The importance of bilingual dictionaries of Angolan languages of Bantu origin for school success in Angola

Abstract

This paper discusses the importance of bilingual dictionaries of Angolan Bantu languages, focusing on their relevance for improving the quality of education and promoting students' linguistic and communicative skills. It primarily aims to enhance communicative and written proficiency in Portuguese—the official language—enabling students to better understand content taught exclusively in Portuguese and addressing school failure within an education system conducted in the official language. However, this system should align with Angolan Bantu languages, such as Oshikwanyama. The main objective of the study is to evaluate existing Portuguese-Oshikwanyama/Oshikwanyama-Portuguese bilingual dictionaries, understand their role in educational strategies in rural areas of Angola, and assess their potential and limitations in improving primary education quality and combating school failure in these regions.