Till Örebro universitet

The article gives an overview of Seychelles’ language ecology in various domains  including politics, the judiciary, education, media, religion as well as the language practices ‘in the street’ and of everyday informal communication. In Seychelles, Kreol Seselwa serves as the primary language for informal oral communication, while English dominates in formal oral contexts. This dynamic shifts depending on the domain. For instance, in the judiciary, English is exclusively used for official oral proceedings, whereas all debates in the National Assembly are conducted in Kreol Seselwa. In the education system, Kreol Seselwa is the medium of instruction during the first two years, after which English becomes the primary language. In written communication, English overwhelmingly prevails, except for the verbatim records of political debates in the National Assembly, which are transcribed in Kreol Seselwa. French, meanwhile, plays only a minor role, mainly in religious and cultural contexts, such as traditional songs. Seychellois language ideologies surrounding Kreol Seselwa and English are complex and often contradictory. While many Seychellois take pride in their mother tongue, viewing it as a core part of their national identity and recognizing its importance in national language policy, negative perceptions persist, particularly regarding its formal use in education and professional settings. These conflicting attitudes likely stem from the country’s colonial history and evolving societal structures. The article closes with identifying gaps in current sociolinguistic research where language use and code mixing in social media is identified as a particularly interesting area of investigation.

Extensive research demonstrates that early exposure to reading significantly enhances a child’s academic and life outcomes. Moreover, reading for pleasure can help bridge socio-economic disparities. In response to this, the Seychelles Association of Retired Education Professionals (SAREP) launched Sesel Lir Avek Mwan (SLAM), a community-based literacy support programme. As part of this initiative, a baseline study was conducted to explore the extent to which a culture of reading for pleasure is embedded in Seychellois households. Between June 2023 and September 2024, seventeen introductory SLAM workshops were held across Mahé, targeting parents and caregivers. Participants were invited to complete a Home Literacy Survey (HLS); 167 out of 224 attendees responded. While the non-random sample and limited size constrain generalizability, the findings offer valuable insight into home literacy practices in Seychelles. Results revealed that daily shared reading with young children is uncommon. Less than 20% of respondents read to their children daily, and over 70% reported reading for less than 30 minutes per week. Older and more educated parents were somewhat more likely to engage in reading yet, across the board, reading was often perceived as a school-preparation task rather than a pleasurable activity. This utilitarian view may deter both parents and children from enjoying reading, especially when it becomes another duty in an already demanding routine – often one disproportionately shouldered by mothers. The study highlights the need to shift perceptions of reading from obligation to enjoyment, encourage broader household involvement (including fathers), and improve access to culturally-relevant books, particularly in Kreol Seselwa. Furthermore, while printed books remain limited, digital resources offer potential – provided they are of high quality and used with adult interaction. Promoting reading for pleasure through media, daycare facilities, and community institutions is essential to fostering a more active reading culture in Seychelles.

The Seychelles’ education system does not provide for language support during exams, disadvantaging students with limited English proficiency. We argue that more inclusive language-in-assessment policies are needed to ensure that high-stakes exams assess subject knowledge rather than language proficiency. Suggested improvements include the implementation of language accessibility principles, multilingual options, and marking practices that focus on knowledge rather than language.

Special issue Innnovation for Inclusion overview.

Effective teaching and learning, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), require the use of a familiar language to promote student comprehension and engagement. However, in Zanzibar and Seychelles, where English serves as the primary medium of instruction despite being a second language (L2) for most learners, language barriers often hinder student performance. Under the STEM4SUCCESS Zanzibar (S4SZ) Project, launched in 2019, several schools in Zanzibar piloted the Language Supportive Pedagogy (LSP) approach, which acknowledges the role of L2 in the classroom while strategically leveraging students’ first language (L1) to support content acquisition and conceptual understanding. Under the project, 75 STEM educators from 15 schools across Unguja and Pemba were introduced to LSP strategies such as informal L1 discussions, structured L2 transitions, alongside training on digital learning tools (Kio Kits, drones, and projectors). Data was collected in 2024 through an online survey of 20 STEM educators and follow-up telephone interviews. After analysis, classroom observations were conducted to triangulate the data.  Findings revealed that 91% of teachers who had received LSP training, had actively integrated LSP techniques into their lessons. Additionally, 85% of respondents identified English as a major barrier to learning STEM subjects, and a majority of this group thought of LSP as a muarobaini (ultimate cure) for language comprehension challenges in STEM. Moreover, 90% of the teachers reported improved student performance, 85% observed increased student participation, and many teachers noted higher student interest in STEM subjects following the implementation of LSP strategies.

The article also discusses comparative aspects and potential lessons to be learnt from the above pilots in other contexts such as Seychelles. In Seychelles’ trilingual education policy, Kreol Seselwa (L1) is used in early primary education, transitioning to English (L2) in Primary 3. As is the case in Zanzibar, this approach creates language barriers in STEM education hindering inclusivity and accessibility. A comparative analysis of the Zanzibar and Seychelles language-in-education policies highlights common challenges and potential benefits in aligning linguistic frameworks with pedagogical practices. This study emphasizes the need for continuous professional development, curriculum alignment with LSP principles, and sustained stakeholder engagement to ensure the scalability and sustainability of LSP.

In this article, the authors present evidence and arguments that illustrate how language-in-education aspects are central to many of the challenges facing education in the Seychelles today. They argue that many of these challenges cannot be fully addressed without confronting the mismatch between the language of instruction and the language skills of the learners and teachers. By referring to evidence from more than a decade of their research on language-in-education policies in Seychelles, the authors show how ideologies and policies have counteracted the role of Kreol Seselwa in education leading to epistemic inequities in our system. The article discusses language-in-education policy issues at three different national levels in the system: at the formal policy level; in the field; and, finally, on a more general national level. It also looks ahead and presents concrete policy suggestions on how to address the challenges discussed. These suggestions are summarized in a proposed model for a more inclusive and equitable language-in-education policy that also considers the effects of language policies in Seychelles society as a whole.

Based on anecdotal evidence, it is often assumed that parents who send their children to all-English private schools in the Seychelles harbour negative attitudes towards the role of Seselwa in the education system. The current chapter seeks to investigate this assumption empirically. The survey data include the free text responses of 137 Seychellois respondents from five private schools, and categories of queries include Seselwa in family language policy; attitudes on the role of Seselwa in society and the role of Seselwa in education. Based on the responses, a more complex picture than what we initially expected emerges. Although it is generally acknowledged that English is important to secure students’ future higher education opportunities and socio-economic advantages, many parents also miss Seselwa in the private school system and would like to see revisions in curricula and language-in-education policies. This opens up for a reevaluation of the potential role of the private school system in elevating the role of Seselwa in Seychelles education. The final part of this article thus discusses the idea of private schools leveraging the status of Seselwa in education in the Seychelles, and explores potential frameworks for this, such as the setting up of a pan-Creolistics subject, Creole Studies, that could be introduced to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) exam portfolios.

Sur la base de preuves anecdotiques, on suppose souvent que les parents qui envoient leurs enfants dans des écoles privées entièrement anglophones aux Seychelles entretiennent des attitudes négatives à l'égard du rôle du Seselwa dans le système éducatif. Le présent article cherche à étudier cette hypothèse de manière empirique. Les données de l'enquête incluent les réponses en texte libre de 137 répondants seychellois de cinq écoles privées, et les catégories de requêtes incluent Seselwa sur la politique linguistique familiale; attitudes sur le rôle de Seselwa dans la société et le rôle de Seselwa dans l'éducation. Sur la base des réponses, une image plus complexe que ce à quoi nous nous attendions initialement se dessine. Bien qu’il soit généralement reconnu que l’anglais est important pour garantir aux étudiants de futures opportunités d’études supérieures et des avantages socio-économiques, de nombreux parents manquent également de Seselwa dans le système scolaire privé et souhaiteraient voir des révisions dans les programmes et les politiques linguistiques dans l’enseignement. Cela ouvre la voie à une réévaluation du rôle potentiel du système scolaire privé dans le renforcement du rôle du Seselwa dans l'éducation aux Seychelles. La dernière partie de cet article discute ainsi de l'idée d'écoles privées tirant parti du statut du Seselwa dans l'éducation aux Seychelles, et explore les cadres potentiels pour cela, comme la création d'une matière pan-créolistique, les études créoles, qui pourrait être introduite aux portefeuilles d'examens du Certificat général international d'enseignement secondaire (IGCSE).

A prerequisite for learning is that instructions and other learning activities take place in a language that you understand. This may seem self-evident, but fact remains that most learners in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are taught in a European second language (L2) that they are unfamiliar with. Frequently, the role of the home languages in the classrooms has been completely subtracted leading to very unfavourable learning situations for many pupils, something which in turn results in failures and early drop-out. The current paper takes up some of the challenges, dilemmas and consequences of current medium of instruction (MoI) policies as illustrated by theories and previous studies. Part 2 gives an outline of the analytical framework being developed under the Understanding project financed by the Swedish research Council. The purpose of the framework is to help reveal strengths, shortcomings and mismatches in current language-in-education policies. Focus lies on how different policy levels acknowledge the challenges involved in learning and teaching through a second language in SSA contexts. The model provides a systematic framework for explorations of how language-in-education policy outcomes (mis)match intentions. The framework, though adapted for SSA contexts, has direct relevance to the analysis of language-in-education polices in Western education systems.

In much of the research on language policy and language ideologies to date, there has been a general tendency to associate parents who send their children to private English Medium of Instruction (EMI) schools with negative attitudes towards local languages and their role in education. This has also been the general anecdotal discourse in Seychelles. This study puts such assumptions to the test and investigates attitudes and language ideologies of EMI school parents empirically. Based on the questionnaire responses of 176 participants (parents whose children attend various private schools in Seychelles), a more complex picture emerges. Results suggest that a majority of parents believe that Kreol Seselwa should be given a more prominent role in private educational contexts than it has to date. For example, 55% believe that it should be used as support language in education, and 43% of parents believe that it should be introduced as a separate subject. Furthermore, a clear majority acknowledge that Kreol Seselwa is the most important language in everyday oral communication in  Seychelles. A large proportion of parents also recognize its importance in written communication. The results have implications for language policy decisions in the private school sector in Seychelles and elsewhere; decisions which, in turn, may set precedents for more general language-in-education policy reforms nationally and internationally.

The study describes a pedagogic adaptation of the matched guise technique with the aim to raise linguistic self-awareness of L2 accentedness stereotyping effects among Swedish pre-service teachers. In the experiment, 290 students attending teacher training programs were exposed to one of two matched guises, representing either L1 accented Swedish, or L2 accented Swedish. Both guises were based on the same recording, but the L2 accented version had been digitally manipulated using cut-and-paste techniques in order to replicate certain vowel sounds (the [u:]-sound in particular) associated with low-prestige Swedish L2 accentedness. The findings from this experiment were then used as starting point for language awareness raising activities. Our overall results show that the L2 accented manipulated recording was evaluated more favourably than the original L1 accented recording on all investigated variables. One proposed explanation is that respondents were inadvertently influenced by so-called shifting standards effects, i.e. lower standards/expectations are being used as reference points when evaluating the L2 accented recording. This tendency, however, seemed to be less apparent among respondents with bi/multilingual linguistic identities. Following debriefing discussions based on the experiment findings, there were clear indications that respondents did become more aware of inadvertent linguistic stereotyping by participating in the activities.