Dialog kultur? Edukacja w językach europejskich w Afryce Subsaharyjskiej na przykładzie Madagaskaru

Abstract

As in all the other countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, instructions at middle-school level are provided in an European language. At school, Malagasy children whose interactions within the family and among neighbours are conducted exclusively in their native tongue, learn to use French and get to know an European culture. It must be highlighted that teaching a foreign language is not limited to teaching a system of signs and formal structures; it is teaching a different culture. This is why foreign language teaching should be based on the guidelines of intercultural education, which relies on a dialogue of cultures which takes account of richness and uniqueness of every culture. In 2016 and 2018 the author conducted field research among Malagasy students. Her questions related i.a. to an attitude to Malagasy and French languages which are spoken by Malagasy children at home and at school, respectively. Material harvested indicates that the Malagasy syllabus is not based on a dialogue of cultures. The native language, and thus the Malagasy culture, become depreciated in the course of education. The respondents indicated that the native Malagasy language has a high symbolic value and is treated as the indicator of their national identify, however, its value in the area of education and employment is rather low. The French language, on the other hand, enjoys high prestige among the students as the language of science, culture and novel technologies. French is associated with success and with educated persons. Very often its importance in the contemporary world is also overestimated by the respondents.