Discourse Patterns in First Language Use at Hcme and Second Language Learning at School: an Ethnographic Approach

Setting I 67

studies in the British tradition. Some grammars, collections of proverbs
and religious literature are available in Xozambican languages. There are
adults who are literate in these languages (Yai,1982), mainly as a result
of education by non-Cathollc Missions.

Since Independence <1975), the major conferences, seminars and political
discussions on the problems of information and education have been the
arena for debates and official declarations on the importance of the
national languages in the process of development (Yai,1982), but no
official document on policy lines has been produced, and declarations of
principles are Interpreted from different angles. Little action to promote
the use of national languages is taken. However, the attention given to
language problems in various institutions, the publication of some
literature in Changane, the opening of a Degree Course in Linguistics and
the training of some Mozambicans in this field may lead to developments
in the next few years.

Portuguese is 'the official language and language of national unity'. It is
the Ll for Mozambicans of Portuguese and Goan descent and for a
restricted number of urban Africans. The extent to which Portuguese is
spoken and used as an L2 by the vast majority of Mozamblcans is
difficult to assess. The 1980 Census puts the illiteracy rate of the
population over 7 years of age at 72.2% (see Table 3.1). The breakdown of
the population over 10 years by its educational qualifications (see Figure
3.1) gives the figures of 70,4% of illiterates, 22.2% of literates without
formal certificate, and 7.4% of people who completed Grade 4 (Primary
Education) or more. For Census purpose, 'illiterate' is defined as 'a
person older than 7 who is unable to read and write' (C.C.Γ.,1983:4), but
the popular version is rather of a Mozambican who is unable to read and
write Portuguese, a telling fact in Itself (De Lemos,1967). It is generally
agreed that the completion of Grade 4 provides the basic competence in
L2, enabling the student to use Portuguese in its spoken and written form
(Gonςalves, Louzada and Meijer, 1982). The relation between literacy and
use of Portuguese is not a simple one to one correspondence, (.IIfDE
1983c), since some may be able to use spoken Portuguese but cannot read
and write in any language, or may be literate without formal education.

<<   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   >>

More intriguing information