Medadi E. Ssentanda

medadi.ssentanda@mak.ac.ug

Medadi E. Ssentanda, PhD

Senior Lecturer

Biography

Medadi E Ssentanda is a Senior Lecturer in African Languages at Makerere University and a Research Associate in General Linguistics at Stellenbosch University. His research focuses on literacy, multilingualism, and social justice. He has published widely on mother tongue education in rural Uganda, examining teachers’ perceptions and classroom practices in relation to language policy and the thematic curriculum. His widely cited work analyses challenges of teaching reading under policies promoting initial literacy in mother tongue and English. He further investigates barriers faced by rural teachers and learners acquiring English, and studies Uganda’s linguistic landscape, highlighting language ideologies in school and signage.

Education

  • PhD, General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
  • M.A. (Linguistics), Makerere University, Uganda, 2006
  • B.A. (Education), Makerere University, Uganda, 2001

Publications

2025

Marino, Jonathan; Ssentanda, Medadi E.

Comparing Teacher Attitudes Toward Early Grade Reading Reform in Northern and Central Uganda Journal Article

In: Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE), vol. 9, no. 4, 2025, ISSN: 2535-4051.

Links | BibTeX

2024

Ssentanda, Medadi E

“Matayo is What in English?”: On Experiences of English Medium Instruction In Rural Ugandan Classrooms Journal Article

In: Per Linguam: a Journal of Language Learning= Per Linguam: Tydskrif vir Taalaanleer, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 18–42, 2024.

BibTeX

Mugumya, Levis; Asiimwe, Allen; Ssentanda, Medadi; Wagaba, William; Bayiga, Florence; Editors, Florence; Nelson, Nsereko; Namyalo, Saudah; Katushemererwe, Fridah

Linguistics and Language The Promise of Linguistics and Language The Promise of Studies in Africa Book

2024.

BibTeX

Sebuyungo, Enoch

Teaching Translation and Interpreting at Makerere University: Learning from the Past, Building for the Future Book Section

In: Mugumya, Levis; Asiimwe, Allen; Ssentanda, Medadi E.; Wagaba, William G.; Bayiga, Florence T. (Ed.): The Promise of Linguistics and Language Studies in Africa, pp. 304–325, Fountain Publishers, Kampala, Uganda, 2024, ISBN: 978-9970-19-893-1.

BibTeX

2020

Asiimwe, Allen; Ssentanda, Medadi

Challenges to the acquisition of literacy in rural primary schools in Northern Uganda Journal Article

In: Language Matters: Studies in the Languages of Southern Africa, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 38–62, 2020.

BibTeX

Research Projects

  1. Co-Principal Investigator, Communicating COVID-19-Related Messages in Multilingual Contexts. Translated COVID-19-related messages into six Ugandan languages and Braille. Funded by the Research and Innovations Fund, Makerere University (May–October 2020).
  2. Co-Principal Investigator, An Online Bilingual English–Luganda Linguistics Dictionary and Mobile App for Effective Teaching and Learning of Luganda in Secondary Schools and Higher Institutions of Learning. RIF-funded project (2019–2020).
  3. Early Career Scholars’ Programme Fellow (2019/2020): Languages, Ideologies and Power: Exploring the Linguistic Landscape of Kampala. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
  4. Principal Investigator, Nurturing Emerging Research Leaders through Post-doctoral Training at Makerere University (NERLP): An Assessment of the Implementation Strategies of Mother Tongue Education in Uganda (2017–2019).
  5. African Humanities Program (AHP) Postdoctoral Fellow: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Linguistic Landscape in Pedagogical Spaces of Classrooms in Ugandan Primary Schools (2018/2019). Sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies.

Peer Review Service

Reviewer for the following journals:

  • South African Journal of African Languages
  • Language Matters
  • Per Linguam
  • English Language Teaching (ELT) Journal
  • Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus
  • Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
  • Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies Journal

Supervision of Postgraduate Students

  1. Mr Richard Selwanga (PhD candidate, ongoing): The Evolution of the Linguistic Landscape of Kampala: Language Policy, Multilingualism, and Public Perceptions.
  2. Ms Harriet Kasande (PhD candidate, ongoing): Teachers’ Use of, and Learners’ Experiences of, Translanguaging in Uganda Primary Schools.
  3. Mr Richard Selwanga (MA thesis, graduated 2020): The Linguistic Landscape of Kampala: The Case of Shop Signs.
  4. Ms Moureen Nanteza (MA thesis, graduated 2019): Locative Enclitics in Luganda: Form and Meaning.
  5. Mr James Odondo (MA thesis, graduated 2020): The Usability of the Revised Lëblaŋo Orthography Among Its Users in Lira District.
  6. Ms Racheal Chelimo (MA thesis, graduated May 2022): Assessing the Role of Communication in Childhood Vaccination Uptake in Kampala, Uganda: Case Study of Kisenyi Health Centre IV.
  7. Ms Juliet Nambuya (MA thesis, graduated May 2022): Implementation of the Uganda Government Communication Strategy at Ministry Level: A Case of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
  8. Ms Mariam Kyabangi (MA thesis, graduated 2020): Implementation Strategies of Mother Tongue Education in Uganda: A Case of Gulu and Kayunga Districts.
  9. Mr Adoko Dennis Walter (MA thesis, graduated Feb 2026): The Influence of Linguistic Landscapes as Pedagogical Resources in Literacy Development Among Primary Schools.
  10. Ms Viola Nantayi (MA thesis, graduated 2025): An Anthropological Linguistic Study of Emerging Trends in Personal Names Among the Baganda.
  11. Ms Justine Nakaayi (MA thesis, graduated 2023): On How Mother Tongue Affects Written Communicative Competence in English Among A-Level Students.
  12. Mr Ivan Ssenkungu (MA thesis, graduated Feb 2026): Terminology Enrichment of Luganda in the Field of Agriculture.
  13. Mr Ssebutinde Derrick (Registration No. 2023/HD03/19154U; MA candidate, ongoing): Schoolscapes in Multilingual Rural Primary School Communities in Nakasongola District.
  14. Ms Nammiiro Noeline (Registration No. 2023/HD03/19152U; MA candidate, ongoing): Relative Clause Marking in Lugwere.
  15. Ms Hellen Egesa (MA candidate, ongoing): An Assessment of Kiswahili Speaking Competence Among Lower Secondary School Learners Under the Competency-Based Curriculum in Busia District.
  16. Mr Wasswa Ssebunnya (MA candidate, ongoing): Politeness Strategies Among Speakers of Luganda.