By Professor Sheunesu Mpepereki

IN previous discussions in this series, we identified language as one of the main shackles of the minds of Africans.
We lamented Africa’s pre-occupation with force-feeding its citizens with the colonial languages at the expense of indigenous ones.
We observed how Africa has been cut up into European spheres of influence based on the languages of former colonisers.
The former Portuguese colonies constitute Lusophone Africa; former French colonies, Francophone Africa while the former British colonies who have all adopted English as their official language are grouped together under the Anglophone label.
The British formed the Commonwealth, made up of all former colonies.
Ironically, the Queen of England is the Head of the Commonwealth.
The empire persists.
Zimbabwe opted out of the Commonwealth after realising the organisation strives to keep Africans under perpetual British domination.
The French have their own special union of former colonies.
All these neo-colonial organisations are extensions of the colonial shackles that continue to constrict Africa’ freedom and economic development.
When Sekou Toure, the founding President of Guinea opted out of the French Union at independence in 1960, the French people tore down everything including even doors in the capital Conakry and other towns.
The message was clear: ‘Stay under France or else!’
In Zimbabwe, by adopting a foreign language, English, as the official business and communication language and the medium of instruction in schools and colleges, we have effectively marginalised the whole population by using language proficiency as a means test.
This language policy, where English is the dominant language in business and education to the exclusion of all others, could be unconstitutional.
Those who fail to master English are automatically excluded from the official mainstream economy.
Zimbabweans may recall that Ian Smith and his racist white regime used education as a means test to determine who could vote.
By insisting every child must pass English Language at ‘O’- Level in order to pursue tertiary education, Zimbabwe is condemning more than 80 percent of its citizens to the academic and economic dustbins.
Such wholesale marginalisation of citizens through language smacks of open discrimination under the guise of maintaining standards; the same argument put up by Ian Smith, but which cannot be justified in a free and sovereign Zimbabwe!
We have already seen that nations that have made great strides in terms of development have focussed on developing the natural sciences and using their indigenous languages.
Recent examples of countries that rapidly developed after adopting their indigenous languages and embracing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) include Japan, Korea, India, China and Malaysia.
Africa still needs to cast off its colonial languages shackle to break free!
Many readers may be aware that France, Spain, Portugal and Italy are referred to as the Latin countries.
For hundreds of years, these countries used Latin as the language of official business and formal instruction.
Latin also enjoyed an elite status in Britain.
This situation was a direct result of the influence of the Roman Empire which, in the case of Britain, colonised the island for more than four centuries.
Latin was the official language of the Roman Empire.
Over time, the so-called Latin countries each discovered they were better off using their indigenous languages to facilitate economic growth and scientific development.
The Spaniards resorted to Spanish, Portugal went back to indigenous Portuguese, while the French reverted to their indigenous French.
Of interest is the fact that French itself was for a long time considered an elite language by the British.
The nobility and the educated were identified by their French language and culture.
Over time, the British realised that their indigenous English was best for communication, science and development.
They recognised the limited vocabulary of the English language, especially for science and technology, the same problem highlighted for our indigenous languages in Zimbabwe.
How did the British, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Koreans and others solve the challenge of indigenous languages with limited scientific vocabularies?
The English adopted a simple strategy – they Anglicised as many words as they could from other languages.
The words retained their original meaning, had English spellings and pronunciations where possible.
Otherwise, words were borrowed unaltered, especially from the French language, often retaining their pronunciation, spelling and meaning.
That is how the English vocabulary came to be so vast.
In most standard dictionaries of the English language, the origins of words (etymologies) are given together with the original language from which the word was borrowed.
This brings us to our Zimbabwean dilemma, where we are made to understand that we must stick to English in order to develop.
We can also expand our indigenous languages scientific and technical vocabulary.
We posit here that the retention of English as the official medium of instruction has acted as the greatest impediment to the learning and development of the sciences in Zimbabwe.
Students at all levels come from homes where the indigenous language is the mother tongue.
Their learning of science is seriously compromised by the need to master the English language.
Students think in the local indigenous language; they then translate their ideas into English.
Scientific progress will be too slow in that situation because it will be confined to those who have mastered English.
From experience as a science teacher, I can confirm that most students do not fail the science content.
No!
They fail the English language into which the science is embedded.
Instead of learning scientific principles and practices, pupils spend most of their time learning the English terminology of the given science subject.
We must hasten to point out that what we call science and language are two different animals, if we may call them that.
For example, at school students learn about the seed, its parts and their functions.
Of these, the most important are the functions of the various parts of a seed. That is the essential science which does not depend on language.
Understanding the science is not language-dependent.
It can be done in the mother tongue.
Naming the parts of the seed is a language and vocabulary issue.
It can be done in Shona, Ndebele or any of the 16 official languages specified in our Constitution.
And yet our students are judged to have failed science after failing to describe natural phenomena (science) in the Queen of England’s language, English!
Now, when marking science papers, markers may give credit in few instances where the student gives the correct, but indigenous language vocabulary.
The standing instruction, however, is that the answers must be presented in English.
Where the written language barriers rear their ugly heads, science examiners’ hands are tied; they cannot accept answers that are not rendered in English.
And so, as we pointed out earlier, students of science in Zimbabwe often fail the language, not the science!
Let me add here that in the US, foreign students whose medium of instruction at school was not English may undergo from three to six months of English proficiency course.
Upon completing their thesis/dissertation, such students are allowed to receive assistance to edit their theses to an acceptable English standard.
These foreign students at American universities then graduate with the rest of the students who have met the requirements for the degree programme.
My point: English language is not allowed to become a barrier to scientific research or academic advancement.
So we need to move away from using language as a status symbol, to using it as a means of communication and to value our own indigenous languages for science and commerce.
Relevant authorities and academic institutions must come together to initiate a national programme to develop, for different disciplines, appropriate technical and scientific vocabulary in our local indigenous languages.
Once developed, we can teach our students sciences, humanities and other disciplines using our indigenous languages.
Remember, no country in the world has developed economically using a foreign language.
Zimbabwe is no exception.