The use of national languages in the school system of Mauritania [Ressource électronique] / Amadou Racine Ba

Doctor of education : Columbia University : 1978

Bibliogr. p. 145-152

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania became an independent country in 1960 after almost one hundred years of colonial rule by France. The educational needs of the colonial society were vastly different from those of the newly independent nation. At the end of the direct French colonial rule in Mauritania, the People's Party of Mauritania (P.P.M.) and the Government of Mauritania decided to change the educational system and to introduce and promote national languages in the school system. The study was set out: 1. To examine theoretical considerations related to the use of national languages as the media of instruction in a nation's school system. The literature which deals with the use of national languages in the country's school system was drawn upon in clarifying concepts and reviewing the theoretical bases which support the use of national languages. This part of the study analyzes these considerations along with an identification of problems associated with using national languages in the educational system. The problems which were identified 2 served as the basis for developing an interview guide which was used in obtaining perceptions regarding the existence of, and solution to, such problems in Mauritania. 2. To review the experience of selected African countries with using national languages as media of instruction. From the literature reviewed in connection with the study, Senegal, Nigeria and Tanzania emerged as countries whose experiences with national languages had been sufficiently reported to make possible a useful review. It was also found that UNESCO had had substantial experience in working with African countries on the use of national languages in their schools. 3. To identify major problems associated with the introduction of national languages into the Mauritanian school system and possible ways of dealing with these problems. As was indicated above under the first purpose, an interview guide was developed to determine the perceptions of Mauritanians as to the problems (and possible solutions) associated with introducing national languages into their school system. This interview guide also solicited opinions as to the language which should serve as the lingua franca in the country and a question about the future of foreign language teaching in the schools. The sixty-six people interviewed represented central ministry administrators, field administrators, special interest groups, professors of higher education, school teachers and college level students. 3 4. To develop recommendations regarding the implementation of the Government adopted policy to introduce national languages into the school system of Mauritania. The major recommendation which grew out of the study was that a master plan for the introduction of national languages be developed, taking into account five specified principles which were derived from the data collected in the study.