Doctoral student Erina Iwasaki received the Vice President's Grant for Student Research in Diversity for her research project National Languages, Education, and Senegal’s “Militants” for Change. Erina's faculty advisor is Dr. Carol Benson. Learn more about Erina's research below.

In Senegal, national languages refer to African languages, which are not officially enacted as languages of instruction in formal schooling in comparison to French, the former colonial and current official language. However, the Ministry of Education is currently considering the adoption of a national bilingual education policy due to the advocacy work of Senegalese national languages militants (strong advocates in French, drawing on a political connotation). The study looks at these self-proclaimed militants’ lived experiences with national languages and education, the extent of their multi-generational work and network, and their influence in shaping the language-in-education policy landscape at this moment of “critical juncture.” A qualitative case study, it draws on in-depth interviews with these militants, historical and policy document analysis, and participant-observations to answer the following question: “How and why have self-proclaimed militants advocated for the use of national languages in the Senegalese educational system since the 1950s, and what are their current contributions at this critical moment in possible language-in-education policy change?” Situated in a sociocultural framework, the study draws on Mignolo’s (1991) decolonial theory of “border thinking” and Senegalese decolonial authors to amplify the voices, innovations and contributions of Senegalese bi-/multilingual education researchers, practitioners, and advocates