Another Language, Another Literacy?

Recent concern about the nature of different literacies points to the need to examine the place of language in differentiating literacies, as a factor which shapes the nature of literacy acquisition and practices. This paper looks at evidence for the relationship between languages and literacies, their purposes, and social meanings, in the multilingual context of Northern Ghana. After describing the characteristics of this multilingualism, the paper reports observed literacy practices in the religious, economic, personal, and "meetings" domains, in an attempt to understand how multilingual usage by individuals and communities affects such practices. The paper concludes by asking in what ways languages, in this context, are determinants of different literacies.