Local Languages Should Be Made Compulsory

A lecturer at the Department of Linguistics, University of Cape Coast, Prof. Lawrence Bosua, has suggested that Ghanaian languages should be made compulsory in all schools. He said teachers of local languages must see themselves as the major architect of national culture and make the teaching and learning of indigenous languages learner-friendly. This was contained in a speech read for him at a general meeting of the Western Region branch of Ghanaian Languages Teachers Association at Fijai. He appealed to parents to use their mother tongue at home to bring up their children to foster national unity and cohesion. Prof Bosua said attempts were made in the past to make Fante a language of choice which started with distribution of Fante newspapers in the Central Region but fizzled out since Fantes themselves did not patronize them. He said the Central Region had not committed itself to the study of Fante in its schools most of which do not include Fante as a subject on their curriculum. Prof Bosua said the only way Ghana could develop was to transact business in local languages and urged government to assist the Association translate textbooks from English to local languages to enhance teaching and learning. The Head of Languages Department of the Sekondi Methodist Senior High School, Nana Ebo Koomson, said the absence of a lingua-franca in Africa militated against its development. He said Akan could be used as a lingua franca in Ghana as it is dominant in six regions. The President of the Association, Mr. Prosper Nketiah, said his outfit had brought all language teachers in first and second cycle schools under a common umbrella to promote the teaching and learning of local languages. He said the Association would make the study of local languages very vibrant to foster rapid socio-economic development and appealed to teachers to write new Ghanaian Languages books in tandem with contemporary development.