This book is based on chapters in a series of four books from the first five years (2002-2006) of the Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa (LOITASA) project. LOITASA is a NUFU-funded (Norwegian University Fund) project which began in January 2002 and will continue through to the end of 2011. The chapters reflect the state of the research at the end of the first five years of LOITASA in 2006 and were selected by reviewers independent of the project.

The selection of chapters brought together bring to the forefront the dilemmas facing developing countries as they seek to position themselves in an increasingly interconnected global system, while at the same time maintaining a sense of national and regional identity. The chapters in this collection reflect both positive outcomes when the medium of instruction is a widely-known language as well as the challenges of mother tongue instruction in countries where historically a powerful language like English has dominated.

The four LOITASA books in this series from which the chapters in this book are drawn are:

●Language of instruction in Tanzania and South Africa (LOITASA) published by E & D Ltd, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
●Researching the language of instruction in Tanzania and South Africa published by African Minds, Cape Town South Africa
●LOITASA Research in Progress published by KAD Associates, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
●Focus on fresh data on the language of instruction debate in Tanzania and South Africa published by African Minds, Cape Town, South Africa.

All four books are edited by Birgit Brock-Utne, the Norwegian project leader of the LOITASA project; Zubeida Desai, the South African project leader and Martha Qorro, who is on the project steering committee in Tanzania.