French in Zimbabwean schools: how to save an \"Endangered Species\"

Abstract

The state of French in Zimbabwean government schools is examined in light of the concepts practical utility (Bogaards, 1991) and foreignness (Dabène, 1994). Given the closure of numerous French departments in schools across the country as well as the sustained reduction over the years in the rate of registration for the French ‘O' Level examination, the subject may be termed an “endangered species”. This state of affairs does not seem to bother authorities within the Ministry of Education where motivation to support, if not promote, the teaching of French appears to be at its lowest since independence. A number of possible reasons for governmental stakeholders' attitude are identified. It, however, goes without saying that foreign languages are promoted by their countries of origin. It is argued French's loss of popularity may be correlated to the reduction of European influence in Zimbabwe's educational system as a whole. In this context, misalignment of French Embassy language education strategies to the current state of affairs in Zimbabwe is suspected. The concept of local “ownership” of French (Manyawu, 2007b) is proposed as a strategy to resolve the current crisis in Zimbabwe and preempt it in fellow former British colonies.