Acoustic culture and literacy in Mozambique: searching for the basis for an intercultural education

• Autor(a) principal: Lopes, José de Sousa Miguel
• Data de Publicação: 1999
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Educação e Pesquisa
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/ep/article/view/27805
• topic: Cultura Acústica; Letramento; Educação Intercultural; Memória Coletiva; Acoustic Culture; Literacy; Intercultural Education; Collective Memory

The author starts from a characterization of an acoustic culture, such as the Mozambican, to then analyze the importance of mother tongues as one of the most significant cultural attributes of a people. To put the theme to be developed in its context, the author presents in broad lines some social, political and historical information about Mozambique. Next, he discusses in what measure the political power after Mozambique’s independence took into account the strong unwritten features that are present in that culture and in what way such policies have or have not influenced the literacy process. The adoption of the Portuguese as the teaching language, and the refusal by the political authorities to research, systematize and introduce the Mozambican languages on the initial grades have contributed to raise illiteracy rates, and to perhaps irreversible losses of oral traditions. At the same time, it constitutes a devaluation of the various ethnic cultures present in Mozambique. The author argues that a solution will be found in the adoption of bilingualism. That implies transforming the oral languages in written languages, and the preservation of a foreign language as the second language. That second language, being the official language, would have an important role in various social areas such as in official communications of the State, in international affairs etc.