Language Ideology and Practice on the Aflao-Lome Borderland: The Case of Two Border Schools

Abstract

This paper explores language practices in the school domain in Aflao-Lome on the Ghana/Togo border. Here, the boundary line bisects the Ewe, thus creating two contrasting communities: French-speaking Ewe and English-speaking Ewe. Our study investigates language practices in two schools located on either side of the border since the school, as a sociolinguistic domain, is a contested site of language practice where tensions abound between medium of instruction policy and home language practices and cultural routines. The data analyzed comprised reports and observations of adherence to state medium of instruction policy in the classroom by teachers and pupils, and language in activities outside the classroom when formal “language policing” is negligible or, in fact, non-existent. It was discovered that the English and French languages were viewed differently on either side of the border and that school policies on language had to make room, in some cases, for the local language.