Discovering African Literature in the New Practical English and the Gambia English Language Textbooks

Abstract

Once the African child is registered in school, at kindergarten or primary, he or she encounters an alien language, in a more formal setting and with a different approach. Much younger children spent a greater part of their time chanting nursery rhymes and songs. It is at primary school that children are introduced to the songs and rhymes. As the child discovers the written text, fables and folktales become the first form of literature they enjoy. By the end of the primary education, several texts, such as extracts of the translation of Charles Perrault’s collection of stories, are accessible to the child. The system of exploitation differ depending on the approach used but by the time the child arrives at secondary level, some knowledge of literary texts is already acquired in preparation for a more elaborate study of the text. In the English language textbooks however, most of the texts are extracts from complete works. The choice of an extract is quite a challenging experience (except the poems surely). Novels, plays, poems as well as news stories are created for a different public other than for pedagogical