2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
An interdisciplinary Study of Development Programs, specially Literacy Programs, for African Women-from the Socio-Linguistic Point of View
| Project/Area Number |
12371001
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 海外学術 |
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| Research Field |
文化人類学(含民族学・民俗学)
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| Research Institution | Akita University |
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Principal Investigator |
MIYAMOTO Ritsuko Akita University, Faculty of Education and Human Studies, Associate Professor, 教育文化学部, 助教授 (30200215)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KUSUNOSE Keiko Kyoto Seika University, Faculty of Humanities, Professor, 人文学部, 教授 (00200204)
TODA Makiko Tenri University, Faculty of International Culture Studies, Associate Professor, 国際文化学部, 助教授 (40248183)
YONEDA Nobuko Osaka Jogakuin College, Associate Professor, 助教授 (90352955)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2003
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| Keywords | Africa / Development / Gender / Language Choice / Language Policy / Literacy Education / NGO |
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| Research Abstract |
When one considers social participation of women, particularly cases of African women in developmental projects in rural areas and urban networks, from the grass roots point of view, socio-linguistic approach is very effective and crucial. Among many ethnic languages available in African societies, which one(s) of them do they use? Does this reflect that women are participating in social networks with their own will or they are motivated by outside pressure? In this interdisciplinary study, we researched the following issues in various societies in Africa:
1.In what kinds and to what extent do women participate in literacy programs and social networks ?
2. What are the language policies in these developmental programs ?
3. How do participants, particularly women, feel their language situation ?
4. How do women choose their languages in social networks ?
5. How do developmental projects affect ‘the ethnic language/culture preservations'?
As a result, a report of the whole project was complied and was published in December, 2004. It includes six papers by the investigators including a co-researcher Junko Komori, who wrote a chapter on language choice, particularly women's peculiar talk in Kerewe, spoken in north-west in Tanzania Kusunose wrote a chapter on the environment of language education in South Africa from a gender point of view. Toda wrote two chapters and one is on the relationships between development programs by an NGO and gender problems in Uganda and Kenya, and the other on a case study of women's rights in north-eastern Kenya. Yoneda's research was on the socio-linguistic position of English in multicultural societies in Tanzania, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Miyamoto contributed a chapter on language choice among women in Kenya based on a sociolinguistic survey conducted in Nairobi, Meru and Bungoma.
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