Rethinking British colonial policy in the Gold Coast: the language factor

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Periodical article

Title:	Rethinking British colonial policy in the Gold Coast: the language factor
Author:	Boampong, Cyrelene Amoah
Year:	2013
Periodical:	Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana (ISSN 0855-191X)
Issue:	15
Pages:	137-157
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	language policy indigenous languages colonial policy
About person:	Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg (1869-1930)
Abstract:	This article argues that the assumption that British colonialism downplayed the importance of African languages is simplistic. A reinterpretation of the colonial era and its response to the linguistic situation in the Gold Coast colony (present day Ghana) illustrates the complexities of the colonial enterprise. It challenges the supposition that the British colonial government consistently advocated for the predominance of the English language at the expense of the indigenous languages in the Gold Coast. Indeed, the colonial administration under Governor Guggisberg, encouraged the use and development of indigenous languages in formal education, against the backdrop of indirect rule. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]