Michel Lafon

Region of Interest

Africa

Primary Country of Residence

France

Title

Dr.

Affiliation

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris

Email

lafon@vjf.cnrs.fr

Mailing Address

Cnrs-Llacan-UMR 8135
Campus CNRS
Villejuif
7 rue Guy Moquet
F - 94801
Villejuif Cedex
France

Phone/Fax Number(s)

phone: 33-1-49583691
fax: 33-1-4958 3800

Countries of Specialization

Comoros ; Zimbabwe ; Mozambique and South Africa.

Research Interests

Research in languages and language policies in Eastern and Southern
Africa: Comoros, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. Particular
interest for use of African languages as medium of instruction in SA and
Mozambique.

Publications

Relevant Publications on Southern Africa

1994, Shona cl. 5 revisited: a case against ri- as a class 5 nominal
prefix, Zambezia, Journal of the Univ. of Zimbabwe vol 21, no 1, pp 51-80,
http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/html/browse.cfm?colid=9

[1995], The ALLEX project of a Shona monolingual dictionary, Highlights of
the Research Program at the University of Zimbabwe, issue no 4, pp 23-41.

1995, rédaction avec Jean-Louis Balans, Le Zimbabwe Contemporain
(Contemporary Zimbabwe), Paris: Karthala [450 p.]

1995, Le Shona & les Shonas du Zimbabwe (Shona language and people
from Zimbabwe), informations on Shona language and culture, Gweru: Mambo Press
& Paris: L'Harmattan [316 p]

1996, with Chimhundu Hebert et al., Duramzwi rechiShona, Harare: College
Press (first monolingual Shona dictionary), see http://www.dokpro.uio.no/allex/gsd/fm/1-frontpage.htm

2000, with Gandija Daniel et al., Bhuku rekudzidza kunyora nekuverenga
peciNdau or Manualinho de alfabetizacao em lingua Ndau de Mossurize,
literacy manual in Mossurize Ndau, Maputo & Harare [75 p]

2001, with Gandija Daniel et al., Pamberi nekudzidza, school primer in
Mossurize Ndau for primary schools, Espungabera [76 p]

2001, "To share the land -- another look at the Zimbabwe crisis and a plea
for a resumption of support," Internet Journal of the African Association
of Political Science, no 1 (http://www.aaps.co.zw/), [13 p] ; also at http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00188350/fr/

2002, Workshop on Mozambican Land Market--April 2002, Maputo: summary of
debates (http://www.sarpn.org.za/eventpapers/mozambique)

2002, Ainsi passent les jours, (The way time passes) translation of a
Shona novel by Charles Mungoshi, Ndiko kupindana kwa mazuva ;
Paris-L'Harmattan [248 p]

2003, editor with Scott Drimie, Food Security in Southern Africa, Causes
and responses from the region, Cahiers de l'Ifas no 3, Ifas-Johannesburg,
RSA, 120p http://www.ifas.org.za/research/index.php)

2004, De la diversité linguistique en Afrique du Sud: comment
transformer un facteur de division en un outil de construction nationale?
(Linguistic diversity in South Africa: how to turn a divisive factor into
a tool for national construction), in L'Afrique du Sud, dix ans
après, transition accomplie?, Vol. collectif de l'Ifas,
Paris-Karthala [pp 215-247] Voir: http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00078501 -et- http://www.africavenir.com/publications/occasional-papers/index.php

2004, Expert report - Programme pilote d'Education Bilingue au Mozambique,
Visite de classes bilingues dans les provinces du Niassa et de Cabo
Delgado & Evaluation d'ensemble du programme (Expert assesment --
Pilot program -- Bilingual Education, Mozambique: visits to bilingual
classes in Niassa & Cabo-Delgado, general assessment of the program)
Maputo, [67 p] http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00184986/fr/

2006, Linguistic Diversity in South-Africa: Will a historically divisive
factor become a hallmark for transformation? -- extended translation of
2004, De la diversité, Cahiers de l'Ifas no 8 online, http://www.ifas.org.za/research
-et- http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00120396

2006, Axes de recherche linguistique en Afrique du Sud : usage des langues
africaines à l'école, numérisation des langues
africaines (Linguistic research in South Africa: use of African
languages in school, digitization of African languages), RTP Afrique,
novembre, en ligne (texte et son) http://www.etudes-africaines.cnrs.fr/ficheateliers.php?recordID=25
-ou-
http://www.etudes-africaines.cnrs.fr/

2006, with Ntombi Nkoe, Zulu beginners manual, Wits language School,
Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, [40 p]

2006, "The future of Zulu lies in Gauteng," Pansalb occasional paper,
transcript of Workshop on Standardization, Webb, Vic, Deumert, Ana, &
Lepota, Biki eds., transcript of Workshop on Standardization, Pretoria,
July 2005 [p 133-136]
http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00184834/fr/

2007, Le sysètme Kamar-Eddine : une tentative originale
d'écriture du comorien en graphie arabe (The Kamar-Eddine system :
an original attempt at adapting Arabic script to Comorian language). Ya
Mkobe, Paris, 29-47, http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00265704/fr/

2007, Report on Nicholus Nyika, A case study of civil society
organisations' initiatives for the development and promotion of linguistic
human rights in Zimbabwe (1980-2004), Supplement to Ph.D. thesis submitted
to University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA, [20 p]

Forthcoming...

Mozambique, vers la reconnaissance de la réalité plurilingue
par l'introduction de l'éducation bilingue, (Towards an
acknowledgment of multilingual context through the introduction of
Bilingual Education in Mozambique), in Langues, Cultures et
Développement, H. Tourneux dir., [16 p]

"Asikhukule! Mother-tongue for all and compulsory learning of an African
Language: a strategy for spearheading transformation in the South African
education system," Cahiers de l'Ifas, Johannesburg.

Keywords

African languages ; language policies ; Eastern Africa ; Southern Africa.