Training of African Languages Teachers and Media Practitioners
The Training of African Languages Teachers and Media Practitioners Project on In-Service Basis is one of ACALAN's major projects.
Since the dissemination of culture through formal education becomes critical for a round and meaningful education that will allow Africans to regain the sense of self-esteem and self-pride, the medium of instruction to the learners must not be one that alienates them, therefore the availability of trained manpower in L1 methodologies become very important. And also considering that, the Vehicular Cross Border Language Commissions listed training of the African Languages Teachers as one of their priority area, ACALAN has decided to embark on the project on a continuous basis since more and more VCBL Commissions are being created.
The Media on the other hand occupy a privileged position in modern society with the basic responsibility to help strengthen and support democratic processes, seeking out truth and reporting it to the general populace, disseminating information which influences and shapes public opinion and helping in promoting and preserving cultural heritages worldwide. However, there are great challenges confronting our practicing journalists in discharging this role effectively in Africa. One of such challenges is in the use of terminologies and the orthographies of the African Languages effectively in information dissemination. This was one of the priority areas identified during the VCBL’s planning workshops. This training will help our media practitioners in the use of African terminologies which will help them in reaching a wider audience in their information dissemination and it will help in the development of African Languages and protection of our culture.