Thought is the blossom, language the bud; action the fruit behind it.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

As an English Language Fellow (ELF), I was sent to Madagascar to assist in the development of a nationwide English language curriculum. Like most ELFs, I was sent to a country that is developing, poor, and highly corrupt. The key reasons behind the ELF program is to provide avenues for speakers of other languages, in developing countries, to learn English. Why is this important? The guiding principle behind the ELF initiative is that having a command of the English language allows people (in the countries we are assigned to) to consider and have access to a globalized perspective on diverse topics, such as politics, society, and economics. Conversely, individuals who only speak the language(s) used in the community have little power to question those in control and are more easily influenced.

As described on theELF website, “Program participants serve as representatives and cultural ambassadors of the United States and, through a unique cultural exchange, they support the U.S. Department of State’s public diplomacy mission abroad” (English Language Programs, n.d.). In essence, ELF participants assist embassies by planting a seed that complements their efforts to create societies that are more just and fair.

Human Rights and Corruption in Madagascar

Transparency International ranks Madagascar at 152 out of 179 countries (Trading Economics, n.d.); on a scale from 0 (least corrupt) to 100 (highest corruption), Madagascar received a score of 74 (WorldData.Info, n.d.), placing it well below the average among the most corrupt governments.

In Madagascar, many basic human rights are abused, and freedom of speech is both covertly and actively discouraged (U.S. Department of State, 2018). Though the constitution permits freedom of expression, the law restricts individuals’ ability to criticize the government publicly if such criticism is seen to endanger “public order, national dignity, and state security” (U.S. Department of State, 2018, p. 10). Because the constitution allows for the government to censor news, as well as grant and deny media licenses, there is little venue for examining Malagasy social issues by Malagasy people (U.S. Department of State, 2018). Yet, based on my own experience of living in Madagascar for 2 years, the effects of oppression and poverty are evident every day and everywhere; from child abuse/neglect to human trafficking to environmental practices that have degraded the health and sanitation of the country. Lacking any effective democratic means to effect change, human rights violations are an accepted fact of life.

It is beyond the scope of this article to delve into the dynamics that have created this reality. However, understanding the backdrop is important in why I believe that the lack of dialogue about social issues among Malagasy people exists. There is just not a venue for dialogue, but as I found out in my work with youth groups and with the Access program, there is a profound awareness of the injustices that affect their lives.

Graffiti in English Teaching

Key to social justice, giving voice to these issues is part of the solution. In this section of the article, I share a project where my students used graffiti as a medium of expression while learning English. In the process of unpacking the images, students were given an opportunity to openly define, examine, discuss, and debate social messages. Because their goal was to explain the meaning of the graffiti to me (I do not speak Malagasy or French), they were tasked with finding the necessary vocabulary in English to do so. This became a collaborative effort between students who utilized the more advanced students’ ability in English as a resource to communicate their thoughts to me. Malagasy was allowed during discussions. I played a role by suggesting English words or phrases that helped them clarify their ideas and thoughts.

During this activity, using local graffiti as an English language teaching tool became a means of raising awareness of both social and political issues that are immediately relevant to my students’ lives. Graffiti provided students with a ready resource for discussion and reflection. As well, this activity has a very high efficacy as a language teaching tool because it naturally lends itself to raising awareness of language ability—which is important to developing communicative language ability and solidifying language knowledge. Students grappled with and searched for the “right” words/phrases that I would be able to understand. Swain states, “in producing the target language (vocally or subvocally), learners may notice a gap between what they want to say and what they can say, leading them to recognize what they do not know, or know only partially” (1995, pp. 124–125). The active engagement of students during this activity included heuristics, interlanguage, and translation. As well, the student-generated content formed the basis for social justice–themed English language lesson plans.

Sharing the Messages

I now discuss the activity and the results from two groups of young students. The first activity used the graffiti image showed in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Street children with the word Malem. This was painted on a wall outside an elementary school in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Figure 2. Youth civic center English club participants, Antanarivo, Madagascar.

The group of students in Figure 2 had mid- to high-intermediate language ability and were between 20 and 30 years old. They regularly attended an English club made possible by the U.S. Embassy. The activity was simple; I asked students to name the items in the picture and then tell me what the picture represented. The children in the graffiti are a familiar sight in Madagascar, and one student pointed out that very young children frequently care for their younger siblings while parents work. What followed was a discussion about the strong family ties in Madagascar. However, my students told me that children are also used as beggars or forced to care for their younger siblings and/or younger extended family members, when their parents are either dead or unable to take care of them because of addiction problems, illnesses, and other reasons. Of significance here is that one student noticed that this was drawn on a wall in front of an elementary school where street children would probably never be able to attend. Following was a discussion about childhood rights in Madagascar in comparison to countries in the developed world.

Using the same image, I also tried this activity with Access students. Access participants are between 14 and 18 years old and were chosen to participate in the Access program based on merit in school and impoverishment at home. Their English ability varied from beginner to low intermediate. During the identification of objects and subsequent analysis of the image, students were encouraged to translate for each other, and a spokesperson was chosen to present their findings to me, allowing for the entire class to participate. The students described the word Malem (in Figures 1 and 2) as meaning small, weak, poor, and danger. After some negotiation, we finally settled on the word vulnerable, an adjective which very likely aptly describes their own lives. Because of the emerging language ability, we could not discuss the issue at length, but I felt that the process let my students know that I, and others, understood the effects of poverty on children in Madagascar. Sometimes, the act of defining a painful reality is empowering, and it was my hope that they felt this.

Figure 3. Students viewing “Child’s Eyes.” This was painted on a wall just outside a very popular park in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

In the example shown in Figure 3, students surprised me. I had not noticed that the hands belonged to someone else, and I thought the picture represented a child playing hide and seek! My students explained that this child’s eyes were being pried open by an adult and forced to see things that a child should not and does not want to see. With my higher level English club students, this led to a discussion about human trafficking in Madagascar and how some families willingly sell their children as a way out of poverty.

Personally, these activities helped to raise my own awareness of some of the social justice issues facing Madagascar and awareness that has broadened my knowledge of the global community of which we are all members.

Figure 4. Detail of graffiti.

Figure 5. Saturday afternoon Access participants. Antananarivo, Madagascar.

In the picture shown in in Figure 4, students named the items in the picture: beautiful child, Madagascar flower, and lemur (see Figure 5). I suggested the word endemic and realized that a couple of students knew this English word.

Figure 6: Zoom out of graffiti.

I then zoomed out and showed them the “big picture” and asked them to explain to me whyiray vatsy was written next to the art. They told me that it meant sharing food during a journey, and indeed having travelled with Malagasy people, I have learned that they share everything—food, accommodations, cars. After some discussion in Malagasy, a more advanced student explained to me that Malagasy people do, and need to, share everything with each other. I found out later that sharing everything —through thick and thin—is a strong cultural belief and value. Though my students could not express this to me in English, they found the picture fascinating and it generated much discussion in Malagasy. I wish I would have had the time to continue to explore this topic with them.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, the use of graffiti provided a meaningful venue for students to begin a dialogue about social and political issues facing Madagascar in an innocuous setting. As in any country, there is an inherent pride of place and a need for others to see what is valuable and beautiful—to see the big picture. Having an outsider define and point out social and political problems is demoralizing—surely, as an expat, I do not and cannot fully understand the dynamics of a society to which I do not belong. In keeping with the diplomatic underpinnings of the ELF program, my role is to allow students to express/communicate their ideas using an English voice, not to impose my perceptions or my voice onto them. Using graffiti and tasking students with describing it to me, what the images conveyed to them, was an effective means to this end.

References

English Language Programs. (n.d.). About the English Language Fellow program. Retrieved from https://elprograms.org/about/

Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning. In G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (Eds.), Principles and practice in applied linguistics (pp. 125–144). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Trading Economics. (n.d.). Madagascar corruption rank. Retrieved from https://tradingeconomics.com/madagascar/corruption-rank

U.S. Department of State. (2018). Madagascar 2018 human rights report. Retrieved from https://mg.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/163/2018_MDG-HRR_Report.pdf

WorldData.Info. (n.d.). Corruption in Madagascar. Retrieved from https://www.worlddata.info/africa/madagascar/corruption.php