence of
communicating
in
Understand the concept of language
indigenous Understand
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the
importance
of
language
to
language.
communication.
Understand the importance of language in culture.
Understand the essence of Culture for a people’s
identity.
Identify Nigerian languages
Understand indigenous language as the most
effective language for communication with the
owners of the language.
Analyse the relevance of Nigeria’s Language
Policy
in
Education
to
communication
in
indigenous language.
Appreciate the importance of Media in the
promotion and survival of indigenous language.
Situate the use of indigenous languages within the
context of national unity.
Situate communication in indigenous language
within the context of globalisation.
History
2.0 Appreciate the history of the Know the history of indigenous language press in
indigenous language press.
Africa.
Know the origin and early developments of
indigenous language press in Nigeria
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Appreciate the importance of indigenous language
press to the history of Nigerian press.
Appreciate the historical value of Iwe Irohin to the
history of indigenous language press.
Developments in history
3.0 Appreciate the developments in Trace the course of history of indigenous language
the history of indigenous language press from Gaskiya till the present.
press.
Know about the indigenous language press in the
Concord’s Community Newspapers Project.
Know about the development induced by the
Alaroye revolution.
Contents
4.0 Evaluate the contents of the Know the peculiar stories published by the
indigenous language press.
indigenous language press.
Analyse the contents in terms of values, adequacy
and currency.
Graphics and Designs
5.0 Evaluate the graphics, design and Know the peculiarities in the graphics, designs and
editing of indigenous language press.
editing in indigenous language press.
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Analyse the layouts and designs in indigenous
language publications for the purpose of aesthetics.
Analyse the use of types and type-sizes (display
and body) in indigenous language press.
Styles
6.0 Evaluate the writing styles in Know the peculiarities in the styles of indigenous
indigenous language publications.
language press.
Analyse the techniques of news writing in
indigenous language press.
Analyse the styles of the press at the following
levels:
graphetic
paragraphing);
(e.g.
grammatical
punctuation
(syntax,
and
sentence
construction), lexical (choice of words); and
semantic (degree of formality and informality in the
presentation of stories/write-ups).
Analyse
how
the
above
affect
effective
communication in indigenous language press.
Management and problems
7.0 Appreciate the management and
Understand the structure of a typical indigenous
problems in the management of
language press organization.
indigenous language press.
Analyse the advantages and disadvantages between
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autonomous
indigenous
language
press
organization and that subsumed under an English
Language press organization.
Analyse the revenue capacity of indigenous
language press in terms of sales and advert
placement.
Analyse the problems and causes of problems
facing indigenous language press in terms of sales
and advert placement.
Analyse the future and survival of indigenous
language press in view of the problems analysed
above.
Use for Development
8.0 Evaluate the use of indigenous Analyse the communication of Ethical values in
language
purposes.
press
for
development indigenous language press.
Analyse health communication in the press.
Analyse the use of the press for enlightenment and
mobilization for political activities.
Analyse the use of the press for literacy/education
purposes etc.
Production
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9.0 Engage in editorial, commercial Gather,
write
and edit
stories/write-ups
for
and production activities of a training publication in a training indigenous language
indigenous language publication.
newspaper/magazine.
Canvas for and place adverts in a training
indigenous language publication.
Design and produce a training indigenous
language publication.
Participate in the circulation and sale of a training
indigenous language publication.
The above outline would merit a revision with the inclusion of issues around Cultural
Studies and Critical Political Economy in the discourse.
Conclusion
For Journalism and Journalism Education in Africa to be authentic, the Indigenous
Language must be seen as inevitable in the venture. Sheer disregard for our language(s)
in the enterprise indicates we are not ready to be natural, original and sensitive to our
reality. There is no way we can wish away our history, our culture, our being, our essence
and our reality. This is just exactly as it may be inexpedient for us to wish away the
European languages in our national and international lives. What is important for us now
is not to allow the legacy of colonialism to continue to threaten the integrity of our
culture, our language. We owe this to posterity.
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In Yorubaland (Nigeria) today, there are a myriad of Yoruba newspapers serving the
people. Among them, Alaroye is particularly a phenomenal success. In South Africa,
there is a daily Zulu newspaper, called Isolezwe. And, among the 125 newspapers in
Ethiopia, 108 are in Amharic, two in Oromo and one in Tigre. Ethiopia is one of the three
countries in Africa (with Tanzania and Somalia) where a local language is used as a
medium of instruction to a high level and for official and administrative purposes. It is
needless recounting that indigenous languages are very well present in broadcast media
across Africa (Salawu, 2006b: 55). All these attest to the viability of Journalism in
Indigenous Languages.
Yet, there is still a lot of room for improvement. I have (Salawu, 2008, 2007, 2006a,
2006b), severally, reiterated that governments, academic/professional regulatory bodies
and training institutions have a role to play in the embrace of our languages, and the
sustenance and improvement in the practice of journalism in the particular segment of our
press. This present paper, yet, maintains that Journalism training must cater to this
segment of the industry in the full realisation that Journalism does not necessarily
collocate with European languages. Our Journalism Curriculum, in this regard, must be
society-oriented.
The onslaught of globalisation on very many languages of the world, including many
national languages in Europe, is real. Hourigan (2007: 254) notes that with the increasing
dominance of global economic institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
and the secession of political power to supra-national structures such as the European
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Union, it is clear that the global political context through which we evaluate language
status has changed. The process of minoritisation is now being experienced by other more
powerful language groups. One of the trappings of globalisation is the emergence of
global media. Crystal (1997) has argued that one of the key linguistic results of the
dominance of trans-national media is the emergence of English as a global language.
African languages and other marginalised languages of the world including now those of
Europe have never had a common ground. However, the onslaught of English may
provide the needed impetus for collaboration in research and curriculum development
among scholars of the embattled languages and their media.
This paper may not have been comprehensive but certainly, it has critically raised our
consciousness and directed our attention to the lacunae in the African Journalism
Curriculum.
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