This paper describes an innovative bilingual education program developed and implemented in 208 primary classes in Senegal from 2009 to 2018 by a Senegalese NGO working with the national Ministry of Education to address issues of quality in primary education. "L'approche simultanée" or simultaneous approach, also known as…

Valid indigenous language assessments are needed to further our understanding of how children learn language around the world. We assessed the psychometric properties and performance of two caregiver-report measures of Wolof language skill (language milestones achieved and vocabulary knowledge) for 500 children (ages 0;4 to 2;6) living in rural…

In some areas of rural Africa, long-standing cultural traditions and beliefs may discourage parents from verbally engaging with their young children. This study assessed the effectiveness of a parenting program designed to encourage verbal engagement between caregivers and infants in Wolof-speaking villages in rural Senegal. Caregivers (n = 443)…

Senegal adopted French as the country's sole official language at the time of independence in 1960, since when the language has been used in administration and other formal domains. Similarly, French is employed throughout the formal education system as the language of instruction. Since the 1990s, however, government has mounted an ambitious…

Background: The use of cognitive tests is increasing in Africa but little is known about how such tests are affected by the great ethnic and linguistic diversity on the continent. Aim: To assess ethnic and linguistic group differences in cognitive test performance in the West African country of the Gambia and to investigate the sources of these…

This dissertation investigates Wolof Sufi oral narrative structure and its relationship with the context of production of the narratives. The findings of this study indicate that the structure of these narratives is characterized by (1) the salience of the complicating action, (2) the presence a pre-story stage, which announces the general topic,…

The focus of this paper is the small postcolonial country of the Gambia. As in other parts of postcolonial Africa, English plays a major role in the education system. The paper reports on the conflicts and tensions which are evident when "vernacular" languages are used in the classroom. Although the study is based on substantial periods…

This basic course in Dakar Wolof, based on the "Introductory Course in Dakar Wolof" by William A. Stewart, et al. (1966), is designed to be taught audiolingually by a native speaker of the language. It is suggested that the class meet three or more hours per day with size limited to six to 10 students. Dakar Wolof, which is not a…

This article unveils the largely unknown theories and practices of "cultural reattachment Africentric education leaders," because many people of African descent are now choosing to reattach (in whole or in part) to aspects of certain African cultures (such as Wolof or Akan). The article offers a brief background of African-centered…

This article explicates the literature on cultural reattachment Africentric education. Cultural reattachment is a process whereby people of African descent begin to adopt (in whole or in part) aspects of an African culture (e.g., Wolof or Akan). Africentric education is defined as the adoption of Africentric ideology and cultural relevancy.…

Wolof tribe adolescents were asked about their dreams and the importance they attached to their dreams. Thirty-one percent believed in dreams' predictive power; girls recalled dreams more often and had more realistic dreams than boys; and dreams about academic achievement were considered most important. (Author/DB)

This text is aimed at those interested in learning the Wolof language, the most widely used language in Senegal, spoken by more than 80% of the Senegalese and Gambian people. This manual can be best used under the following conditions: (1) the instructor is Wolof born or speaks the language fluently, (2) the course is taught in intensive or…

Caretaker-infant interaction within the first year of life was studied in a group of 10 Wolof infants. The pattern of caretaker-infant interaction was more strongly related to age of infant than any other variable investigated. The often-found result that African infants show precocious development within the first year was confirmed for the…

THE WOLOF LANGUAGE AS SPOKEN IN DAKAR, SENEGAL, IS PRESENTED TO THE BEGINNING STUDENT IN THIS TEXT THROUGH DIALOGS, EXERCISES, GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS, AND CULTURAL NOTES. AN INTRODUCTORY SECTION GIVES A THOROUGH PRESENTATION OF WOLOF PHONOLOGY AND EXPLAINS THE PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION USED. IN EACH OF THE FIVE LESSONS WHICH FOLLOW, A DIALOG INTRODUCES…

A structural analysis provides new evidence concerning the internal structure of the syllable in Wolof, a West African language, through examination of the secret code called Kall, spoken mainly in Senegal's Ceneba area. It is proposed that Kall is better described as involving primarily a reduplication of the prosodic word. The first section…