Talking science in indigenous languages

Dr. Carolina Ödman

  • Duration: 60min
  • Language: English
  • Ages: All Ages
  • Date: February 09, 2022 16:00
  • Recorded: Live session with recording available afterwards
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Science and Mathematics open the door to many rewarding careers, from IT to research, to data science that has applications in every industry. But not everyone is able to learn maths and science in their own language. From grade 5 onwards, the language of instruction of maths and science is English or Afrikaans, and that is most kids’ second or third language. Dr. Ödman has embarked on a project to try to translate some scientific resources into some of the 9 other national languages only to find that this is far from a simple process. In this presentation, she will share some of the ways they have been able to adapt some language modern science to indigenous African languages and what challenges we have met. Dr. Ödman will discuss the role of indigenous knowledge in this context and share our hope for a more inclusive mathematics and science education in the future.

Join Scifest Africa for this important webinar!

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Dr. Ödman is Associate Professor at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa and Associate Director, Development and Outreach at the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA). Trained in physics at EPFL in Switzerland, she holds a PhD in cosmology from Cambridge University, UK. She has done research in several fields of physics and developed educational programmes based on science from early childhood to postgraduate training.

She has also worked in a financial technology startup. She now focuses on researching and bringing a development agenda to science. Her work has earned her numerous awards nationally and internationally. Most recently, she was awarded the NSTF-South32 Communication award for her efforts in translating scientific content into African languages.