Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - NIGERIAN LANGUAGES ARE NOT DEVELOPED FOR SCIENCE

Because of its use as the official language of the now defunct Northern Nigeria, and its continued use by BBC, VoA, Radio Deutsche Welle, RCI, UNESCO, etc. Hausa is probably the most advanced Nigerian language in that regard. There used to be a Hausa Language Board (Hukumar Hausa) but I don't know its present status.

Not particularly advocating a language policy. That's your call. Just saying.


> On Jul 26, 2016, at 12:03 AM, Kayode J. Fakinlede <jfakinlede@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> NIGERIAN LANGUAGES ARE NOT DEVELOPED FOR SCIENCE
>
> by
>
> Kayode J. Fakinlede
>
> Every time I read about a lecture on Nigerian languages and culture like the one put together by the University Press' Authors' Forum to deliberate on the neglect of Nigerian languages, I tend to, like the Pavlov's dog, respond. Nigerian languages are neglected for a reason: They are not developed!!!
> And when I read about this kind of issue being corroborated with the famous Professor Fafunwa's Ile-Ife studies, I tend roll my eyes. That study must be thirty years old, at least. And we may be quoting that part of the study that requires us to do nothing. The other part of the study that tells us to actually roll up our sleeves and do something is often times not addressed. That little phrase that says 'if the language is developed' seems to escape the attention of most people.
>
> A few corollaries to Prof. Babs Fafunwa's conclusions:
>
> 1. Any language can be used to propagate knowledge in any area of learning IF THE LANGUAGE IS DEVELOPED to handle any discipline. If however, the language is not developed for any reason, it will not be able to handle the discipline.
>
> 2. Developing the Yoruba language or for that matter, any language is a task that must be taken seriously by the speakers of that language - the intellectuals, universities and colleges of education, etc. This task is not going to be carried out by government or making presentations to government.
>
> 3. As long as these people and institutions do not take up the challenge of developing a language, it will remain at best a stagnated language.
>
> 4. The process of killing a language is for the speakers of the language to accept that it cannot be used for their own benefit. This is almost equivalent to committing ourselves to voluntary enslavement. This is what we are doing presently in Yorubaland.
>
> 5. The greatest asset given to a people by God is HIS LANGUAGE – Never mind the Tower of Babel story.
>
> 6. As long as our pupils are not exposed to science in their early years, their level of scientific understanding will always fall below those who use their languages to train their own children. That makes sense. Doesn't it?
>
> 7. As long as our universities are not looking to these areas of research, and are contented with playing 'follow me' to European and American universities, they too will never rank among the top rated universities in the world.
>
> 8. The process of developing a language to handle science is a scientific discipline in itself.
>
> 9. There are specific ways that must be followed to develop a language for science. If these are not followed, the language remains undeveloped.
>
> 10. The Yoruba language is far superior to any European language in propagating science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) if DEVELOPED. And I presume most African languages are that way too. But, like I said, the Yoruba language is extremely underdeveloped and therefore cannot presently be used to handle such areas of learning.
>
> I must commend the efforts of the linguists and language experts who keep this issue alive. Left to our scientists in Nigeria, this is a non-issue really. They mostly don't care.
>
> K. J. Fakinlede, Ph.D
>
> CEO - Association of Educators of Science and Technology in Yoruba Language (AESTYL)
>
>
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