Promoting Ghanaian languages: The role of telenovela series

Abstract

Telenovelas have become an attractive form of entertainment for many Ghanaians largely because of the use of local Ghanaian languages as voice-overs during telecast. The question that arises is – Does the telecast of telenovelas in a local language play any role in the promotion of Ghanaian languages? Using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, we explored the role of Telenovelas with voice-overs in the promotion of Ghanaian languages among residents of some communities in Accra, Ghana; specifically, Lapaz, Osu and Gbawe Mallam communities, University students and market women. Findings show that due to low English literacy levels, voice-over telenovelas were preferred among residents in Lapaz community and the market women. A privately-owned television station, Max TV, emerged as the station with a wider audience due to its innovative broadcasting strategy of voice-over Telenovelas using the Ghanaian (Akan) language. Overall, the telenovelas appear to be promoting the Akan language by exposing viewers to lexical knowledge, facilitating the acquisition of new vocabulary items, and shaping children’s learning of Akan. This paper, therefore, unearths the significance of glocalization of telenovelas in the promotion of local languages in Ghana.