Directed study of an African language
- Course Code:
- 155900934
- Unit value:
- 1
- Year of study:
- Year 3, Year 3 of 4 or Year 4 of 4
- Taught in:
- Full Year
Only a tiny fraction of the 2000 or so languages spoken in Africa are formally taught at the School. This course provides a means whereby some other languages may be privately studied under experienced direction. Examples of languages which might be studied in this way include Bemba, Chichewa, Fulfulde, Igbo, Kongo, Luba, Tigrinya and Oromo.
On the student side it requires a demonstrated linguistic ability (usually the study of another African or non-Western language); on the language side, it requires that reasonable documentation is available, and that there is an appropriate teacher willing to act as director of studies. To allow for the widely differing circumstances, before each individual course commences a statement is agreed detailing the resources available, a realistic learning objective and an appropriate form of examination. In many cases, the examination may take the form of a portfolio providing evidence of study, whose contents may include short essays, structured notes, translations, vocabularies etc. according to the strengths and deficiencies of available documentation; in other cases a more conventional written test of linguistic proficiency may be appropriate.
