TITLE:
Theorizing the Transmission of Technical Knowledge in a Plurilingual Context: Epistemology of National Languages and Negotiation of Meaning without Stabilized Terminology
AUTHORS:
Mamadou Salla Gueye
KEYWORDS:
Discursive Coloniality, Semantic Plasticity, Wolof, Socio-Economic Efficiency, Local Management, Professional Didactics, Global South
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.11,
November
10,
2026
ABSTRACT: Background: The history of educational systems in sub-Saharan Africa is still largely marked by the coloniality of knowledge, a paradigm that elevates European languages as the only vehicles of technical rationality. This hegemonic view erroneously presumes the unsuitability of African national languages for industrial modernity, hiding the high functional technicality that is transmitted informally outside of school structures. Purpose: This theoretical article proposes an innovative epistemological and conceptual model to analyze the linguistic mediation of technical knowledge, without stabilized terminology. Importantly, the paper does not measure the socio-economic implications of the policy empirically, but presents theoretical propositions. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper models how informal learning spaces (such as mechanical workshops) operationalize transmission via national languages like Wolof. It draws on critical sociolinguistics from the Global South, interactional sociolinguistics (McLaughlin, 2001; Dreyfus & Juillard, 2001), situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and the conceptualization-in-action framework of professional didactics (Pastré et al., 2006; Vergnaud, 1996). Findings: This paper demonstrates that Wolof exhibits an extensive semantic plasticity. Spontaneous neology and analogical schemes make the local language a genuine epistemic tool that empowers the apprentice’s agency. Therefore, a three-dimensional analytical matrix is developed to map those informal interactions and demonstrate successful technical mediation through illustrative workshop exchanges. Theoretically, the model indicates that such linguistic flexibility is a conceptual triple lever: (i) economically, hypothesizing how it optimizes operational throughput and structural viability in the informal sector; (ii) managerially, conceptualizing horizontal local management; and (iii) socially, theorizing vectors of inclusion for marginalized youth. Conclusions/Implications: This research, ultimately, calls for a radical decentralization of science epistemology toward an ecology of knowledge, in which the local language is established as a legitimate instrument of scientific rationality.