Main goals

Dance as a window to endangered languages and the phonetic world, more familiarly known as Science, Dance and Phonetics (Tiede, Tanssi ja Fonetiikka, T&T&F), aims to preserve local linguistic heritage, to create spoken language teaching methods that draw on linguistic background to support English language learning, and to raise awareness and appreciation of linguistic diversity. Dozens of languages are spoken in Namibia, some of which are indigenous Bantu and Khoisan language, and some Germanic languages, dating back to the colonization of Namibia. English is the only official language, and some of the most common languages, the so-called school languages, are used in education before the transition to fully English teaching. Oral proficiency in English is the only way to succeed at school and thus progress to higher levels of education, Better English language teaching can therefore increase the opportunities for Namibians of different backgrounds to participate at different levels of education.

The indigenous languages that the project focuses on are divided into three levels based on their level of endangerment. The first tier of languages are those most at risk of extinction and for which language preservation is the main objective. At the second level are languages that are not yet in danger of disappearing, but are nevertheless endangered. For these languages, the main objective is revitalisation and increasing language awareness. At the third level are common school languages such as Oshiwambo, Khoekhoegowab and Otjiherero. For these languages, the main objective is to create targeted English pronunciation exercises.