Policy without a plan: English as a medium of instruction in Rwanda

Abstract

From the time of Belgian colonial rule, French was predominantly the medium of instruction (MOI) in Rwanda. Then, in October 2008, a Rwandan Cabinet resolution called for the immediate implementation of English as the language of instruction in all public schools at all levels – from primary to tertiary. This study reports on ethnographic interview data collected in a larger ethnography of language policy (Hornberger & Johnson 2007, 2011; Johnson 2007, 2009, 2010a, 2010b) study undertaken in Rwanda between September 2011 and June 2012. The interviews, conducted with teachers (n = 8) in two public primary schools and two public secondary schools in Southern Province, Rwanda, reveal (a) the layers and spaces in Rwandan MOI policy and practice, as well as (b) the local realities associated with implementing national language-in-education policy without an articulated plan.

Keywords:

• Rwanda
• language policy
• medium of instruction
• ethnography of language policy
• local implementation of national language policy

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Fulbright grant. The author wishes to thank the teachers who donated their time to participate in this study.

Notes

1 School names have been replaced with pseudonyms.

2 Interviews were transcribed by a professional translator in Rwanda and validated by the researcher (with the exception of Kinyarwanda). Verbatim transcription was selected in order to convey participant contributions as authentically as possible and not to highlight ‘error’. Although French was the language of instruction in Rwanda for several decades, it is common for Rwandans speaking French to use a local variety unless they received tertiary education abroad; this pattern is common in other parts of Francophone Africa, such as Cote d'Ivoire (Djite, 2007).

3 Participant names have been replaced with self-selected pseudonyms.

4 Translations from French to English were done by the author.

5 Interview excerpts provided without translation were originally conducted in English.

6 Translations from Kinyarwanda to English were done by a professional translator in Rwanda.

Pamela Pearson is a doctoral candidate in applied linguistics at Georgia State University. Her research interests include language teacher education and the critical investigation of language planning and policy in English-as-a-foreign-language contexts, particularly the impact of medium of instruction policies on teachers and students in under-researched areas of the world.