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International Review of Education

, Volume 64, Issue 6, pp 713–735 | Cite as

Researching language and culture in Africa using an autoethnographic approach

  • Birgit Brock-Utne
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

This article has its basis in the author’s own growing annoyance at so-called “sandwich” programmes, where young academics from developing countries study and learn theories at universities in the Global North, then go to their own countries for fieldwork – only to return to the host country to fit their data into the theories of the Global North. The purpose of this article is twofold. The author’s first aim is to demonstrate that the thinking and concepts of some African educational thinkers such as, for example, Julius Nyerere, fit the educational reality in Africa better than those of Western thinkers, and that these concepts should therefore be used. Second, she argues that when it comes to building theories from the ground, the life experiences of Africans (in terms of everyday reality, indigenous knowledge, cultural transmission, community engagement etc.) should be taken into account. She explains why, through her own teaching at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, she became interested in the qualitative research method called autoethnography. She also draws on her experience of teaching qualitative research methods at a number of historically black universities in South Africa. She notes a recent positive development in the availability of a promising postgraduate programme with an authoethnographic approach. Entitled “The Narrative Study of Lives” and launched by the South African University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Sociology in 2012, this Master’s and PhD programme builds entirely on African experiences. In the last part of her article, the author applies an autoethnographic approach to the study of languages in Africa. She explains that some of her Tanzanian students grew up with several Tanzanian languages simultaneously, so that Western linguists’ terms like “mother tongue”, first and second language do not make sense to them. She also introduces the concept of ubuntu translanguaging, an effective practice of purposeful juxtaposition of languages observed in African empirical research.

Keywords

Language Multilingualism Africa Autoethnography Narrative Study of Lives 

Résumé

Étudier les langues et cultures d’Afrique via l’approche autoethnographique – Cet article émane du mécontentement croissant de l’auteure face aux programmes « sandwich » : de jeunes universitaires issus de pays en développement apprennent et étudient les théories enseignées dans les universités de l’hémisphère Nord et effectuent ensuite un travail de terrain dans leur pays natal - mais uniquement dans le but de retourner dans le pays d’accueil pour alimenter avec leurs données les théories de l’hémisphère Nord. L’objectif du présent article est double. La première intention de l’auteure consiste à démontrer que la pensée et les concepts de certains théoriciens africains de l’éducation, tels que Julius Nyerere, correspondent mieux à la réalité éducative en Afrique que ceux des penseurs occidentaux, et qu’il convient par conséquent d’appliquer les premiers. D’autre part, l’auteure préconise, au moment d’édifier des théories à partir du terrain, de prendre en compte les expériences de vie des Africains (en termes de réalité quotidienne, savoir autochtone, transmission culturelle, d’implication communautaire, etc.). Elle explique les raisons pour lesquelles elle s’est intéressée à la méthode de recherche qualitative appelée autoethnographie, à travers son activité de professeure à l’université de Dar es Salaam (Tanzanie). Elle s’inspire également de son expérience en enseignement des méthodes de recherche qualitative dans plusieurs universités historiquement noires d’Afrique du Sud. Elle relève une évolution positive récente dans la mise en place d’un programme post-universitaire prometteur doté d’une approche autoethnographique. Baptisé Étude narrative de vies et lancé en 2012 par la faculté de sociologie de l’université sud-africaine de l’État-Libre, ce programme de maîtrise et de doctorat se fonde exclusivement sur l’expérience africaine. Dans une dernière partie, l’auteure applique une approche autoethnographique à l’étude des langues en Afrique. Elle explique que certains étudiants tanzaniens ont grandi simultanément dans plusieurs langues du pays, de sorte que les expressions de linguistes occidentaux telles que langue maternelle ou première et seconde langues sont dépourvues de sens pour eux. L’auteure présente finalement le concept du translanguaging ubuntu, pratique efficace de juxtaposition ciblée des langues observée dans la recherche empirique africaine.

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© Springer Nature B.V., and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of OsloOsloNorway

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