Dogs' Languages or People's Languages? The Return of Bantu Languages to Primary Schools in Mozambique

Abstract

Following Mozambique's independence from Portugal in 1975, and a prolonged civil war which ended in 1992, the ruling party FRELIMO has striven since 1993 to implement a bilingual educational system in the country. This paper addresses the reasons underlying the leaders' choice of this system and considers the problems involved in language planning in a multilingual post-colonial country. The challenges faced by the government, teachers, parents and students during the implementation of this new educational system in primary schools include revitalisation of Bantu languages and the need to address issues of cultural identity among speakers of languages previously thought of as only fit for dogs.

Keywords:

• language planning
• Mozambique
• Africa
• cultural identity
• bilingual education