Views on Decoloniality and Transformation Discourses in African Linguistics
摘要
This chapter examines respondents’ attitudes towards the concepts of decolonisation and transformation. Respondents report different views, opinions, experiences and degrees of exposure to the notions of decoloniality and transformation. The chapter explores the ways in which the survey respondents engage with these notions and the key patterns that emerge from this portion of the data. Respondents in South Africa appear to be more closely embedded within discourses on transformation, while outside of South Africa decolonisation is the dominant of these discourses. However, decolonisation also has differing interpretations and appears difficult to narrow down. This suggests the need for a reconsideration and reshaping of our understanding of the role of colonialism, empire and racism in the contemporary world. The chapter shows that making transparent the potential connections between including African languages in linguistic curricula and decolonisation/transformation could go a long way to understanding points of (dis)connection between students and instructors. Respondents also warned against tokenistic inclusion. However, our findings show that instructors should not let their critical impulses obscure the potential and perceived value of supporting the presence of African languages in educational spaces. A strong imperative of doing and not only talking decolonisation emerged.