Prof. em. Dr. phil. habil. H. Ekkehard Wolff

Prof. em. Dr. phil. habil. H. Ekkehard Wolff

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Prof. em. Dr. phil. habil. H. Ekkehard Wolff
Current activities
Invited keynote addresses, lectures, and papers
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1. Capacity Building in Africa
Between September 2011 and October 2013, Prof. Wolff served as a Visiting Professor,
Advisor and Consultant at the School of Humanities and Law, Adama Science and
Technology University (ASTU) in Adama, Ethiopia. He was actively involved in lecturing, PhD
supervision, staff capacity building, curriculum development, and general academic consulting,
in affiliation with the Department of Afan Oromo, i.e. the Oromo language. In particular, he was
involved in designing, launching and establishing an interdisciplinary Oromo Research Center.
(For 3 consecutive semesters the project was supported by the Stiftungsinitiative Johann
Gottfried Herder. It was formally concluded with the successful defense of the supervised PhD
thesis at Adama Science & Technology University on Oct. 14, 2013, in which Prof. Wolff
participated upon invitation by ASTU.)
2. German-African Alumni Networking
Prof. Wolff remains responsible, together with Deputy Rector Prof. Claus Altmayer (Herder
Institut), for the Central Coordination at the University of Leipzig, of the topical
German-African Network of Alumni and Alumnae (GANAA)
on “Multilingualism and Language Policies in Africa”
www.uni-leipzig.de/ganaa
The network runs regional branches in Algeria (Oran), Benin (Cotonou), Kenya (Nairobi), and
South Africa (Stellenbosch). This network was kicked off and funded with support by the
DAAD (2007-2013). It organises and runs international expert workshops and summer schools
for alumni from Africa on the overall topic of Multilingualism and Language Policies in Africa,
including a focus on the teaching of German (DaF) in Africa. INTERNATIONAL EXPERT
W ORKSHOPS have been held successfully in
Leipzig
2008
Nairobi/Kenya
2009
Oran/Algeria
2008
Dakar/Senegal
2010
Stellenbosch/South Africa
2009
Leipzig
2011
In 2012 and 2013, these capacity building events took the format of SUMMER SCHOOLS:
Bondo/Kenya
2012
Pretoria, South Africa
2013
Further capacity building events are envisaged to take place in Oran/Algeria in 2014, and in
Abidjan/Côte d’Ivoire in 2015.
3. Further Activities
Prof. Wolff continues to be active as adviser, author, consultant, evaluator, researcher,
reviewer, and visiting academic, both on national and international levels.
He continues to serve as (board) member of learned societies, as (co-) editor of academic
book series, and member of editorial boards of learned journals.
Since his retirement in 2009, he has continued to supervise and review research-based
theses, for instance, in Leipzig, in Adama and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and in Hankuk, South
Korea.
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4. Keynote addresses, Invited lectures, Conference papers, etc. (1998 – date)
2013
Invited lecture: Language Policies in Ethiopia and the ‘Linguistic Landscape’ in Adama. A case study
in language visibility and language legitimization. Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
October 2013.
Invited lectures: Challenges of Higher Education in Africa: The Language Factor.
(1) Oromo Research Center, Adama Science & Technology University, Adama, Ethiopia.
October 2013. (2) Department of Linguistics, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
October 2013.
Keynote address: Challenges of Higher Education in Africa: The Language Factor. Ganaa Summer
School 2013, University of Pretoria, South Africa. September 2013.
Conference paper: On noun plural formations along the southern periphery of Afroasiatic (Chadic,
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Ethiosemitic, Cushitic). 7 Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Languages,
Hamburg. September 2013.
Keynote address: The Higher Education Predicament in Africa: Challenges for Applied African
Sociolinguistics. International Conference of ALASA at UNISA, Pretoria, South Africa. July
2013.
Invited lecture: Language Contact in West Africa - Language Contact among Indigenous Languages.
Fakultät für Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft, Anglistische Linguistik. Universität Bielefeld.
May 2013.
2012
Capacity building lecture series (II): The Status, Prospects, and Problems of Afaan Oromoo in
Present-Day Ethiopia. Oromo Research Center: Research Seminar 2012/13. Adama Science
& Technology University, Adama, Ethiopia. December 2012.
Invited lecture:On the Symbolic Dimension of Orthographies - in Africa and Beyond. Conference on
“African Linguistics in Southern Africa” and workshop on “Writing and transcribing languages
in Southern Africa”, on the occasion of launching the Centre for African Language Diversity
(CALDi) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. November 2012.
Plenary presentation: Languages in Tertiary Education:The Case of Afaan Oromoo in the Oromia
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Regional State in Ethiopia. Colloquium on Teaching Languages as 2 or Additional
Languages in a Multilingual Context, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. October
2012. <http://2ndlanguagecolloquium2012.co.za/>
Invited lecture: Academic Literacy in Trilingual Environments in Africa: A Case Study from Ethiopia.
North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. October 2012.
Keynote address: Language visibility and language legitimization: The “linguistic landscape” in Adama,
Ethiopia (case study). Ganaa Summer School 2012, Bondo University College, Kenya,
September 2012.
Plenary presentation: Language policy implementation in Africa – who’s in charge? Ministries of
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Education and the challenges of "Integrated Social Marketing". 7 World Congress of African
Linguistics (WOCAL). University of Buea, Cameroon, August 2012.
Workshop presentation: On post-verbal negation in Chadic. Workshop on “History of post-verbal
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negations in African languages”, 7 World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL).
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University of Buea, Cameroon, August 2012.
<http://webh01.ua.ac.be/dmitry.idiatov/WOCAL7_Negation.html>
Convener of Working Group: The sociolinguistics of “polyglossia” in Africa: The rise and fall of African
mother tongue-languages. Pre-WOCAL Workshop on sociolinguistic language documentation
in Sub-Saharan Africa, University of Buea, Cameroon, August 2012.
Inaugural presentation: Language Visibility and Language Legitimation: The Case of Afaan Oromoo in
Adama. Inauguration of the Oromo Research Center, Adama Science & Technology
University, Adama, Ethiopia, June 2012.
Invited lecture: The Afroasiatic “Urheimat” controversy. Or: How dead are the “Hamites?”. Dept. of
Linguistics, Addis Ababa University, May 2012.
Capacity building lecture series (I): African linguistics – Issues of language and development in Africa.
Oromo Research Centre: Research Seminar. Adama Science & Technology University,
April/May 2012.
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Keynote address: [Afroasiatic] Family Matters. “Reminiscence”: 40 commemoration of the North
American Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics (NACAL) at Rutgers University, New
Brunswick, USA. February 2012.
Invited Main Paper: Mother tongue-based multilingual strategies for education in Africa. Celebrating
UNESCO’s Mother Language Day. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA. February 2012.
2011
Keynote address: The Language Factor in Non-Formal Education in Africa. Workshop organized by
the Goethe-Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 2011.
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Invited lectures: African Sociolinguistics : History, Challenges and Perspectives in the 21 Century,
November 2011. (1) University of South Africa (UNISA), (2) University of Pretoria.
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Conference paper: On the diachronics of Chadic tone systems. 6 Biennial International Colloquium
on the Chadic Languages, CNRS, Paris/Villejuif, France. September 2011.
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Inaugural keynote address: African Linguistics in the 21 Century: Challenges and Perspectives, 27
West African Languages Congress, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. August 2011.
Invited lecture: African Languages – between the local and the global, Symposium in Honour of
Abdilatif Abdalla, Universität Leipzig. May 2011.
Invited conference paper: Language and Hegemonial Power: How Feasible is Conflict Management
by Language Policy? Conference on “Language and Peace: Language Policy as a Means of
Peace Building and Conflict Management”. University of Osnabrück. July 2011.
Invited conference paper: Sprache als Schlüssel – Eine Positionsbestimmung der deutschsprachigen
Afrikanistik. Histoire interculturelle de l’africanisme allemand, École normale supérieure. Paris,
France. March 2011.
2010
Keynote address: Multilingualism and Language Policies in Anglophone and Francophone Africa from
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a Sociolinguistic Macro-Perspective, with Reference to Language-in-Education Issues. 5
International Expert Workshop for Alumni, German-African Network for Alumni and Alumnae
(ganaa), Dakar, Senegal.
Invited Panel Introduction: ‘Spatial’ Issues in African Sociolinguistics. Nordic Africa Days 2010. Time
Space Africa: Reconnecting the Continent, Åbo/Turku, Finland.
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Invited “Darwin Lecture”: The Human Journey Out of Africa: A Perspective from Language Studies.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Division of Human Genetics, University of Cape Town.
Invited lecture: Return to Africa? Ancient Afroasiatic Migrations. SARCHI Chair for Migration,
Language, and Social Mobility (Prof. Rajend Mesthrie), University of Cape Town.
Invited lecture: Lexical Innovation in Hausa. Dept. of African Languages, Stellenbosch University.
Invited lecture: Tschadisch und Semitisch. Freie Universität Berlin.
Invited lecture: Wie kommen die afroasiatischen Sprachen nach Afrika? Universität Leipzig.
2009
Invited lecture: Semitisch und Tschadisch: Zwei ungleiche Schwestern? Universität Heidelberg.
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Conference paper: The Orature-Grammar Interface: Constructional Rhymes in Lamang Verbal Art. 5
Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Languages, Leipzig.
Invited conference paper: Monolectal versus Polylectal Approaches to African Languages: Challenges
and Constraints. International Workshop “Towards polylectal grammars of African languages”.
Universität Hamburg.
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Public lecture: African Sociolinguistics in the 21 Century : History, Challenges, and Perspectives, 4
International Expert Workshop for Alumni, ganaa, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Keynote address: The African Predicament and the ‘Language Factor’: Unidentified – underresearched – underrated? Africa-Berlin International Conference 2009, Berlin.
Public lecture: Was ist eigentlich Afrikanistik? Die Wissenschaft von den afrikanischen Sprachen und
deren Rolle und Funktionen in Kultur und Gesellschaft. Festival der Sprachen: Afrikatag.
Bremen.
Public lecture: Die afrikanischen Sprachen zwischen Tradition und Fortschritt: Fakten, Probleme,
Perspektiven. Festival der Sprachen: Afrikatag. Bremen.
Invited paper: Wieviel Tschadisches ist im Semitischen oder Semitisches im Tschadischen?
Arbeitstreffen der Sektion Semitistik in der DMG, Leipzig.
Session keynote address: Sociolinguistics in the African Context: History – Challenges – Prospects,
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6 World Congress of African Linguistics, Cologne.
Invited lecture: One World – One Language? Multilingualism and Globalization in Africa. University of
the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Invited lectures: The Out-of Africa Theory and the Early Linguistic History of homo sapiens.
(1) University of South Africa, Pretoria; (2) University of Stellenbosch, South Africa,
(3) University of Cape Town, South Africa.
2008
Public lecture: Out of Africa – Zur Frühgeschichte des Menschen und seiner Sprache(n). Universität
Hamburg.
Expert lecturer: Multilingualismus und Polyglossie: Akademische Herausforderungen an eine
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Soziolinguistik Nordafrikas. 2 International Expert Workshop for Alumni, German-African
Network for Alumni and Alumnae (ganaa), Oran, Algeria.
Public lecture: Global denken – lokal kommunizieren. Sprachbarrieren und Sprachkarrieren unter
kultureller und politischer Hegemonie. Universität Leipzig.
Keynote address: African Languages and Globalization – Past and Present. International Conference
on African Languages and Globalization – Past and Present. Hankuk University of Foreign
Studies, South Korea.
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Invited lecture: When Power meets Language. Between Language Shift and Language Maintenance.
The Case of TASAWAQ (“Northern Songhay”) in the Western Sahara. Hankuk University of
Foreign Studies, South Korea.
Invited lecture: Sprache und Modernisierung: Die Rolle von Sprache(n) in afrikanischen
Bildungssystemen. Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt a.M.
Public lecture: Afrikanistik - Das neue Paradigma: Sprache(n) als Ressource(n) für Modernisierung
und Entwicklung in Afrika. DAAD Afrikatag 2008, Universität zu Köln.
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Inaugural keynote address: Language in Education in Africa. 1 International Expert Workshop for
Alumni, German-African Network for Alumni and Alumnae (ganaa), Leipzig.
Invited conference paper: Strategies for Overtly Marking Subordination in Central-Chadic (LamangHdi, Wandala-Malgwa). Workshop on Typology of Co- and Subordination in Languages,
Gumpoldskirchen, Austria.
2007
Public lecture: Sprache in Afrika – Die Verarbeitung der Globalisierung am Beispiel afrikanischer
Länder. Freie Universität Berlin.
2006
Keynote addresses: Sustainable development and human resources management through education:
The language factor. (1) KDSA Conference on “The Principle of Sustainability: an
interdisciplinary view”, Nairobi, Kenya; (2) Partnership on Cooperative Development Germany
– South Africa (Working Group: “The sustainable development of human capital within the
context of transition and globalization”). Oudtshoorn, South Africa.
2005
Invited conference paper: The language factor in discourse on development and education in Africa.
Symposium on Language for Development in Africa, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
Public lecture: Was sie sagen und was sie tun: Die „Sprachenfrage in Afrika“ im politischen Diskurs.
Universität Leipzig.
2004
Keynote address: Marketing Multilingual Education in Africa. With Special Reference to Bilingual
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Approaches to Basic Education in Niger (Francophone West Africa). 3 International
ADALEST Conference, Mangochi, Malawi.
Workshop presentation: Word-Level “Prosodies” in Chadic Languages in Synchronic and Diachronic
Perspective. Workshop on Word Domains: Theory and Typology. Universität Leipzig.
Invited conference paper: Features of a “Chadic – Benue-Congo Convergence Zone” in Central
Nigeria. Symposium on Endangered Languages in Contact: Nigeria’s Plateau Languages.
Universität Hamburg.
Invited lecture: Ethnizität – Sprache – Identität in Afrika: Anmerkungen aus soziolinguistischer Sicht.
Ethnicity Workshop (Afrika-Forum), Universität Leipzig.
2003
Keynote address: Segments and Prosodies in Chadic: On descriptive and explanatory adequacy,
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historical reconstructions, and the status of Lamang-Hdi. 4 World Congress of African
Linguistics, New Brunswick, USA.
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2002
Keynote address: Language Planning Implementation in West and South Africa. Conference on The
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African Languages and the African Renaissance (2 International ADALEST Conference),
Pretoria/Hammanskraal, South Africa.
Invited lectures: Afrikanische Sprachen und Unterentwicklung in Afrika: Teil des Problems oder
Lösung? (1) Universität Leipzig; (2) Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg; (3) GoetheInstitut Addis Abeba, Ethiopia; (4) Humboldt Universität, Berlin.
2001
Invited conference paper: Verbal Plurality in Chadic: Grammaticalisation Chains and Early Chadic
History. Berkeley Linguistic Society.
Invited lecture: “Bilingualismus” und Mehrsprachigkeit in Niger (Westafrika). Forschungskolloquium
des Frankreichzentrums, Universität Leipzig.
2000
Keynote address: African Languages as Media of Instruction: The heart of the “African language
question”. 1st International Conference on African Languages, Maseno University
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(retroactively declared 1 International ADALEST Conference), Kisumu, Kenya.
Keynote address: Indigenous Languages in Education: Learning from West African Experiences. 2
National Symposium on Language in Education in Malawi, Mangochi.
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1999
Invited lecture: Pre-School Child Multilingualism and its Educational Implications in the African
Context. PRAESA (Project on Alternative Education in South Africa), University of Cape Town,
South Africa.
Keynote address: African Linguistics Paradigms: Anything new? ALASA Biennial International
Conference, Pretoria, South Africa
Public lecture: African Studies („Afrikanistik“) in Germany – Past and Present, before and after reunification. University of Stellenbosch.
1998
Invited workshop presentation: Individual Multilingualism in the African Context. ALASA (Northern
branch) Workshop on “Language Planning and Institutional Language Policy”, UNISA,
Pretoria, South Africa.
Public lecture: Afrikanische Sprachminiaturen. Zur formalen Ästhetik von Kleinformen afrikanischer
Sprachkunst unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer Tonalität. Universität Leipzig.
Invited workshop presentation: Multilingualism, Modernization, and Post-Literacy. Some central issues
concerning the promotion of indigenous African languages in a democratic society. Workshop
on The Role of the African Languages in Democratic South Africa. University of Pretoria, The
Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Pretoria, South Africa.
(Last up-date: October 2013)