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The resolutely progressive decision by the Ghanaian parliament to strongly support President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the country to obtain full membership of the International Organization of the Francophonie or the Francophone Alliance must to be applauded without reservation by all the supporters of the unification of continental Africa (see "Parliament supports the French proposal 2North Dakota Language "Modernghana.com 4/5/19). We must also congratulate former President John Agyekum-Kufuor, who was granted Associate Membership of Ghana in the Francophone Alliance as early as 2006. Indeed, we could have expected this to happen. President John Evans Atta of the National Congress of Democracy is the main opposition -Mills, late, and John Dramani Mahama, during the period between 2009 and 2016, for gradually capping the politics of more important in the use of the second language started by Mr. Kufuor to date. But, of course, it is not surprising that nothing of this kind was achieved when these two false populist leaders who also claimed to be leftist Nkrumacrats and disconcerted, and therefore far more pan-Africanist than their main supporters. Neo-liberal Western market ideological opponents have held the reins of governance.
In theory, Ghana's membership in the Francophone Alliance means that now the English and French languages will be taken almost as seriously as Ghana's official languages in commercial, academic and vocational education. But, of course, we also acknowledge with emotion that achieving parity of use with Francophone countries, both in the West African sub-region and abroad, will not be an easy task, Given the inescapable fact over the last three decades, English, the first official means of communication bequeathed by British colonialism, has seen a sharp drop in the quality of its use. This means that sufficient financial resources must be invested in the teaching of the English language, if the qualitative use of our only current official language should unfortunately not take precedence over that of the new official use of the French language.
I have absolutely no doubt that the government of President Emmanuel Macron will move quickly to help Ghana significantly to provide the necessary funding resources for optimal teaching of the French language in public schools and colleges Ghanaian. This also means that Prime Minister Theresa May's government in London may very well have to do more than he currently does to facilitate the effective teaching of the English language in his former non-Aboriginal colonial possessions, particularly vis-à-vis the citizens. vis-à-vis former colonials who have chosen to enrich themselves by becoming full members of the Francophone Alliance. Ultimately, however, it is the main non-indigenous beneficiaries of these two European languages who must invest sufficient resources in the teaching and learning of these two major international and global languages.
On this new Akufo-Addo visionary political initiative, most of the more than 275 Ghanaian parliamentarians who participated in the debate on the use of additional languages on the august floor of the House seemed to be naïve and simple about Mastering a second major / international language could enable the many unemployed and unemployed Ghanaian professionals and recent graduates of higher education, virtually and surprisingly forgetting the cruel and inescapable fact that the unemployment rate in the countries of French-speaking Africa can even be much higher. higher than what is currently prevalent in many English-speaking countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, among several other English-speaking countries on the African continent and elsewhere in the diaspora.
On the other hand, this writer is considering the complete and formal introduction of the French language into the country as a second official language (SOL) in order to easily access the commercial and technological transfers and cultural contributions that French can offer to Ghanaians. Vice-Presidents. -versa. But there is also the treacherous danger of seeing Ghanaians become pbadive consumers of the cultures and civilizations of other peoples, instead of seizing this unique opportunity to also export our own culture, our art and our cuisine, for example, in the Francophone community. The imperative need to develop Ghana's main local languages, including the Akan / Twi language, Dagomba, Ga, Ewe and several other important languages is even more excluded from the discussion in August. if Ghanaians and Africans, in general, should not be tragically written outside of world history and civilization.
However, in our time, we have also been painful witnesses to the primitive mistreatment of French-speaking North Africans in France. The previous sentence means that Ghanaians must reduce their expectations of the potential and concrete benefits of acquiring French as the country's SOL.
* Visit my blog at the address: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD
Department of English, SUNY-Nbadau
Garden City, New York
April 6, 2019
E-mail: [email protected]
Warning: "The views / contents expressed in this article only imply that the responsibility of the authors) and do not necessarily reflect those of modern Ghana. Modern Ghana can not be held responsible for inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article. "
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