Language Planning and Policy in Africa: Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa

Language Planning and Policy in Africa, Vol. 1 LANGUAGE PLANNING AND POLICY Series Editors: Dr Richard B. Baldauf Jr...

Author: Richard B. Baldauf | Robert B. Kaplan

70 downloads 1566 Views 2MB Size Report

This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. If you own the copyright to this book and it is wrongfully on our website, we offer a simple DMCA procedure to remove your content from our site. Start by pressing the button below!

Report copyright / DMCA form

DOWNLOAD PDF

Language Planning and Policy in Africa, Vol. 1

LANGUAGE PLANNING AND POLICY Series Editors: Dr Richard B. Baldauf Jr., University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and Professor Robert B. Kaplan, University of Southern California, USA Other Books of Interest Beyond Boundaries: Language and Identity in Contemporary Europe Paul Gubbins and Mike Holt (eds) Bilingualism: Beyond Basic Principles Jean-Marc Dewaele, Alex Housen and Li Wei (eds) Bilingualism and Social Relations: Turkish Speakers in North Western Europe J. Normann Jorgensen (ed.) Can Threatened Languages be Saved? Joshua Fishman (ed.) A Dynamic Model of Multilingualism Philip Herdina and Ulrike Jessner English in Africa: After the Cold War Alamin M. Mazrui Language and Society in a Changing Italy Arturo Tosi Language Attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa Efurosibina Adegbija Language Planning in Malawi, Mozambique and the Philippines Robert B. Kaplan and Richard B. Baldauf, Jr. (eds) Language Planning in Nepal, Taiwan and Sweden Richard B. Baldauf, Jr. and Robert B. Kaplan (eds) Language Planning: From Practice to Theory Robert B. Kaplan and Richard B. Baldauf, Jr. (eds) Linguistic Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe Christina Bratt Paulston and Donald Peckham (eds) Medium or Message? Language and Faith in Ethnic Churches Anya Woods Motivation in Language Planning and Language Policy Dennis Ager Multilingualism in Spain M. Teresa Turell (ed.) Negotiating of Identities in Multilingual Contexts Aneta Pavlenko and Adrian Blackledge (eds) New Language Bearings in Africa: A Fresh Quest Margaret Jepkirui Muthwii and Angelina Nduku Kioko (eds) Quebec’s Aboriginal Languages Jacques Maurais (ed.) The Other Languages of Europe Guus Extra and Durk Gorter (eds) Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood Paddy Ladd Where East Looks West: Success in English in Goa and on the Konkan Coast Dennis Kurzon

Please contact us for the latest book information: Multilingual Matters, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon, BS21 7HH, England http://www.multilingual-matters.com

LANGUAGE PLANNING AND POLICY

Language Planning and Policy in Africa, Vol. 1 Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa Edited by

Richard B. Baldauf, Jr and Robert B. Kaplan

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD Clevedon • Buffalo • Toronto

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Language Planning and Policy in Africa. Vol. 1, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa/Edited by Richard B. Baldauf Jr and Robert B. Kaplan. Language Planning and Policy. 1. Language planning–Africa, Southern. I. Baldauf, Richard B. II. Kaplan, Robert B. III. Series. P40.5.L352A3485 2004 306.44'968–dc22 2004012872 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1-85359-725-2 (hbk) Multilingual Matters Ltd UK: Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon BS21 7HH. USA: UTP, 2250 Military Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA. Canada: UTP, 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8, Canada. Copyright © 2004 Richard B. Baldauf Jr, Robert B. Kaplan and the authors of individual chapters. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed and bound in Great Britain by the Cromwell Press Ltd.

Contents Series Overview Language Policy and Planning in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa: Some Common Issues Richard B. Baldauf Jr and Robert B. Kaplan The Language Situation in Botswana Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo The Language Planning Situation in Malawi Edrinnie Kayambazinthu The Language Situation in Mozambique Armando Jorge Lopes The Language Planning Situation in South Africa Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu Biographical Notes on Contributors

v

1

5 21 79 150 197 282

Series Overview Since 1998 when the first polity studies on Language Policy and Planning – addressing the language situation in a particular polity – were published in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 15 studies have been published there and since 1990 in Current Issues in Language Planning. These studies have all addressed, to a greater or lesser extent, 22 common questions or issues (Appendix A), thus giving them some degree of consistency. However, we are keenly aware that these studies have been published in the order in which they were completed. While such an arrangement is reasonable for journal publication, the result does not serve the needs of area specialists nor are the various monographs easily accessible to the wider public. As the number of available polity studies has grown, we have planned to update (where necessary) and republish these studies in coherent areal volumes. The first such volume is concerned with Africa, both because a significant number of studies has become available and because Africa constitutes an area that is significantly under-represented in the language planning literature and yet is marked by extremely interesting language policy and planning issues. In this first areal volume, we are reprinting four polity studies – Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa – as Areal Volume 1: Language Planning in Africa: Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. We hope that this first areal volume will better serve the needs of specialists. It is our intent to publish other areal volumes subsequently as sufficient studies are completed. We will do so in the hope that such volumes will be of interest to areal scholars and others interested in language policies and language planning in geographically coherent regions. The areas in which we are planning to produce future volumes, and some of the polities which may be included are: • Africa (2), including Burundi and Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Tunisia, Zimbabwe; • Asia, including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan; • Europe (1), including Finland, Hungary and Sweden (in press); • Europe (2), including the Czech Republic, the European Union, Ireland, Italy, Malta, and Northern Ireland; • Latin America, including Ecuador, Mexico and Paraguay; and • Pacific Basin, including Vanuatu and Fiji; In the mean time, we will continue to bring out Current Issues in Language Planning, adding to the list of polities available for inclusion in areal volumes. At this point, we cannot predict the intervals over which such volumes will appear, since those intervals will be defined by the ability of contributors to complete work on already contracted polity studies.

Assumptions Relating to Polity Studies There are a number of assumptions that we have made about the nature of language policy and planning that have influenced the nature of the studies presented. First, we do not believe that there is, yet, a broader and more coherent 1 Series Overview

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

2

paradigm to address the complex questions of language policy/planning development. On the other hand, we do believe that the collection of a large body of more or less comparable data and the careful analysis of that data will give rise to a better paradigm. Therefore, in soliciting the polity studies, we have asked each of the contributors to address some two dozen questions (to the extent that such questions were pertinent to each particular polity); the questions were offered as suggestions of topics that might be covered. (See Appendix A.) Some contributors have followed the questions rather closely; others have been more independent in approaching the task. It should be obvious that, in framing those questions, we were moving from a perhaps inchoate notion of an underlying theory. The reality that our notion was inchoate becomes clear in each of the polity studies. Second, we have sought to find authors who had an intimate involvement with the language planning and policy decisions made in the polity they were writing about; i.e. we were looking for insider knowledge and perspectives about the polities. However, as insiders are part of the process, they may find it difficult to take the part of the ‘other’ – to be critical of that process. But it is not necessary or even appropriate that they should be – this can be left to others. As Pennycook (1998: 126) argues: One of the lessons we need to draw from this account of colonial language policy (i.e. Hong Kong) is that, in order to make sense of language policies we need to understand both their location historically and their location contextually. What I mean by this is that we can not assume that the promotion of local languages instead of a dominant language, or the promotion of a dominant language at the expense of a local language, are in themselves good or bad. Too often we view these things through the lenses of liberalism, pluralism or anti-imperialism, without understanding the actual location of such policies. While some authors do take a critical stance, or one based on a theoretical approach to the data, many of the studies are primarily descriptive, bringing together and revealing, we hope, the nature of the language development experience in the particular polity. We believe this is a valuable contribution to the theory/paradigm development of the field. As interesting and challenging as it may be to provide a priori descriptions of the nature of the field (e.g. language management, language rights, linguistic imperialism) based on partial data – nor have we been completely immune from this ourselves (e.g. Kaplan & Baldauf, 2003: Chapter 12), we believe the development of a sufficient data base is an important prerequisite for paradigm development.

An Invitation to Contribute We welcome additional polity contributions. Our views on a number of the issues can be found in Kaplan and Baldauf (1997); sample polity monographs have appeared in the extant issues of Current Issues in Language Planning. Interested authors should contact the editors, present a proposal for a monograph, and provide a sample list of references. It is also useful to provide a brief biographical note, indicating any personal involvement in language planning activities in the polity proposed for study as well as any relevant research/publi-

Series Overview

3

cation in LPP. All contributions should, of course, be original, unpublished works. We expect to work with contributors during the preparation of monographs. All monographs will, of course, be reviewed for quality, completeness, accuracy, and style. Experience suggests that co-authored contributions may be very successful, but we want to stress that we are seeking a unified monograph on the polity, not an edited compilation of various authors’ efforts. Questions may be addressed to either of us. Richard B. Baldauf, Jr. ([email protected] Robert B. Kaplan ([email protected]) References Kaplan, R.B. and Baldauf, R.B., Jr. (2003) Language and Language-in-Education Planning in the Pacific Basin. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Kaplan, R.B. and Baldauf, R.B., Jr. (1997) Language Planning from Practice to Theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Pennycook, A. (1998) English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London and New York: Routledge.

Appendix A Part I: The Language Profile of ... (1) Name and briefly describe the national/official language(s) (de jure or de facto). (2) Name and describe the major minority language(s). (3) Name and describe the lessor minority language(s) (include ‘dialects’, pidgins, creoles and other important aspects of language variation); the definition of minority language/dialect/pidgin will need to be discussed in terms of the sociolinguistic context. (4) Name and describe the major religious language(s); in some polities religious languages and/or missionary policies have had a major impact on the language situation and provide de facto language planning. In some contexts religion has been a vehicle for introducing exogenous languages while in other cases it has served to promote indigenous languages. (5) Name and describe the major language(s) of literacy, assuming that it is/they are not one of those described above. (6) Provide a table indicating the number of speakers of each of the above languages, what percentage of the population they constitute and whether those speakers are largely urban or rural. (7) Where appropriate, provide a map(s) showing the distribution of speakers, key cities and other features referenced in the text. Part II: Language Spread (8) Specify which languages are taught through the educational system, to whom they are taught, when they are taught and for how long they are taught. (9) Discuss the objectives of language education and the methods of assessment to determine that the objectives are met. (10) To the extent possible, trace the historical development of the policies/practices identified in items 8 and 9 (may be integrated with 8/9).

4

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

(11) Name and discuss the major media language(s) and the distribution of media by socio-economic class, ethnic group, urban/rural distinction (including the historical context where possible). For minority language, note the extent that any literature is (has been) available in the language. (12) How has immigration effected language distribution and what measures are in place to cater for learning the national language(s) and/or to support the use of immigrant languages. Part III: Language Policy and Planning (13) Describe any language planning legislation, policy or implementation that is currently in place. (14) Describe any literacy planning legislation, policy or implementation that is currently in place. (15) To the extent possible, trace the historical development of the policies/practices identified in items 13 and 14 (may be integrated with these items). (16) Describe and discuss any language planning agencies/organisations operating in the polity (both formal and informal). (17) Describe and discuss any regional/international influences affecting language planning and policy in the polity (include any external language promotion efforts). (18) To the extent possible, trace the historical development of the policies/practices identified in items 16 and 17 (may be integrated with these items). Part IV: Language Maintenance and Prospects (19) Describe and discuss intergenerational transmission of the major language(s); (is this changing over time?). (20) Describe and discuss the probabilities of language death among any of the languages/language varieties in the polity, any language revival efforts as well as any emerging pidgins or creoles. (21) Add anything you wish to clarify about the language situation and its probable direction of change over the next generation or two. (22) Add pertinent references/bibliography and any necessary appendices (e.g. a general plan of the educational system to clarify the answers to questions 8, 9 and 14).

Language Policy and Planning in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa: Some Common Issues Richard B. Baldauf Jr Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Queensland, QLD 4072 Australia ([email protected])

Robert B. Kaplan Professor Emeritus, Applied Linguistics, University of Southern California. Postal address: PO Box 577, Port Angeles, WA 98362, USA ([email protected])

Introduction This volume brings together four language policy and planning studies related to southern Africa1. (See the ‘Series Overview’ at the start of this volume for a more general discussion of the nature of the series, Appendix A for the 22 questions each study set out to address, and Kaplan et al. (2000) for a discussion of our underlying concepts for the studies themselves.) In this paper, rather than trying to provide an introductory summary of the material covered in these studies, we will want to draw out and discuss some of the more general issues raised by these studies. Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa represent a cluster in several senses: • They are geographically proximate roughly along a north–south axis. They share common borders; that is Malawi shares a border with Mozambique, and Mozambique and Botswana share a border with South Africa. • They are members of the Southern African Development Community (which integrates a total of 14 countries). • They share a number of African languages among them. • They share a number of common educational, social and economic problems. • Three of them have English as a colonial language; one has Portuguese, but also uses English as an additional language. • They all have autochthonous languages, some in common with one another, which require planning development. • All are members of the Commonwealth of Nations group. • All of them have a common concern in terms of languages of religion. • All of them recognize the existence of a gap between official policy and actual practice. There is also a major sociolinguistic and language planning and policy divide that separates them: South Africa with its greater population and resources, and the politicalization of language as a marker of ethnicity which began under the previous apartheid regime, has attracted much more scholarly interest and hands-on involvement by the government. As a result, there is a much larger published literature for South Africa than there is for Botswana, Malawi and 5 Some Common Issues

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

6

Mozambique. A search of the relevant literature produced about 20 references each – related to language policy and planning – for the latter countries while more than 300 were found for South Africa. A selected list of recently published further reading – material not cited in the monographs that follow – is provided by country at the end of this paper.

Ideologies and Myths Language policy and planning invariably occur in an environment circumscribed by language ideologies which emerge in specific historical and material circumstances (Blommaert, 1999; Pennycook, 1998); that is, such ideologies emerge out of a wider sociopolitical and historical framework of relationships of power, of forms of discrimination, and of nation building. Issues and debates concerning language commonly dominate discussions in the mass media, in government, and in a variety of other venues of public discourse. Language ideologies, while they are certainly not universal, are reflected in a number of prevalent myths pertaining to language education and, because language education is often the major or even sole mechanism for the instantiation of language policy, it is useful perhaps to state at least some of these myths: • There is one, and only one, ‘correct solution’ to the choice of language(s) in education, and one and only one, ‘correct solution’ to the sequencing of instruction for purposes of initial literacy training and content instruction for all multilingual polities. • Anyone who can speak a given language can successfully teach or teach via that language. • Creoles are not real languages; consequently no Creole can be used as the medium of instruction. • If a major goal is to develop the highest degree of proficiency and subject matter mastery via some language of wider communication, the more time spent educating the child via that language, the better. • While time on task is a major issue, the ideal time to start language instruction is roughly at puberty (at middle school) because starting earlier would suggest that primary school children will not have completed the development of their feeling and sense of value in their first language (based on English text transmitted by letter to Kaplan from Namba Tatsuo referring to Ohno, Susumu, Morimoto Tatsuo and Suzuki Takao (2001) Nippon, Nihongo, Nihon-jin [Japan, Japanese language, Japanese Volkgeist]). • In multilingual polities (and even in those which are not multilingual), it is too expensive to develop materials and to train teachers in a number of different languages (after Tucker, 2001: 333). • There are clear boundaries between each of the autochthonous languages in a polity and each requires separate development so that it can be taught (but see Djité, 2000; Heugh, 2003). • Autochthonous languages are incapable of dealing with modern concepts and it is therefore necessary to use a language of wider communication – English, French, Portuguese – as the primary vehicle for education (Breton, 2003). • In multilingual polities – ones having a large number of autochthonous

Some Common Issues

7

languages – it is necessary to use a language of wider communication for educational purposes to reduce ‘tribalism’ and group conflict (Breton, 2003). • It is important to teach languages of wider communication (especially English) widely in schools as a means of boosting the economy and life chances (Kaplan & Baldauf, 2003, especially Singapore, Chapter 8).

Issues and Problems of Methodology Before looking at some of the explicit issues raised in the monographs themselves, it is important to mention briefly some of the issues and problems that studies developed in this genre raise. While providing a set of framing questions (See ‘Series Overview’, Appendix A) for these polity monographs has its advantages in terms of consistency and coverage, it also creates a number of tensions of which readers should be aware. Issues of resources It is important to point out that, in some of the polity studies, so little sociolinguistic work is actually available, and the economic and social conditions are such (e.g. the civil wars currently raging or recently concluded in a number of African polities), that contributors are significantly constrained. In many polities, Côte d’Ivoire (Djité, 2000) for example, conditions and the state of academic research (i.e. not only the work published about the polity, but access to journals and recent books, computer facilities, time to do research, adequate salaries let alone, funds for travel and research projects, etc.) are such that many of the 22 questions suggested for these studies simply could not be adequately addressed. Moving from research to practice, it is also a matter of reality that, among the enormous number of competing demands on governmental coffers, language policy and planning does not always rank high. In some African states, the costs (monetary, human, and temporal) of civil war, rapidly varying commodity prices, human resources shortages, the AIDS epidemic, etc.) are so great that the relative priority of language planning is necessarily lowered (but, see Kaplan & Baldauf, 2003, especially Chapter 3 (pp. 31–46), for an example of political will overriding fiscal constraints). These factors mean that there are constraints on resources that significantly impact on any notion of an ‘ideal’ monograph that might be produced. Framing context Beyond the 22 questions that authors have been urged to examine, we have urged each of the contributors to frame their study by taking an ecological stance (see, e.g. Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997; Mühlhäusler, 2000), but that turned out not to be entirely satisfactory because each of the contributors is in fact a specialist in the context of linguistic issues in the polity in which s/he worked; that is, the polity specialists were not always extensively cognizant of problems occurring across an ecological perception of language spread, but rather were constrained by the political boundaries within which they worked. It was, perhaps, unrealistic of us to expect a wider perception. However, while the ecological stance did not inevitably materialise across political boundaries, there is evidence in the various

8

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

studies of the ecological perspective within the several polities studied. It is precisely to achieve a broader ecological view that areal volumes of the sort being undertaken here were conceived. We hope the further references at the end of this article will also contribute to providing that ecological view. Perspectives: The Self vs the Other Pennycook (1998) provides a critical analysis of English and the discourses of colonialism, especially the tension between views of ‘the Self’ and ‘the Other’, between the ‘insider’ and the ‘outsider’, the emic and the etic. His primary focus of analysis is on colonialism – both historic and in its Eurocentric neo-colonialist forms – and the positive manner in which Europeans portrayed themselves versus the colonised others. Following from this he points out that there is a need to look ‘more contextually … at the sites and causes of the development of colonial discourses on language…’ as there is a ‘constant negotiation of colonial language policy images of the Self and the Other’ where ‘culture and language were always being produced, developed and redefined’ (1998: 128). While this dichotomy and interaction between the Self and the Other – which Pennycook illustrates with Hong Kong as an example – is evident in the monographs presented in this volume, it is also characteristic of the tension in perspectives that individual authors bring to their studies. Some participating individuals, some of whom we consciously and intentionally invited, had actually worked in the language planning and policy environment in their respective polities. An outcome of our intentional plan (in inviting some contributors) and our unintentional plan (in accepting unsolicited contributions) resulted in an unanticipated problem. One volume of the previously published studies was criticized on the grounds that an author did not take sufficient cognizance of political issues underlying policy and planning (Stroud, 2001). But, when one is involved in putting ‘theory’ onto practice, we think this is an inevitable problem. To the extent that anyone has worked actively in the development and promulgation of policy and in the ensuing plans, s/he has necessarily been captured by the system doing the policy development and the planning; each such individual has been co-opted by the process. We do not, however, wish to create a false dichotomy; not all of our contributors were caught in this ‘insider’ trap. Some contributors have been able to look at the issues from the ‘outside,’ and have been fully cognizant of the political and social problems created by the policy/plans that have been developed. But, had we chosen only individuals more clearly aware of the political and social issues, then those individuals, generally working outside the formal system, would not have known as much about what the system was actually doing; such scholars would have been outsiders to the internal workings of the system. This is not to claim that contributors (and indeed the editors) are unaware that language policy is significantly a political activity (Baldauf & Kaplan, 2003); rather, we simply acknowledge that authors having had differing degrees of direct involvement in the language policy and planning which they describe are caught up in their own images of the Self and the Other. The result is that political and social issues are differently perceived in the various polity studies. In the broader context within which we work (i.e. as editors of Current Issues in Language Planning), we believe, with perfect hindsight, that serendipitously,

Some Common Issues

9

such a selection of contributors will exactly serve our larger intent – to help to develop a basis for theorising the discipline. The specialists, working from the inside, know (and do) report on who did what, to whom, when, and for what purpose in great detail. Given a series of polity monographs such as those presented here, we continue to believe that the other focus of Current Issues in Language Planning – the two ‘issues’ numbers each year focusing on topics like language ecology (CILP, 2000, 1: 3), language revival (CILP, 2001, 2: 2&3), post-colonialism (CILP, 2002, 3: 3), language rights (CILP, 2003, 4: 4) – will serve to bring to bear a leavening influence on the collected data. These numbers will pay greater attention to the political and social problems inevitably apparent in the policy studies themselves.

Discrepant Policy and Reality Given the lack of resources and other difficulties described in the previous section, and the myths about language that still persist in the communities, it does not come as any surprise that all four of the studies in this volume show a significant discrepancy between the playing out of language matters in the polity and the policy/plan that has been put in place in that polity. In several instances, the ‘official’ policy/plan is diametrically opposed to reality; languages are mandated that are barely spoken in the polity, and the evidence strongly suggests that ‘official’ policy/planning is driven by political rather than by linguistic forces. It is possible, for example, that a language is ‘officialised’ in the hope that aid funding from the European (often former colonial) power would come into play. Examples of these discrepancies are particularly evident in the relationship between the ‘colonial’ languages of wider communication and the autochthonous languages. English In Malawi, English is the official language; Chichewa in some form (spoken by about fifty per cent of the population) is the national language, and twelve other indigenous languages (and their varieties) are spoken. As Kayambazinthu points out, ‘…language planning practices (past and present) present an interesting case study of pervasive ad hoc and reactive planning, based more on self-interest and political whim than research.’ In Botswana, English is the ‘officialized’ language together with Setswana which (in some form) is spoken as a first language by some 80 per cent of the population. The Constitution is essentially silent on language issues, except that two sections specifically state that the ability to speak and read English is required to serve in the House of Chiefs and in the National Assembly. (In 1998, Setswana was formally authorized to be spoken in the House of Chiefs and in the National Assembly.) However, Setswana is not so much a language as a language-complex; the eight ‘major tribes’ use eight mutually-intelligible varieties of Seswana. In addition, there are eleven other tribes that speak varieties close to Setswana, and eight tribes that speak languages unrelated to Setswana. As Nyati-Ramahobo notes, ‘There is tension between policy formulation and implementation, and an imbalance in social justice….While pressure from civil-society has

10

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

led government to make progressive policy decisions, there is no intrinsic motivation for their implementation….’ In South Africa, recently shrugging off apartheid, eleven of its estimated 25 languages have now been ‘officialized’ in the Constitution. Nine of those eleven languages are African languages; the remaining two are Afrikaans and English. The government has compiled a liberal language policy. Kamwangamalu shows that there is a mismatch between the language policy and language practices – the former promoting multilingualism, the latter demonstrating a trend toward English monolingualism at least in virtually all of the higher domains. Portuguese In Mozambique, Portuguese is the ‘officialized’ language, mandated in the Constitution; the remaining twenty languages are all Bantu languages. The nation is only ten years removed from a devastating 16-year civil war. Its current language policy (in the 1990 revised Constitution) requires that ‘the state shall value the national languages and promote their development and their growing usage as vehicular languages and in the education of citizens.’ Lopes points out that ‘…the status of Bantu languages [in comparison with Portuguese] and the present efforts to develop and promote them in society have a long way to go.’ In sum, there is a substantial gap between official policy and linguistic reality. Discrepancy analysis This brief summary distorts the situation because it ignores the effects of the presence of other languages in each of the polities as well as the ecological issues. In all of the polities discussed, the role of English needs to be considered; there is popular pressure to learn it in Mozambique, and a comparable popular pressure to diminish its influence in Botswana, Malawi and South Africa. In South Africa and Mozambique, there is a recognized need to consider Asian languages present in the immigrant population. And there is a growing need for a pan-African means of communication for economic and political purposes. Consequently, a ‘standard’ language constitutes a purely ideological construct. The existence of such a construct creates the impression that linguistic unity exists, when reality reflects great linguistic diversity. The notion of the existence and dispersion of a ‘standard’ variety through a community suggests that linguistic unity is the societal norm; it also suggests a level of socio-economic and socio-political unity that in the African states is contrary to the reality of linguistic diversity (often reflected in socio-economic and political diversity). The (often legal) obligation to use a codified standard is likely to cause frustration among minority-language and dialect speakers, since the standardised language is for them non-dominant; minority-language and dialect speakers probably use a contact variety, likely to be at considerable variance from the ‘standard’ variety (e.g. Popular French vs. Standard French in Côte d’Ivoire). Language-in-education planning efforts in many polities … reflect the cultural views of the West. These views are collectively known as the 'plumbing' or 'conduit' or 'telegraphic' conception of communication – i.e., the translation of messages that exist in the sender's mind into speech signals (coded in linguistic form) which are converted back into the original

Some Common Issues

11

message by the receiver. Thus, there is a perceived need to identify a single, ‘standard’ code, to assure that this single code is optimally regular, simple, and 'modern' and to assure that there are optimal channels (postal services, road networks, rail networks, air services, telegraphs, telephones, newspapers, radio, television, the world-wide web, etc.) along which the signal can flow. The problem is that this metaphor is not a reliable description of how human beings communicate (Mühlhäusler, 1996: 207–208). Furthermore, some confusion has developed between the meaning of the term standard (language) and the notion of standardised (education). As noted, a standard language is believed to be necessary for national unity. (The evidence for such a belief is, by the way, far from conclusive.) However, if the existence of a standard language presses the educational system to standardise educational practices, another discontinuity is created; educational systems are supposed to enhance independent thinking and creativity – necessary to social and economic development. It is undesirable to evolve an educational system that turns out students who are identical in their knowledge, skills, and thought processes. This problem is also evident in the polities studied.

Conclusions In sum, while language-in-education planning is widespread across the polities discussed here, it seems clear: • That language-in-education policies are rarely anchored in national language policies; • that language-in-education policies are frequently ad hoc and sometimes driven by market forces; • that language-in-education policies are subject to sudden and radical changes in direction in accord with unstable political agendas, and • that the general condition of language-in-education policy is often fragmented and frequently simply ineffective – even wasteful of resources. We hope that this first areal volume will better serve the needs of specialists. It is our intent to publish other areal volumes subsequently. We will do so in the hope that such volumes will be of interest to areal scholars and others interested in language policies and language planning in geographically coherent regions. (See the Series Overview elsewhere in this volume for more detail on our future plans.) Note 1. The studies in this volume were previously published as follows: Botswana Current Issues in Language Planning (2000) 1, 243–300; Malawi Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (1998) 19, 369–439; Mozambique Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (1998) 19, 440–486 and South Africa Current Issues in Language Planning (2001) 2, 361–445. Authors were offered the opportunity to update their studies – to take into account major changes – with an addendum, but none thought it necessary to do so.

References Baldauf, R.B., Jr. and Kaplan, R.B. (2003) Language policy decisions and power: Who are the actors? In P.M. Ryan and R. Terborg (eds) Language: Issues of Inequality (pp. 19–40).

12

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Mexico City: Centro de Enseñanza de Leguas Extranjeras, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Blommaert, J. (1999) Language Ideological Debates. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Breton, R. (2003) Sub-Saharian Africa. In J. Maurais and M.A. Morris (eds) Languages in a Globalising World (pp. 203–216). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Djité, P.G. (2000) Language planning in Côte d’Ivoire. Current Issues in Language Planning 1, 11–46. Heugh, K. (2003) Can authoritarian segregation give way to linguistic rights? The case of the Pan South African Language Board. Current Issues in Language Planning 4. Kaplan, R.B. and Baldauf, Jr., R.B. (1997) Language Planning from Practice to Theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Kaplan, R.B. and Baldauf, Jr., R.B. (2003) Language and Language-in-Education Planning in the Pacific Basin. Dordrecht :Kluwer. Kaplan, R.B., Baldauf, Jr., R.B., Liddicoat, A.J., Bryant, P., Barbaux, M.-T. and Pütz, M. (2000) Current issues in language planning. Current Issues in Language Planning 1, 135–144. Mühlhäusler, P. (1996) Ecological and non-ecological aproaches to language planning. In M. Hellinger and U. Ammon (eds) Contrastive Sociolinguistics (pp. 205–212). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Mühlhäusler, P. (2000) Language planning and language ecology. Current Issues in Language Planning 1, 306–367. Pennycook, A. (1998) English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London and New York: Routledge. Stroud, C. (2001) Review of R.B. Kaplan and R.B. Baldauf, Jr. (1999) Language Planning in Malawi, Mozambique and the Philippines. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Language and Education 15, 306–309. Tucker, G.R. (2001) A global perspective on bilingualism and bilingual education. In. J. Alatis and A.-H. Tan (eds) Language in our Time: Bilingual Education and Official English, Ebonics and Standard English, Immigration and the Unz Initiative (pp. 332–340). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. [Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics, 1999.]

Further Reading Botswana Arthur, J. (1996) Code switching and collusion: Classroom interaction in Botswana primary schools. Linguistics and Education: An International Research Journal 8 (1), 17–33. Arthur, J. (1997) ‘There must be something undiscovered which prevents us from doing our work well’: Botswana primary teachers’ views on educational language policy. Language and Education 11, 225–241. Arthur, J. (2001) Perspectives on educational language policy and its implementation in African classrooms: A comparative study of Botswana and Tanzania. Compare 31, 347–362. Batibo, H.M. (1997) Double allegiance between nationalism and Western modernization in language choice: The case of Botswana and Tanzania. In M. Putz (ed.) Language Choices: Conditions, Constraints, and Consequences (pp. 195–205). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Batibo, H.M. and Smieja, B. (eds) (2000) Botswana: The Future of Minority Languages. Peter Lang. Beitz, S. and Vossen, R. (1994) A trilingual model as an answer to educational problems? In search for adequate media of instruction for the pupils of Botswana. Frankfurter Afrikanistische Blatter 6, 1–8. Herbert, R.K. (1999) Review of L.-G. Andersson and T. Janson (eds) (1997) Languages in Botswana: Language Ecology in Southern Africa. Anthropological Linguistics 41, 561–563. Maruatona, T.L. (2002) A critique of centralized curricula in literacy programs: The case of Botswana. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 45, 736–745. Mpofu, S.T. and Youngman, F. (2001) The dominant tradition in adult literacy – A

Some Common Issues

13

comparative study of national literacy programmes in Botswana and Zimbabwe. International Review of Education 47, 573–595. Mundy, K. (1993) Toward a critical analysis of literacy in southern Africa. Comparative Education Review 37, 389–411. Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (1999) The National Language: A Resource or a Problem? The Implementation of the Language Policy of Botswana. Gaborone, Botswana: Pula Press. Smieja, B. (1999) Codeswitching and language shift in Botswana: Indicators for language change and language death? A progress report. ITL: Review of Applied Linguistics 123–124, 125–160. Sommer, G. (1991) Gradual language shift in Egypt and Botswana: Two case examples. [Gradueller Sprachwechsel in Agypten und Botswana: Zwei Fallbeispiele.] Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere [African Studies Working Papers] special issue, 351–368.

Malawi Chimombo, M. (1994) The language of politics in Malawi: Influences on the Chichewa vocabulary of democracy. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere [African Studies Working Papers] 38(June), 197–208. Chimombo, S. and Chimombo, M. (1996) The Culture of Democracy: Language, Literature, the Arts and Politics in Malawi, 1992–1994. Zomba, Malawi: WASI Publications. Kamwendo, G.H. (1997a) Language policy in Malawi. Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research 9(2), 203–215. Kamwendo, G.H. (1997b) Language rights in the dictatorship: The case of Malawi during Dr Banda’s rule. Language Matters 28, 36–50. Kishindo, P.J. (1996) Dr H. Kamuzu Banda’s language policy: A study in contradictions. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere [African Studies Working Papers] 48(Dec), 55–79. Kishindo, P.J. (1998) On the standardization of Citumbuka and Ciyao orthographies: Some observations. South African Journal of African Languages 18 (4), 85–91. Matiki, A.J. (2001) The social significance of English in Malawi. World Englishes 20 (2), 201–218. Schmied, J. (1996) English in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. In V. de Klerk (ed.) Focus on South Africa (pp. 301–321). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Williams, E. (1996) Reading in two languages at year five in African primary schools. Applied Linguistics 17, 182–209.

Mozambique Alves, J. and Hoisnard, J.Y. (1997) Mozambique: French in full renaissance. [Mozambique: Le francais en pleine renaissance]. Diagonales 41(Feb), 41–44. Cahen, M. (1990) Mozambique: An African nation with Portuguese as an official language? [Le Mozambique: une nation africaine de langue officielle portugaise?] Revue canadienne des etudes africaines [Canadian Journal of African Studies] 24(3), 315–347. Faulstich, E. (1995) Toward language planning of Portuguese: Portugal, Brazil, and Africa: Some reflections. [Vers la planification linguistique du portugais: Portugal, Bresil, Afrique, quelques reflexions.] Terminologies Nouvelles [New Terminologies]14(Dec), 66–76. Firmino, G.D. (1996) Revisiting the ‘language question’ in postcolonial Africa: The case of Portuguese and indigenous languages in Mozambique. Dissertation Abstracts International 57(3), 1199A. Garcez, P.M. (1995) The debatable 1990 Luso-Brazilian orthographic accord. Language Problems & Language Planning 19, 151–178. Lopes, A.J. (2001) Language revitalisation and reversal in Mozambique: The case of Xironga in Maputo. Current Issues in Language Planning 2, 259–267. Lopes, A.J., Sitoe, S.J. and Nhamuende, P. J. (2002) Moçambicanismos para um Léxico de Usos do Português Moçambicano. [Mozambicanisms in the use vocabulary of Mozambican Portuguese]. Maputo, Mozambique: Livraria Universitária, Universadade Eduardo Mondlane. Louzada, N.C.M. (1987) Mocambique: O portugues como segunda lingua no sistema

14

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

nacional de educacao [Mozambique: Portuguese as a Second Language in the National System of Education]. Trabalhos em Linguistica Aplicada [Studies in Applied Linguistics] 10, 87–96. Matsinhe, S.F. (1993) The use of African languages as medium of instruction in Mozambique: Problems and possibilities. South African Journal of African Languages/Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Afrikatale 13(supp. 2), 5–13. Mkuti, L.D. (1997) Language and education in Mozambique since 1940: Policy, implementation, and future perspectives. Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 58 (1), 65-A-66-A. Muller Bochat, E. (1996) German in the Portuguese-speaking African states, especially Mozambique. [Das Deutsche in den portugiesischsprachigen Staaten Afrikas, insbesondere Mosambik.] Etudes Germano Africaines [German-African Studies] 14, 65–69. Ngunga, A. (1999) Literacy campaigns in Mozambique: Why did they fail? Language Matters 30, 147–156. Passanisi, D.J. and Wolf, W.C., Jr. (1991) The social and political consequences of language planning in Mozambique. Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization 13 (1), 17–35. Rothwell, P. (2001) The phylomorphic linguistic tradition: Or, the siege of (the) Portuguese in Mozambique. Hispanic Research Journal 2 (2), 165–176. Schmitz, J.R. (1998) Orthographic reform, planning, and linguistic diffusion: The example of Portuguese. [Reforma ortografica, planejamento e difusao linguistica: o caso da lingua portuguesa]. Language Problems & Language Planning 22, 254–266. Stroud, C. (1999) Portuguese as ideology and politics in Mozambique: Semiotic (re)constructions of a postcolony. In J. Blommaert (ed.) Language Ideological Debates (pp. 343–380). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

South Africa Alexander, N. (1992) Language planning from below. In R. Herbert (ed.) Language and Society in Africa: The Theory and Practice of Sociolinguistics (pp. 56–68). Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. Alexander, N. (1995) Nation building and language in the new South Africa. In M. Pütz (ed.) Discrimination Through Language in Africa? Perspectives on the Nambian Experience (pp. 29–43). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Alexander, N. (2002) Linguistic rights, language planning and democracy in post-apartheid South Africa. In S.J. Baker (ed.) Language Policy: Lessons from Global Models (pp. 116–129). California: Monterey Institute. Balfour, R.J. (1999) Naming the father: Re-examining the role of English as a medium of instruction in South African education. Changing English 6 (1), 103–113. Banda, F. (2000) The dilemma of the mother tongue: Prospects for bilingual education in South Africa. Language, Culture and Curriculum 13, 51–66. Barkhuizen, G.P. (2002) Language-in-education policy: Students’ perceptions of the status and role of Xhosa and English. System 30, 499–515. Barkhuizen, G.P. and de Klerk, V. (2000) The Role of Xhosa in an Eastern Cape army camp. South African Journal of African Languages 20(2), 186–193. Bernsten, J. (2001) English in South Africa: Expansion and nativization in concert. Language Problems and Language Planning 25, 219–235. Beukes, A.M. (1996) New language council protects many South African languages. [Nuwe taalraad bewaak vele tale van SA.] Taalgenoot [Language Companion] 65 (3), 10–11. Bhola, H.S. (1992) Literacy in Southern Africa. In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 12: Literacy (pp. 243–259). New York: Cambridge University Press. Bodenstein, E.W. (1993) German as mother tongue and language of instruction in South Africa. [Deutsch als Mutter- und Unterrichtssprache in Sudafrika.] Germanistische Mitteilungen [Germanic Studies Communications] 38, 115–130. Bosch, B. (1996) Afrikaans and Afrikaans linguistics: A balancing perspective. [Afrikaans en die Afrikaanse taalkunde: ‘n gebalanseerde perspektiej.] Tydskrift vir Geesteswetenskappe [Journal of Mental Science] 36 (4), 247–257. Chick, J.K. and Wade, R. (1997) Restandardisation in the direction of a New English:

Some Common Issues

15

Implications for access and equity. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 18, 271–284. Chick, K. and McKay, S. (2001) Teaching English in multiethnic schools in the Durban area: The promotion of multilingualism or monolingualism? Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 19 (3–4), 163–178. Coetzee, A.E. (1993) The maintenance of Afrikaans in a New South Africa. AILA Review 10, 37–51. Culver, A.D. de V. (1992) Language planning models for a post-apartheid South Africa. Language Problems and Language Planning 16, 105–136. Dangor, A. (1995) South Africa after apartheid: Reclaiming Afrikaans as a language of the people. Van Taal tot Taal [From Language to Language] 39 (3), 125–127. De Kadt, E. (1993) Language, power, and emancipation in South Africa. World Englishes 12, 157–168. De Kadt, E. (1996) Language and apartheid: On the power of minorities. [Sprache und Apartheid: Zur Macht von Minderheiten.] Etudes Germano Africaines [German-African Studies]14, 25–32. De Kadt, E. (1997) McWorld versus local cultures: English in South Africa at the turn of the millennium. In L.E. Smith, M.L. Forman and S. Romaine (eds) World Englishes 2000 (pp. 146–168). Honolulu, HI: College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature University of Hawaii with East–West Center. De Kadt, E. (1998a) German as a native language in South Africa – Present state and future prospects. [Die deutsche Muttersprache in Sudafrika-Gegenwartiger Bestand und Zukunftsperspektiven.] Muttersprache [Native Language] 108 (1), 1–14. De Kadt, E. (1998b) Keeping the kitchen clean: Towards an analysis of English-medium interactions between Black people and White people in post-apartheid South Africa. Multilingua 17 (2–3), 249–276. De Klerk, G. (2002) Mother-tongue education in South Africa: The weight of history. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 154, 29–46. de Klerk, V. (ed.). (1996) Focus on South Africa Varieties of English Around the World, Volume 15. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. de Klerk, V. (1999) Black South African English: Where to from here? World Englishes 18 (3), 311–324. de Klerk, V. (2002) Changing names in the ‘new’ South Africa: A diachronic survey. Names 50 (3), 201–221. de Klerk, V. and Barkhuizen, G.P. (1998a) English in the South African defence force: A case study of 6SAI. English World Wide 19, 33–60. de Klerk, V. and Barkhuizen, G.P. (1998b) Language policy in the SANDF: A case for biting the bullet. Language Problems and Language Planning 22, 215–236. de Klerk, V. and Barkhuizen, G.P. (2001) Language usage and attitudes in a South African prison: Who calls the shots? International Journal of the Sociology of Language 152, 97–115. de Klerk, V. and Barkhuizen, G.P. (2002) English in the prison services: A case of breaking the law? World Englishes 21, 9–22. de Klerk, V. and Bosch, B. (1995) Linguistic stereotypes: Nice accent-nice person? International Journal of the Sociology of Language 116, 17–37. de Klerk, V. and Bosch, B. (1998) Afrikaans to English: A case study of language shift. South African Journal of Linguistics 16 (2), 43–51. Desai, Z. (1994) Praat or speak but don’t thetha: On language rights in South Africa. Language and Education 8, 19–29. Desai, Z. (1995) The evolution of a post-apartheid language policy in South Africa: An on-going site of struggle. European Journal of Intercultural Studies 5 (3), 18–25. Desai, Z. (2001) Multilingualism in South Africa with particular reference to the role of African languages in education. International Review of Education 47 (3–4), 323–339. Dirven, R. (1992) Attitudes of Southern African linguists toward languages and language policies. In A. Van Essen and E.I. Burkart (eds) Homage to W.R. Lee: Essays in English as a Foreign or Second Language (pp. 213–220). Berlin: Foris Publications.

16

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Dyers, C. (1999) Xhosa students’ attitudes towards Black South African languages at the University of the Western Cape. South African Journal of African Languages 19 (2), 73–82. Engelbrecht, J.T. (1978) The teaching of Bantu languages to White children in primary schools. In L.W. Lanham, K.P. Prinsloo (eds) Language and Communication Studies in South Africa: Current Issues and Directions in Research and Inquiry (pp. 219–232). Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Erasmus, G. (1998) How does the constitution protect your linguistic and cultural rights? [Hoe beskerm die Grondwet jou taal- en kultuurregte?] Taalgenoot [Language Companion] 67 (7), 6–7,31. Esterhuyse, C.J. and Groenewald, P.S. (1999) The history of the development of written Sepedi. [Die geskiedenis van die Sepediskryfwyse.] Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig [Journal for Language Teaching] 33 (4), 316–330. Finchilescu, G. and Nyawose, G. (1998) Talking about language: Zulu students’ views on language in the new South Africa. South African Journal of Psychology 28 (2), 53–61. Finlayson, R. and Madiba, M. (2002) The intellectualization of indigenous languages of South Africa: Challenges and prospects. Current Issues in Language Planning 3, 40–61. Granville, S., Janks, H., Mphahlele, M., Reed, Y., Watson, P., Joseph, M. and Ramoni, E. (1998) English with or without g(u)ilt: A position paper on language in education policy for South Africa. Language and Education 12, 254–272. Grobler, G.M.M. (1995) Creative African-language writing in South Africa: Writers unshackled after apartheid? South African Journal of African Languages 15 (2), 56–59. Hamersma, E. (1997) Afrikaans as a foreign language in South African schools: Problems and challenges. [Afrikaans as ‘n vreemde taal in Suid-Afrikaanse skole: slaggate en uitdagings.] Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig [Journal for Language Teaching] 31 (4), 284–291. Henning, E., Gravett, S. and Daniels, D. (1998) ‘Rules for another language game’ in a teacher development programme for initial reading pedagogy. Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig [Journal for Language Teaching] 32 (3), 191–199. Heugh, K. (2002) Recovering multilingualism: Recent language policy developments. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language in South Africa (pp. 449–475). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Heugh, K. (2003a) Can authoritarian segregation give way to linguistic rights? The case of the Pan South African Language Board. Current Issues in Language Planning 4. Heugh, K. (2003b) Language Policy and Democracy in South +Africa: The Prospects of Equality within Rights-based Policy and Planning. Stockholm: Stockholm University: Centre for Research on Bilingualism. Hibbert, L. and Makoni, S. (1997) The plain English campaign and South Africa. English Today 13 (2), 3–7. Holliday, L. (1993) The first language congress for Afrikaans. In J. A. Fishman (ed.) The Earliest Stage of Language Planning: The ‘First Congress’ Phenomenon (pp. 11–30). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Hornberger, N.H. (2001) Ideological paradox and intercultural possibility: Andean language-in-education policy and practice and its relevance for South Africa. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 19 (3–4), 215–230. Janks, H. (2001) Critical language awareness: Curriculum 2005 meets the TRC. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 19 (3–4), 241–252. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2000) The new South Africa, language, and ethnicity: Prognoses. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 144, 137–138. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2002a) English in South Africa at the millennium: Challenges and prospects. World Englishes 21 (1), 161–163. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2002b) Multilingualism, the judiciary and security services: Belgium, Europe, South Africa, Southern Africa. World Englishes 21, 165–174. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2002c) The social history of English in South Africa. World Englishes 21, 1–8. Kaschula, R.H. (1999) South Africa’s language policy in relation to the OAU’s language plan of action for Africa. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 136, 63–75. Kriel, M. (1997) Language and morals: The nationalist and religious moral values underlying linguistic purism. [Taal en sedes: die nasionalistiese en religieus-morele

Some Common Issues

17

waardes onderliggend aan taalpurisme.] South African Journal of Linguistics 15 (3), 75–85. Lubbe, J. and Du Plessis, T. (2001) Debate around the interpretation of the official language policy principles of the interim constitution in the printed media: A content analysis. [Die debat rondom die vertolking van die amptelike taalbeleidsbeginsels van die oorgangsgrondwet in die gedrukte media: ‘n inhoudsontleding.] Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 19 (1–2), 23–41. Maake, N.P. (1991) Language and politics in South Africa with reference to the dominance of the Nguni languages. English Studies in Africa 34 (2), 55–64. Madiba, M. (1999) Multilingualism and nation-building in the ‘New’ South Africa: Problems and issues. Language Matters 30, 59–81. Madiba, M. (2001) Towards a model for terminology modernisation in the African languages of South Africa. Language Matters 32, 53–77. Maher, G. (1998) ‘We should not have to keep correcting the record’. English Today 14 (1), 35–36. Makoni, S.B. (1993) Mother-tongue education: A literature review and proposed research design. South African Journal of African Languages/Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Afrikatale 13 (3), 89–94. Makoni, S.B. (1995) Deconstructing the discourses about language in language planning in South Africa. South African Journal of African Languages 15 (2), 84–88. Manie, F. (1998) The dominant role of English in multi-language South Africa. Modern English Teacher 7 (1), 67–70. Martin, D. (1997) Towards a new multilingual language policy in education in South Africa: Different approaches to meet different needs. Educational Review 49 (2), 129–139. Matsela, Z.A. (1995) Empowerment of the masses through the use of African languages. In M. Pütz (ed.), Discrimination Through Language in Africa? Perspectives on the Nambian Experience (pp. 45–56). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Mawasha, A.L. (1996) Teaching African languages to speakers of other South African languages: Operationalising the new democratic language policy in South Africa. Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig/Journal for Language Teaching 30 (1), 35–41. McArthur, T. (1999) English in the world, in Africa, and in South Africa. English Today 15 (1), 11–16. McCormick, K. (1994) Language policy issues in South Africa. ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED391354, 13 pp. McKay, S. and Chick, K. (2001) Positioning learners in post-apartheid South African schools: A case study of selected multicultural Durban schools. Linguistics and Education 12, 393–408. Mda, T.V. (1997) Issues in the making of South Africa’s language in education policy. Journal of Negro Education 66, 366–375. Mesthrie, R. (1999) A new English for a new South Africa? Language attitudes, language planning and education. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 136, 142–143. Mesthrie, R. and McCormick, K. (1999) Introduction. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 136, 1–6. Meyer, D. (1997) The languages of learning: Current practice and its implications for language policy implementation. Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig [Journal for Language Teaching] 31 (3), 226–237. Meyer, D. (1998) What teachers say they want, what they actually do and its implications for language in education policy. Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig [Journal for Language Teaching] 32 (1), 1–17. Mfusi, M.J.H. (1992) Soweto Zulu slang: A sociolinguistic study of an urban vernacular in Soweto. English Usage in Southern Africa 23, 39–83. Miller-Ockhuizen, A. and Sands, B.E. (1999) !Kung as a linguistic construct. Language & Communication 19 (4), 401–413. Mkonto, B.B. (1996) The positive side of obscene language usage in Xhosa literature: A libertarian view. South African Journal of African Languages 16 (3), 93–96. Mmusi, S. (1998a) On the eleven-official languages policy of the new South Africa. In D.A.

18

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Kibbee (ed.) Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights: Selected Proceedings of the Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights Conference, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, March, 1996 (pp. 225–239). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Moller, L.A. (1995) Criteria for proposed names changes. Nomina Africana 9 (1), 86–106. Morphet, T. (1996) Afterword. In M. Prinsloo and M. Breier (eds) The Social Uses of Literacy: Theory and Practice in Contemporary South Africa (pp. 257–264). Bertsham, South Africa: Sached Books. Moyo, T. (2001) Problems in implementing instructional languages: Why the language-in-education policy will fail. Language Matters 32, 97–114. Mtuze, P.T. (1993) The language practitioner in a multilingual South Africa. South African Journal of African Languages [Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Afrikatale] 13 (2), 47–52. Mundy, K. (1993) Toward a critical analysis of literacy in southern Africa. Comparative Education Review 37 (4), 389–411. Mutasa, D.E. (1996) The problems of standardizing spoken dialects: The Shona experience. Language Matters 27, 79–93. Mutasa, D.E. (1999) Language policy and language practice in South Africa: An uneasy marriage. Language Matters 30, 83–98. Mutasa, D.E. (2000) Language policy and language use in South Africa: An uneasy marriage. South African Journal of African Languages 20 (3), 217–224. Napier, D.B. (2003) Language issues in South African education, identity and democratization. In P.M. Ryan and R. Terborg (eds) Language: Issues of Inequality (pp. 41–75). Mexico City: Centro de Enseñanza de Leguas Extranjeras, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Nkabinde, A.C. (1998) The designation of official languages in the South African constitution. South African Journal of African Languages 18 (3), 78–79. Ntlhakana, P. (2000) People’s English: Language policy in South Africa and its impact on English in education. English Today 16 (2), 11–17. Oberprieler, G. (1994) Language policy for a post-apartheid South Africa: Models and questions. In C.A. Blackshire-Belay (ed.) The Germanic Mosaic: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Society (pp. 181–194). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Ormeling, F. (1997) Cartographic problems in a multilingual society: Mapping the new South Africa’s placenames. Nomina Africana 11 (1), 37–49. Peirce, B.N. (1992) English, difference, and democracy in South Africa. TESOL Matters 2 (3), 19. Peirce, B.N. and Ridge, S.G.M. (1997) Multilingualism in Southern Africa. In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 17: Multilingualism (pp. 170–190). New York: Cambridge University Press. Penn, C. and Reagan, T. (1990) How do you sign ‘apartheid’? The politics of South African Sign Language. Language Problems and Language Planning 14, 91–103. Penn, C. and Reagan, T. (1994) The properties of South African Sign Language: Lexical diversity and syntactic unity. Sign Language Studies, 319–327. Phillipson, R. (1996) Linguistic imperialism: African perspectives. English Language Teaching Journal 50 (2), 160–167. Pieterse, H. (1995) Alternative Afrikaans. Language Matters 26, 59–84. Prabhakaran, V. (1997) The parameters of maintenance of the Telugu language in South Africa. Language Matters 28, 51–80. Raidt, E.H. (1996) Afrikaans as a scientific language [Afrikaans as wetenskapstaal]. Tydskrift vir Geesteswetenskappe [Journal of Mental Science] 36 (4), 239–242. Reagan, T. (1986) The role of language policy in South African education. Language Problems and Language Planning 10, 1–13. Reagan, T. (2000) A South African perspective: Second language teaching and learning in the university. In J.W. Rosenthal (ed.) Handbook of Undergraduate Second Language Education (pp. 253–275). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Reagan, T. (2001) The promotion of linguistic diversity in multilingual settings: Policy and reality in post-apartheid South Africa. Language Problems and Language Planning 25, 51–72.

Some Common Issues

19

Reed, Y. (2002) Language(s) of reflection in teacher development programmes in South Africa. World Englishes 21 (1), 37–48. Ridge, S.G.M. (2000) Mixed motives: Ideological elements in the support for English in South Africa. In T. Ricento (ed.) Ideology Politics and Language Policies: Focus on English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Sacks, V. (2000) Can law protect language? Law, language and human rights in the South African constitution. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 4 (4), 343–368. Setati, M., Adler, J., Reed, Y. and Bapoo, A. (2002) Incomplete journeys: Code-switching and other language practices in mathematics, science and English language classrooms in South Africa. Language and Education 16, 128–149. Smit, B. (1994) German as a foreign language in a post-apartheid education system. Deutschunterricht im Sudlichen Afrika [German Instruction in Southern Africa] 25 (1), 51–58. Smit, U. (1996) South African English in the 1990s: A field study on status, roles and attitudes. English World Wide 17 (1), 77–109. Steyn, J.C. (1996a) Afrikaner nationalism and choosing between Afrikaans and Dutch as cultural language [Afrikanernasionalisme en die keuse tussen Afrikaans en Nederlands as kultuurtaal]. South African Journal of Linguistics 14 (1), 7–24. Steyn, J.C. (1997) The position of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction and the subject Afrikaans and Dutch at Universities [Die posisie van Afrikaans as voertaal en die vak Afrikaans en Nederlands aan universiteite]. Tydskrift vir Geesteswetenskappe [Journal of Mental Science] 37 (4), 236–247. Steyn, J.C. (1998) Review article: Afrikaans as heard by the Dutch. Our Afrikaans language shame. [Resensie-artikel: Afrikaans hoort by Nederlands. Ons Afrikaanse taalverdriet.] Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig [Journal for Language Teaching] 32 (2), 142–147. Steyn, J.C. (2001) Afrikaans 2000: New success stories and set-backs [Afrikaans 2000: nuwe suksesverhale en terugslae]. Tydskrift vir Geesteswetenskappe [Journal of Mental Science] 41 (2), 118–132. Strike, N. (1996) Talking our way out of the laager: Foreign languages in South African education. Language Matters 27, 253–264. Sukumane, J.B. (1998) Language policy in education and the future of indigenous languages in post-apartheid South Africa. In D.A. Kibbee (ed.) Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights: Selected Proceedings of the Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights Conference, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, March, 1996 (pp. 248–260). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Thornycroft, P. (2000) Another revolution? The South African languages conundrum. Linguist 39 (1), 16–18. Titlestad, P.J.H. (1996) English, the constitution and South Africa’s language future. In V. de Klerk (ed.), Focus on South Africa (pp. 163–173). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Titlestad, P.J.H. (1998) South Africa’s language ghosts. English Today 14 (2), 33–39. Van der Walt, C. (1997) English as a language of learning in South Africa: Whose English? Whose culture? Language Awareness 6 (2–3), 183–197. Van der Walt, J.L. and Van Rooy, B. (2002) Towards a norm in South African Englishes. World Englishes 21 (1), 113–128. Van Huyssteen, L. (1999) Problems regarding term creation in the South African African languages, with special reference to Zulu. South African Journal of African Languages 19 (3), 179–187. Venter, D. (1998) Silencing babel? Language preference in voluntary associations – Evidence from multi-cultural congregations. Society in Transition 29 (1–2), 22–39. Verhoef, M. (1996a) The influence of political determinants on the recent language debate concerning Afrikaans [Politieke determinante in die hedendaagse gesprek oor Afrikaans]. Literator 17 (3), 29–43. Verhoef, M. (1997) The transformation of Afrikaans – A review of the media debate of the last decade [Die transformasie van Afrikaans-die afgelope dekade se mediadebat in oenskou]. Literator 18 (1), 1–19. Verhoef, M. (1998a) Functional multilingualism in South Africa: An unattainable ideal?

20

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

[Funksionele meertaligheid in Suid-Afrika: ‘n onbereikbare ideaal?] Literator 19 (1), 35–50. Verhoef, M. (1998b) In pursuit of multilingualism in South Africa. Multilingua 17 (2–3), 181–196. Verhoef, M. (1998c) Toward a theory of language attitude planning in South Africa [‘n Teoretiese aanloop tot taalgesindheidsbeplanning in Suid-Afrika]. South African Journal of Linguistics 16 (1), 27–33. Visser, H. (1998) The right to go to your native language school [Die reg om in jou moedertaal skool te gaan.] Taalgenoot [Language Companion] 67 (3), 6–7. Watermeyer, S. (1996) Afrikaans English. In V. de Klerk (ed.) Focus on South Africa (pp. 99–124). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Webb, V. (1992a) Language attitudes in South Africa: Implications for a post-apartheid democracy. In M. Pütz (ed.) Thirty Years of Linguistic Evolution: Studies in Honour of Rene Dirven on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday (pp. 429–460). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Webb, V. (1994a) Language policy and planning in South Africa. In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 14: Language Policy and Planning (pp. 254–273). New York: Cambridge University Press. Webb, V. (1994b) Revalorizing the autochthonous languages of Africa, In M, Pütz (ed.) Language Contact and Language Conflict (pp. 181–203). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Webb, V. (1995) The technicalization of the autochthonous languages of South Africa: Constraints from a present day perspective. In M. Pütz (ed.) Discrimination Through Language in Africa? Perspectives on the Nambian Experience (pp. 83–100). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Webb, V. (1996a) English and language planning in South Africa: The flip-side. In V. de Klerk (ed.) Focus on South Africa (pp. 175–190). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Webb, V. (1996b) Language planning and politics in South Africa. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 118, 139–162. Webb, V. (2002) English as a Second Language in South Africa’s Tertiary institutions: A case study at the University of Pretoria. World Englishes 21 (1), 49–61. Webb, V.N. (2002) Language in South Africa: The Role of Language in National Transformation, Reconstruction and Development. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Webb, V. and Kriel, M. (2000) Afrikaans and Afrikaner Nationalism. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 144, 19–49. Wessels, M. (1996) Language of learning in South African State Schools and educational publishing: The current crisis. Language Matters 27, 159–196. Wright, L. (1996) The standardisation question in Black South African English. In V. de Klerk (ed.) Focus on South Africa (pp. 149–162). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

The Language Situation in Botswana Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo Faculty of Education, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana This monograph provides an overview of the language situation in Botswana.1 It describes the language profile of the country, including the number of languages and dialects spoken, the number of speakers of each language and the various roles each language plays in society. The paper provides a historical development of languagein-education policies. The objectives of learning, methods of assessment and language use in the media also are examined. The third part of the monograph describes language planning and implementation efforts and the agencies involved in the planning process and the development of legislation. There is tension between policy formulation and implementation, and an imbalance in social justice. Majority communities are treated as minority communities based on the language(s) they speak. While pressure from the civil society has led government to make progressive policy decisions, there is no intrinsic motivation for their implementation. Non-governmental organisations are encouraged by these positive policy decisions but their efforts are frustrated by covertly negative attitudes to change from the leadership. There is a need for commitment from the leadership to support the preservation of all languages spoken in Botswana. Currently an assimilationist model permeates the social, economic, political and cultural aspects of life in Botswana.

Introduction The monograph has elements of a descriptive study and a case study, in that it describes the language situation in Botswana. Specifically, it describes the language profile of Botswana, the spread of Setswana, language planning and policy activities and both formal and informal efforts to promote and preserve the languages of the country. Data utilised for this work were collected from January 1989 to September 1990. This data collection process covered language planning activities since independence, mainly in the period between 1977 to 1990, when government was in the process of implementing the recommendations of the first National Commission on Education (NCE 1). The Commission had reviewed the education system from independence until 1976. It completed its work in 1977 and its recommendations, contained in the Government White Paper No.1 of 1977: National Policy on Education, were endorsed by Parliament in August of the same year (Republic of Botswana, 1977). Data for this monograph were further updated between June 1996 and May 1998. This was after the completion of the work of the Second National Commission on Education (NCE 2). This Commission reviewed the education system between 1978 and 1991. The subsequent endorsement of its recommendations, contained in the Government White Paper No.2 of 1994: The Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE), came out in 1994 (Republic of Botswana, 1994). These two documents provide language policy directions as part of the overall education policy. The study also has utilised data that were collected for the Directory of Language Bodies in Eastern and Southern Africa coordinated by Kamanakao Association on behalf of the International Development Research Center, Nairobi office, from January to 21 The Language Situation in Botswana

22

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

September 1999. The study therefore presents the language situation in Botswana as it was up to October 1999. Formal interviews with policy makers and practitioners in the schools provided the data for the formulation and implementation of the language policies in education and society. Observations from social domains, social services, the media and the Government Printer’s Department provided data for the implementation of the language policy in society and the use of Setswana and English by the government. An analysis of policy documents and literature in the areas of language planning, bilingual education, literacy, religion, the media and historical accounts has provided baseline data on language policy formulation and implementation by both government and non-governmental organisations. The editors of Current Issues in Language Planning have provided a format for the presentation of this data to facilitate comparability with other polities.

Background Botswana is situated in the centre of Southern Africa. It shares borders with Zimbabwe, to the east, Namibia to the west and part of the north, South Africa to the south and Zambia to the north (Map 1). It is landlocked and most of its goods come through South African seaports. It straddles the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern African plateau (Republic of Botswana, 1997: 8:3). Botswana is about 1000 m above sea level and the land area is 582,000 km2 (222,000 sq. miles), about the size of Kenya or France. Most of Botswana is flat with a few rocky outcrops and undulations (Republic of Botswana, 1997: 8:3). In the north-west district is the Okavango Delta, an area of wetlands measuring 16,000 km2 (6106 sq. miles) (Tlou, 1985), with a variety of wildlife and birds. To the west is the Kalahari desert also blessed with wildlife. In the central part of the country are the Makgadikgadi saltpans. All of these areas attract tourists. The climate is often described as arid or semi-arid as the country is situated close to the high-pressure belt of the southern hemisphere. The minimum rainfall ranges between 250 mm in the south-west and 650 mm in the north-east. Most rains come between December and March. There are mainly two seasons: winter (May to July) and summer (August to April). Minimum temperatures range between 33 degrees Celsius in January and 22 degrees in July (96–74º F). Maximum temperatures range between 43 degrees and 32 degrees Celsius (116–74º F). Botswana’s economy is largely supported by the mining industry. At independence, Botswana was considered one of the poorest countries of the world. However, in 1967, diamonds were discovered at Orapa, one of the largest known kimberlites in the world, and later at Letlhakane and Jwaneng. Copper and nickel were also discovered at Selibe-Phikwe. Currently Botswana has three diamond mines, two copper and nickel smelters, a coal mine, soda ash and a salt extraction plant. Mining has transformed the economy to one of the fastest growing in Africa. Available data indicates that in 1994/95 mineral resources contributed 34% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 74. 9% of the country’s export earnings. It also contributed over 50% of government revenues (Republic of Botswana, 1997). The beef industry has contributed to the economy as well. For

The Language Situation in Botswana

23

Map 1 Botswana’s location in Southern Africa and other features (Wayeyi areas, mining towns)

instance, in 1994/95, it contributed 3.7% of the GDP, a decline from the record 40% before the mining era. Most of the beef is sold to the European Union. The population of Botswana remains rural and a large part of it depends on agriculture for its living, mainly subsistence farming, crop production and cattle rearing. Agriculture also contributes about two per cent of formal employment. Other sources of revenue are manufacturing, tourism, transport and construction. There are efforts to diversify the economy to reduce dependency on diamonds. These efforts include encouraging foreign investments in areas such as manufacturing and tourism. Before the advent of the British to Botswana, the system of governance was through chieftainship. Each tribe had a chief with absolute powers (Somolekae & Lekorwe, 1998). Some tribes, which lived in smaller groups, would have a leader for each group with absolute powers, whom they would refer to as chief or elder. Chieftainship is hereditary from the male line in most Setswana speaking tribes. The chief’s eldest son would inherit the position. In matrilineal tribes, such as the

24

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Wayeyi, chieftainship was hereditary from the female line. In other words, the chieftainship would pass to the chief’s sister’s eldest son. Chiefs command a lot of respect amongst their people and other tribes. A chief had responsibilities for his people as well. He had to protect his people from war, hunger and other natural disasters. He was to perform ceremonies to launch the hunting and the ploughing seasons. He was a medicine man who would perform certain religious practices for his people to protect them from disease and mishap. He would also marry people, distribute land, and mediate disputes (Mgadla & Campbell, 1989; Mgadla, 1998). Naturally, a chief would have assistants in the form of sub-chiefs. In most cases, these would be close relatives. He would also have his mophato (a team of his age peers). The chief had to be generous, sensitive to the rule of law and had to live up to the expectations of his people. The expression kgosi ke kgosi ka batho (a chief is only a chief because of his people) was the fundamental principle. Without the support of his people, he was nothing, and so it was critical for him not to abuse his powers. In January 1885, the British enforced an Order in Council that declared their intention to occupy southern Botswana. In 1890, this order was extended to the northern part of the country, and actual colonial rule began. The motive behind the order was to keep the Germans from occupying the area as had already occurred in South-West Africa in 1884 (Ramsay, 1998). Through this order, Britain informed Botswana chiefs that the British were coming to protect them from the Germans. This meant that the protectorate was actually imposed on the chiefs; it was not requested as has been stated in some historical accounts (Ramsay, 1998). Three of the chiefs were summoned to England for consultations on the acceptance of the protectorate. These were Kgosi (Chief) Khama III of the Bamangwato tribe in the Central District, Chief Gaseitsiwe I of the Bangwaketse tribe in the south-western part of the country and Chief Sechele I of the Bakwena tribe. While Khama III embraced the idea, the others accepted it with some degree of reluctance (Ramsay, 1998). During the period between 1885 and 1965 the country was known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The British divided it into nine reserves each led by its chief. While traditionally the chiefs had had complete legislative, executive and judicial powers, the Order in Council of 1890 transferred those powers to the British High Commissioner. The chiefs were no longer recognised as the ‘sovereigns of the soil’. Land concessions were awarded to the British South African Company, which came in and forced out other companies. Queen Victoria was regarded as the ‘sovereign of the soil’. Another Order in Council of 1891 gave more legislative powers to the High Commissioner to enact laws for the administration of justice. However, he was cautioned to be sensitive to native laws as long as they were not in conflict with the interests of the British. In 1895, the three chiefs previously mentioned sent a petition to London, resisting the erosion of their powers on their own lands, but this was ignored. By this time, their role had been reduced to the collection of a hut tax to raise funds for the running of the colony. In 1934 the most direct piece of legislation, the Native Administration Proclamation, was introduced; it reduced the powers of chiefs and changed Tswana custom and law. It required the chief’s successor to be appointed by the whole tribe and to be recognised by the High Commissioner (Somolekae & Lekorwe, 1998). This eroded the hereditary aspect of chieftainship and subjected the appointment of the chief to the

The Language Situation in Botswana

25

THE CONSTITUTION

The Legislature

The Executive

H.E. The President National Assembly

H.E. The President Cabinet

House of Chiefs

VP

The Judiciary

Court of Appeal

High Court

Magistrates Courts Permanent Secretary to the President

Clerk of National Assembly

Office of the President

Attorney General’s Chamber

Administrator of Justice

Ministries

Figure 1 Top central government in Botswana

approval of the High Commissioner. It enabled the British to select chiefs who were sympathetic to their interests and not necessarily to those of their people. Consequently, the High Commissioner could hire and fire chiefs. The Native Tribunal Proclamation No. 75 of 1934 further eroded the legislative and judicial powers of chiefs. Chiefs’ responsibility to hear cases of rape, murder and homicide was removed. These powers were maintained after independence and the essence of all these pieces of legislation are still alive within the current regulations. Chiefs and sub-chiefs are employees of the Ministry of Local Government which has the power to dismiss them. The constitution of Botswana provides every citizen with fundamental rights and freedoms. It is based on the four national principles of democracy, unity, development, and self-reliance. Elections are held every five years. It provides for the legislative, executive and judicial structure (Figure 1). The legislative 25

26

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Map 2 Botswana tribal distribution by district (Source: Nyati-Ramahobo, 1999a: 83)

structure consists of the national assembly, composed of 40 members of Parliament, one from each constituency. In addition to elected members of Parliament, four are especially elected by Parliament to provide for special skills and expertise critical to the proceedings of Parliament. This was the situation in Parliament after the October 1999 elections. The number of women increased from two to eight, four of whom are ministers, two are assistant ministers and two were especially elected. The legislative branch also contains the House of Chiefs. Currently there are 15 members of the House. Eight of them are Paramount Chiefs of the eight Setswana speaking tribes (see Table 1 in Note 1), meaning that they are chiefs by birth. Four are elected sub-chiefs from areas where languages other than

The Language Situation in Botswana

27

Setswana are spoken that do not fall under any of the eight Paramount Chiefs; these include the North-east, Kgalagadi, Gantsi and Chobe districts (Map 2). Those tribes in the North-west, including the Hambukushu, Herero, Subia, Wayeyi, Baciriku (Baqcereku), and Basarwa are represented and ruled by the Batawana and are regarded as such (Map 2). The House elects three additional members by special election. Tribes, whose members do not speak Setswana as mother tongue, are not allowed to be represented by their Paramount Chiefs. They have to be represented by someone who speaks Setswana as a first language. This is an attempt to assimilate everyone into the Setswana language and culture. The House of Chiefs is highly symbolic, as its role is to express the total culture of the country and to influence policy from a cultural point of view. The current composition of the House has been challenged since independence as it denies other ethnic groups the opportunity to contribute to the decision-making process. Furthermore, it violates the democratic principle of representation. The continued imposition of chiefs and sub-chiefs from one tribe on another has been a matter of contention since independence. In some areas of the country, even for some of the eight so-called major tribes, tribe members are ruled by others. This has provoked some resistance; for example, the Bakgatla living in the Bakwena area are resisting the Bakwena rule and the Barolong in the Bangwaketsi area are also resisting Bangwaketsi rule. Many observers have called for an increase in the numbers in the House of Chiefs to make it more inclusive (Molutsi, 1998a). The issue of chieftainship has also been highly politicised. Since most people in the country still hold their chiefs in respect, they tend to vote for the party to which their chief is sympathetic. As chiefs are government employees, they naturally pay allegiance to the government. This is one of the factors that has led Botswana to be described as a one party state (Molutsi, 1994). Under these circumstances, there is little prospect for other parties to gain widespread support. As long as people respect their chiefs as the custodians of their cultures, and as long as the ruling party ensures the loyalty of all civil servants, the status quo is likely to remain (Molutsi, 1998b). Chiefs who have not showed sympathy for the ruling party have been intimidated. For instance, the paramount chief of the Bangwaketsi, Chief Seepapitso IV, has been a supporter of the opposition Botswana National Front (BNF), and that area supports the BNF. Having supported the opposition for a long time, the Minister for Local Government suspended him in 1994 (Somolekae & Lekorwe, 1998). It was only after a court battle that he was returned to a position of power. As chieftainship is related to ethnicity and language, it is against the above background that government continues to promote an assimilationist policy. If everyone were Tswana speaking, then everybody would be loyal to the ruling party, as long as it is led by a Mongwato (Table 1, see Note 1). After the death of Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana, who was the chief of the Bamangwato tribe, President Masire who is a Mongwaketsi had to appease the Bamangwato by appointing Seretse’s cousin, Lenyeletsi Seretse to the Vice-Presidency. Equally, in 1999 President Mogae had to appease the Bamangwato by appointing Seretse Khama’s son, Ian Khama to the Vice-Presidency. Ian Khama was also expected to use his chieftainship to the Bamangwato throne and his father’s charisma to win the elections for the ruling party, which had lost face in

28

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

the 1994 general elections. Issues of ethnicity, language and chieftainship will continue to dominate the political debate in the country. The modernist assimilationist model enshrined within Sections 77 to 79 of the constitution, the Chieftainship Act and the Tribal Land Territories Act fosters their continued prominence. The legislative wing of government is therefore made up of the National Assembly and the House of Chiefs (Figure 1). There is also the Speaker of the National Assembly who is elected by the assembly. The Attorney General is also selected from the National Assembly to advise Parliament on legal matters. The second wing of the Government is the Executive. It is made up of the President and his cabinet ministers and the Permanent Secretary to the President who is in charge of the civil service. Finally, there is the Judiciary, which includes the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Magistrate Courts and the Administrator of Justice (Figure 1).

Part I: The Language Profile of Botswana Theoretical Framework Skutnabb-Kangas & Phillipson (1989) describe language rights as existing on a continuum from assimilation to maintenance. On this continuum, there are laws and regulations, which may prohibit, tolerate, prescribe non-discrimination, permit or promote the use of minority languages, either overtly or covertly. They give the United States as an example of a covert assimilation-prohibition situation based on Senator Huddleston’s draft English language amendment which reads ‘The English language shall be the official language of the United States’ (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1990: 27). This proposed legislation was meant to assimilate all other groups to English and prohibit them from using their own languages. Other languages are not mentioned and that means that they are indirectly or covertly prohibited.2 An assimilation-tolerance model exists when the law prescribes one language but provides room for other languages without any commitment to them. An example of this model is Zimbabwe where minority languages such as Karanga are used on the radio without any commitment to their development for use in other social domains. An example of a maintenance-permission continuum on the other hand, is South Africa. The Freedom Charter of 1955, also upheld in the current legislation, stated that ‘All people shall have equal rights to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs’. The intention is to maintain as many languages as possible, hence permitting their development. In the discussion in Part III of this monograph, I note that the constitution of Botswana is silent on language policy. However, Sections 61(d) and 79(c) of the constitution state that the ability to speak and read English are requirements for one to be a member of the House of Chiefs or the National Assembly. This indicates that English is the only language that is permitted for use in Parliament and the House of Chiefs. The constitution therefore covertly prohibits the use of other languages. In 1998, Setswana was permitted to be used in Parliament; this was a

The Language Situation in Botswana

29

move from prohibition to tolerance for Setswana on the assimilation continuum. However, the use of other languages is still prohibited. The Botswana case, therefore, can best be described as assimilation prohibition, in which speakers of other languages are prohibited from using their languages while having to assimilate to Setswana and English. Practice over the past 33 years further indicates that only Setswana and English are permitted for use in social domains including education. Le Roux (1997) has described three types of assimilation. The first he calls assimilation, a one-way process in which minority groups give up their languages, cultures and traditions and assume those of the dominant group. He calls this model the ‘ice-cream plus salt theory’. The second is, amalgamation, also called the melting pot, another type of assimilation in which minority and majority cultures mix to form a new and unique culture, with characteristics distinct from the original cultures. Finally, he describes structural assimilation or the ‘blender’ approach in which there is total rejection of any kind of grouping on the basis of religion, language, ethnicity and so on. This is also called the ‘open community’ ideology. Under this approach, groups have no rights and individual rights are regarded as the core of social order. Proponents of this approach believe that group rights restrict individual rights to some extent, and they regard assimilation and amalgamation as anti-pluralistic. As this monograph demonstrates, the Botswana government has adopted the assimilation approach in which speakers of languages other than Setswana must assimilate into the culture of Setswana speaking groups. Ruiz (1984) proposed three orientations towards language planning. These are: language as a problem, a resource or a right. He believes that ‘basic orientations toward language and its role in society influence the nature of language planning efforts in any particular context’ (Ruiz, 1984: 15). He defines orientations as a ‘complex of dispositions toward language and its role – which are related to language attitudes in that they constitute the framework in which attitudes are formed’ (Ruiz, 1984: 16). Orientations are largely at the subconscious level but could be inferred from existing policies and practices. As Table 2 indicates, how language planners view language determines the strategies they employ to address language problems. When language planners view language diversity as a problem, they adopt the assimilation model. In status planning their goal would be to eradicate minority languages and corpus planning activities would be characterised by the development of the national language only and neglect of minority languages. Under the influence of this orientation, acquisition planning activities would involve teaching and developing materials in the national language only. When planners or policy makers view language as a right, their status planning activities would include the recognition of minority languages and give overt permission to speakers of those languages to use them. In corpus planning, efforts would be made to develop and standardise minority languages to facilitate acquisition planning. Children speaking minority languages would be allowed to learn in their mother tongue. When linguistic diversity is viewed as a resource, policy statements in status planning would be geared towards the development, preservation

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

30

Table 2 Language planning types, orientations and goals (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1998b: 55) Orientations Problem

Right

Resource

Assimilation

Linguistic affirmation

Linguistic pluralism

Status planning (Language functions)

Minority eradication

Recognise minority Preserve and develop as many languages as possible

Corpus planning (Language structure)

Standardisation of the national language only and neglect of minority language

Extension of Graphisation and minority languages standardisation of minority languages lexically and sociolinguistically

Acquisition planning (Language learning)

Curriculum development and teaching of the national language only; learning in minority languages

Curriculum development and teaching and learning in minority languages

Goals: Types

Human resource development, material production, literacy skills

and use of as many languages as possible. More languages would be given functions within the life of the nation, such as for use in churches, voting, the media and many other social domains, as is the case in South Africa. Corpus planners would then develop written forms of as many languages as possible. Acquisition planning process would produce teaching materials to facilitate learning of these various languages. Table 2 indicates the relationship between language planning orientations, goals and types of planning. Nyati-Ramahobo (1999a) maintains that language planning in Botswana has been influenced by the orientation of language diversity being viewed as problem, in which minority languages, cultures and identities must be eradicated. All children must learn Setswana and use it as medium of instruction. They must assimilate to the Setswana language and culture. Democracy demands that group rights be granted and, consequently, groups such the youth, women and the disabled are supported. Similarly minority group rights have to be tolerated and groups should be allowed to form registered organisations along ethnic and linguistic lines. Such rights would create tensions between an assimilationist model and democracy. One of the reasons why ethnic identities have not disappeared is that within a democracy people can no longer be imprisoned for developing and using their languages. This issue is discussed further in the role of non-governmental organisations in language maintenance in Part Four of this monograph. Major and minor languages English is the official language of Botswana. It permeates the social, economic and cultural lives of all educated Batswana and the government prefers the use of

The Language Situation in Botswana

31

English to any other language in the country. Setswana is the main language of Botswana. Some scholars estimate that it is spoken by about 80% of the population as a first language (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986, also refer to Map 1). Others maintain that, taken individually, most Tswana speaking tribes are minorities in Botswana, while collectively they may or may not form a majority over non-Tswana tribes taken together (Mpho, 1987). For instance, Parsons (1985: 27) maintains that the concept of Tswanadom that is both philosophical and territorial has led many observers to assume that Botswana is a mono-ethnic state . . . [but] only in so far as the Tswana minority has successfully imposed its culture on the majority population of the extreme diverse origins…[and even then] ethnic identities have not disappeared. However, because of this imposition, speakers of the eight dialects, which make up the Setswana language, are regarded as the majority tribes in the country. The Chieftainship Act, Cap.41: 01 (Republic of Botswana, 1965) states that ‘tribe means, the Bamangwato Tribe, the Batawana Tribe, the Bakgatla Tribe, the Bakwena Tribe, the Bangwaketse Tribe, the Bamalete Tribe, the Barolong Tribe and the Batlokwa Tribe’ (41:3) (refer to Table 1, Category one). The Tribal Territories Act (Cap.32: 03 (Republic of Botswana, 1965) also defines tribal territory with respect to these tribes meaning that only those tribes are sovereigns of the land. Most of these tribes originated from South Africa during the Difaqane wars in the 1820s and 1830s (Tlou & Campbell, 1984: 101; Ncqocqo, 1979; Ramsay et al., 1996: 61). The Bakwena, Bangwato and Bangwaketsi are the descendants of Malope (Tlou, 1998), which in the 1800s became separate tribes by the Difaqane wars. Currently, the Bangwaketsi live in the south-western part of Botswana while the Bangwato (or the Bamangwato) live in the central and the Bakwena in the southern part (Map 2). About 10% of the population now speak Setswana as a second language (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986). Other tribes speak languages that are regarded as sub-dialects of Setswana. However, the speakers regard themselves as autonomous tribes. These are the Babirwa, Batswapong, Bahurutshe, Bakhurutshe and Bapedi. Most of these tribes also originated from South Africa and live on the eastern border of Botswana with South Africa. By 1800, the Bapedi had settled throughout the Central District, and in 1913 the Bakhurutshe moved to the interior of the Central District (Ramsay et al., 1996: 15). The Bahurutshe live in the Kweneng District closer to the Southern border of the two countries (Table 1, Category 2 and 3). Other language groups include Bakalaka, Basarwa, Wayeyi, Hambukushu, Baherero, Basubiya, Baciriku, Bakgalagadi, Bakgothu, Bashaga and Banabjwa (Map 2, also Table 1, Category 3). It is estimated that these groups make up about 15 to 20% of the population (Obondo-Okoyo & Sabone, 1986; Janson & Tsonope, 1991: 86–7). They speak different languages that are neither related to Setswana nor mutually intelligible. The Basarwa group is made up of about seventeen San ethnic groups who speak different languages (Appendix 1). All the tribes described in the previous paragraph are regarded as minority tribes. The terms minority and majority have, by definition, no numerical significance in Botswana. What determines whether a tribe is major or minor is whether it belongs to one of the eight Setswana tribes and speak one of the eight Setswana

32

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

dialects. For instance, the Bakalaka are believed to be the largest tribe in the Central District, and yet they are regarded as a minority tribe because they speak Ikalanga, which is not related to Setswana. The Wayeyi constitute about 40% of the population of the Ngamiland district (Anderson & Janson, 1997; also refer to Kamanakao web-site in the reference section). By contrast, the Batawana constitute one per cent of the population and yet the former are regarded as a minority tribe and the latter as a majority tribe. The Batawana rule over the Wayeyi, and the Batawana Paramount Chief represents the Wayeyi in the House of Chiefs. The government does not recognise the Wayeyi Paramount Chief and this matter is presently before the High Court. The Balete and Batlokwa have small populations occupying one village, and yet they are regarded as majority tribes and are represented by their Paramount Chiefs in the House of Chiefs. The general pattern is that Setswana speaking groups rule over all the non-Setswana tribes. The village capital of the major tribe is the capital of all the other tribes nearest to it. It is the place where government services are provided irrespective of the distance to be travelled. This is the way in which linguistic imperialism has penetrated the social and economic lives of those tribes which do not speak Setswana as a first language. In all national events, the major culture portrayed is that of the eight major tribes. Minority languages and cultures are suppressed and their use in public domains is discouraged. These policies are meant to foster national unity and a national cultural identity. They are congruent with an assimilationist model and are underpinned by an orientation that views linguistic and cultural diversity as a problem and a threat to national unity. Language of religion Amanze (1998: 1) maintains that ‘traditional religion is a living faith among Batswana today’. This is so because ‘they have revived and continued to observe a great number of their religious beliefs and practices some of which were attacked by the early missionaries as evil and detrimental to the spiritual life of Batswana’. He further observes that people in Africa are ‘born, live and die in their traditional religions’ (1998: 2). A recent newspaper report has indicated most Batswana, including the highly educated, still rely on traditional medicine (The Voice, Friday, 21 May 1998). Traditional medicine is closely related to traditional religion. It is this religion that protects the people from witchcraft, sorcery, drought, uncertainty, disease, misfortune and other physical, spiritual, economic and social phenomena (Amanze, 1998: 3). Like most Africans, Batswana believe in one supreme being (Modimo in Setswana, Urezha in Shiyeyi (Tlou, 1985), or Nyambe in Thimbukushu or Nzimu in Ikalanga. For all ethnic groups in Botswana this one God is always described in anthropomorphic terms. He can see, hear, get angry, forgive, answer and so on. This is reflected in given names of people such as Oarabile (He has answered). They also believe in ancestral spirits (Badimo) in Setswana, or Wazumu in Shiyeyi. The dead are considered to continue to exist in a spiritual form, and they serve as the mediator between the living and God. The spirits can also neglect or punish the living; they can forgive, protect and come closer to them in times of need. When they are angry they may bring disease, misfortune, or death. Certain practices need to be followed to make them happy. These practices have stood the test of time and people in towns go to villages on weekends to perform such rites.

The Language Situation in Botswana

33

This phenomenon has maintained a strong bond between the working class in towns and their traditional villages. While some practices such as initiation ceremonies have ceased, those practices related to health and fortune continue despite attempts by the missionaries to abolish them. Some of the practices include birth rites to protect the child from disease and bad spirits and marriage rites to ensure that the couples do not divorce. The priesthood in the African religion includes diviners, medicine men and rainmakers. Chiefs also hold religious powers. During colonial rule, the British overtly banned some religious practices. They felt that practices such as bogwera (male initiation) took a lot of the chiefs’ time from their work for the colony. For instance, in 1931 Kgosi Sebele II of the Bakwena tribe, a traditionalist, wanted to follow the bogwera which one was required in order to be a chief or a respected male adult (Ramsay, 1987). The British collaborated with his relatives who were against his policy of promoting commoners to chieftainship duties. They used their complaints to make Sebele II a political prisoner. The real reason was that he insisted on practising bogwera. Currently, only the Kgosi Linchwe II Kgafela of the Bakgatla still practises bogwera. As chiefs are now elected and not necessarily born into ruling positions, their religious powers have been reduced. They act only as clients to medicine men who strengthen them and protect them from evil and opposition. In 1998 the Wayeyi informed Kgosi Tawana that they would like to have their own chief. He said in a kgotla3 meeting ‘I am not afraid that you will take my chair [meaning chieftainship seat] because I have put some powerful charms under it and no one can take it away’ (Davies, 1998). It was not Kgosi Tawana but the medicine men who provided the charms, and that was understood by the Wayeyi. Chiefs no longer have powers to bring rain and provide good harvest for their people. They have lost their religious powers. Missionaries from the London Missionary Society (LMS) came to Bechuanaland (Botswana) in the first half of the 18th century to spread Christianity. The missionaries’ first task was to convert each of the Paramount Chiefs of the eight major tribes to Christianity. This practice resulted in the LMS playing a major role in the development of Setswana both in Botswana and in South Africa. It was the first language south of Ethiopia to have a translation of the Bible, a task that was completed by the 1850s (Parsons, 1998). The LMS built three senior secondary schools in Botswana that still operate today: Moeding and Moeng Colleges and Maun Secondary School. They also built hospitals, which continue to provide medical care. During this period the use of Setswana in religion was obvious, as morning prayers in schools and hospitals were conducted in Setswana. When deacons and other church leaders visited hospitals to pray for the sick, the services were conducted in Setswana. After independence, morning prayers in schools began to be conducted in English. Christianity has therefore played a major role in the promotion of Setswana and English in the church and in the exclusion of other languages in accordance with the assimilationist model. Chiefs were often tutored by missionaries or local priests who were trained by and worked for missionaries. For instance, Kgosi Seepapitso II of the Bangwaketsi was tutored as a child by Moruti (Preacher) Mothowagae Motlogelwa of the LMS and later went to Lovedale Institute, a missionary school in South Africa. Religion therefore played a significant role, not only in building schools but also in schooling the chiefs and teaching them English. This was helpful in

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

34

Table 3 Religions and their membership Religion Christians

Membership

%

392, 035

30.00

Bahai

5,000

0.38

Muslims

3,848

0.23

Hindus

2,000

0.15

Buddhists

150

0.01

Sikhs

144

0.01

Source: Amanze (1988: x)

maintaining traditional ways, as some dikgosi (chiefs) like Seepapitso used their education to resist some of the changes the British wanted to implement. Like Sebele, he was a traditionalist who believed in Christianity without abandoning Tswana law and custom (Ramsay, 1987). He spoke English very well and consequently was able to put his point of view to the British. As he himself was fluent in English, he did not oppose its use in the church along with translations into Setswana. While the majority of the people in Botswana believe in their ancestral sprits, Christianity is the official religion in the country. About 176 Christian denominations are represented in Botswana (Amanze, 1994). Other religions such as Bahai, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are also present (Table 3). Amongst the Christian churches there are three types (Amanze, 1998: ix): the mission churches (30.5%), which came because of missionary work in Africa, the Pentecostal churches (6.58%) and independent churches (64.93%), mainly of African or specifically Tswana origin (Sic, percentages add to more than 100% in the original). The latter are mostly a blend of Western and African philosophies of religion. The independent churches have upheld the African religions and traditions. Within the mission churches, the largest is the Roman Catholic Church with 47,000 members followed by the Lutheran church with 24,000 members (Amanze, 1994). A denominational classification of Christian churches in Botswana includes: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Pentecostal and Independent churches (Amanze, 1999). Their approaches to religion include the apostolic, the prophetic, the evangelical and the spiritual. While traditional religious acts such as drinking, concubinage, pre-marital sex, polygamy, and smoking were not banned, most churches, including independent churches, discourage such practices, of course with varying degrees of success. The methods of worship, more especially in independent churches, have blended both Western and African styles. Dress is formal as it is in the West but the proceedings include African styles such as hand clapping, drumming, dancing and the use of African music. Religion has increased the use of Setswana and English. A study conducted by Nyati-Ramahobo (1991) concluded that most churches use English and Setswana, with the former playing a major role in the proceedings of the church. For instance, in the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), the main message of the sermon is delivered in English with translations into

The Language Situation in Botswana

35

Setswana. Batswana ministers in urban areas use English to deliver their messages. In making announcements, the secretary may use his/her discretion as to which announcements are to be in both Setswana and English and which ones are to be monolingual in Setswana. The church choir sings hymns both in Setswana and English, while the congregation sings hymns in Setswana. The Scripture may be read in Setswana or English, but not necessarily the same text in both languages. The increase in the use of English in urban churches is a result of an increase in the number of younger church leaders and of a greater participation of younger parishioners in church activities. However, Setswana is dominant in rural churches. In the spirit of the assimilationist model in which language diversity is viewed as a threat to peace, minority languages are rarely used in church. However, in the 1980s the Lutheran Bible Translators based at Aurora, Illinois and the Botswana Christian Council have played a significant role in the development of minority languages such as Ikalanga as discussed below. The translation of the New Testament into Hambukushu and Ikalanga has led to the informal use of these languages in some churches in the north-east and north-west of the country. The development of the Shiyeyi orthography has resulted in the translation of some hymns into Shiyeyi. These hymns are sung at some funeral services. Increasingly religion is playing a crucial role in the development of minority languages and their gradual introduction into rural churches which otherwise use Setswana in their proceedings. Membership of other religions is essentially composed of foreigners who use mainly English except for Islam and Hinduism, which use Arabic or Indian languages.

Socio-linguistic Complexity of the Country Since independence, the national population and housing census has not included data on the ethnic and/or linguistic composition of the country. Since linguistic diversity is regarded as a problem, such data might promote ethnic awareness and disrupt the assimilation process. Implied in this practice is the promotion of national identity over ethnic identity. Another reason is that, with the definition of majority and minority being non-numerically determined, such data would quickly bring to the attention of the people the fact that what the government regards as major ethnic groups are actually a numerical minority. This absence of ethnic and/or linguistic information in the census has hampered easy access to empirical and scientific data that would provide an accurate description of the socio-linguistic complexity of the country. Because of this problem, scholars who have worked on the various languages and ethnic groups of Botswana have based their information on estimates. Table 4 presents census data from pre-independence in one district, Ngamiland (Map 2). The 1936 and 1946 censuses were the last to include ethnicity (Tlou, 1985, from Shapera, 1959). These figures can only serve as a rough guide as these ethnic groups are also represented in other parts of the country, while other ethnic groups are not represented in this district. Table 4 indicates that the Wayeyi were the most numerous group in both periods, and yet by government definition they are considered a minority tribe. Tlou (1985) cautions against the use of census figures during that period since

36

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Table 4 Population in Ngamiland by ethnic group in 1936 and 1946 Bantu

1936 (census)

1946 (census)

BaGcereku

–

1,513

BaHerero

2,933

5,798

BaKalaka

–

BaKgalagadi

2,270

BaRotsi

–

BaSarwa

3,067

BaSotho

–

728 1,918 744 3,704 42

BaSubiya

–

BaTawana

7072

8,124

16,496

13,261

5,919

5,286

Bayei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi Hambukushu Matebele Others Total

–

486

103

4,402

–

42,158

41,707

Source: Tlou (1985: 9)

only major villages were included. The census for 1946 may have been done during the ploughing season when most people were away in the fields. Another possible explanation for the decrease between 1936 and 1946 was that the count was conducted at the height of the conflict between the Bayei (Wayeyi) and Batawana, just before the 1948 court case. During that period most minority groups were intimidated and were forced to identify themselves as the Batawana. This seems to make sense in that the Batawana population was seen to have increased but others (like BaYei, Hambukushu and BaKgalagadi) had decreased. Mpho (1987) presents figures for the 1946 census in the Central District (see Table 5). The Kalanga were the most numerous in this reserve, and yet at independence they were declared a minority and their language was banned from use in school since it was not Setswana, and recognising it would not promote the concept of Tswanadom. Table 6 provides post-independence figures along with the most recent estimates by scholars. The compilation in Batibo et al. (1997) has relied on Anderson and Janson’s estimates. The figures for Wayeyi could be higher due to denial of Shiyeyi identity by many Wayeyi at that time. In fact Anderson & Janson (1997: 73) estimate that the Wayeyi could be between 28,000 and 37,000. While the denial syndrome is not exclusive to the Wayeyi, the Batawana more extensively subjected them to slavery than any other tribe. Most of them have become assimilated and cannot speak Shiyeyi, while others speak it but do not admit that they do due to the low status of the language through its association with slavery. However, things may have changed slightly since 1995, after the formation of the Kamanakao Association (see Part IV). The figures for the BaHerero could be much lower. They immigrated to Botswana in 1904/05 (Anderson & Janson,

The Language Situation in Botswana

37

Table 5 Population of the Bamangwato Reserve (now Central District, see Map 1) Group

Population

Bakalaka

22,777

spalphaBamangwato

20,159

Batswapong

11,237

Babirwa

9,636

San

9,567

Bakhurutshe

5,441

Bakgalagadi

3,963

Batalaote

3,538

Bakaa

3,055

Bapedi

2,572

Baphaleng

2,409

OvaHerero

1,013

Balozi

1,006

Bakwena

892

Baseleka

889

Banajwa

844

Bayei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi

724

Table 6 Estimated number of speakers Ethnic Group

Population & per cent of population Batibo et al. (1997)

Anderson & Janson (1997)

BaHerero

31,000 (1.7)

31,000 (2.2)

BaKalaka

150,000 (11)

150,000 (11)

BaKgalagadi

15,000 (1.4)

10,000+ (?)

BaSarwa (Khoisan)

39,800 (2.8)

40,000 (4)

BaSubiya BaYei/Wayeyi/Bayeyi Hambukushu Batswana* Others Totals

7,000 (0.5)

7,000 (0.5)

20,000 (1.4)

37,000 (4)

8,000 (0.6)

6,000+

1,100,000 (79) 20,000 (1.4) 1,390,800

1,100,000+ (80) – 1,381,000

*Batswana refers to the eight dialects spoken by the eight so-called major tribes. There have been no data on the numbers for each of these tribes for the past 63 years.

1997) but continued to consider themselves to be Namibians. After Namibia’s independence in 1996, some moved back, while others remained in various parts of Botswana. The 1991 population census indicated that 54% of the population of Botswana live in the rural areas (Central Statistics Office, 1995: 5). Due to the lack

38

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

of reliable data, it is difficult to estimate the percentages of each ethnic group living in rural or urban areas. The numbers in Table 6 should be treated with great caution; they are estimates based on the 1936 and 1946 census figures for the Ngamiland and Central Districts only. The discrepancy in the totals confirms that these are only estimates. It is not possible to use figures that are 63 years old to work out current figures, especially in a situation in which language shift has been accelerated by deliberate policies. Smieja and Mathangwane (1999) have also discussed the rate of language shift; Sommer and Vossen (1995) suggest that estimates such as these may not be reliable. Language shift suggests a shift in self-perception and identity. The 1991 census did not include ethnic or linguistic information. Secondly, Batibo and his colleagues relied heavily on Anderson and Janson’s figures. Hence, they do not provide an alternative level of analysis.

Part II: Language Spread Development of Language-in-education Policies Education provision after independence During the Colonial period, education was provided by only four mission schools. Few people had access to these schools and at independence there was an acute shortage of manpower to lead the country. The education sector has experienced a tremendous amount of expansion during the past 33 years, in terms of number of students, schools and teachers. In 1974, eight years after independence, the first President, Sir Seretse Khama, appointed a commission to assess the entire education system and make recommendations for implementation. The National Commission on Education (NCE 1), chaired by Professor Torsen Husen, then Director of the Institute for International Education at Stockholm, started its work in 1975 and brought it to completion in 1977. One of the major findings of this exercise was that the education sector was expanding in terms of student enrolment (Table 7). However, a number of problems were identified including low achievement rates. The Commission stated that ‘schools are not even achieving their narrow academic objectives well’ (NCE 1977a: 18). The system was based on European models and has not been changed to accommodate local needs in terms of curriculum content. Assessment was basically used for selection into the next level, and ultimately preparing learners for white-collar jobs. The rapid expansion in enrolment at the primary level (74%) and at secondary school (a six-fold increase between 1966 and 1976), imposed a greater demand for increases in teacher training, buildings, equipment and administrative levels. Thus, while more children were coming into the education system, not enough was happening to provide for their education. There was a shortage of manpower in the Ministry of Education. Consequently, schools were not inspected on a regular basis. There was no curriculum review being carried out and goals and policies meant to improve the system were not being implemented. The other problem identified was that the Ministry of Education had

The Language Situation in Botswana

39

Table 7 School enrolment: 1966–1976 Year

Primary

Secondary

University

1966

71,546

1531

0

1967

71,577

1854

0

1968

78,963

2299

0

1969

82,214

3099

0

1970

83,002

3905

0

1971

78,442

4740

42

1972

81,662

5564

70

1973

95,511

6152

132

1974

103,711

7055

201

1975

116,293

8434

289

1976

125,588

9558

465

Source: National Commission on Education (1977: 14)

focused on secondary and higher education in terms of quality issues while primary education was neglected; for instance, most teachers at the primary school level were not trained. They were also disparities between urban and rural areas in terms of the provision of education. For instance, in rural areas most children had to walk long distances to get to a school, and sometimes they had to move to a different village to go to school. There were also more untrained teachers in rural schools and poorer facilities. Finally, children in rural areas speak non-school languages and have problems comprehending instruction in the national language. The Commission made recommendations to address some of the most pressing issues facing the education system at that time. Amongst these were the following. (1) The need to give priority to primary education as the foundation for other levels of education; specifically to attend to both quantitative and qualitative issues at this level eg, the curriculum should ensure that each child acquires basic literacy and numeracy skills. (2) An increase in opportunity to enter junior secondary education in several ways was recommended, including part-time study, lifting age restriction to entrance, expansion of facilities, and the development of teacher training colleges and more schools. It also recommended the development of a coherent system between technical and vocational education. (3) The examination marks for Setswana should be included in the Primary School Leaving Examinations’ (PSLE) mark, and a compensatory programme should be developed for children who speak other languages. (4) The education system should foster the four national principles of development: self-reliance, unity, and democracy – which culminate in the philosophy of Kagisano (social justice). The report this Commission produced was called Education for Kagisano, and the accepted recommendations are contained in Government White Paper No. 1, the National Policy on Education, passed by Parliament in August, 1977.

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

40

Table 8 Education enrolment 1979–1991 Year

Primary

Junior Secondary

Senior Secondary

University

1979

156,664

14,165

2,551

–

1984

209,772

23,500

3,864

–

1988

261,352

27,989

12,368

–

1991

298,812

52,866

22,496

1997/98

– 8,302

Sources: National Commission on Education (1993); Central Statuistics Office (1999)

(5) The Commission recommended a change in the education structure from 7:3:3:4 to 7:2:3.4 (primary, junior secondary, senior secondary and university). (6) The Commission recommended the Establishment of the Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation. (7) The Commission also made recommendations on the use of Setswana as medium of instruction and other language related issues. These will be discussed in detail in the following section on language-in-education policies. From 1977 to 1992, the Ministry of Education (Figure 2) tried to implement the recommendations of the first National Commission on Education and deliver education for social justice. In 1992, the second President, Sir Ketumile Masire, appointed the second National Commission on Education (NCE 2), to reassess the entire system and indicate its strengths and weaknesses with a view to forging a way forward into the next millennium. This thrust developed in light of the fact that there had been many societal, economic, political and cultural changes since 1977. Mr Ponatshego H. Kedikilwe, then Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, chaired this Commission. He was the Minister of Education, and many people thought that he had the opportunity to implement his own recommendations. However, he later resigned his cabinet post. The Commission started its work in April 1992 and completed it in 1994. It identifies key areas where improvements had taken place since the last Commission and areas that needed attention within the system. The following improvements were reported to have taken place: enrolments had continued to expand (Table 8); the Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation had been established, and the curriculum was generally sensitive to the philosophy of Kagisano; there were great improvements in the curriculum and new teaching methods and approaches had been put in place to facilitate learning; universal access to primary education had been achieved and there was greater access to junior secondary education (Figure 3); the Department of Primary Education had been established at the University of Botswana in 1981 to train teachers to diploma level and education officers to degree level. Thus there was a steady decrease in the number of untrained teachers from 38.6% in 1978 to 13.3% in 1991. The following areas still remained problematic:

The Language Situation in Botswana

41

The Honorable Minister of Education Other Ministries Permanent Secretary

University of Botswana

External Agencies Coordinator of RNPE*

MLGH

Exams, Research & Testing

Planning, Statistics & Research

Deputy Permanent Sec. (Support Services)

Deputy Permanent Sec. (Educ. Dev. Serv.)

DEPARTMENTS

DEPARTMENTS

* The Revised Policy on Education

Figure 2 Structure of the Ministry of Education

access to senior secondary education was still a problem (NCE 2, 1993: 148); there was still need for equity in the provision of education between rural and urban areas; there was still an imbalance in the provision of education between secondary and primary education. Primary school teachers still had no housing, the schools were not electrified and there was still a shortage of classrooms. These problems still persist today. There are still large numbers of untrained teachers found in primary schools. The Commission then made recommendations in four major areas: (1) Equity: Not only was equity necessary between rural and urban areas, and between primary and secondary education, but also for children with special abilities or disabilities in and out of school education, and by gender.

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

42

Age

Level

Tertiary

21 Tertiary Institutions

20

World of Work

22

17 16

Senior Secondary Form 4–5 (2 Years)

Distance Education and Part-Time Study Secondary

18

Vocational Training

19

15 14

Junior Secondary School Form 1–3 (3 Years)

13 12

10 9

Primary School Standard 1–7 (7 Years)

Adult Basic Education (National Literacy Programme)

Primary

11

8 7 6 5 4

Pre-School Currently not in Place (only run by NGOs)

Early Childhood Education

Figure 3 Structure of education and training

It noted the high access rate to primary education by girls, but their high drop-out rate at junior and senior secondary level. It further noted the under-representation of females in science-related areas at tertiary level. Some of the recommendations in this area, including the use of mother tongue at pre-school level and upon demand at primary level, were rejected by Parliament, and hence are not contained in Appendix 2. (2) Quality: Academic achievement at primary school was still very low, with a slight improvement at secondary level over the years. The Commission further recommended that the education system should now address quality issues and reintroduce the 7:3:2:4 system. The development of the teach-

The Language Situation in Botswana

43

ing profession has been identified as the main strategy for addressing the quality of education as teachers have the greatest impact on performance. This development should include enhancing the status of teachers, providing better working conditions and incentives and improving teacher-training programmes. (3) School management: The Commission noted that poorly managed schools performed poorly, and recommended measures to address this matter. For instance, the role of head teachers was to be clearly defined as instructional leaders and the appropriate training was to be provided. (4) Finance: The Commission noted that the education system required cost recovery and effective financing systems. The development of educational managers and review of the delivery system are critical to improving education. A total of 134 recommendations were made and those which were accepted are contained the Government White Paper No. 2 called the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) passed by the National Assembly in April 1994. Since then efforts have been geared towards implementing these recommendations. Those recommendations dealing with language are provided in Appendix 2. The latest available data is for 1997, and this does not indicate how the system has been performing since the report. However, it indicates minority-dominated areas such as Kgalagadi, Ngwaketse, Kweneng, Gantsi and Ngamiland have the highest number of school drop-outs, the highest repetition rates, the highest number of untrained teachers and the greatest shortage of classrooms (Central Statistics Office, 1999: 24, 30,36).

Language-in-education policies At independence in 1966, there was no clear policy regarding the medium of instruction in schools. However, there was a general understanding that English (the official language, required by the constitution) would constitute the medium of instruction. Due to the relatively low qualifications of teachers, and their inability to communicate in English, the use of Setswana was tolerated in lower grades. Other languages, such as Ikalanga, which were taught in school before independence, were banned from use in school at independence. The policy assumed the use of English as the medium of instruction at all levels, with tolerance for Setswana when communication problems occurred in Standards 1 and 2. On the other hand, practice indicated that teachers actually code-switched between Setswana and English throughout the primary and secondary school levels (NCE, 1977a). Practice further indicated that in the North-east District, Ikalanga continued to be used as an informal medium of instruction in schools despite its ban. Despite this reality, some officials in the Ministry of Education continued to believe that English was the essential medium of instruction. More efforts and resources were, therefore, allocated towards the improvement of the teaching of English and its use as the medium of instruction rather than Setswana, which was at that time a non-examinable subject. The First National Commission on Education (NCE 1, 1977a: 76) viewed this situation as one that neglected the national language. It noted that:

44

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

The introduction of English as a medium of instruction as early as Standard 3 … clearly discriminated against the national language. The Commission feels strongly that every nation ought to give a prominent place to its language in its education system. The Commission further argued that first language education facilitates not only early concept formation but also the acquisition of other languages. The Commission then recommended the use of Setswana for the first four years of primary education. However, it did not make any recommendations on the use of minority languages in education, but rather recommended that a compensatory programme should be developed for children who speak other languages. Komarek & Keatimilwe (1988) conducted a feasibility study for the programme. They recommended a transitional model of bilingual education, from mother tongue to Setswana and to English for areas where Setswana is not spoken as mother tongue. However, the government did not accept this recommendation, as it would have contradicted the policy of assimilation. The second National Commission on Education (NCE 2, 1993: 113) reduced the number of years for Setswana as medium of instruction from four years to one. This Commission felt that ‘[t]he present language policy denies the child mastering of the main language needed for better achievement in primary school and in further education and in working life’. The Commission viewed first language education as hindering the child’s access to the language of business, which is English. The argument had little to do with the role of the first language in the learning process. It also ignored the reality that, before the 1977 policy, low academic achievement characterised the education system and yet English was assumed to be the medium of instruction at that time. Hence, first language use could not be solely responsible for low achievement. This Commission, however, recommended the use of the first language, including minority languages, at pre-primary education, but the recommendation was rejected by Parliament. The language planning processes in Botswana are influenced by an orientation which views language diversity as a problem, a reversal or negation of democratic gains, a threat to unity, social harmony and to development (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991: 201). The first President, Sir Seretse Khama, informed the nation that his party ‘stands for a gradual but sure evolution of a nation state …to which tribal groups will, while in existence, take secondary place’ (Carter & Morgan, 1980: 291). In 1989 the second President, Sir Ketumile Masire, asked Batswana … not to spoil the prevailing peace and unity in the country by fighting for ethnic language groupings to take precedence over Setswana, and that tribes insisting that their languages become media of instruction within their respective areas would break up the nation. (Botswana Daily News, 30 June 1989, no 123:1) These statements reflect an overt prohibition of the use of other languages. President Mogae, then Vice-President, visited the villages of Dukwe and Mosetse in the Central District to diffuse tension between the Bamangwato and the Bakalaka tribes after two sub-chiefs from the former were imposed on the latter. A journalist reporting on the visit wrote:

The Language Situation in Botswana

45

He [Mogae] is reported to have told residents of Dukwi and Mosetse that all people who live in the Central District should consider themselves Bangwato, thus justifying Ngwato hegemony over tribes like Basarwa, Bakalaka, Babirwa, Batswapong and others. …Mogae failed a leadership test. This was an opportunity for him to rise to the occasion and concede that there is indeed a rather skewed constitutional arrangement. Instead, he continued the tradition of pandering to the whims of the ‘principal’ tribes. There is sufficient evidence that advocates of tribal equality are all for national unity, but not at the expense of their integrity. (Moeti, 1998: 9) This is clearly the assimilatory model of ‘ice-cream plus salt’. The President is saying these tribes have to melt and give up their cultures and completely assimilate into the Ngwato culture. It is overt prohibition of the actualisation of the cultures of these people. The trend within the ruling Botswana Democratic Party is to uphold the constitution, discriminating as it may be, and those who point to this problem are quickly labelled ‘tribalistic’ and ‘engineers of ethnic conflict’. For fear of being labeled as such, critics tend to remain silent. Because of the push for monolingualism and monoculturalism by the ruling party, the Revised National Policy on Education, approved by Parliament in April 1994, contains only those recommendations of the NCE 2 which deal with teaching of Setswana and English (see Appendix 2). It is worth noting that, while the new policy has advocated the use of English as the medium of instruction (18(a)) at the expense of Setswana, the rest of the recommendations advocate the use of Setswana in education. Recommendation 3, which calls for the formulation of a comprehensive language policy, could possibly promote Setswana in other social domains, such as business, technology, government, law and in the political structures. It is also worth noting that recommendation number 46(b) assumes that job opportunities requiring competence in Setswana are available. Research indicates that such job requirements are currently rarely found in advertisements as compared to those requiring competence in English (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991). This practice constitutes a major demotivating factor for both learners and teachers of Setswana. The economic use of Setswana must diversify beyond radio announcers, court interpreters and teachers to accommodate Setswana as a language of social mobility and consequently, must absorb the products of the education system. A comprehensive language policy will have to take this issue very seriously in order to facilitate the implementation of recommendations 31 and 46(b). Five years after the approval of the policy, none of the recommendations has been implemented, except that preparations are currently underway to implement 18(a), dealing with the use of English at Standard 2. More resources continue to be directed towards the use of English in all social domains including education. This practice has led scholars and citizens to believe that the government is pushing for monolingualism in English and, to some extent, recognition of the role of Setswana. The language-in-education policy therefore relates to the specific use of Setswana and English in education. Since none of the recommendations of the NCE 2 have been implemented, the NCE 1 policy concerning medium of instruction is still in place. Setswana is therefore the medium of instruction in Standards

46

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

1 to 4 while English is taught as a subject in those grades. English then becomes the medium of instruction in Standard 5 and extends through the tertiary level, while Setswana is taught as a subject (Republic of Botswana, 1977: 4). This policy applies to all government schools in the country. Private schools use English as the medium of instruction from Standard 1 onward, but they have a flexible policy on the number of years they teach Setswana as a subject. Since independence, a credit in English has been a requirement in order to matriculate. However, there are plans to change this policy as from the year 2000. Access to the university requires a pass in English except for science subjects. A degree in Setswana is offered in English and a pass in English is required to enter the programme. The assimilation model, which is guided by the orientation viewing language diversity as a problem, is quite evident in the language-in-education policy. There is an overt prohibition of the use of other languages for learning. Subsequently, minority dominated areas continue to be educationally disadvantaged. The over emphasis on English is meant to expose learners to the language of technology, social mobility and globalisation. There is tension, therefore, in balancing the role of the various local languages against Setswana on the one hand, and between Setswana and English on the other hand. Arthur (1996: 46) argues that this ‘inequality reflects and perpetuates hierarchical language values in Botswana society, as does the official exclusion of languages other than English and Setswana from classroom use’. English is most valued and most people would report that they speak it even if they cannot (Vossen, 1988). This is further reflected in the allocation of resources in which English receives the greatest share in terms of qualified teachers, time tabling and, of course, policy direction. Setswana is second, though policy direction and its recent use in Parliament recognises it as the national language. Minority languages are the least valued and are addressed neither by policy nor by practice. Wolfson & Manes (1985) argue that one’s native language is so much a part of one’s identity that to denigrate it is effectively to deny one’s human ability to communicate (foreword). Devaluing one’s language is equivalent to devaluing that person. In this regard, assimilationist policies that deny children the opportunity to learn in their mother tongue are viewed as inhuman.

Objectives and assessment Syllabi are prepared by Curriculum Development Officers (CDOs) in the Ministry of Education’s Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation. Some of the responsibilities of CDOs include setting out the broad goals of the syllabus, as well as advice on how materials are to be used in the teaching and learning situation to achieve the objectives of the syllabus. The objectives of the Setswana and English syllabi are quite similar and can be summarised as follows. Both syllabi are written in English: to help children in acquiring the very necessary skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing; to ensure that children apply these skills in communicating in their environment, with other children, adults and the mass media; to serve as a basis for further education;

The Language Situation in Botswana

47

to lay a sound foundation for the growth of Setswana and English as the media of instruction; to promote creativity on the part of children; to encourage the study and preservation of Setswana culture; to help children appreciate that good spoken Setswana will be acquired at home as well as at school; to provide a curriculum that will strengthen Setswana as an important instrument in nation building (Ministry of Education, 1982: 1). Data from interviews indicate that the main purpose of teaching Setswana is cultural identity and early concept formation. It is believed that cultural identity and preservation will be achieved if books are written in Setswana for children in Standards 1 to 4 (old policy, NCE 1) or in Standard 1 only (new policy, NCE 2). The question of early concept formation seems to be defined as early as Standard 4. The purpose of teaching English is that it is the language of wider communication, business and the world of work. The methodology for teaching both Setswana and English is said to be the communicative approach. The decision to change to this approach came as a recommendation from the first NCE, which thought that language teaching concentrated on grammar and proverbs at the expense of literacy skills of reading and writing. The rationale for this approach is that ‘we don’t expect children to analyse the language before they can use it’ (Ramatsui, 30 July 1989, personal communication). It is also necessary for the ten years of the basic education programme, which seeks to provide children with skills they need in their daily lives. The communicative syllabi, developed after the Commission’s recommendation, came out in 1982 providing a few communicative topics, but remained largely structural. However, the syllabi were further revised in 1995. Books that were developed by publishing companies in 1998 for handling the new syllabi were based on the communicative approach to teaching and assessment. These have only been used in schools for one year so far, hence their impact and relevance has not yet been assessed. Examinations are taken after seven years of primary schooling, three years of junior secondary and two years of senior secondary education. The first Commission had recommended continuous assessment and remedial teaching to enhance performance. These recommendations have not been implemented. The achievement of universal primary education and ten years of basic education have meant that the primary school leaving examinations (PSLE) have ceased to be a selection tool. About 95.3% of students proceed to junior secondary school (Central Statistics Office, 1999: xiv). Consequently, examinations have changed from norm reference to criterion reference. A child’s performance is not compared with other children, but with a set of criteria. The new syllabi emphasise that assessment techniques should focus on finding out whether children can read, write, speak and listen. The teacher should focus on assessing students’ ability to read for different purposes, to write on different topics for different audiences, to listen and speak in different situations. If children can perform these four language skills as defined for each skill objective for each grade level, it automatically means they have the ability to use language rules at the competence required at the equivalent grade level. The new

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

48

syllabus further states that continuous assessment should be an integral part of the language assessment procedure. For instance, students should be assessed based on the number of books they have voluntarily read, written reports and talked about in class. Criterion-reference testing should be useful especially if the skill objectives are to be used as the assessment criteria. This type of testing was implemented for the first time in 1997 and there is a general belief that performance has improved (Central Statistics Office, 1999: 107). The overall pass rate has improved when grades C and D form part of the aggregate. However, when only A and B grades are used to form the overall pass grade there is no improvement. It is appropriate to include students in grades C and D as they are also admissible to junior secondary school. While the official approach to language teaching is communicative, there is evidence that assessment has continued to reflect the structural approach, even in the wake of criterion-reference testing that has been adopted for all subjects. All primary school leaving examinations and all other examinations (except for the subject Setswana) at secondary school level are in English. The attainment tests for mathematics, English and science which are written at the end of Standard 4 are in Setswana. Tests on the subject English are written in the English language. The tests are meant ‘to determine whether children have achieved basic literacy in Setswana and basic competence in English and Mathematics’ (Republic of Botswana, 1977: 4). However, it is not a pass-or-fail test as there is a policy of automatic promotion. Rather, the Standard 4 attainment test is meant to curb the shortcomings of the automatic promotion policy in the sense that it is intended to identify those children who need extra help before they proceed to, or when they enter, Standard 5. It is, however, reported that remedial work is not always provided since teachers either are not trained in remedial teaching or do not have enough time to do it (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1999a).

Media Languages The role of the media in national life in Botswana dates back to 1850s (Sechele, 1998). It was part of what was called the ‘Tswana Press’ in South Africa. Sechele reports that the Tswana Press was: … a journalism that was based on the Setswana language in the areas occupied by Setswana-speaking people of Bechuanaland protectorate (now Botswana), Northern Cape, the former Transvaal, and the former Orange Free State in South Africa. (p. 412) The printed press written in Setswana contributed to the spread of Christianity and the acquisition of literacy skills. It also contributed to the quality of life of Batswana by providing information on events around them. For instance, in 1886, a newspaper called Mahoko a Bechuana published an article about a white man who delayed village development by selling liquor to the Bakgalagadi tribe in Lehututu (South Africa). The Abantu-Batho (People) which reported in Zulu and Setswana played a major role in developing political awareness in the African masses and became a strong organ of the African National Congress. There were also newspapers based in Bechuanaland: Lesedi la Sechaba (the light of the nation), which was based in the Kgatleng district, the Lebone la Bechuana (the

The Language Situation in Botswana

49

lamp of Tswana people) and Naledi ya Batswana (the star of the Batswana). Botswana’s second President, Sir Masire Ketumile was a reporter for the latter. This paper reported on the chieftainship issue between the Batawana and the Bayeyi in 1948. All these papers reported in Setswana. While there was no overt prohibition of the use of other languages, there was no overt permission nor promotion of these languages in the media either, because the missionaries had only codified Setswana. It is not clear why, but the Setswana language press no longer exists, not even in South Africa. There are currently eight private newspapers in the country. All of them are written in English. One of them includes pages in Setswana and a column in Ikalanga. They circulate mainly in larger villages and towns. Since their birth in 1982, the independent media have provided an alternative voice in a country dominated by government media (Sechele, 1998). Many believe that the independent media have exposed corruption, political arrogance, insensitivity, lack of transparency and accountability on the part of government (Grant & Egner, 1989). Most people believe that it was this media coverage that led to the increase in opposition seats in Parliament from three to thirteen in the 1994 general elections (Sechele, 1998). The independent media continued to serve this function in the 1999 general elections. The landslide win by the ruling party is attributed not to the fact that Batswana have gained confidence in that party but rather to in-fighting and the subsequent split of the opposition party twelve months before the general elections. The ruling party is viewed by many as having run out of strategies to win elections other than to divide the opposition party. The twelve constituencies that the opposition won in 1994 still voted for the opposition in 1999, despite the split. A stronger opposition would have weakened the ruling party even more than in 1994. The media is seen as central in strengthening democracy in Botswana. However, the media have problems which limit their impact. These include the low levels of literacy in rural areas, self-censorship by some editors for fear of victimisation, lack of facilities, untrained staff and insufficient motivation on the part of reporters. The language policy which promotes English and to some extent Setswana limits the effective flow of information to the rural areas. As a result, voter and AIDS education are limited to towns and major villages (Sechele, 1998). Legislation has also limited the freedom of the press. For instance, in 1995 the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime Act was put in place to prohibit journalists from reporting on cases that are still under investigation. The Directorate investigates white-collar crimes, including those that might be committed by ministers. The Government Printer provides a special service specifically for the government. It prints all government documents. Government ministries and departments place orders which are entered in a register indicating the date the order was placed, the type of job to be done, the number required and the date the order was collected. The Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Health were selected for a study to find out the language in which the government communicates with the general public. The Ministry of Agriculture was a suitable choice since a large portion of the population depends on agriculture, which makes up a significant part of the economy. In 1982 the government, through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, introduced the Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) to

50

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

encourage ordinary citizens to start small-scale businesses by lending them money. This policy was designed to create employment opportunities and to help Batswana to take part in the business world (Republic of Botswana, 1985: 239). One might expect, as a consequence of this policy, that an increase in communication between the government and the general public, informing them about these programmes, about how to get started and about future plans, would occur. The Ministry of Health is an agency that deals with issues that affect the whole population, not just a segment of it, and especially within the framework of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Thus communication with the people about health matters is vital and inevitable. Data collected from the three ministries indicated that 61% of the documents for public consumption in the Ministry of Agriculture were written completely in English, while 95% of those for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry were written in English as well. These English documents included all the forms which members of the public have to complete when applying for financial assistance. The Ministry of Health had more bilingual documents (42%) than those either in English or Setswana. Within the three government ministries, the main language is English. Thus 100% of the documents which were not for public consumption, were in English, while 59% of the documents meant for public consumption were also in English. The government, therefore, communicates on health, agriculture and commercial issues to the general public in written English. For instance, it is not unusual to find health posters written in English in the most remote areas of the country. The forms designed to obtain financial assistance are all in English, irrespective of the level of education of the applicant (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1991). This situation is unlikely to change in the next decade. Programmes aired each week by the government-owned stations were analyzed to find out the language of broadcasting. The private radio station, which focuses on the needs of the youth, broadcasts mainly (70%) in English. Data on the two government stations indicated that 36 (42%) programmes were in Setswana, 19 (22%) in English and 30 (35%) were in both Setswana and English. An analysis of the programmes generated by each of the three ministries previously mentioned was carried out. The results indicated that 62% of the total number of programmes in the three selected ministries were in Setswana. The government also owns one newspaper, the Daily News. That newspaper consists of eight pages, of which six and a half are written in English. The last one and half pages are translations into Setswana of material on the previous pages. The government therefore communicates with the general public mainly in English. It is worth noting that the newspaper does not reach the more remote areas of the country; as a consequence, only people in major villages and towns have access to the paper. Based on the data about the newspaper and radio, it may be concluded that the government seems to prefer Setswana on the radio and English in written format. Only these two languages are used in the media. The government has been reluctant to provide radio licences for privately owned radio stations. For many years, people were made to believe that the Office of the President was responsible for issuing such licences. This office in turn kept informing the public that no legislation exists to allow such licencing. When a young lawyer, Patrick Gunda, took the government to court on this matter in 1994, it became clear that the Botswana Telecommunications Corpora-

The Language Situation in Botswana

51

tion was charged with that responsibility. Previous references to the Office of the President were meant to discourage privately owned radio stations, where government censorship would be more difficult. Stations could also broadcast in minority languages. Mr Gunda lost his bid for a radio station licence, as his application indicated the intended use of minority languages. This suggests that there is a covert prohibition on the use of minority languages in the media. Many attribute the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS in the country to the lack of relevant information in the languages in which people have high comprehension ability. Other educational campaigns on issues of national interest also do not reach the people. Crucial messages reach only about 40% of the population, and this inefficiency in communication inevitably affects development.

Immigration The movement of the Bakalaka tribe from Zimbabwe and parts of South Africa into north-eastern Botswana in the 1600s (Tlou & Campbell, 1984) has rendered that part of the country mainly Ikalanga speaking. The Kalanga were then enslaved by the Bangwato tribe and brought to the Central District (Map 2). Currently, Kalanga people predominantly inhabit Serowe, the capital of the Bangwato, though most of them have assimilated into Bangwato culture. The Wayeyi (also known as Bayei or Yei) came to Botswana from Central Africa through Malawi and Zambia. They settled in a place called DiYei in the Caprivi Strip (Nambia). Tlou (1985) estimates that they must have come to Botswana around 1750 or earlier. Murray (1990: 4) estimates that they may have come as early as AD 1000; others say they came around 1400 (e.g. Gazette, 1999). Nyati-Ramahobo (1999b) concurs with Murray because the Shiyeyi language adopted click sounds from Khoisan languages with which they came into contact in the Okavango delta. For this process to have taken place the two groups must have lived together for a long time. The Khoisan are believed to be the original indigenous people of Botswana. The Hambukushu came into Botswana at two different periods. The first group came between 1876 and 1890 and the second in 1969 because of the war in Angola. The Herero came to Botswana between 1897 and 1906 (Murray, 1987), escaping German rule in the then South-West Africa (Namibia). The distributions of Setswana speaking tribes caused by tribal wars and other social events in the 1800s (Tlou & Campbell, 1984: 57–100) have contributed to the spread of Setswana to all parts of the country. For instance, the war between the Bangwato tribal sons in the Central District in 1795 (Sillery, 1965) caused one of the sons (Tawana) to move into Ngamiland (North-west District) where the Batawana tribe now live; this is the major way Setswana spread to that part of the country. As the Batawana ‘imposed themselves’ (Sillery, 1965: 22) on the majority Wayeyi in the area, they forced them to speak Setswana and punished them for using their own language. Some of the Wayeyi then escaped into the Central District avoiding Tawana’s subjugation and sought refuge from Khama III, the chief of the Bangwato tribe and father of the first President of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama. He accepted them on condition that they speak Setswana so as to communicate their grievances to him effectively and to enable him to defend them at the kgotla during their court cases and in other important circumstances. Consequently, most

52

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Bayeyi do not speak Shiyeyi. Equally, the Bakalaka were discouraged from speaking Ikalanga, and most of those in Serowe only speak Setswana. The movement of the Barolong tribe in the 1600s from Transvaal in South Africa to the north-east introduced Setswana to that part of the country. Setswana is, therefore, the lingua franca of the country; most children learn it at home and at school. This factor made the choice of Setswana as a national language easier. Foreigners learn the Setswana language and culture at the Botswana Orientation Center. The spread of Setswana was, therefore, facilitated by the spread of Setswana speaking groups to other parts of the country. The spread of Setswana has been further facilitated by its use in school as the only local language and by the prohibition of the use of all other languages represented in the country after independence. Unlike the situation in a number of other African countries, there has been no significant European or Asian settlement in Botswana; after independence other nationalities came as individuals and have served as expatriates or have become citizens. As communities have not formed, language or place of origin is not yet an issue for these individuals.

Part III: Language Policy and Planning Botswana’s language policy is not written; it is understood, inferred and observed from reality. It is referred to in various documents such as the Constitution as previously discussed, in reports of National Commissions on Education, in the national development plans, as well as in several curricular materials and in the media. These sources only refer to it, not defining it or making it the subject of discussion. They refer to it when addressing other issues related to language and education. For example, while discussing the qualifications for election to the National Assembly and the House of Chiefs, the constitution states that: …a person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly if, and shall not be qualified to be so elected unless …(d) he is able to speak, and unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read English well enough to under take an active part in the proceedings of the Assembly. (Section 61(d):00:37 & Section 79(4)(c) 00:46) Other sections of the constitution allude to language policy when discussing people’s fundamental rights and freedoms. For instance, Section 10(2)(f) states that: Every person, who is charged with a criminal offense, shall be permitted to have without payment the assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand the language used at the trial of the charge … (00:11) At independence, English was indirectly declared the official language through the constitution, as previously indicated. English is currently used in the judiciary, in administration, in education, and in the business sector and, until late 1998, it was used in Parliament. All government correspondence and records are

The Language Situation in Botswana

53

in English. All meetings in the civil service are conducted and recorded in English. It is spoken and read by 40% of the population (Obondo-Okoyo, 1986: 12), mainly by the educated élite living in towns. Setswana is understood to be the national language, but the constitution makes no reference to it. It is mainly used in informal settings and in traditional matters. The national adult literacy programme is conducted in Setswana irrespective of the existence of other languages found amongst the communities in which it is operating. The Revised National Policy on Education recommended goals for out-of school programmes as follows: (1) To establish a learning society in which education is seen as a lifelong process. (2) To guarantee universal access to basic education for school-age children and adults in order to promote equity and social justice. (3) To provide opportunities for young people and adults to further their initial education to higher stages in order to raise the general level of education of the population. (4) To provide opportunities for adults to acquire work-related skills that will improve their productivity and standard of living, and promote economic growth. (5) To increase the ability of adults to take part in social, political, cultural and sporting affairs in order to improve their quality of life and promote greater participation in the development process. (Republic of Botswana, 1994: 34–5). The policy calls for the provision of adult education as a life-long learning process. The policy should also provide opportunities for school-age children who missed their chance for one reason or another to further their education. It further calls for an educated and informed society through an increase in learning opportunities beyond normal schooling. Public education is expected to make people aware of skills needed for life. Non-governmental organisations have been pushing for the recognition of the existence of other languages and ethnic groups (see Part IV). This has to some extent had an impact on government; e.g. Parliament has passed the following motions to allow the use of these languages in education and on the radio. However, there are no efforts being made at the moment to make these motions into laws or to implement them. In 1995 Parliament approved the review of sections 77 to 79 of the constitution which stipulates that only chiefs of the eight tribes can be ex-officio members of the House of Chiefs. On Friday, 8 August 1997 Parliament passed a motion to allow all languages to be taught in schools, used on the radio and in other areas as necessary. The second President of Botswana, Sir Ketumile Masire, constituted a task force to develop a national vision for the country in the new millennium. The task force, led by the then Manager of the Bank of Botswana and current Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Baledzi Gaolathe, produced a document known as Vision 2016. This document

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

54

states that ‘there is a challenge to recognise and develop equally all languages in Botswana’ (Presidential Task Group, 1997: 21, summary version). Vision 2016 further states that ‘Botswana’s wealth of different languages and cultural traditions will be recognised, supported and strengthened in the education system. No Motswana will be disadvantaged in the education system as a result of a mother tongue that differs from the country’s two official languages’ (Presidential Task Group, 1997: 5). All of these parliamentary resolutions are positive signals of a commitment to pluralism as a necessary ingredient for nation building. They are an acknowledgement of the fact that the suppression of the languages and cultures of Botswana is not one of the ingredients for democracy or development. Indeed, suppression of languages and cultures could defeat the government’s purpose, to build a united and proud nation. As I argued on 26 October 1999 in a panel discussion for the Millennium lecture series, organised by the Gender Policy and Programme Committee on Vision 2016, which included government ministers, the government’s reluctance to implement the actions surveyed above suggests a lack of political will. It indicates that parliamentary motions may be passed simply as a result of pressure from the electorate, without any commitment to the underlying ideals by the government leadership. Statements made by the three Presidents cited previously in this monograph indicate that while documents written by professionals provide positive policies, the political leadership may only accept them with low levels of commitment. This creates tension between policy and practice. While policies on paper are progressive and point to reform, practice is conservative. The government seems to be still committed to the assimilation model and still views language diversity as a problem. On the other hand, the public calls for the maintenance model and for an orientation which views the linguistic diversity present in the country as a resource and a right. Many non-governmental organisations take the view that language and culture are human rights issues (refer to Part IV).

Language Planning Agencies In 1979 the Minister of Education constituted the Setswana National Language Committee (SNLC) to revise the 1937 orthography, which had been developed in South Africa. This revision was necessary because the orthography was based on the Setlhaping dialect, which is not represented in Botswana. The Committee carried out the review and produced the 1981 Setswana Standard Orthography. Two years after the publication of the 1981 orthography, users began to express dissatisfaction with it, indicating the need for yet another revision. The National Setswana Language Council (NSLC) was formed in 1986 through a presidential directive and charged to review the 1981 orthography and make the necessary recommendations with regard to the teaching and learning of Setswana as a national language. The Council mainly was concerned about the lack of consistency in the use of the Setswana orthography by authors. Children were under-performing in Setswana examinations; under-performance was observable especially among those who spoke languages other than Setswana.

The Language Situation in Botswana

55

The Council also made some recommendations regarding the low status of Setswana as compared to English and the resulting deterioration of the Setswana language and culture. The work of the Council was carried out through four main committees. (1) The Book Review Committee was to review books used in schools to ensure that they were morally acceptable. (2) The Orthography Committee was to review the 1981 orthography. (3) The Terminology Committee was to compile all foreign words in order to coin Setswana equivalents. (4) The Finance Committee administered funds from the Ministry of Education for the work of the Council. Recommendation No.3 of the Revised National Policy on Education said that ‘the National Setswana Language Council be renamed the Botswana Languages Council and be given new terms of reference including the responsibility for developing a comprehensive language policy’ (Republic of Botswana, 1994: 13). The second President of Botswana formed another task force in the Ministry of Education and charged it with the responsibility for the establishment of the Botswana Languages Council. This task force was chaired by the Coordinator of Revised National Policy on Education and former Permanent Secretary in the same ministry, Mr Jake Swartland (Figure 2). The assignment of the task force was to state clearly the mission and vision of the Botswana Languages Council, to formulate its terms of reference, to define its structure membership, and to suggest its home. The task force began its work in March 1997 and ended in August of the same year. The report of the task force was presented to Cabinet towards the end of 1997, but it was not approved. As a result, neither the National Setswana Language Council nor the Botswana Languages Council are currently functional as language planning bodies. In other words, formal language planning activities ended in 1997 after the completion of the work of this task force. Informal language planning activities carried out by non-governmental organisations that are concerned with the imminent death of their languages are discussed in the following section.

Part IV: Language Maintenance and Prospects Intergenerational Transmission of Setswana There is a widespread popular belief that Setswana is losing ground to English. While in the past English was confined to formal social domains, and to conversations involving foreigners, it is not unusual to hear Batswana conversing in English at a bar, in the work place and on the street. Most young people use at least some English, and a few homes are beginning to use English as the main medium of communication between family members. Some families are reported not to be using Setswana at all in the home.4 This process, while slow and insignificant at the moment, seems to suggest a dark future with Setswana eventually becoming a language for only the old and the uneducated. This is

56

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

indicated by the fact that even adult learners are beginning to demand the introduction of English in the non-formal educational curriculum, since it is now required for all types of jobs (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1996). This is not surprising, since, as stated earlier, recommendations meant to enhance the status of Setswana in education and in society have never been implemented. Janson & Tsonope (1991: 75–6) note that: The language has been neglected in the sense that it has been seen mainly as a part of the traditional society, and by that token not very interesting for the generation of planners that has been busy leading Botswana on the way to development. … Official policy shows a degree of indifference to questions concerning Setswana. The same can be said for the other indigenous languages of Botswana. It is this attitude from the leadership that is threatening not only the existence of Setswana but also its value to future generations. The radio is an effective means for the intellectualisation of language and for supporting the transmission of language from one generation to the next. Radio announcers and members of the public code-switch between English and Setswana when speaking on the radio. There is no conscious effort to speak pure Setswana so that the young might be able to learn good Setswana. Consequently, young people acquire borrowed English words under the impression that they are Setswana words. The use of English words is common even in cases where Setswana equivalents exist. For instance, most people seem to prefer the English word ‘change’ – rendered as chencha – instead of the Setswana equivalent fetola or fetoga. Young people find it difficult to express themselves exclusively in Setswana. On the other hand, a renewed sense of nationhood seems to be growing. This may be seen from three recent examples: the topical debate on the rights of minority groups, which became an election issue in 1999 and led to the appointment of the presidential commission of enquiry into sections 77 to 79 of the constitution, in August 2000; the publication of a book on the status of Setswana as a national language; and the fact that Miss Universe for 1999 was from Botswana. When Miss Universe returned from the success at the Pageant, her first words were in English and so was her address to the nation, to the great disappointment of most Batswana. This disappointment was expressed on a radio programme called Maokaneng, in which the general public discusses issues of national interest by telephone in Setswana. Upon her second visit, Miss Universe was to deliver her HIV/AIDS message at a concert organised in her honour by the Ministry of Health. On that occasion she was reduced to tears when the youthful crowd demanded that she deliver her speech in Setswana. Despite her tearful claim that it was difficult for her to do so, the crowd insisted and she finally did (Ndlovu, 1999). Every year Batswana express disappointment that the President delivers his independence message in English (Kgengwenyane, 1996). This public attitude could be a signal of a quest for national identity by the general public.

The Language Situation in Botswana

57

Other positive signs are: as stated earlier, beginning in 1989, one of the private newspapers has provided an insert in Setswana; other newspapers are beginning to accept articles in Setswana as well; while Setswana is losing some of its distinctive features, such as idioms and proverbs, more Setswana words are being coined for new concepts (Anderson & Janson, 1997); and Setswana continues to be the main language in the traditional courts in villages and towns alike. These efforts signal the desire among the people to promote and maintain the use of Setswana or the natural persistence of Setswana as a dominant language. The success of various efforts to preserve Setswana will depend on the breadth of support and/or political will. Should the current official attitude continue, Setswana is likely to become an endangered language in the next three decades. The future of other minority languages, which are not recognised by government under the assimilation model, is even bleaker (Tsonope, 1995) if current policy does not change to be more inclusive. The role of the élite in promoting language death is critical. Most parents see the use of English in the home as facilitating the acquisition of English at school, and indeed, it does. As English is required for matriculation, with limited spaces at senior secondary and tertiary levels, most parents view the use of Setswana as a medium of instruction as a contributing factor to low academic achievement. They therefore send their children to English medium schools, where all instruction is in English, with Setswana as a subject. Children from these schools rarely speak Setswana, except through code-mixing.

Language Death and Language Maintenance This monograph has demonstrated that, at independence, the Government of Botswana adopted the orientation that language diversity was a problem and aimed to eradicate all minority languages. Economic prosperity and the provision of social amenities such as schools, clinics and roads led many Batswana to accept this position for a long time. Because of this policy, minority languages were banned from use in all social domains. Under such circumstances, one would not be surprised if by now all languages in Botswana were extinct except Setswana and English. However, as assimilation occurs over a period of time, and is influenced by factors such as self-esteem, 26 languages (Botswana Language Use Project, 1996) are still spoken in some parts of the country. Most of them are spoken by adults over 40 years of age. In some cases, children aged 17 speak the language, while in others, children younger than 17 may only comprehend the language. However, Kalanga, Subiya, Thimbukushu, Herero, and some Khoisan languages are still spoken by young children in some communities. Vossen (1988) conducted a socio-linguistic survey on language use in Ngamiland (North-west District) (Map 2). The study included 13 languages in 19 schools situated in 12 villages. While the population of the Tswana (Batawana) is less than that of all other languages collectively, he observed that most children in the survey reported a greater knowledge of Setswana than of any other

58

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

language. He further observed a general decline in the use of the mother tongue amongst his informants in some areas, indicating some degree of language shift. Higher levels of language maintenance were observed amongst the Mbukushu and Herero in some areas rather than others. He concluded that Shiyeyi was the most threatened language in Ngamiland, as children no longer spoke it. Work by Sommer & Vossen (1995) later complimented Vossen’s study. As indicated previously, the Batawana enslaved the Wayeyi for over 250 years. Even after the abolition of slavery worldwide, the majority of Wayeyi still continue to be ruled by the minority Batawana, despite their efforts since 1936 to achieve autonomy. As a result, the Wayeyi suffer from low self-esteem; many would prefer not to reveal their true identity, but rather say they are Batawana, particularly to outsiders who have no reason to know anything to the contrary. Those who can still speak the language are reluctant to use it in public places. This situation, therefore, implies that Vossen’s data may primarily indicate an identity crisis and the lack of overt language use but not an accurate picture of language knowledge. On the other hand, it is also correct to suggest that language knowledge without language use leads to language death. It is difficult to say to what extent Shiyeyi is dead, or to what extent revival efforts would be likely to succeed. As previously indicated, the attitude of the government towards Setswana is accompanied by intolerance for all other languages spoken in Botswana. Because of this suppressive attitude, it is proper to say that all languages in Botswana are somewhat threatened. Evidence that young people are not able to speak their first languages is also showing up in other languages including Setswana. Smieja and Mathangwane (1999) also observed a high degree of language shift amongst the non-Tswana speakers such as the Babirwa, Kalanga, and Batswapong towards Setswana and English. A great deal of cultural and linguistic loss among many minority groups has been observed (Vossen, 1988). This has caused concern, and some minority groups have begun to form organisations to revive their languages and cultures. The work of some of these is described in the following sections. Informal efforts in language maintenance Within the Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs is the Registrar of Societies’ Office. Since group rights are granted, through the right to associate, the main duty of this office is to register non-governmental organisations (NGOs), under Regulation 5 of the Societies Act No 19 of 1972. In order to be registered, an organisation must have a constitution, with clear objectives, activities and membership. It must indicate the specific areas on which it will focus. It must also state the geographical region in which it will operate. A registered organisation is a legal entity in its own right; it can sue or be sued. It has the right to receive donations from individuals and other local and international bodies. In Botswana, there is a mother body for all registered NGOs, called the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO). Its role is to assist its members in three main areas: (1) policy research and advocacy; (2) capacity building, and (3) networking and information dissemination. To become a member of BOCONGO, an organisation pays an initial enrolment fee and an annual subscription fee. Benefits include receiving invitations to training programmes,

The Language Situation in Botswana

59

Table 9 Non-government organisations (NGO) by category Category

Lead NGO

Disability

Botswana Council for the Disabled

Women

Women NGO Coalition

strightHealth/AIDS

Botswana Network for AIDS

Human rights

Ditshwanelo

Children and youth

Botswana National Youth Council

Agriculture

Forum for Sustainable Agriculture

Ecumenical

Botswana Christian Council

Community

Botswana Comm. Based Network

Media

Media Institute in Southern Africa

Source: BOCONGO (1999)

which BOCONGO mounts for its members. For instance, it provides training in management, accounting and marketing strategies. NGOs may send their personnel to such seminars free of charge. Other benefits include general dissemination of information on what other NGOs are doing, including work on the international scene. BOCONGO also places all valuable information on each member on its own website for dissemination. Once registered with BOCONGO, an organisation will also have access to donors who are interested in its field. Currently there are 81 NGOs registered with BOCONGO. It is difficult to tell the number of those that are not members of the mother body, since data on these is not readily available. These NGOs fall within nine categories. In each category, one NGO is selected by BOCONGO to be the lead organisation in that area (Table 9). Registration with the Registrar of Societies gives an NGO liberty to operate within the legal framework, while registration with BOCONGO gives it the opportunity to network with other bodies with similar interests. BOCONGO also offers these NGOs a united voice to speak to the government on issues of mutual interest. Due to the high fees charged by BOCONGO, not all NGOs registered with the Registrar of Societies are members of the BOCONGO. An organisation dealing with language and or culture would fall under the Human Rights category; their lead agency is Ditshwanelo (a Setswana word for rights), The Botswana Centre for Human Rights. Within the framework of the assimilationist policy, speakers of languages that are not recognised by the government view this policy as a denial of their human rights, i.e. denial of the ability to access information in their own languages. Their work therefore focuses on reviving and maintaining their linguistic and cultural rights. Those dealing with language from a religious perspective fall under the ecumenical category. Currently, there are six organisations dealing with language and culture from a human rights perspective.

The Society for the Promotion of Ikalanga Language (SPILL) Within the limitations of data reliability, the Kalangas are considered the largest of the so-called minority groups in Botswana. The 1946 census indicated that there were 22,777 Kalangas in the Bamangwato (Central) District (Mpho, 1987:

60

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

134, see Table 5). This excluded those in the North-east District (Table 6). Kalangas have a strong sense of identity. Currently, they are one of the few minority groups whose children speak Ikalanga at home, including those in homes in the upper and middle class areas living in cities and towns. This is quite phenomenal given that the Bamangwato tribe enslaved them in the 1800s. There is a popular belief that, due to this oppression, the Kalanga developed a coding system for gaining access to educational opportunities. When applying for entrance to schools, each Kalanga application would have a drawing of a peanut at the lower right-hand-side, their staple food. Education officers who were mostly Kalanga would then ensure school admission. Many Batswana believe that this is the main reason they are currently the most highly educated and hold high government posts. Due to pressure from the Tswana presidents, Kalanga ministers overtly support the assimilation model, but they covertly support the promotion of the Kalanga to high positions as an alternative empowerment strategy. Because of the banning of the Ikalanga language from the educational system at independence, the language was formally relegated only to the home environment. For this reason, the culture of the Kalanga people has been slowly disappearing. Based on this realisation, the SPILL was formed by the Kalanga élite in 1981 to develop and maintain the Ikalanga language and culture. Also embedded in the work of the society was the issue of land rights and the right to self-rule through the chieftainship structure. When SPILL started, it created a negative reaction from within government quarters. It was perceived as tribalistic and divisive. There was a strong campaign to shun it and to denounce it as a threat to the peace and stability prevailing in the country. Those Kalangas who believed in the movement, saw this as an intimidating strategy to discourage them and potential donors from developing Ikalanga. There were also divisions amongst the Kalangas themselves. Some, especially those holding high government positions, were against the formation of SPILL, at least in public. They feared victimisation at their jobs should their loyalty to government be doubted. Therefore, while the Kalangas are highly influential in government circles, they could not use that influence to convince government to allow the use of Ikalanga on radio or in education, prior to the presentation of the 1997 motion which has not yet become law. The SPILL began its work with the revival and revision of the pre-independence Ikalanga orthography, which was published in 1995. The organisation has now published a hymnbook in Ikalanga. The New Testament has been translated into Ikalanga as well. The Mukani Action Campaign (MAC), the educational wing of SPILL, has developed 14 literacy booklets for informal teaching of Ikalanga and for future use in schools as soon as government implements the 1997 motion. The MAC also publishes a newsletter and encourages the publication of news articles in Ikalanga. One of the independent newspapers publishes a weekly column in Ikalanga. Their major donor, as previously indicated, is the Lutheran Bible Translators based in the United States, an organisation which has provided technical support to run an office in Francistown. This office was at the forefront of the development of the orthography and the translation of the New Testament. Through the Department of Adult Education at the University of Botswana, UNESCO is funding a project on the use of minority languages in

The Language Situation in Botswana

61

adult literacy. The project includes Kalanga and Shiyeyi. With respect to the Kalanga project, it funds training workshops for members of the MAC as well as the production of some of the materials. The other source of funding is through membership fees. SPILL raises funds using several strategies, and the funds are used to run the daily work. Further details on SPILL are available on the reference section of their web-site. One of the issues that the Kalangas have been pushing for is the right to be represented in the House of Chiefs by their Paramount Chief. As indicated in Part I, politically, they are regarded as members of the Bamangwato tribe, and their Paramount Chief is that of the Bamangwato. Within their immediate localities, they can have Kalanga sub-chiefs. Currently, there is a Kalanga sub-chief in the House of Chiefs, but he is not regarded as representative of all Kalangas since he is not a Paramount Chief. The SPILL is, therefore, playing a crucial role in language planning. It is one of those bodies promoting the orientation to viewing language diversity as a right and a resource for development.

Kamanakao Association The Wayeyi live in Ngamiland (North-west District, Map 2). Politically and in accordance with the assimilation policy, every one in this district is called a Motawana, since the Tswana speaking Batawana tribe rule them. As indicated previously, the Batawana subjected the Wayeyi to slavery. There are two main reasons why the Wayeyi were the most subjected: first there was direct contact between them and the Batawana on the arrival of the Batawana in Ngamiland; the second reason was the soft and peace loving nature of the Wayeyi. In 1962, Pitoro Seidisa (a Moyeyi from Gumare) started some work with Professor Ernst Westphal of the University of Cape Town to develop the orthography for the Shiyeyi language. Due to the conflict between the Wayeyi and Batawana over serfdom, the then Queen Regent of the Batawana, Pulane, ordered the arrest of Mr Seidisa for presuming to develop Shiyeyi. The Batawana thought that the development of Shiyeyi might raise the consciousness of the Wayeyi and strengthen their struggle for freedom from slavery. When Westphal realised the unacceptability of the Shiyeyi language among the ruling Batawana, he discontinued his work on the language and stated in his will that all the material on Shiyeyi should be burnt after his death. By the time of his death, the orthography had been completed, a dictionary was still incomplete and Chapter 8 of the Gospel of Matthew as well as a few hymns had been translated into Shiyeyi. After independence in 1966 the language policy continued to discourage the development and use of any languages other than Setswana. The Kamanakao Association was founded in 1995 by the Wayeyi élite to continue the work of Mr Seidisa and Professor Westphal. Its aim was to develop and maintain the Shiyeyi language and culture. The work on orthography was completed in 1998 and work on materials production and training is on going. The Association has produced a draft of an interdenominational hymnbook, a phrase book for teaching Shiyeyi and a booklet containing songs, stories and poems. It also produces a calendar in Shiyeyi. The Kamanakao Association has three main sources of funding for its programmes. The Lutheran Bible Translators funded the development of the orthography and some of the publications previously mentioned. They continue

62

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

to fund the translation of hymns and the translation of the Jesus Film into Shiyeyi. Currently, plans are under way to translate the Gospel of Luke. The UNESCO project has three phases concerning the development of Shiyeyi: the first phase covers the training of secondary school leavers in using the Shiyeyi orthography to write stories on cultural themes; the second phase will subsume the writing of the stories and songs, and the last phase will involve writing primers for adult literacy. Currently, the training is going on simultaneously with story and song writing. The third source of funding is from the communities. The Kamanakao Association has nine branch committees throughout the northern part of the Central District and in Ngamiland. These communities are responsible for the cultural aspects of the organisation. They organise cultural activities and are also responsible for hosting the Shikati (Chief in Shiyeyi) Kamanakao5 as he visits the villages. These committees fund their own activities. They raise funds for the association through the sale of T-shirts, booklets, bags and calendars and of course through cultural activities. The relationship between these two organisations and the government is one of uneasy tolerance. While the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs authorised their registration in accordance with the right to associate, they are seen as moving against the assimilationist policy. This is particularly so in regard to the chieftainship issue. The Wayeyi élite holding high government posts are torn between supporting a just cause in which they believe and risking their jobs. Consequently, they tend to remain neutral and unpredictable. Some Wayeyi, especially politicians within the ruling party, have been used to campaign against the work of Kamanakao Association. They have portrayed the Association as tribalistic and have worked against the acceptance of Shikati Kamanakao to represent the Wayeyi in the House of Chiefs. The Wayeyi have taken the government to court for discriminating against their Paramount Chief. On the other hand, some Wayeyi élite and academics have been successful in taking the message of the Association to the people, through the village or branch committees. The message is understood as linguistic human rights as well as political rights in terms of representation. After his installation as Paramount Chief of the Wayeyi, in April 1999, Shikati Kamanakao has taken his role to be that of educating his people about their rights to develop and maintain their language and culture through public meetings. His meetings have been attended by Criminal Investigation Officers from the Police Department to try and intimidate people attending. After a year of public education campaigns, people now feel free to attend and participate in village committees and other cultural activities. They are gaining confidence in demanding their rights to representation. They have contributed money towards the costs of the lawsuit. This lawsuit may have some influence in expediting the government’s decision to review Sections 77 to 79 of the constitution, which discriminate along tribal lines concerning representation in the House of Chiefs. In February 2000, an independent newspaper reporter held an interview with President Mogae that was reported as follows: Mmegi: Parliament passed a motion for the amendment of Sections 77–79 of the constitution which were deemed offensive but last year during the elections you said there is no discrimination in terms of tribe. Would I have

The Language Situation in Botswana

63

a member of my tribe as an ex-officio member of the House of Chiefs in my lifetime? (the reporter is Kalanga). President Mogae: I don’t know where you get the impression that I have gone back on anything. I and Parliament never said that the constitution discriminates against tribes. We have said those sections you have mentioned should be amended and I have said yes, if there is any section of the constitution that causes irritation to any member of our society we must look at them and amend. We are going to do that. We have appointed a task force to go around asking Batswana including yourself. It would start work early next month. (Chilisa, 2000: 19 (11–17 February)). While the President’s promise is not a new thing, many people believe that the lawsuit is likely to end the unreasonable delay in action on the constitutional amendment. However, speculation is rife that the government is lobbying the general public to accept the status quo. In fact, the President mentioned his own preference for the status quo during the interview. He said, ‘I have my own views … the arrangement with regards to the North East, Kgalagadi and Ghanzi is the type I will be inclined to. It’s more democratic but Batswana believe in chiefs by birth and I am not going to change that’ (Chilisa, 2000: 19 (11–17 February)). As stated above (Background section), the areas mentioned here are minority dominated and they are represented by elected sub-chiefs in the House of Chiefs and not the Paramount Chiefs by birth of these minority tribes. This is in line with the assimilation theory that only Setswana speaking tribes can be represented by their Paramount Chiefs by birth. Minority groups can only be represented by elected sub-chiefs to ensure that the people elected are sympathetic with the ruling party policy of assimilation into Tswanadom. In the case of Ngamiland, the tribes there are represented by the Tswana speaking Batawana chief. According to the Wayeyi, they are not represented, since imposing a Motawana chief on them and rejecting their Paramount Chief is not democratic. The consultations to be held with the people are less likely to change the current situation, as lobbying will follow the elections pattern where people are alleged to have been bribed and misinformed in house-to-house campaigns. The rural population is less informed as it has no access to information, and it is likely to accept information provided by the government. For this reason, the status quo is likely to prevail after the consultations. On the other hand, should the educated élite make written submissions to the task force, and work with NGOs to put pressure on the government to change, there is a window of opportunity for change. Should the task force complete its work and the relevant sections be changed, while the lawsuit is still delayed in court (the hearing had been postponed twice between October and December, 1999), the ruling of the court would contribute to the recommendations of the task force. The work of the task force may also lead to the withdrawal of the lawsuit. Both Kamanakao and SPILL are locally driven and members of BOCONGO.

The Etsha Ecumenical Community (EEC) The Etsha Ecumenical Community was an initiative by the Botswana Christian Council in 1970. The Council is composed of twenty churches and seven church-related organisations (Hopkins, 1995). It runs a number of ecumenical

64

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

projects for disadvantaged groups including the disabled, women, and street children. The Etsha project focuses on the development and use of the Thimbukushu language for religious purposes (see Table 1). It utilises reading material developed in Namibia and by other linguists elsewhere on Thimbukushu to conduct literacy classes at least three times a week for female adults among the Hambukushu people. Some of its activities include: training in basket weaving amongst the Hambukushu and Wayeyi females at Etsha, marketing the baskets outside Botswana, running a pre-school in Thimbukushu, running a poultry project for out-of-school youth, and running a guest house. This work has served as a source of inspiration for the revival and maintenance of the Thimbukushu language in Botswana. Currently, there are efforts to register a Thimbukushu cultural organisation by the Hambukushu people. The Basarwa (Bushmen) belong to about 17 main Khoisan language groups (Appendix 1). They are the indigenous people of Botswana and are nomadic. It is estimated that there are about 40,000 Basarwa in Botswana, making up about four per cent of the population. They are mainly hunters and gatherers. Due to their nomadism, they are found in seven of the eight administrative districts (Mazonde, 1997). Their main areas of concentration are Ghanzi, Kweneng, parts of Ngamiland and Ngwaketsi districts and they have a high degree of language maintenance (Smieja & Mathangwane, 1999). From time immemorial, the Basarwa have worked for the wealthy Setswana speaking groups who use them as herd-boys for low wages, provided mainly in the form of food. They own no land and are ruled by the Setswana Paramount Chief in whatever area they happen to reside. For instance, those in Kweneng are considered Bakwena and ruled by the Bakwena Paramount Chief. Mogwe (1994: 57) best describes the plight of the Basarwa. The Basarwa are the poorest of the poor.… Why have development programs aimed at the improvement of their standard of living focused instead on assimilation or integration without informed choice and without the participation of the Basarwa during both planning and implementation? … Rampant discrimination against the Basarwa peoples has meant that they have become marginalised culturally, politically, socially, and economically.… The state imposes leaders on them who are not of their culture or language group. This in turn has exacerbated their position of marginalisation. Attempts to use the law are frustrated because they lack the operation language of Setswana customary courts. In 1999, two Basarwa who had been sentenced to death by the high court for murder; their case was appealed by Ditshwanelo, the Botswana Center for Human Rights (see Table 9). It was discovered that the Basarwa were not given an opportunity to speak in their language in court and were not listened to when they struggled in Setswana to air their unhappiness about their lawyer. The high court did not listen to their pleas but sentenced them to death. However, in 1999, the appeals court ordered a retrial. Mogwe argues that the human rights of the Basarwa have neither been respected nor protected by the state. The state had argued that Ditshwanelo had no right to represent the Basarwa, further violating their right to representation by challenging Ditshwanelo’s efforts. Due to the marginalised status of the Basarwa, many international organisations have come to Botswana to establish community based development

The Language Situation in Botswana

65

projects. Three such projects operating under registered organisations will be briefly described in the following sections. They were a result of external initiatives and mainly funded by church organisations in The Netherlands and by development agencies such as CIDA, UNICEF, World View, the Norwegian government and others.

The Kuru Development Trust (Kuru) Fidzani (1998) maintains the distribution of cattle in Botswana is uneven. Only five per cent of the population own 50% of the national herd, and 45% of the rural households do not own any cattle. This means that rich cattle owners also own most of the land. It is therefore difficult for the nomadic Basarwa to own land. The tourism policy of the government of Botswana calls for their removal from areas with tourist attractions. In 1979, the government grouped all Basarwa living inside the Kalahari Central Game Reserve (KCRG) in one place within a reserve called Xade. In 1986, the government decided to freeze developments in this area and move the Basarwa outside the reserve to New Xade (Mazonde, 1997). With the support of two external agencies based in The Netherlands, the Kalahari Support Group and the Kalahari People’s fund, Basarwa communities in ten villages in the Ghanzi District in 1986 established the Kuru Development Trust. The main aim of the organisation is to facilitate active participation of Basarwa communities and individuals in the development process and to support the acquisition of land and land rights. Mazonde (1997) observes that the hunger for land has resulted in Basarwa in Ghanzi demanding their own district, as well as a Mosarwa councillor, a Mosarwa member of the House of Chiefs and a Mosarwa member of Parliament. The Kuru Development Trust has been sensitising the Basarwa to stand up for their rights and achieve their dreams. They too, like other groups, need to reap the fruits of democracy. The assimilationist model has not proved to be fruitful for them. In the 1999 general elections, a Mosarwa lady stood for council elections in Ghanzi, but unfortunately she lost. A Mosarwa sub-chief was installed in Xade, but he is not yet a member of the House of Chiefs. Some of the activities of the Kuru include the development of enterprenial skills among Basarwa, to promote participatory learning processes for selfawareness and development. Kuru also promotes agricultural activities by introducing alternative agricultural methods. Kuru is heavily involved in social education, language development and cultural identity. It hosts an annual cultural festival, featuring songs and dances in the Naro and Ju/hoan languages (Appendix 1). Kuru runs a museum funded by the Bernard Van Leey foundation. This museum displays the history of the Basarwa and has a good collection of their artefacts. The trust also collects Sarwa artefacts and markets them at both national and international levels. The Kuru Development Trust has a language wing, specifically working on the Naro language through the Naro Language Project which was started in 1991 and is funded by the Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Visser, 1998). By 1997 the project had produced an orthography and phonology of Naro. A number of publications (e.g. primers, a dictionary and literacy material) have been produced. The Language Project runs pre-school classes in Naro; adult literacy classes are conducted in Naro in the Ghanzi District. Currently, Kuru runs a leather tannery, a carpentry shop, a

66

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

fence-building workshop, a silk screen craft production project and workshops on HIV/AIDS, business skills and negotiation skill in Sarwa languages. In 1998, Kuru expanded its activities into the Okavango delta. Kuru has established an office at Shakawe to provide community development work amongst the Bugakhwe and Xanikhwe San peoples, the Wayeyi, Hambukushu and Giriku, with specific focus on the development of cultural tourism. Kuru is currently assisting these communities to form and register trusts and to apply for land for tourist activities. The work of this trust has not been easy. Like most ethnically oriented organisations, Kuru was perceived as inciting the Basarwa to disobey government orders and to impede the government’s effort to provide social amenities to the Basarwa at New Xade. The missionaries from The Netherlands who were working with Kuru were seen as people who were in Botswana to pursue their own personal interests rather than those of the Basarwa. Consequently, in 1993 the government issued a deportation order against Reverend Le Roux for his activities with the Kuru Development Trust. He was seen to be influencing the Basarwa not to move out of the Kalahari Game Reserve. While human rights organisations managed to put pressure on the government to lift the deportation order, they did not convince the government to reverse the decision to move the Basarwa out of the KCGR. Eventually the Basarwa of Xade became divided, some supporting the move to New Xade and others choosing to stay in the Old Xade in the KCGR. The government has viewed its own policies and efforts as intending to modernise the Basarwa and bring them into the mainstream. Development agencies, on the other hand, saw such policies as assimilationist and aimed at eradicating the languages and cultures of the Basarwa and, most importantly, to disempower them economically. The removal of the Basarwa from the KCRG to New Xade meant that they could not hunt and gather fruit, but would be more dependent on government subsidies. In turn, this would make them loyal to the ruling party. The assimilationist model is not only intended to assimilate minority groups into Tswanadom but into the ruling party as well. The covert goal is to have one language, one nation and one party.

The First People of the Kalahari (FPK) The First People of the Kalahari was established in 1992 to fight for the land rights of the Basarwa people, specifically the San/N/Oakhine group (see Appendix 1). Like Kuru, it was established with the support of the Kalahari Support Group and the Kalahari People’s Fund. The issue of land rights is fundamental to the survival of the Basarwa who are mainly hunters and gatherers. FPK is one of the organisations trying to address the issue. Its founder, John Hardbattle, died in 1996 at the height of the New Xade controversy. While the FPK was formed by an identifiable ethnic and linguistic group, and some of its activities have included language development, the main objective of the organisation is the achievement of Basarwa human rights, specifically the right to own land. The state maintains that the Basarwa, being nomads, have no right to land (Mogwe, 1994). This defines where they can hunt and gather fruit, as the non-nomadic groups own and control the land. This has serious consequences for the daily living of the Basarwa. The only option for them is to work for the wealthy for low wages. FPK serves as a national advocate that strength-

The Language Situation in Botswana

67

ens, organises and coordinates development projects within the settlements and communities in Ghanzi towards the acquisition of land and land rights to gather and hunt. It links these communities to those in neighbouring countries like South Africa and Namibia. It has an education wing responsible for collection and dissemination of information on human rights, and monitors human rights abuses, especially those dealing with game licensing for hunting. FPK’s major activities include advocacy and negotiating with government for the rights of the Basarwa. The FPK also has income-generating projects in ostrich and poultry farming and it runs a cultural centre.

The Basarwa Research Project The Basarwa Research Project is coordinated at the University of Botswana, through the former National Institute of Research and Development, now the Directorate of Research and Development, and in conjunction with the Department of African Languages and Literature. The Norwegian government funds the project, which is aimed at conducting research on the social, linguistic, cultural, political and economic well-being of the Basarwa within the Southern African region. The project conducts regional workshops to provide a forum for scholars to report on their work related to the Khoesan languages and cultures and other aspects of the San peoples. Western scholars who come to Botswana as individuals to conduct their studies on the Basarwa are also provided an opportunity to present their findings at the University of Botswana through this project. These efforts are helping to revive and maintain the Khoesan languages. Summary The work of non-governmental organisations has begun to signal to the government that there is a language and cultural problem to be attended to. The Department of Youth and Culture (DYC) was established in the Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs in 1989, and the Botswana National Cultural Council (BNCC) was established in 1992 within the Department. The Department has been charged with the responsibility to develop a national cultural policy. Currently, there is a consultancy to review the draft of this policy document and, amongst other things, to review the capacity of and the linkages between institutions dealing with culture, especially the DYC and the BNCC, the House of Chiefs and NGOs. The consultancy will also provide a state of the art account of the sociological, historical and linguistic relations of peoples within the cultural setting of Botswana. This signals a willingness on the part of the government to begin to address the thorny issues relating to the linguistic and cultural diversity of the country, and the chieftainship issues within the framework of human rights and globalisation. The government seems to be convinced about the role of culture in development, and there are plans to develop cultural villages. However, the government’s view appears to be that culture can best be preserved through museums and cultural villages set up for public viewing. Culture is not considered as a way of life that a community must live as part of national development. There are no serious efforts to instil language and cultural studies into the curriculum (Milon, 1989; Nyati-Ramahobo, 1998a). Apparently there is also the belief that the cultures of minority groups can be preserved without the use of their languages.

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

68

This constitutes a difficult task, since some crucial aspects of culture can only be expressed through language. Efforts to revive and maintain Botswana languages rest with the civil society’s will to work tirelessly despite the government’s resistance. The role of the élite, especially academics, is crucial to the development and maintenance of the languages of Botswana. One major characteristic of democracy in Botswana is freedom of speech. Academics, other activists and the media have taken advantage of this characteristic to take the issues into the public arena. However, there is another element of our democracy working against this. While there is freedom of speech, there is no freedom after speech (Mogwe, 1994). That is, people can talk, but they are not listened to, and there are a number of subtle ways of victimising those who speak out and who are employed by the government. It is for this reason that government employees play rather a debilitating role in the promotion of linguistic and cultural rights of minority groups in Botswana.

Pidgins and Creoles When the Wayeyi were enslaved by the Batawana and forced to speak Setswana, language contact occurred between Shiyeyi and the Sengwato dialect of the Setswana spoken by the Batawana. This contact resulted in the emergence of a creole called Setawana – the basic structure of which consists of Sengwato syntax with a heavy Shiyeyi lexicon – which is now accepted as a dialect of Setswana. For instance: Ba ne ba ile go shaora. (They went swimming). Shaora is a Shiyeyi word for swimming. Ha o bua maxambura ke tla go caka (If you say nonsense I will axe you (hit you with an axe). Maxambura is the Shiyeyi word for nonsense and caka is to axe someone. While the Setswana equivalent for such words may exist in other parts of the country, to people in Ngamiland only the Shiyeyi words exist, and this is the normal way of speaking. They would never use words such as go thuma for swimming as it is used in the southern part of the country. As this creole variety has not been studied, it is difficult to say whether it is in fact a creole or whether it is a dialect with some Shiyeyi lexical code-switching. As a result of the low status of the Wayeyi, and the movement of more people from the north-west (Maun area) to work in the south (see Map 2), there seems to be a movement towards standard Sengwato dialect and towards an avoidance of Shiyeyi words at all costs. However, the old and uneducated population continues to use this mixture. Anderson & Janson (1997) discuss Tsotsitaal and question whether or not it is spoken in Botswana. A number of factors may be responsible for the importation of this pidgin language into Botswana from South Africa: the movement between the two countries for economic activities is a constant factor; families are divided across the border;

The Language Situation in Botswana

69

there was the influx of South African refugees into Botswana during the apartheid era; Batswana watch South African television. As a result, Tsotsitaal is spoken by the youth in towns, especially those in the southern part of the country, to almost the same extent that they speak American English. Currently, these phenomena are confined to the youth who switch to normal Setswana when speaking to adults. The current situation concerning pidgins and creoles in Botswana is that none of the varieties have really been studied by scholars in a detailed manner.

Probable Future Directions The debate about ethnic and linguistic inequality has been going on for a long time in Botswana. A motion to review Sections 77–79 of the constitution was first debated in Parliament in 1988. The opposition party lost the motion and one member of Parliament from the ruling party remarked ‘we defeated them’ (Republic of Botswana, 1988: 511). The discourse of hegemonic power was stronger at that time. Within government circles, therefore, there is the ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality. This does not seem to augur well for democracy and social justice. Tswadom was seen to have settled in, and the chances for the minorities to assert themselves to change the constitution were seen as slim. However, the discourse changed in 1995. The same parliamentarian who dominated the debate in 1988, and concluded with the above utterance, did not say a word during the 1995 debate. The ruling party had lost ten seats to the opposition in the 1994 general elections. In this debate, parliamentarians from minority groups from both the ruling and the opposition parties presented their case powerfully during this discussion. One from the ruling party said: … each one of us will want to appear and to be recognised in the eyes of the law, especially the supreme law of the country, as being equal to his brethren.… Our circumstances now require that we amend sections 77, 78, and 79 of the Constitution so that other tribal interests are presented. That would ensure that our republic has characteristics of a true republic. A Constitution should reflect those characteristics … there should be no notion, no impression created in the mind of anyone that some persons or some groups or some tribal interests are superior than others. If we do, or allow for such a situation, there is bound to be social disharmony in our country. (Republic of Botswana, 1995: 86–7) The motion was passed in 1995, as stated in Part III, mainly due to pressure from the opposition parties and vocal members of the ruling party who supported it. The majority of Tswana parliamentarians from the ruling party barely accepted the motion, but the discourse of hegemonic power has subsided. This tension explains why there have been no efforts to implement it to date. On the other hand, the pressure from non-governmental organisations working to promote minority languages and cultures has intensified continuously over the past four years. The current situation is that, while non-governmental organisations are encouraged by such positive policy statements to push for reform at the implementation level, the efforts of those NGOs are frustrated by the covertly negative

70

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

attitudes of the leadership. This situation is likely to continue to limit the impact the non-governmental organisations might have. With this kind of tension, it is difficult to predict the future directions of language development and usage in Botswana. In discussing whether the 1999 general elections were issue-driven, one newspaper stated that: …[p]erhaps the only issue that was articulated effectively is the one relating to ethnic inequality. . . . The opposition, in particular, seems to have been effective in presenting its case to the electorate. . . . And it would appear that many people in the affected areas were bought into it. (Mbuya, 1999: 15) Many opposition parties promised the electorate that, if elected to power, other languages would be taught in schools, and sections of the constitution, which discriminate on the basis of tribal affiliation, would be reviewed. However, an analysis of the election results indicated that people in minority dominated areas voted for the ruling party. Four factors have been alleged to be responsible for this: (1) Internal conflict amongst opposition parties which went on until the date of the election left the electorate with no choice but to elect the devil they knew’ (2) The ruling party has exploited the ignorance of the rural poor who have no access to the media. It is alleged that the people were informed in house to house campaigns that the constitution had been amended to incorporate laws on ethnicity and gender. (3) There were also allegations of bribery – the use of money and the deliveries of drought-relief foodstuffs in some villages during the election week. (4) In his tour of the country just a week before elections, the President informed his audiences that the constitution does not discriminate. This created the impression that it had been amended, thus confirming the information provided in the house-to-house campaigns. In fact, many Wayeyi were happy that their Shikati would be admitted to the House of Chiefs, and so they voted for the ruling party. Should these allegations be true (though they are not new), then change is less likely to be achieved through the parliamentary process. In a country where more than 40% of the population lives below the poverty datum line (Jeffris, 1997), this practice is likely to continue for some time, at least until there is a strong and united opposition. One of the organisations advocating ethnic and language rights has taken the government to court for discriminating against their Paramount Chief, by refusing him membership of the House of Chiefs. Should the government win the case, the issue is unlikely to go away, and the debate may go to higher levels. The government has demonstrated intolerance on the issue, and it is most unlikely to accede to the demands of non-Setswana speaking tribes. Whether the government accepts change or not, many languages are likely to be preserved and enhanced through the work of non-governmental organisations. It is necessary for these non-governmental organisations to work together and to seek the support of the human rights groups, in order to exert more pressure on government. Members of Parliament who are from minority

The Language Situation in Botswana

71

groups hold the passport for change. Should they stand firm on their word during the debate of the motion to amend Sections 77 to 79 of the constitution, the government is likely to act quickly. However, should they feel threatened, change will be slow and painful. The very principles of unity and democracy which all the ethnic and linguistic groups of Botswana embraced at independence, which subsequently resulted in the acceptance of the modernist/assimilationist paradigm into Tswanadom, are the very principles providing them good grounds to assert and not relinquish their subnational identities. After 33 years of independence, the issue of nationhood is no longer in question. The question now is what has this democracy and nationhood achieved for every one of us. Attempts to react to this question clearly demonstrate that the concept of Tswanadom has relegated some members of this nation to a low and unacceptable status, economically, politically and culturally. For this reason, the democracy for which Botswana is well known and respected is challenged. The orientation to view linguistic and cultural diversity as a problem is counterproductive to democratic gains. The option is to move quickly from overt assimilationist models to true pluralistic models, in which both group rights and individual rights are guaranteed, and democratic principles of representation are respected. Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Dr Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo, Faculty of Education, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana ([email protected]). Notes 1. The name of the country is Botswana, the people are Batswana, one person from Botswana is a Motswana and the national language is Setswana. This formula for prefixing applies to the eight Setswana speaking tribes, who are represented by their paramount chiefs:

Table 1 Linguistic groups Category 1 (The eight Setswana speaking tribes) Name of tribe (plural)

Dialect/language

Individual

Bamangwato/Bangwato

Sengwato

Mongwato

Bakgatla

Sekgatla

Mokgatla

Batawana

Setawana

Motawana

Balete

Selete

Molete

Batlokwa

Setlokwa

Motlokwa

Bakwena

Sekwena

Mokwena

Bangwaketsi

Sengwaketsi

Mongwaketsi

Barolong

Serolong

Morolong

The formula also applies to those tribes whose languages are close to Setswana but are not considered to be dialects of Setswana (some are represented by elected sub chiefs from their own tribes – the four areas, while others are not represented by their own people but by the paramount chief in that area).

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

72

Category 2 (Tribes with languages close to Setswana) Name of tribe (plural)

Dialect/language

Individual

Bakgalagadi/Makgalagadi

Sekgalagadi

Mokgalagadi

Babirwa

Sebirwa

Mmirwa

Batswapong (Baseleka)

Setswapong

Motswapong

Bahurutshe

Sehurutshe

Mohurutshe

Bakhurutshe

Sekhurutshe

Mokhurutshe

Bakgothu

Sekgothu

Mokgothu

Bashaga

Seshaga

Moshaga

Bangologa

Sengologa

Mongologa

Batlhwaring

Setlhwaring

Mo tlhwareng.

Batalaote

Setalaote

Motalaote

Bakaa

Sekaa

Mokaa

While tribes who speak languages that are not related to Setswana at all did not originally follow this formula over time the formula has been applied to them. The original name is supplied and the ‘tswanalised’ version is bracketed. Category 3 (Tribes not related to Setswana) Name of tribe (plural)

2. 3. 4. 5.

Dialect/language

Individual

Ovaherero (Baherero)

Herero (Seherero)

Herero (Moherero)

Wayeyi (Bayeyi)/Bayei

Shiyeyi (Seyeyi)

Muyeyi (Moyeyi)

Hambukushu (Ma/ Bambukushu)

Thimbukushu (Se-)

Hambukushu (Mombukushu)

Kalanga (Ma/Bakalaka)

Ikalanga (Sekalalaka)

Kalanga (Mokalalaka)

Subia (Ma/Basubia)

Subia (Sesubia)

Subia (Mosubia)

Ciriku (Ma/Baciriku)

Othiciriku (Seciriku)

Mociriku

Ba/Masarwa (includes 13 Khoisana languages)

Sesarwa

Mosarwa

Ba/Manajwa

Senajwa

Monajwa

Note: The alternative prefix Ma- is used to demean the tribe. Languages spoken by tribes in Categories 2 and 3 are considered minority languages. A more detailed description of the ‘English only’ situation can be found in Kaplan and Baldauf (in press). A traditional meeting place where the chief hears cases, consults and informs his people about development matters in the village. Contribution from a participant at a symposium on ‘The Quality of Life in Botswana’ organised by the Botswana Society, 15–18 October 1996. The name of the Chief is the same as the name of the Association.

References Amanze, J.N. (1994) Botswana Handbook of Churches. Gaborone: Pula Press. Amanze, J.N. (1998) African Christianity in Botswana: The Case of African Independent Churches. Gweru: Mambo Press. Amanze, J.N. (1999) A History of the Ecumenical Movement in Africa. Gaborone: Pula Press. Anderson, L. and Janson, T. (1997) Languages in Botswana: Language Ecology in Southern Africa. Gaborone: Longman. Arthur, J. (1996) Language pedagogy in Botswana: Paradigms and ideologies. Mosenodi: Journal of the Botswana Educational Research Association 4 (1), 47–57.

The Language Situation in Botswana

73

Batibo, H.M., Mathangwane, J.T. and Mosaka, N. (1997) Prospects for sociolinguistic research undertakings in Botswana: Priorities and strategies. In B. Smieja (ed.) Working Papers in Preparation for the LICCA Conference (pp. 27–36). Proceedings of the LICCA Workshop. Duisburg: University of Duisburg. Bocongo (1999) A Quick Reference to Bocongo Members. Gaborone: Bocongo. Botswana Language Use Project (1996) Dipuo tsa Botswana. Gaborone. Botswana Language Use Project. Carter, G.M. and Morgan, P. (1980) From the Front-line: Speeches of Sir Seretse Khama. London: Rex Collins. Central Orthography Committee (1937) Minutes of the Conference on Orthography for Secwana. Johannesburg: Central Orthography Committee. Central Statistics Office (1995) Education Statistics 1993. Gaborone: Government Printer. Central Statistics Office (1999) Education Statistics 1997. Gaborone: Government Printer. Chilisa, E. (2000) Mogae defends his government: Part II. Mmegi: The Reporter, 11 February. Davies, C. (1998) Bayeyi can have their own chief, says Tawana. Mmegi: The Reporter, 25 September – 1 October, 6. Department of Information and Broadcasting (1989) Botswana Daily News 30 June, Number 123: 1. Fidzani, N.H. (1998) Land reform and primitive accumulation: A closer look at the Botswana Tribal Grazing Land Policy. In W.A. Edge and M.H. Lekorwe (eds) Botswana: Politics and Society (pp. 229–42). Pretoria: JL van Schaik. The Gazette (1999) A 1000 years of Botswana history. The Gazette, December 22, pp. 6–9. Grant, S. and Egner, B. (1989) The private press and democracy. In J. Holm and P. Molutsi (eds) Democracy in Botswana (pp. 247–64). Gaborone: Macmillan. Hopkins, P. (1995). Directory of Non-Governmental Organisations in Botswana. Gaborone: NORAD. Janson, T. and Tsonope, J. (1991) The Birth of a National Language: The History of Setswana. Gaborone: Heinemann & National Institute of Development Research. Jeffris, K. (1997) Poverty in Botswana. In D. Nteta and J. Hermans (eds) Poverty and Plenty: The Botswana Experience (pp. 33–59). Gaborone: Botswana Society. Kamanakao Association (1996) Report on the Installation of the Wayeyi Chief. 24 April 1999. Gumare. Kamanakao Association. Website. http://www.mindspring.com/okavango/ kamanakao/html Kaplan, R.B. and Baldauf, R.B., Jr (in press) Not only English: ‘English only’ and the world. In R.D. González with I. Melis (eds) Language Ideologies: Critical Perspectives on the Official English Movement. Champaign-Urbana, IL: NCTE. Kgengwenyane, O. (1996) President disappointing. Midweek Sun 9 October, 7. Komarek, K. and Keatimilwe, A. (1988) Language Competence and Educational Achievement in Primary Schools in Botswana: Part 11. Aligemeine Bildung, Wissenchaft und Sprot. Journal of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). Le Roux, J. (1997) Multicultural Education: What Every Teacher Should Know. Pretoria: Kagiso. Mazonde, I. (1997) Battlefield of wits: Interface between NGOs, government and donors at the development site. Pula: Journal of African Studies 11 (1), 96–107. Mbuya, T. (1999) Of issues, gaffes and trivia. Mmegi: The Reporter 15–21 October, 15. Mgadla, P.T. (1998) The Kgosi in a traditional Tswana setting. In W.A. Edge and M.H. Lekorwe (eds) Botswana: Politics and Society (pp. 3–10). Pretoria: JL van Schaik. Mgadla, P.T. and Campbell, A.C. (1989) Dikgotla, dikgosi and Protectorate administration. In J. Holm and P. Molutsi (eds) Democracy in Botswana (pp. 48–57). Gaborone: Macmillan. Milon, J. (1989). Discourse in the Primary English Syllabus of Botswana. Report submitted to the German Foundation for International Development. Gaborone. Ministry of Education (1982) Primary School Syllabuses for all Subjects. Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation. Gaborone: Government Printer. Moeti, M. (1998) Blame tribalism on the constitution. Mmegi: The Reporter 9–15 January, 9. Mogwe, A. (1994) Will basic human rights and individual freedoms continue to be

74

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

protected, promoted and respected? In S. Brothers, J. Hermans and D. Nteta (eds) Botswana in the Twenty First Century (pp. 49–68). Gaborone: Botswana Society. Molutsi, P. (1994) Botswana’s democratic institutions: The strengths and prospects. In S. Brothers, J. Hermans and D. Nteta (eds) Botswana in the Twenty First Century (pp.21–38). Gaborone: Botswana Society. Molutsi, P.P. (1998a) Elections and electoral experience in Botswana. In W.A. Edge and M.H. Lekorwe (eds) Botswana: Politics and Society (pp. 363–77). Pretoria: JL van Shaik. Molutsi, P.P. (1998b) Politics and society in Botswana: Future scenarios. In W.A. Edge and M.H. Lekorwe (eds) Botswana: Politics and Society (pp. 489–98). Pretoria: JL Van Shaik. Mpho, M.K. (1987) Representation of cultural minorities in policy making. In J. Holm and P. Molutsi (eds) Democracy in Botswana (pp. 130–38). Gaborone: Macmillan. Murray, A. (1987) The growth of regional politics after the war: The northwest. In F. Morton and J. Ramsay (eds) The Birth of Botswana: A History of Bechuanaland Protectorate from 1910 to 1966 (pp. 110–22). Gaborone: Longman Botswana. Murray, A. (1990) Peoples’ Rights: The Case of Bayei Separatism. Roma: Institute of Southern African Studies. National Commission on Education (NCE 1) (1977a) Education for Kagisano, Vol. 1 (pp. 23–34; 235–53). Gaborone: Government Printer. National Commission on Education (NCE 1) (1977b) Education for Kagisano, Vol. 2 (pp. 2–8 –2–12). Gaborone: Government Printer. National Commission on Education (NCE 2) (1993) Report of the National Commission on Education. Gaborone: Government Printer. National Setswana Language Council (NSLC) (1984–90) Minutes and Tape Recordings of Meetings. Gaborone: NSLC. National Setswana Language Council (1989) Report on the Review of the 1981 Standard Orthography. Gaborone: NSLC. Ncqocqo, T. (1979) Origins of the Tswana. Pula Journal 1 (3), 1–16. Ndlovu, T. (1999) The language that stirred the storm. The Reporter 15–21 October, 22. [Arts and Culture Section] Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (1991) Language planning and education policy in Botswana. PhD Thesis, University of Pennsylvania. Dissertations Abstract International DAO 64793. Nyati-Ramahobo,L. (1996) Challenges for improving literacy in Botswana. Mosenodi: Journal of the Botswana Educational Research Association 4 (2), 49–55. Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (1998a) Language, culture and learning: The missing link in teacher education. In C.D. Yandila, P. Moanakwena, F.R. O’Mara, A.M. Kakanda and J. Mensah (eds) Improving Education Quality for Effective Learning: The Teacher’s Dilemma (pp. 207–14). Gaborone: Ministry of Education. [Proceedings of the Third Biennial Teacher Education Conference] Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (1998b) Language planning in Botswana. Language Problems and Language Planning 22, 48–62. Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (1999a) The National Language a Resource or a Problem: Implementation of the Language Policy of Botswana. Gaborone: Pula Press. Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (1999b) Oppression in democracy: The case of the Wayeyi. Paper presented at the African Studies Association Conference on ‘Listening to and Interpreting Africa for the Millennium’. 11–14 November 1999. Philadelphia. Obondo-Okoyo,T. and Sabone, I. (1986) Twenty Years of Progress: An Official Handbook. Gaborone: Department of Information and Broadcasting, Publicity Section & Government Printer. Parsons, N. (1985) The evolution of modern Botswana: Historical revisions. In L.A. Picard (ed.) Evolution of Modern Botswana: Politics and Rural Development in Southern Africa (pp. 26–39). Lincoln, Nebraska: Nebraska University Press & London: Rex Collins. Parsons, N. (1998) King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Presidential Task Group (1997) Long Term Vision for Botswana: Towards Prosperity for All. Gaborone: Government Printer. Ramatsui, P. (1989) Personal communication. Ramsay, J. (1987) The neo-traditionalist: Sebele II of the Bakwena. In F. Morton and J.

The Language Situation in Botswana

75

Ramsay (eds) The Birth of Botswana: A History of the Bechuanaland Protectorate from 1910–1966 (pp. 30–44). Gaborone: Longman. Ramsay, J. (1998) The establishment and consolidation of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1870–1910. In W.A. Edge and M.H. Lekorwe (eds) Botswana: Politics and Society (pp. 62–98). Pretoria: JL van Schaik. Ramsay, J., Morton, B. and Mgadla, T. (1996). Building a Nation: A History of Botswana from 1800 to 1910. Gaborone: Longman. Republic of Botswana (1965) Chieftainship Act. Gaborone: Government Printer. Republic of Botswana (1965) Constitution of Botswana. Gaborone: Government Printer. Republic of Botswana (1965) Tribal Territories Act. Gaborone: Government Printer. Republic of Botswana (1977) National Policy on Education: Government Paper No. 1 of 1977. Approved by the National Assembly, August. Gaborone. Republic of Botswana (1983) Report on the Population and Housing Census 1981. Gaborone: Government Printer. Republic of Botswana (1985) National Development Plan 6 1985–91. Gaborone: Government Printer. Republic of Botswana (1988) The Official Hansard No. 95 Part 11: Proceedings of the 5th Session of the 5th Parliament. Gaborone: Government Printer. Republic of Botswana (1989–90) The Daily News. Gaborone: Government Printer. Republic of Botswana (1994) Government Paper No. 2 of 1994: The Revised National Policy on Education. Gaborone. Government Printer Republic of Botswana (1995) The Official Hansard No. 110. Proceedings of the 5th Session of the 7th Parliament. Gaborone: Government Printer. Republic of Botswana (1997) National Development Plan 8: 1997/98–2002/2003. Gaborone: Government Printer. Ruiz, R. (1984) Orientations in language planning. Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education 8 (2), 15–34.) Sechele, S.T. (1998) The role of the press in independent Botswana. In W.A. Edge and M.H. Lekorwe (eds) Botswana: Politics and Society (pp. 412–22). Pretoria: JL van Shaik. Setswana National Language Committee (1981) Setswana Standard Orthography 1981. Ministry of Education. Gaborone. Sillery, A. (1965) Founding a Protectorate: History of Bechuanaland 1885–1895. The Hague: Mouton. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1990) Language Literacy and Minorities. London: Minority Rights Group. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. and Phillipson, R. (1989) Wanted! Linguistic Human Rights. ROLIG-papir 44. Roskilde: Roskilde University Centre. Smieja, B. and Mathangwane, J.T. (1999) Report on the survey of language use and language attitudes in Botswana (manuscript). Sommer, G. and Vossen, R. (1995) Linguistic variation in Siyeyi. In A. Traill, R. Vossen and M. Biesele (eds) The Complete Linguist. Papers in Memory of Patrick J. Dickens (pp. 407–79). Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. Somolekae, G. and Lekorwe, M.H. (1998) The chieftaincy system and politics in Botswana, 1966–1995. In W.A. Edge and M.H. Lekorwe (eds) Botswana: Politics and Society (pp. 186–98). Pretoria: JL van Schaik. SPILL at http://www.spil.society.webjump.com. The Voice, 21 May 1998. Tlou, T. (1985) A History of Ngamiland 1750–1906: The Formation of an African State. Gaborone: Macmillan. Tlou, T. (1998) The nature of Batswana states: Towards a theory of Batswana traditional government – the Batawana case. In W.A Edge and M.H. Lekorwe (eds) Botswana Politics and Society (pp. 11–31). Pretoria: JL van Schaik. Tlou, T. and Campbell, A. (1984) History of Botswana. Gaborone: Macmillan. Tsonope, J. (1995) Prospects for the indigenous languages of Botswana. Implications of the Government White Paper No. 2 of 1994. Mosenodi: Journal of the Botswana Educational Research Association 3(1&2), 5–13.

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

76

Visser, H. (1998) Language and cultural empowerment of the Khoesan people: The Naro experience. Lecture delivered at the University of Botswana, 6 March 1998. Vossen, R. (1988). Patterns of Language Knowledge and Language Use in Ngamiland in Botswana. Germany: Eckhard Breitinger. Wolfson, N. and Manes, J. (eds) (1985) The Language of Inequality. New York: Mouton.

Appendix 1: Main Khoisan Language Groups (in brackets are sub-groups) Ju/hoan Xani Tcg’aox’ae (or = Kx’au//’ein or ‘Kxc’au/ein) Dxana Dcui Naro: (//Ana: Naro, //Gana, /Gwi, Khute) Qgoon San/N/Oakhine Nama Shua: (Xaise, Deti, Cara, Shua, Ts’ixa, Danisi, Bugakhwe, Xanikhwe) Tshwa: (Tshwa, Kua, Tshauwau, Heitshware) Tchuan Hua Hai//om !Xoo !Kwi: (/Xam, = Khomani, //Xegwi and //Ng!’e) Tshu

Appendix 2: Recommendations related to Setswana and English (National Policy on Education, March 1994) Recommendation 3 [para. 2.3.30] With respect to language policy, the Commission recommends that the National Setswana Language Council be renamed the Botswana Languages Council and be given revised terms of Reference, including the responsibility for developing a comprehensive language policy (p. 13) Recommendation 18 [para.4.4.31] With respect to the teaching of languages in primary school, (a) English should be used as the medium of instruction from standard 2 as soon as practicable (p. 59) (d) Setswana should be taught as a compulsory subject for citizens of Botswana throughout the primary school system. In-service training programs should commence immediately to improve the teaching of Setswana as a subject (p. 18) Recommendation 31 [para. 5.5.7] The Commission recommends the following statement of goals for the three-year junior secondary program: The goals of the Junior Certificate Curriculum are to develop in all children

The Language Situation in Botswana

77

– Proficiency in the use of Setswana and English language as tools for effective communication, study and work – an understanding of society, appreciation of culture and sense of citizenship; etc. (p. 21) Recommendation 32 [para. 5.5.13] With respect to Junior Certificate curriculum, (b) each student should take eight core subjects, namely, English, Setswana Social Studies etc. (d) in addition each student should select a minimum of two and a maximum of three optional subjects. At least one of the subject selected should be from each of the following groups of subjects: (ii) Third language (p. 63) Recommendation 46 [para. 5.10.33] In order to improve the teaching of Setswana, the Commission recommends that: (a) teachers should be exposed to as many language teaching methods as possible so as to provide a variety for the teacher and the learner, with emphasis on communicative approaches, and therefore make Setswana more interesting as a subject (p. 26) (b) information on job opportunities other than teaching, e.g. in the media, professions and as translators, Court interpreters, and Parliamentary translators, should be more extensively disseminated. With some guidance students at school level would then take their study of the language more seriously, recognising opportunities for development in the language (p. 66) (c) the University of Botswana’s Department of African Languages and Literature should play a leading role in guiding academic presentations in Setswana and cooperate with the Faculty of Education in promoting the teaching of Setswana.(p. 26) Recommendation number 70 [para.7.6.9] With respect to the development of a core curriculum for students in tertiary education institutions, the Commission recommends the following components: (d) a module on Botswana’s culture and values, within the context of heterogeneous African cultures, noting the uniqueness and universals of Botswana’s ways of life (p. 34) Recommendation 100 [para. 10.5.9] (c) the primary teacher training curriculum should prepare teachers to handle adequately some of the innovative methods such as Breakthrough to Setswana, Project Method, continuous Assessment, Guidance and Counseling, Special Education, Remedial Teaching, especially to support assessed progression (p. 45)

78

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Recommendation 101 [Para.10.5.13] (e) admission requirements should be reviewed to allow experienced primary school teachers holding COSC/GCE to be recruited for training as Setswana Teachers (p. 46) Recommendation 103 [para.10.5.19] (a) Setswana teacher training should be included in the category of critical human resource shortage alongside the Science and Technical fields of study in the proposed Grant/Loan Scheme (p. 46) (b) Setswana teachers should enjoy enhanced entry salary and parallel progression similarly to Science and Mathematics teachers (p. 46)

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi Edrinnie Kayambazinthu Department of English, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, P.O. Box 280, Zomba, Malawi This monograph presents a detailed study on the language planning situation in Malawi. It explores the historical and political processes, as well as current practices of language planning in the country. The discussion further reconstructs and demonstrates how sociopolitical change has been perceived in Malawi and how this perception has translated into language planning in education, the media and the general patterns of language use. The role of prominent individuals, the language situation itself and the sociopolitical issues serve as bases from which language planning in Malawi should be understood. Taken together the resultant language planning practices (past and present) present an interesting case study of pervasive ad hoc and reactive language planning based more on self-interest and political whim than research.

Introduction Malawi is situated in central southern Africa and shares boundaries with Tanzania in the northeast, Zambia in the west and Mozambique in the southeast. The country is approximately 900 kilometres in length and ranges in width from 80–160 kilometres. It has a total area of 118,486 square metres of which 94,276 is land and the rest is taken up by Lake Malawi which is about 475 kilometres long (Malawi National Statistical Office (MNSO), 1996: 1). Malawi is divided into three main administrative areas: the Northern, the Central and the Southern Regions. The country is further divided into 27 districts, 5 in the Northern Region, 9 in the Central Region and 13 in the Southern Region. Malawi has an estimated population of 12 million1 of which 42% were literate in 1987 and 89% are located in the rural areas. Malawi is linguistically heterogeneous with 13 Malawian languages and their numerous dialects being spoken within the country (Kayambazinthu, 1995). The language situation in Malawi, like that in most other African countries, is characterised by the asymmetrical coexistence of English, the official language; Chichewa, the national language, and 12 other indigenous languages and their varieties. This monograph provides a description of the language situation in Malawi and its various dimensions including the dynamism of multilingualism. The monograph focuses on the major languages, their spread, language planning and language maintenance and prospects in Malawi. The monograph also draws together a number of isolated surveys carried out in Malawi to elucidate the language situation there. The interplay and use of both major and minor languages are focused on at both macro and micro levels.

Part 1: The Language Profile of Malawi Definition of terms In this section language is defined on a combined geopolitical and genetic ba79

80

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

sis. The term language, as opposed to dialect, is defined according to Chambers and Trudgill (1980: 5) who regard dialects ‘as subdivisions of a particular language. A language therefore is a collection of mutually intelligible dialects’ or varieties. The discussion further recognises that there are many borderline cases where politically and socially it is difficult to make the distinction between a language and a dialect. On the basis of mutual intelligibility one would consider Malawian languages such as Khokhola and Lomwe as one and the same language, but not Yao and Lomwe. Therefore, the definition and count of different languages may vary considerably from the traditional or official count, especially in Chitipa District, where the definitions are based on an exaggerated older state of linguistic knowledge and or sociopolitical considerations than linguistic ones (see Ntonya, 1998). The names of the languages are those currently being used in Malawi. Language names derive from the ethnic groups by adding (or not adding) either the prefix Chi-, Ki- or Kya- depending on the language. For purposes of this monograph and for consistency the language prefix will not be used.2 The term speaker is reserved for active speakers able to converse with ease on a variety of topics who are likely to raise their children speaking the language and who are able to provide information on the basic documentation of the language. This then excludes those only able to understand the language or those with fragmentary or less fluent ability. The number of speakers given can only be taken as an estimate given the 32 year gap since the only language census was done. Malawian languages have not been studied or properly documented, except to a limited extent for Chichewa, Yao and Tumbuka. The languages and their historical background Geographically and culturally Malawi is linked with eastern Zambia, northern Mozambique and Northern Tanzania. All these neighbouring countries have contributed to the ethnic and linguistic composition of Malawi and vice versa. Typologically all Malawian languages are of Bantu origin. From the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries AD, several political entities originated from the Congo Basin, each of which was presumably dominated by a single monoethnic and monolingual core: the Chewa, Tumbuka and the Ngulube group. The foundations of the modern ethnic and linguistic map were completed with the coming of the Ngoni, Yao and Lomwe. In spite of the increasingly divergent ethnic and linguistic presence in the region, the political history of Malawi was characterised by peaceful existence of the groups. During this period, most of these Malawian languages had roughly equal positions as dominant languages of their culture. It was the coming of the missionaries and the later rise to power of Dr Banda that decisively turned the balance of power in favour of Chichewa. This section focuses on the history of the indigenous people, their languages and dialects from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries AD with a view to showing the historical processes that gave rise to the various dialects. In view of their different historical relationships, the languages spoken in Malawi may be divided into three distinct groups: major indigenous languages, minor indigenous languages and minor non-indigenous languages. The territorial identities and sociolinguistic positions belonging to each language are discussed in the sections that follow.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

81

Indigenous languages

Chichewa (zone N, group 20)3 In its standard and non-standard variety, Chichewa has been used as the sole national language since 1968, for both regional and national administrative, literacy and cultural purposes in Malawi. It is the native language of 50.2% of Malawians, both rural and urban (MNSO, 1966). A number of source dialectal varieties are spoken, reflecting the geographical origins of the population and their wave of migration connected to territorial expansion. The major dialects recognised in Malawi are Chewa, Nyanja and Mang’anja. According to Phiri et al. (1992: 608), the central and southern part of Malawi was dominated by the Chewa speakers and their subgroups: the Mang’anja of the lower Shire Valley and Nyanja around the southern end of Lake Malawi. The northern area stretched on the western side of Lake Malawi from the Tumbuka-Chewa marginal zone in the centre to the Songwe river in the north was occupied by three language families: the Tumbuka group, Ngonde-Nyakyusa and the Sukwa-Lambya-Nyiha group. Historians (Alpers, 1968, 1972; Pachai, 1973; Phiri et al., 1992: 615) agree that between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries AD, most of central and southern Malawi was settled by Bantu speakers. These were at first a collective part of the vast and widely settled community of the Maravi or Malawi peoples, now known as Chewa, Nyanja and Mang’anja. The Maravi migrated from the Luba-Lunda kingdoms of eastern Zaire and settled in a place called Mankhamba (present-day Dedza district) in Malawi under their leader, Kalonga. Here they fused with the early inhabitants, the proto-Chewa. Historically, a wave of migration took place connected with lack of space and territorial expansion. As noted by Pachai (1973: 8), terminologically, the various dialect clusters of Chewa,4 the language they spoke, is better understood within the framework of migration, economic power and the political organisation of the Maravi Empire. What started off as Maravi ended up as Chewa, Mang’anja, Nyanja, Chipeta, Nsenga, Chikunda, Mbo, Ntumba and Zimba, as a result of dispersion and decentralisation. For over half of the seventeenth century, the Maravi established an empire built upon ivory trade to Kilwa and Mozambique with the Portuguese and, later, the Arabs, and embarked on territorial expansion that took them beyond central and southern Malawi into adjacent parts of Zambia and Mozambique (Phiri et al., 1992). Phiri also claims that by the early seventeenth century, their federation of states encompassed the greater part of eastern Zambia, central and southern Malawi and northern Mozambique. Population growth led to pressure on land, local quarrels, the desire to settle on one’s own, and the urge to control or protect trade routes and goods (Pachai, 1973). Consequently, the empire disintegrated, leading to several different established subsidiary chiefdoms and kingdoms of related people speaking various dialects of the Chewa cluster (Marwick, 1963; Pachai, 1972). For example, Kalonga is said to have sent out a number of his relatives to establish settlements in various areas for political and economic reasons (Alpers, 1968). Mwase settled in an ivory rich district, Kasungu; Kaphwiti and Lundu settled in the lower Shire Valley and Mkanda in eastern Zambia (now Chipata District). All these tributary kings owed allegiance to the Paramount Kalonga

82

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

and paid tribute. However, the bond was later severed. For example, Undi left for Mozambique territory and was by 1614 reported to be trading with the Portuguese. This reduced Kalonga’s position (Pachai, 1973: 8). External factors such as trade, availability of arms and ammunition acquired from the Portuguese and Arab traders, gold and ivory trading led to the strengthening of the power of the tributary kings like Undi, Lundu and Mwase-Kasungu (Pachai, 1973). Kabunduli, Chulu, Kaluluma and Kanyenda moved into the Tumbuka-Chewa marginal areas creating a mixed sociolinguistic group of whom the Tonga of northern Nkhota Kota and Nkhata Bay districts are the most obvious (Phiri et al. 1992: 622). Wherever they moved, the Maravi called themselves by the geographical areas in which they settled, to distinguish themselves from other groups. For instance, people from the chiefdom of Mkanda in Zambia referred to themselves as Chewa, Kunda, Nsenga and Ambo; those of the southwestern lakeshore and the Shire River as Nyanja (meaning people of the lake or people living along the lake). Those of Undi and Mwase Kasungu who settled in the hinterlands of Kasungu, Dowa, Ntchitsi, Mchinji, called themselves Chipeta (Chipeta means tall grass or savanna). Those of Kaphwiti were known as Mang’anja. ‘These various dialectal names were no more than regional or geographical designations of people who belonged to the same cultural and language groups, later on developing distinct dialects’ (Schoffeleers, 1972: 96). Of these, the name Chewa referred to the numerically strongest group (Marwick, 1963; Pachai, 1973), of whom about 80% live in Malawi and the remaining 20% or so in Zambia and Mozambique (Pachai, 1973: 6). Schoffeleers (1972: 96), unlike other historians, maintains that the Chewa-speaking people were never known collectively as Chewa or Maravi but were known by two names: a specific one and a generic one, the latter being Maravi. But what is clear from all historical accounts is that the name Maravi (not Chewa) stood for an ethnic group or part of it. One would therefore disagree with Chilipaine (1985: 3) who stated that all these groups were ethnically Chewa, because ethnohistorical evidence points to the fact that they were ethnically Maravi but dialectally rather differentiated. Although the linguistic affiliation between the Chewa and the Nyanja is still a matter of dispute as to who owns the language, it is likely that Chewa ethnohistory has involved a cyclic alternation between the three groups and Chewa dominance. There is also lack of consensus regarding the name Mang’anja. Banda (1975) and Mchombo (n.d.) maintain that it is a Portuguese corruption of Nyanja. The Portuguese encounter with South African ethnic groups like the Ama Tchangane, Ama Xhosa led them under the influence of Portuguese phonology, to velarise the palatal ny // to ng /ŋ/ thereby giving rise to a non-existent ethnic group Mang’anja, a people who were no other than Chewa. There is little evidence in support of this patriotic statement that needs to be examined in the light of the available historical and oral evidence adduced by Schoffeleers, who argues that: we have some evidence in Portuguese documents of the 17th Century that the present ethnic designations were already used at that time. The names

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

83

Nyanja and Mang’anja occur already, although it is not quite clear whether they were also used as ethnic names. (1972: 6) This statement makes more sense than Banda’s since the Mang’anja are mainly found in the Shire Highlands and not the Lake Shore. Most likely they called themselves by a different name like the rest. The dialects Chewa, Nyanja and Mang’anja are still present in Malawi but not those of Ntumba, Mbo5 and Zimba which can be found in Mozambique or Zambia (Henriksen, 1978: 249). According to Pachai (1972), in Malawi these groups mixed with the Ngoni who are mainly found in the areas these groups once occupied.

Tumbuka (Zone N, Group 20) Tumbuka is a dominant ethnic and regional lingua franca in the northern part of Malawi. Tumbuka was (1947–68) the northern regional language for education and broadcasts until Dr Hastings Banda banned it in favour of Chichewa. It has the status of a second language for most northerners (Kayambazinthu, 1995). Tumbuka is broadly distributed in three of the five districts in the northern region and, according to the 1966 census, it was a language of 9% of the total population. The origins and diversity of the language stem from areas of settlement and Bryan (1959) identifies eight dialects: Tumbuka, Nkhamanga, Henga, Phoka, Wenya, Fulirwa, Lakeshore and Senga. The area that covers the Rumphi and Mzimba Districts and extends as far west as the Luangwa valley in the modern Lundazi district of eastern Zambia also experienced a steady influx of Tumbuka migrants from 1700 to the middle 1800 (Vail, 1972; Phiri et al., 1992).6 Pachai (1973) suggests that the Tumbuka are the oldest ethnic group in northern Malawi and were basically pastoral and matrilineal people. According to Vail (1972), and Phiri et al. (1992) the Tumbuka were organised into a loose confederation under their ethnic chief whose economic and cultural life changed with the coming of traders under their leader Mlowoka. For example, the Phoka inhabit the Nyika Plateau and the fringe lands between the Plateau and the lake shore; the Nkhamanga group are found in the Nkhamanga Plains, the Henga in the Henga Valley, the Wenya and Nthalire in Chitipa District and the Fulirwa between Chitimba and the southern part of Karonga. Below the Phoka are settled the Lakeshore people, so called because they settled along Lake Malawi. Phiri et al. (1992: 612) further state that the Nsenga, the present day inhabitants of Lundazi district, seem to have evolved into a tribe as a result of interaction between Tumbuka groups and Luba-Lunda immigrants from the west. Their language is akin to that of the Tumbuka with whom they share clan names. Like the Maravi, the Tumbuka geographical settlement also caused the present distinct dialects that are mutually intelligible. In the 1780s Tumbuka economic and cultural life changed with the coming of Mlowoka, who had knowledge and experience of external trade. He stayed in the area and traded with locals in beads, cloth and ivory. Through economic power, Mlowoka established a loose confederation under the Chikulamayembe dynasty at Nkhamanga but his influence was confined to this area and the areas controlled by his trading associates (Katumbi, Mwalweni, Jumbo and Mwamlowe) (Vail, 1972).

84

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Tonga (Zone N, Group 10) Functionally, Tonga is an ethnic language of the Tonga inhabiting the present day Nkhata-Bay District. According to the 1966 census, it had about 1.9% of speakers and is one of the minority languages confined to its borders. The Tonga inhabit the area between the Viphya range of mountains to the west and north-south of the Luweya River. To the north and west of Tongaland, now the Nkhata Bay district, are the Tumbuka, while the Chewa are to the south in Nkhota Kota District. According to Pachai (1973), the earliest inhabitants were the Nyalubanga clan, but he also connects the Tonga with the Maravi and the Balowoka. Tonga, according to Vail and White (1989), is similar in grammar and vocabulary to Tumbuka but is a distinct language. The Ngulube Group (Ngonde and Nyakyusa, Zone M, Group 30; Lambya, Zone N, Group 20; Nyiha, Zone M, Group 20; Sukwa, Ndali and Mambwe, Zone M, Group 10).7 All these languages can be functionally grouped as ethnic languages used within their ethnic group; in other words, they do not transcend other ethnic groups and are not documented. The area between the Dwangwa River in the south and the Songwe River in the north is the home of many ethnic groups who formed different linguistic groups. The sixteenth century also saw the coming in of the Ngulube immigrants from the northeast. They founded the states of Lambya, Ngonde, Chifungwe, Sukwa and Nyakyusa (Phiri et al., 1992). The Ngonde settled in the Songwe area on the northwestern shores of Lake Malawi and border with the Nyakyusa of southern Tanzania to the north, the Sukwa and Lambya to the west and the Tumbuka to the south. Kalinga (1985) (a Ngonde historian) dates their settlement to around the middle of the fifteenth century. Their new land was rich in ivory which they exchanged for cloth, porcelain and metal work with the Nyika people and those of the Misuku hills. Trade in ivory made their leader, Kyungu, a powerful figure (Kalinga, 1985; McCracken, 1972). Even at the peak of their power the Ngonde did not have much influence outside their country of settlement, the present day Karonga District. Wilson (1972) comments that the common factor among the Ngonde, Nyakyusa and Lambya is that they all originated from Bukinga country beyond the tip of Lake Malawi. Wilson (1972: 138) further claims that the Ngonde and Nyakyusa had close cultural and historical ties, speaking the same language although with a different accent. Kalinga (1985: 1) states the same: ‘they (Ngonde) are more closely related to the Nyakyusa than any other ethnic group in this region. Their language, KyaNgonde is a dialect of KiNyakyusa, and like the Nyakyusa, they are great cattle keepers’. From this, one would conclude that Ngonde is a dialect of Nyakyusa8 (see also Tew, 1950: 75), even though in Malawi they are treated as separate or distinct languages (see Table 1). Another group, the Lambya, under their leader Mwaulambya, is traced back to Rungwe in Tanzania. Ethnohistorical evidence points to the fact that the Nyiha were the earliest inhabitants of the area where the Lambya settled and peacefully established their political authority. Lambya is a dialect of Nyiha (Phiri et al., 1992; Wilson, 1958: 28–9). My own personal communication with a Lambya9 points to the same fact. That is, the Lambya and Nyiha are related linguistically and their languages are mutually intelligible. Another Ngulube leader, Kameme,

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

85

Table 1 Home languages in numerical order55 %

District where spoken

1,644,916

Projected number of speakers, 1998 5,263,731

50.2

Lomwe

476,306

1,524,179

14.5

Yao

452,305

1,447,376

13.8

Tumbuka

298,881

956,419

9.1

Sena Khokhola Tonga Ngoni Nkhonde Lambya Sukwa Nyakyusa Swahili Other Mambwe Ndali Nyiha English

115,055 74,466 62,213 37,480 31,018 18,646 18,300 3,994 2,854

368,176 238,291 199,082 119,936 99,258 59,667 58,560 12,781 9,133

3.5 2.3 1.9 1.1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1

Dowa, Dedza, Lilongwe, Ntchitsi, Blantyre, Kasungu south, Chiradzulu, Nkhota-kota, Mchinji, Salima Mulanje, Thyolo, Zomba, Blantyre Machinga, Chiradzulu Mangochi, Machinga, Zomba, Chiradzulu, Blantyre, Mulanje Mzimba, Rumphi, Karonga, Chitipa Nkhata-Bay Nsanje, Chikwawa, Thyolo, Mulanje Nkhata-Bay Mzimba, Deza, Ntcheu Karonga Chitipa Chitipa Karonga Karonga

39,538

126,522

Language

Number of speakers

Chichewa

209

Chitipa Chitipa Chitipa Chitipa

also settled and established his political power over the Nyiha, west of Ulambya. Phiri et al. inform us that the Mambwe and Namwanga linguistic groups migrated into the Kameme chiefdom. The linguistic interaction between the indigenous groups and the migrants clearly summarised by Phiri et al. (1992: 626) who argue that: the modern language situation reflects something about the numerical strength of the various immigrant parties who founded chieftaincies as well as the means by which they assumed power and later governed the people. Cilambya and the language of Kameme are dialects of the indigenous Nyiha while Kyangonde and Kinyakyusa are dialects of the Ngulube people’s language. In other words, the Mwaulambya and Kameme and their followers were assimilated linguistically while in Ungonde and Unyakyusa, the indigenous people were assimilated by the immigrants. Modern Chisukwa is a dialect of Ndali (a linguistic group north of the Songwe) understood by the Nyiha speakers and relatively easy to learn [sic] by the Ngonde than Nyiha proper. Chisukwa thus forms a bridge between Nyiha and Ngonde languages. What is interesting and worth noting is that Chitipa (where most of these languages are spoken) is the most linguistically heterogeneous district in Malawi.

86

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

My informants from this district reported up to 13 languages being spoken in the district (see also Ntonya, 1998). This might be an exaggeration or confusion of the differences between languages and dialects, but it points to the interaction of different ethnic groups who have coexisted but maintained their separate languages within a small district.

The Sena (Zone N, Group 40) Sena was spoken in Nsanje and Chikwawa by about 3.5% of the total population in 1966. In the Lower Shire, the Sena are said to have migrated to Malawi from Mozambique, their native country, along the lower Zambezi. Tew (1950) views Sena as a group of languages with its main dialects being Sena, Nyungwe and Chikunda. The absence of literature or documentation on this ethnic group in Malawi makes it difficult for one to tell exactly when they migrated into the country, especially into the Chikwawa and Nsanje Districts. However, Watkins (1937) states that the Sena language is spoken in the lower Zambezi and according to Werner (1906) is virtually identical with Nyanja. She also states that the languages called Sena and Tete (Nyungwe) are dialects of Nyanja. However, this assertion needs to be questioned on the basis of knowledge from native speakers and the writer’s own experience in the country. Native speakers of Sena claim that their language is not mutually intelligible with Nyanja.10 Any Malawian coming across this language would agree that it is a different language from Chewa or any other language in Malawi. Phiri et al. (1992) claim that these Malawian people enjoyed a certain degree of social and religious cohesion even though they were politically and linguistically divided. Whilst most of the ethnic groups in the north were patrilineal and patrilocal (except for the Tonga), those in the central and southern part of Malawi, including the Tonga, were matrilineal and matrilocal (see also Tew, 1950). Religious practice for almost all ethnic groups involved ancestral veneration, spirit possession, rainmaking and the control of witchcraft. For the Chewa, the Nyau Secret Society was an important vehicle for expressing and dramatising ethnic creation myths, the moral code and so on (Phiri et al., 1992: 613). The rain cults were the chief manifestations of a territorial religious experience. The Chikha-ng’ombe and Chisumpe cults of the Tumbuka and Chewa respectively belonged to this category. For both ethnic groups the deity took the form of a snake (Phiri et al., 1992). From the preceding discussion we can see how sociopolitical and economic circumstances created the seeds of the present language situation in Malawi. Factors such as mass migration, political expansion, decentralisation, trade and disintegration contributed greatly to the geographical distribution of early ethnic language groups. Geographical distance later on created dialect distance between people of the same language and culture. The migration patterns also touch on the possibility of genetic relationships between languages such as Chewa, Tumbuka and Tonga on the one hand, and those of the Ngonde, Nyakyusa, Ndali, Lambya and Nyiha on the other. These ethnic groups, through time and geographical distance, have developed distinct cultures and languages. It is difficult to speculate on contact languages for this period since there is very little documentation. These groups had settled in Malawi for six centuries before the coming of the other ethnic groups that are the subject of our next discussion.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

87

Nineteenth century Malawi: 1848–1897 This period in Malawian history is treated as one of isolated ethnic migration of ‘intruders’ (Palmer, 1972) as opposed to the mass migration considered previously. It has its own sociolinguistic trends of coexistence with acculturation of small ethnic groups into the numerically large ethnic groups under different circumstances.

The Ngoni (Zone N, Group 10) Ngoni is another minority language that was spoken by about 1.1% of the population in 1966. Ngoni is a dying language and most of its speakers use Chichewa or Tumbuka except in the few areas where it still survives. The first group to intrude upon nineteenth century Malawi was the Ngoni, a branch of the Zulu ethnic group in South Africa. Following the death of their leader, Zwangendaba, in 1848 at the south end of Lake Tanganyika, and due to succession disputes, the Ngoni dispersed in different directions. Of significance to this monograph are the Maseko Ngoni and Mpezeni Ngoni. The former, under Gomani, settled in the Kirk Range of Dedza and Ntcheu Districts, whilst those under Chidyaonga settled in Ntcheu, among the Chewa. Another group to settle among the Chewa was under Gwaza Jere who settled in Dowa district. The Mpezeni Ngoni under Mbelwa destroyed the Chikulamayembe dynasty and settled in Mzimba District among the Tumbuka. McCracken (1972) and Spear (1972) agree that the Ngoni were a militant group who imposed their political or state structure upon their subordinates wherever they went. However, economically and socially, they adopted the agricultural-pastoral economy of the indigenous people. This was augmented by local raiding. The Ngoni settlements produced a number of cultural and societal changes to the Ngoni themselves as they coexisted, interacted and integrated with the indigenous people. The cultural and linguistic exchanges between them and the indigenous people took a variety of forms depending on the Ngoni policy of assimilation or the lack of it, coupled with the local conditions. For example, Harding (1966) comments that the Gomani Ngoni who subjugated the Nyanja-speaking people in Dedza and Ntcheu spoke the Nguni dialect of Zulu. ‘Except for a few words, no trace of Nguni is found in their present dialect hereafter called Chingoni’ (Harding, 1966: 2). Similarly, the Mpezeni Ngoni who settled in Zambia became largely influenced by Chewa and Senga customs and languages and those of Mbelwa were influenced by Tumbuka (see also Mtenje & Soko, 1998). The process of acculturation that led to language shift among the Ngoni is better explained in ‘the lessened prestige and power of the Ngoni and the greater persistence of the culture of the peoples who were numerically superior in their home territory’ (Spear, 1972: 36). Spear further argues that during what is generally regarded as the ‘march’, or migration period, and prior to settlement, Nguni was retained as the language because of its prestige and because there was no language competing with it. After settlement, however, the alien group became the minority, and due to intermarriages between the Ngoni and Senga, Ngoni and Chewa, Ngoni and Tumbuka, the children spoke the language of their moth-

88

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

ers (who belonged to the conquered group). Even during the march, Ngoni was already a changed language through the accumulation of ethnic groups that swelled their armies. The Nguni remained a minority and the captives, the majority. Vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar were all altered in turn by various assimilated groups so that the characteristic Nguni clicks were dropped and new vocabulary and prefixes adopted (Spear, 1972). Even though they remained Ngoni ethnically, linguistically they became either Chewa or Tumbuka and their languages had a significant impact on the languages they mixed with, leading to distinct dialects. Their settlement patterns followed those of the conquered but their political structure and names remained (Mtenje & Soko, 1998). Among the Tumbuka, Ngoni was retained for some time because of the Ngoni policy of segregation, primarily by the older Ngoni, and in Emcisweni (Mpherembe’s headquarters) Ngoni was retained well into the twentieth century (Spear, 1972: 31).11 The language however, has undergone some considerable changes. Dialect modifications such as the gradual elimination of the clicks and the substitution of ‘r’ for ‘l’, the double consonants ‘dl’ and ‘hl’ characteristic of Nguni language were lost as well, pronoun forms of the verb were altered and there was large scale borrowing of vocabulary from Tumbuka. (Werner, 1906: 35) Tumbuka gradually took over because of intermarriage, i.e. there were an increasing number of Tumbuka mothers within Ngoni society (Kishindo, 1995; Read, 1936). It is clear from Ngoni historiography (Elmslie, 1899; Fraser, 1914; Read, 1956; Kishindo, 1995; Mtenje & Soko, 1998) that cultural dominance in core areas other than language was still there. For example, the Ngoni Ingoma dance and war gear, their paying of the bride price, patrilinealism and Ngoni ceremonies were still their pride and have continued unabated (Mtenje & Soko, 1998). Whilst they remained culturally Ngoni, linguistically they became Tumbuka. The Ngoni language was basically dead and Donald Fraser (1914: 189) wrote: ‘There are large districts in which it is an unusual thing to find even an old Ngoni who speaks the pure language of his fathers and one seldom hears it from the lips of a young person’. Apart from factors like intermarriage and minority group status, one can also speculate that the Ngoni did not enforce their language on their subjects. For a militant group as powerful and aggressive as the Ngoni not to enforce their language on their captives is surprising. One probable explanation for not doing so can be found in their lack of concern for and promotion of their language, coupled with the tenacity of the Tumbuka language. One byproduct of the Ngoni policy of segregation and lack of control over their subjects in the periphery was the breakaway of the Tumbuka. One group settled at the end of Lake Malawi in Karonga District where they dwell to this day, ‘an island of Tumbuka language and culture in a sea of Ngonde people’ (Vail & White, 1989: 153).

Yao (Zone P, Group 20) The Yao form the third largest ethnic group in Malawi and their language was spoken by 13% of the total population in 1966. Yao dialectal variation also stems

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

89

from geographical settlements and three dialects are identifiable: Mangochi, Machinga and Makanjira Yao (Kishindo et al., 1997). They were the second group of immigrants to invade Malawi, and derive their name from the Yao Hill situated near Mwembe (between the Lujenda and Rovuma rivers) in Mozambique (Murray, 1922: 45). The Yao were long-distance traders from Mozambique (where they are found in large numbers) who in the 1850s, as a result of either internal disputes or defeat (Alpers, 1972) or drought (Webster, 1978), migrated into Malawi and settled among the Nyanja at the southern end of Lake Malawi. They bred strong chiefs who traded with the Arabs and Swahili (as middlemen) in ivory and, later on, in slaves in exchange for cloth, ornaments and firearms. According to Alpers (1972) the Yao became the dominant population group of the entire northern half of the southern part of Malawi. Militarily powerful and commercially aggressive, they dominated and subjugated the Chewa or Nyanja and Mang’anja for the remainder of the nineteenth century in the Shire Highlands. Their long contact with Muslim traders influenced the majority to profess Islam and adopt Arab dress (Henriksen, 1978: 248). The Yao came in two groups: the Mangochi Yao who are now settled in Chiradzulu, Blantyre, Zomba and Mulanje Districts, and the Machinga Yao who are settled in the Mangochi, Machinga and Liwonde areas. Murray (1922: 84) comments that there were few if any mixed marriages between the Mangochi Yao or Liwonde Yao and the Chewa, unlike among those who settled in the Shire Highlands. We learn from Murray (1932: 46–47) that: The Shire Highlands Yao have lost their pride of race and do not observe their customs and the young generations do not know the customs of their ancestors and there are a lot of intermarriages between Nguru and Yao, Yao and Nyanja . . . so that most of them will be Yao in name but linguistically Nyanja. Even today many of the natives in the highlands are of doubtful origin and the majority of the so called Yao have little claim to the name. Amongst them, the Yao language is poorly spoken and shows signs of disappearance. This reveals that through interaction with the Nyanja, the Yao gradually shifted towards Nyanja culture and language. This owes much to the initial harmonious existence between the peace-loving Nyanja and the Yao, a relationship that changed when the Yao took to the slave trade (Phiri, 1978). Even though intermarriage was one of the causes of language shift, this was also coupled with European employers finding the Nyanja dialect easier to learn and therefore promoting it to the detriment of Yao (Murray, 1932: 46). Whilst the Shire Highlands Yao mixed with the Nyanja and Mang’anja, the Mangochi and Machinga Yao, having embraced Islam, were more conservative. Even today, they form the highest concentration of the Yao ethnic group in terms of numbers and lack of integration with other ethnic groups. One should also note that the Shire Highlands was an area of great linguistic interaction with the coming of another group, the Lomwe.

The Lomwe (Zone P, Group 30) The Lomwe comprise the second largest ethnic group in Malawi (14%). The language is confined to its ethnic group and is the least used language in the

90

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

country. Lomwe historiography points to the fact that they migrated in small groups and their migration dates back to about 1760 (Rashid, 1978) even though their main impact was not felt until after 1895 (Vail & White, 1989: 167). The Lomwe derive their name from Lomwe Hill in Mozambique and they are akin to the Lolo (Boerder, 1984; Soka, 1953). Nurse (1972), from lexicostatistics, suggests that the Lolo were the forebears of the Lomwe. Soka also records that the Lomwe, who today inhabit Zomba, Mulanje, Thyolo, Chiradzulu and Machinga Districts belonged to five dialectal subdivisions: Muhipiti, Makua, Meeto, Nyamwelo and Mihavani. Another group, the Khokhola (people of the woodlands) crossed the Ruo River and settled in Mulanje, whilst another section, the Athakwani (named after a hill) also settled in the same area. Rashid (1978), who did research on the relationship between one branch of the Lomwe, the Mbewe, and the Yao and Chewa, argues that there was a great deal of interaction between the Yao, Lomwe and Nyanja contributing to a multiethnic society, primarily Nguru12 and Nyanja in origin among whom the Yao language was gaining popularity. Through interethnic interaction and the ivory trade, the Lomwe adopted the language of a numerically very small but prestigious trading elite … It may have been an advantage in state building and assimilation that the language being adopted was not a lingua franca of one of the major ethnic groups … its use is linked to economic advantage and prestige. (Rashid, 1978: 20) Even though this was the case in the early nineteenth century, later Lomwe immigrants are generally treated as late arrivals in the Shire Highlands where the Mang’anja and Yao had a strong foothold. This probably arose because they came in not as militants or traders, like the other intruders, but as settlers in search of land. The Lomwe settled in the Shire Highlands under the terms of Thangata (a feudal system of labour in exchange for land) to both Yao lords and later on British planters. The Lomwe provided a ready and permanent labour supply under this system. Acculturation for the Lomwe like the other immigrants was that of language shift either to Yao or Chewa, as Murray (1932: 56) observes: The Anguru who have settled in Malawi are rapidly losing their tribal and social characteristics. Of the children born in the protectorate, a few boys or girls have their teeth filed and almost none of the girls have their lips pierced for the lip ring. Most girls later adopt what are accepted as Yao markings and wear a nose button and intermarry among the Mang’anja, Anyanja and Yao. The language readily adopts Mang’anja words, sometimes in a more or less modified form … a verb within the Lomwe o instead of ku for the infinitive and with the stress in the wrong place. But the majority of the younger generation speak Nyanja or Shire Highland Yao with considerable fluency. From the Lomwe account it can be argued that the Lomwe were not invaders like the Yao and Ngoni; rather they settled and lived as subordinates to their lords, a position that has had and is having serious consequences for their lan-

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

91

guage and self-esteem. Culturally, the Chewa, Lomwe and Yao are matrilineal and matrilocal whilst the Sena are the only patrilineal group in the south. Non-Malawian minor languages

Arabic and Swahili The Swahili and the Arabs belonged to the East African coast and their first connection with Malawi was mainly through the ivory and slave trade from the 1840s onwards (McMillan, 1972: 263). The Swahili formed the fighting force of the Arab slave traders and according to Murray (1922) were never numerous. They established settlements at various centres on the lakeshore of Malawi, notably Karonga, Nkhota-kota and Mangochi Districts. Murray (1922) states that through intermarriage with the local Nyanja speakers their language was adopted in these areas under their influence but not beyond it. Like other migrant groups, they also influenced the languages they interacted with, giving rise to a Chewa dialect that is very different in pronunciation and vocabulary from that of the Shire Highlands. English The last group of intruders were the British13 who introduced English in Malawi. Though there were only about 250 native speakers in the country in 1966, the British form another important and interesting part of linguistic history in Malawi. The role played by Scottish missionaries, Shire Highlands’ planters and government administrators is important in both the formulation and shaping of the language policy. The discussion here will be brief as a fuller account is given in Part III of this monograph. The first British visitors to Malawi were Dr David Livingstone and his party in 1858–64 and again in 1866–73, in the name of commerce and Christianity. The next group of Europeans were the pioneer parties of the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), Livingstonia and Blantyre Missions who settled along the lake in 1875 and at Blantyre on the Shire Highlands, respectively. The other groups, who came later, were referred to as ‘planters’ and were fortune seekers who acquired huge pieces of land for growing coffee and tea in the Shire Highlands. The advent of the Europeans brought many changes to Malawian society. First, in a bid to protect her nationals in Malawi, Britain declared Malawi (then Nyasaland) the British Central African Protectorate in 1891. On 6 July 1907, the name was changed to Nyasaland Protectorate. Second, the growth of Christianity and its elite challenged the cultural and social fabric of Malawi. Third, it led to the development of a communication system and imbalanced economic development that favoured the Southern Region and in particular the Shire Highlands. Cole-King (1972: 88) states that by 1918, the basis of modern communication systems consisting of a rail, road and river route in and out of the country for goods and passengers, telegraphic and postal communications with the rest of the world and a road network linking the administrative centres within the country had been established. This infrastructure, the availability of employment for the cash economy, the development of urban centres like Zomba as the capital city for administration and Blantyre as a commercial centre, had a

92

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

tremendous impact on the mobility of various ethnic groups. People started to work in the tea and tobacco estates. Migration became one-sided, that is, towards the southern part of the country in the Shire Highlands and even to the mines in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Zambia. Urban migration created the need for a lingua franca for inter-ethnic communication. In an area like the Shire Highlands which was already linguistically heterogeneous, the situation became even more complex. The varied responses of different societies or ethnic groups to these changes, discussed later in this monograph, are of crucial importance to the understanding of the current language situation in Malawi. Demographic distribution of Malawian languages This section gives some figures indicating the size of each native speaker community based on the 1966 Census data (Malawi National Statistics Office Report (MNSO, 1966).14 About 16 languages were investigated. The criteria used for determining languages and dialects are not clear. The total population in 1966 was about 3,275,181. Table 1 presents the languages and their location (see also Figure 1). The problem with the census data, as recognised by many scholars, is the difficulty in distinguishing accurately the number of persons of a given indigenous origin and identity living near traditional territory. Some of the people’s identity could be considered more official than functional, with the younger generations forming an insignificant proportion of those who speak the language. This is especially true of languages such as Lomwe and Ngoni whose younger generation rarely, if at all, speak their languages (see Kayambazinthu, 1995; Matiki, 1996/7; Mtenje & Soko, 1998). As Whiteley (1984) cautions, census data usually uses ethnicity rather than linguistic affiliation as a way of identifying people. Since ethnic and linguistic units are not comparable, the census figures presented do not give precise information regarding the number of people speaking the language as their mother tongue or as a second language. Also, as Stubbs (1972) observes, the census made no attempt to analyse the extent of cultural assimilation as indications of home languages and languages understood, for the four largest language groups in Malawi. The census only asked about the language people usually spoke in the home and their ability to understand one or more designated languages: Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao and English. The base figure estimates are outdated and are therefore being used as a general guideline. The total population in 1966 was 3,275,181, while it is being estimated at 12,000,000 in 1998. Data in Table 1 show that Chichewa was the largest home language. About 50.2%15 of the population spoke Chichewa. The next largest group was Lomwe (14.5%) followed by Yao (13.8%) and Tumbuka (9.1%). Quantitatively, these four are the largest linguistic groups in Malawi. Given the annual growth rate of 3.2% (MNSO, 1996), we can project new figures for these ethnic groups. The projections should, however, take into account the fact that some languages such as Lomwe, Ngoni and Yao in that order are dying languages and they might not increase at the same rate as Chichewa. On the basis of isolated survey data (Kayambazinthu, 1995; Matiki, 1996/97; Kishindo et al. 1997 — Chiyao Survey; Chitumbuka Survey, 1998) we can project that Chichewa is now spoken by more than 50% of Malawians, both urban and rural.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

Figure 1 Malawian home languages (Stubbs, 1972: 73)

93

94

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Some observations This section has emphasised the emergence of multilingualism as a manifestation of historical events and the nature of society in Malawian history. From the foregoing historical background we can trace trends of sociolinguistic change. The sisteenth–eighteenth centuries were dominated by the Maravi or Chewa in the southern and central regions of Malawi whilst other indigenous groups such as the Tumbuka and other smaller groups dominated the northern part of the country. One should look at this period of language contact as one of integration and synthesis between the immigrants and the earlier inhabitants. Among the immigrants themselves, it was a period of peaceful coexistence and stability, with little language assimilation or language shift. The nineteenth century Malawi was economically and politically dominated by intruders (Yao, Ngoni, and British) who subjugated the indigenous ethnic groups. What is interesting sociolinguistically is that prior to the advent of British rule, there was a trend toward language maintenance by the indigenous groups, due to their being numerically stronger, and towards language shift among the intruders regardless of their political, military and economic power, due to their being numerically small. Factors such as the numerical size of the group, intermarriages, the nature of migration, the attitude of the immigrants and the friendliness of the indigenous groups can be put forward as possible causes of language shift. However, the continued existence of most of these immigrant language groups shows that this was a period of integration without total or complete synthesis. There are core areas where Yao, Lomwe, and a few Ngoni can still be found and their effect on Chewa or Tumbuka dialects is evident. Apart from language shift, we can also trace the development of lingua francas, that is, languages that were adopted and used for purposes of inter-ethnic communication. These were mainly Chewa, Tumbuka and Yao, either because they were indigenous and demographically favourably distributed (Chewa and Tumbuka) or because of the economic advantage and the prestige associated with them (Yao). The development of distinct regional languages, Chewa in the central and southern regions, Tumbuka in the northern region and Yao in the southern region can be observed; as can the development of geographical dialects of the various languages. The coming of the British and the need for streamlining administration, language for education and evangelism ushered in a different language — English. This forms a different period altogether. Colonialism created and confined Malawi within its present borders and artificially separated linguistic groups from each other, including the Chewa in eastern Zambia and western Mozambique from those of Malawi, and the Yao and Lomwe in Malawi from those of Mozambique. The Tumbuka from eastern Zambia were also cut off from those of Malawi. The British invasion, unlike that of the African groups, was complete and led to total European control over the country and contributed greatly to the rise and spread of lingua francas in Malawi and the stratification between English and indigenous languages.

Part II: Language Spread in Malawi This section provides a description of Malawian languages that have spread

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

95

beyond their ethnic boundaries to become either a national language (Chichewa) or regional language (Tumbuka). Given their spread and important role, attention will be paid to these two languages whilst the other languages will not be treated in depth. Conceptual framework The phenomenon of language spread is defined by Cooper (1982: 6) as an increase, over time in proportion to a communication network that adopts a given language or variety for a given communication function. A distinction is also made between increase of spread in number of speakers and number of functions. This distinction is important in discussing Malawian languages with few speakers but having a wider communication function. As stated by Von Gleich (1994: 77), language policy spread has to be interpreted as a policy by a state or government that aims at fostering the spread of a specific language within and outside its boundaries in terms of who adopts what, when, why and how. Languages spread for a number of reasons, e.g. military conquest and religious missionary activities (Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997: 67; see also Djité, 1988). These authors have also observed that language spread can be a natural occurrence even though language planners make it an explicit goal (see Ammon, 1992). In language planning terms, language spread is the attempt to increase the number of speakers, often at the expense of another language(s) leading to language shift (e.g. Wardaugh, 1987). However, language spread can also be seen as an unplanned language planning phenomenon (Baldauf, 1994). The discussion that follows attempts to contextualise the rise of Chichewa and Tumbuka in Malawi and explains the reasons for their spread. In discussing the spread of these two languages the role of language-in-education policy in Malawi is central to the argument of both planned and unplanned language spread. The current education system in Malawi As Welsh (1985: 1) points out, there is enough evidence that secondary and higher education in Africa represents the results of unequal educational opportunity. Also, occupational and educational structures in Africa are tightly interwoven, the occupational level attained by an individual being determined by the level of educational qualifications that s/he has managed to achieve. The educational structure started by the colonial regimes in Africa, which has been continued by most independent African countries, is a pyramid with a narrowing opportunity for advancement at each stage. The formal education system in Malawi consists of an eight-year primary cycle, a four-year secondary cycle and various post secondary diploma and degree programmes. The basic structure can be seen in Figure 2. Primary education has been universal since 1994, but parents are required to pay school fees from secondary school level up to the University. Since 1996, education has been free for girls under the Girls Attainment of Basic Literacy and Education (GABLE) project. Wastage is high in the education system because once the students get into the system, it fails to sustain them. Access from the primary cycle to the secondary cycle (standard 8 to form 1) is highly restricted and competitive so that the majority of primary school leavers

Figure 2 Basic structure of the Malawian educational system

96

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

97

do not enter secondary school. For example, in 1996 the total enrolment in standard 1 was 2,887,107 pupils. Only 2% (N = 57,812) of these pupils made it to secondary school and 0.13% (N = 3872) continued to the University (Basic Education Statistics, 1996). Primary education is essential for one to climb the educational pyramid and enter the ‘modern sector’. However, access to education and the efficient passage of a pupil through the system also depends partly on levels of regional development or on stratification factors such as class, ethnicity and other reasons. Important issues affecting access and wastage include: sex, household standard of living, parental education, occupation, income and poverty (Welsh, 1985). Despite the educational growth rate,16 the government does not provide equal opportunities for education for all its citizens in secondary schools. If differences in access and wastage in the primary and secondary cycle exist, these should have direct consequences on the basic economic differences between regions, districts, communities, classes, ethnic growth and all other social variables used to differentiate between groups in society. Conversely, this too will affect people’s language learning and use. Apart from regional disparities, the ratios also depend on whether one lives in urban or rural areas. Those in the urban areas are at an advantage since teacher–pupil ratios and education facilities are better than in the rural areas. The pupils in Zomba, Mzuzu, Lilongwe and Blantyre had a teacher–pupil ratio close to the 1:70 compared to the rural ratio of up to 1:203 (Basic Education Statistics, 1996: 20–21). If educational statistics are reliable, one could argue that by the time pupils complete the primary level, literacy in Chichewa has been established. Also, many people in the north and other areas where literacy is high will have learnt Chichewa. However, if those who drop out at the primary school level integrate into their various linguistic groups (as is the case), the level of competence or acquisition of Chichewa would be difficult to determine. They may lapse back into their own languages and lose competence in the national and official languages they have acquired at school, but do not use at home. This is coupled with a lesser motivation for learning the national language which may not be as profitable as English. Also, the nature of the system creates a small minority (3.4%) of an elite group of urban dwellers (Malawi National Statistical Office [Preliminary Report], 1987: 2) who speak English and or other European languages with varying degrees of competence. Adult illiteracy rates stand at 58% for women and 28% for men (World Development Report, 1997). Language-in-education policy issues Language planning for educational purposes has received much attention in Africa and elsewhere and the discussion has not been conclusive. According to Faure (1972: 170), cited in Hartshorne (1995: 306), the education policy of any country reflects its political options, its traditions and values and its conception of the future. Education policy also exists in the context of a particular socioeconomic and political order. Education is directed towards the achievement of certain goals behind which rest fundamental issues such as philosophies of life, religious beliefs, and ideas about state and society, political ideologies and the

98

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

working of economic forces. It is in this context that the language-in-education policy of Malawi will be discussed. The major question confronting language education planners in post-colonial societies such as Malawi, and indeed in Africa as a whole, is what language(s) to include in the school system. The question in Malawi (and in other Anglophone countries) has often hinged on the feasibility of English as a lingua franca for its practical usefulness for science and technology and world civilisation, as well as the maintenance of cultural identity as Malawians and ease of communication with the masses, since English remains far removed from them. This dilemma often translates into programmatic issues such as what should be the first medium of communication in school and when should the transition to English be made. Another argument revolves around which language should be used as a subject, which for literacy (Bamgbose, 1984) and when to introduce it. Most educationists and language planners acknowledge the cultural and educational benefits of using the mother tongue or a vernacular as a medium of instruction (Bamgbose, 1976; 1984; Fishman, 1989; UNESCO, 1953). There is general agreement that language determines what aspects of the culture are transmitted and should provide an essential link to the individual and group roots of personal identity and social continuity. Bamgbose (1976) notes that both children and adults learn to read and write a second language better after first becoming literate in their own mother tongue. Fishman (1989: 474) argues that the instructional use of disadvantaged mother tongues may lead to improved academic outcomes and safeguard the sociocultural and political interests of minority groups. However, UNESCO and Fishman, among others, also acknowledge the financial burden such a programme entails in multilingual countries. Other scholars have cautioned against total vernacularisation vis-à-vis colonial languages, especially if the chosen vernacular is not tied in with immediate important issues in the local population (Eastman, 1983: 71), world events, science and technology, employment and the general upward mobility (Sawadogo, 1990, on Burkina Faso). As Fishman (1989) rightly points out, vernacularisation should be supported by the whole community for reasons of integration, economics and political power. The implication of this discussion is that planners of vernaculars should clearly spell out the economic and cultural benefits of using such languages. There is no point in elevating a vernacular to a language of teaching if it does not elevate people’s social mobility and economic standing. The policy is bound to fail as it did in Burkina Faso (Sawadogo, 1990). The next section will discuss language planning in Malawi within the framework of continuing social-cultural interaction patterns and needs.

Language use in the education sector17 The history of language in education planning in Malawi is characterised by the dilemma of when to use the vernacular language and when to introduce English. The literature reviewed in the previous section was indicative of the need to establish literacy and numeracy in one’s mother tongue first before introducing English, a language that was seen as vital to one’s socioeconomic advancement. The language(s) used in the Malawian education system varies according to the level of education and type of school. The schools can be classified into three categories: government schools, mission but government grant-aided schools, and

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

99

private or designated schools. Whilst the government controls the language policy in the former two, the latter category formulate their own policies and English is the medium of communication. In the preschools, there is no official language policy regulating language use. In practice, however, three categories of language use can be identified. The majority of preschools use vernacular languages plus a bit of English. The second largest group adopts a bilingual policy and use both English and a vernacular language. The smallest number uses English exclusively for both teaching and as a medium of communication. Rural preschools are likely to use more vernacular than English whilst semi-urban preschools tend to adopt a bilingual policy and the elitist preschools use only English, both as a subject and medium of communication. In the primary schools, the current policy on paper stipulates that from Standard 1 to Standard 4 all teaching should be done in vernacular languages prevalent in the area except in the two subjects, English and Chichewa which are supposed to be taught in those languages respectively. From Standard 5 to Standard 8 all teaching is to be done in English except when teaching Chichewa. English becomes the sole language of instruction from Standard 5 up to university level. The number of hours devoted to the languages varies according to the prestige attached to the language. The number of hours assigned to each language is presented in Table 2. Entrance into university demands a credit in English. All teaching is done in English except for French, Latin and Chichewa. English is also compulsory in the first year, that is, all first year students have to take an English for Academic Purposes skills course for four hours per week in the five constituent colleges of the University of Malawi, and must pass English in order to proceed to the next year. Table 2 illustrates that Malawi adopts a bilingual language policy in education and that as the students progress into the upper years the role of English increases and that of Chichewa diminishes. Language in the media Table 3 presents a weekly schedule for Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). According to the controller of programmes, MBC since its inception in 1964 has largely broadcast in two main languages, English and Chichewa. Tumbuka was used on a minor scale up to 1968 when Dr Banda banned it on the radio. MBC broadcasts for 19 hours daily and since 15 November 1996 has broadcast in six Malawian languages mainly for news bulletins: Chichewa, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena and Tonga. Languages such as Tumbuka, Sena, Lomwe, Yao and Tonga account for only 15 minutes of daily broadcasts or one hour and 75 minutes per week of news bulletins. Special broadcasts in each of these minor languages are done on issues such as for MASAF, Privatisation, prayers, election campaigns and a few sports messages and advertising.18 This accounts for 4.7 hours per week. Another 3.3 hours per week are devoted to bilingual broadcasts (Chichewa and English) for commercials, sports, personality shows and special productions. It is evident from the data that MBC broadcasts in Chichewa more (58.9%) than in English (41%) or any other language. Chichewa is given more prominence because radio broadcasting is viewed as the only means of effec-

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

100

Table 2 Time allocation for each language depending on level of education56 Standard/level

1–2 3–8 Forms 1–4 Forms 1–2 Forms 3–4 University Year 1 Year 1–4

Total no. of hours taught per week

Language

No. of periods taught per week

English and Chichewa English and Chichewa English Chichewa, French, Latin Chichewa, French, Latin English (Compulsory to all) Classics, French, Chichewa, English (by choice)

9

Time allocated per lesson/lecture in minutes 30

9

35

5 hr 25 min.

8 3

40 40

5 hr 20 min. 2 hr

4

40

2 hr 40 min.

4

60

4 hr

4

60

4 hr

4 hr 30 min.

Source: J.T.K. Banda (Principal Education Methods Adviser for French) 16 January 1998. Ministry of Education.

Table 3 Broadcasts in Chichewa and English Total weekly broadcast hours: 109.5 Weekly Chichewa broadcasts Day No. of hours Monday 8.9 Tuesday 9.7 Wednesday 9.0 Thursday 7.5 Friday 9.2 Saturday 9.7 Sunday 10.6 Total 64.6 Total % per week per language

% 13.9 15 13.9 11.6 14.2 15.0 16.4 100 58.9

Weekly English broadcasts No. of hours % 5.7 12.7 4.9 10.9 4.8 10.6 7.8 17.3 8.2 18.2 7.6 16.9 5.9 13.1 44.9 100 41

Source: Personal communication with the Controller of Programmes, Radio One, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) 22 January 1998.

tively reaching the masses (which are largely illiterate) with important socioeconomic messages. However, it is presumed under the monolithic belief that most Malawians understand Chichewa, which is not true (Kamwendo, 1994; Ntonya, 1998), that there need only be limited use of other Malawian languages. The local newspapers also typify bilingual language usage in Malawi (see Chimombo & Chimombo, 1996) but, unlike radio broadcasts, English is the dominant language for publications. The data in Table 4 reveals that although some newspapers publish in both Chichewa and English, English is the dominant lan-

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

101

guage and only those papers or sections of the papers which are geared to rural population are produced in Chichewa and sometimes a bit of Tumbuka and Yao. The two factors which account for the dominance of English vis-à-vis Chichewa are affordability of the papers and literacy. Newspaper costs are unaffordable for an average Malawian. Secondly, English dominates the spheres of elite Malawians’ everyday life in reading and writing. Most educated Malawians prefer to read and write in English than in Chichewa or any other vernacular language because English (and not the vernaculars) is the language in which grammar and writing are thoroughly and formally taught in school (Kayambazinthu, 1995). Out of all the papers, only two papers are predominantly in the vernacular, a government paper and a church paper aimed at disseminating information in the rural areas for free. As in Samoa (Baldauf, 1990: 261) the data show that the print media in Malawi foster English language usage. The predominance of English can also be seen in other media areas such as films and the availability in large numbers of books in English in the libraries and bookshops. The illiteracy rate and the affordability of the papers necessitate that newspapers cannot be a medium of general information and dissemination of political ideas among the masses. Both the print and electronic media in Malawi Table 4 Newspapers in circulation in Malawi Title Boma Lathu The Enquirer

Publisher Government of Malawi Lucene Publications

The New Vision

New Vision Publications

The Star The Statesman The Telegraph The Weekend News National Agenda Care Magazine The Chronicle The Daily Times Malawi News

Star Publishers Benfin Publishers Akwete Sande Government of Malawi – Catholic Church Jamieson Promotions Blantyre Print Blantyre Print

The Independent The Mirror The Nation The Weekend Nation

Now Publications Mirror Publications Nation Publications Nation Publications

Odini This is Malawi UDF News

Catholic Church Government of Malawi UDF Party

Source: Jamieson, R.A. (1998) Jamieson Promotions (Pvt.) Limited.

Language(s) published in Chichewa only Predominantly English and Chichewa Predominantly English and Chichewa Predominantly English Predominantly English Predominantly English Chichewa and English English and Chichewa English Chichewa and English English only Predominantly English and Chichewa English and Chichewa English and Chichewa English only Predominantly English and Chichewa Chichewa only English English and Chichewa

102

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

favour the highly-educated elite or high socioeconomic class compared to the lower strata that form the core of vernacular users. Migrant languages in Malawi The Malawi government is silent on migrant languages. The education system and the media do not cater for immigrants, assuming that they might have learnt or will learn English and Chichewa. Under this category can be included languages such as Greek, Italian, Gujarati, Somali, Lebanese, Urdu and Punjabi. These are among the languages spoken by minority groups within their ethnic group communities in Malawi. Statistics on these languages are not available. Migrants from neighbouring countries such as Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania are expected to use cross-border languages such as Chichewa. Even though the Asians are the oldest immigrants, forming the highest socioeconomic class in Malawi, there are no language provisions for them in schools apart from their communities. The new immigrants are expected to be absorbed into their various Indian or Asian ethnic communities where their languages are maintained. Most migrant children will attend private schools, which are all taught in English, and to whom most expatriates’ children go. English-speaking children go to designated English only schools such as Sir Harry Johnston, St Andrews, Bishop Mackenzie and Phoenix. All these are prestigious and expensive schools that are strategically distributed in the three main cities (Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe), to cater for the high socioeconomic groups to which most of these migrant groups belong. Historical origins and processes in the use and spread of Malawian languages The distinctive geographical spread and the functional prominence of Chichewa and English and to some extent Tumbuka seen in both the education system and the media can be traced back to the early language practices and policies applied in both the colonial and post colonial times. The earliest colonial influential practices were to maintain the distinction between horizontal and vertical modes of communication (Heine, 1977, 1992). Horizontal communication refers to all written and spoken discursive practices between and among the governing structures of a state, while vertical communication is the structure of interaction taking place between the authorities and the population. In those days, English occupied the horizontal communication role whilst the latter form was occupied by Chichewa. During the colonial days English and Chinyanja were the first official languages for both vertical and horizontal communication. Both the missionaries and governments had to consider Malawi’s linguistic heterogeneity that was seen as an obstacle for operational efficiency. The missionaries’ and the government’s concern was to find an appropriate medium to communicate with the Africans. Preference for both missionaries and government was given to Nyanja in the south and centre, as a language of vertical communication. After an initial enthusiasm for Nyanja in the south, it was discovered that its geographical spread did not include the northern part of Malawi where Tumbuka was favourably distributed.19 The supremacy in both colonial and postcolonial times of

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

103

Chinyanja over other Malawian languages stems from these nineteenth century practices to simplify the country’s linguistic heterogeneity and administrative efficiency by applying different horizontal and vertical modes of communication. Missionary penetration itself also shaped the spread of Chinyanja and Tumbuka, and their usage. That is, the missionary preference for Chinyanja in the south and Tumbuka in the north actually organised their spread over areas where they had never been spoken before and now had to be acquired as second languages. The emergence of Tumbuka was entirely triggered by the Livingstonia Mission. As agents and settlers in the northern part of Malawi, they used, imposed and spread Tumbuka as the mandatory language of colonial education in the northern part of Malawi. The colonial phase 1875-1964 A constant question in language contact and language development has been how a lingua franca arises. Abdulaziz-Mkilifi (1993) and Cooper (1982) suggest that we study its linguistic, demographic, sociological origins, people’s attitudes to it, the degree of dynamism in terms of development and spread and its linguistic and cultural affinity with contact languages. Accordingly, the discussion that follows focuses on the rise of Chichewa and other Malawian languages in relation to each other. The colonial period can be divided into two parts. The period between 1875 and 1918 is the laissez-faire phase of unplanned or uncoordinated planning, when each missionary body followed its own policy according to its needs and linguistic environment. No attempt was made at status planning, but language was used as a communication tool for religious and educational purposes. The second phase, between 1918 and 1964 was one of coordinated efforts by both the colonial government and the missionaries. Of importance, during the colonial period is the ideology and objectives of the colonialists, their treatment of various linguistic groups and their cultures and how this redefined the relations between the language groups in terms of status and prestige. The uncoordinated period 1857–1917 Missionary education, evangelism and the rise of Nyanja and Tumbuka As in other African countries (see, among others, Djité (1988) on the rise of Dyula; Diop (1989) on Senegal and the rise of Wolof; Mukama (1991) on the rise of the Baganda and Luganda in Uganda), formal education in its Western form and its twin goals of evangelism and colonialism can be singled out as the dominant forces in language development and language spread. Education was instrumental in causing new ideals and ideas of perceived social reality (Kashoki, 1990) and in exposing Malawians to a foreign language, English, and its values. The significant development of education together with evangelism are considered as important social factors that contributed to language spread and later on language planning. The advent of missionary work in Malawi and the many languages that missionaries encountered created the need for a language for evangelism and educating Africans. The various Christian missionary bodies adopted local lan-

104

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

guages within their spheres of influence for evangelism and education. For example, the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) in the Southern Region used Nyanja and Yao and so did the Livingstonia Mission Society (LMS). When LMS moved to the northern part of Malawi, they were hoping to use Nyanja and English for two reasons: (1) Nyanja was the language in which scriptural writing had already been produced; and (2) English was the language of ‘the high’ culture (Elmslie to Laws, 1892; see also Rahman, 1995). Thus, as early as 1901 Nyanja language was regarded as ‘a common ground or lingua franca, enriched by such words as may be adopted from other languages’ on grounds of its literary heritage (Jack, 1901: 34). Nyanja was already being used by the planters,20 the government and the people themselves in the south. However, the situation in the north was different because of the decline of Ngoni and the rise of Tumbuka. The mission accepted the situation and abandoned the policy of using Nyanja as a neutral way of overcoming linguistic disunity in the north (Turner, 1933; Vail, 1981). The systematic reduction of Malawian languages to writing using the Roman Alphabet, which started with the Christian missionaries, contributed greatly to the development of some languages. This had the effect of elevating the status of some languages which were ultimately chosen vis-à-vis others. As Doke (1961a: 52) notes: apart from some elementary school readers, catechisms and hymn books, the development of Bantu literature in this period was confined to the translations of scripture. The Bible translation work … is of immense importance. Just as the English vernacular translation of the Bible by Coverdale in 1535 was of inestimable value in the ultimate standardisation of literary English, so have the early Bantu vernacular translations laid the foundations of literature in a number of these languages. The translation of the Bible or parts of it using a phonetic or Roman alphabet were done in Nyanja (western and eastern), Ngoni, Yao, Nkhonde/Nyakyusa, Tumbuka, Lomwe, Nyiha, Tonga. Apart from Bible translations, a number of publications also came out during this period (see Kishindo, 1990, 1994; Kayambazinthu, 1995). Both Kishindo and Kayambazinthu note that major linguistic analyses were done on Nyanja, Yao and Tumbuka in that order. This language development had a significant impact on the status of these languages. Since different missionary bodies translated the Bible or parts of it into dialects according to where they were settled, coordinated efforts began towards a unified dialect of Nyanja.21 In 1900, a joint Bible Translation Committee was formed with the purpose of coming up with a Union Version of Nyanja that could be used by all missionary groups. The committee chose to unify Chewa and Mang’anja dialects and this resulted in the publication of Matthew in 1901, the New Testament in 1906 and the whole Bible in 1922. A revised version of this Bible was printed in 1936 (Doke, 1961b; Heine, 1970: 62). It is clear that different mission groups promoted different dialects: the UMCA elevated the lesser-known dialect Nyanja (eastern or Likoma dialect), the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) Chewa and the Blantyre Mission (BM) elevated the popular dialect Mang’anja.22

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

105

Book publishing and distribution was mainly controlled by various mission bodies and their publishing houses.23 The major missionary bodies that contributed to the growth of literature were the International Committee on Christian Literature for Africa (ICCLA) set up in 1926 to promote the production, publication and distribution of literature for use in connection with missionary work in Africa. Another body established for the same purposes was the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. By 1949 the ICCLA was assisted locally by the Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasa Joint Publications Bureau which had a local branch in Nyasaland — The Christian Literature Council set up in 1958 which has now been replaced by the Christian Literature Association in Malawi (CLAIM). What is significant is that the literature that came out during this period was mainly published in Nyanja and English and other languages used in the missions areas of influence, notably Yao and Tumbuka. For example, the Livingstonia Press published in Tumbuka, English and Tonga (school texts) whilst the Hetherwick Press published mainly in Nyanja and English in that order. Language policy in education According to Pretorius (1971) and others, the pioneers of Western type schools in Malawi (for example, the UMCA, BM, LMS, DRC, among others), used vernaculars as a media of instruction, and these included Nyanja, Yao, Tumbuka and Tonga. Schools were streamlined into three levels: Vernacular, Lower Middle and Upper Middle. Yao was the medium of instruction in the UMCA schools in southern Malawi and Nkhota Kota districts, whilst the two government schools among the Yao used Nyanja. Tumbuka, Tonga and Nkhonde were used in both elementary and Lower Middle schools by the LMS in the northern region. English was the language in the Lower Middle schools. In the Upper Middle schools English became the medium of instruction, but the vernaculars were taught as subjects (Annual Reports, 1930). By the end of 1902, there were at least eight missions working in the country, and they had under their management nearly 300 primary schools, one teacher training school and one superior institution (the Overtoun Institute) (Pretorius, 1971: 72). The effect of evangelism and education on the ethnic groups and cultural stimuli The different responses from different ethnic groups to education also impacted on the rise and spread of Chichewa and Tumbuka. According to the LMS: The Henga are a keen, vigorous progressive people, the greater majority of the church members are from them, their schools are well attended, the pupils alert and the boys and girls in about equal numbers. (Livingstonia Mission Report, 1911: 38, cited in McCracken, 1977: 106) However, ‘the Ngonde are . . . slow to move, extremely conservative and suspicious of the new movement going on all around them’ (Livingstonia Mission Report, 1911: 38, cited in McCracken 1977: 106). McCracken maintains that unlike other ethnic groups, the Tumbuka reacted favourably to Christianity because their religion, the Chikangombe cult, was largely dead (due to the Ngoni inva-

106

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

sion), and they were ready to experiment with a new one.24 The Ngoni, on the other hand, invited the mission to stay in their land for political and economic reasons but at the same time feared the possible corrosive power of the word of God upon their traditional military ethics (McCracken, 1972). Instead of sending their children to school, they only sent the children of their Tumbuka slaves (Vail, 1981; Vail & White, 1989). Through their embrace of an education which had a substantial English language component, the Henga were well on their way to developing an educated petty bourgeoisie with values shaped by Victorian missionary teaching and examples (Vail & White 1989: 154). The Henga became the teachers in the local schools, and by 1909 Tumbuka was being used in local schools in the district, having largely displaced other languages (McCracken, 1972: 118). By 1914 the use of Tumbuka was widespread (through imposition) in the mission’s sphere of influence, apart from the Tonga who continued to use their own language. As the Tumbuka embraced education, their language gained respectability; and as the early elites with new educational opportunities, their language could no longer be seen as the language of the slaves only. Rather it was the language of a rapidly expanding group of educated and progressive people (Vail & White, 1989: 154). As Vail & White have noted, the mission’s press confirmed the status of the Tumbuka language by pouring out thousands of texts in Tumbuka. For the Tumbuka, this was a psychological symbol of their rising respectability and self-esteem, whilst for the Ngoni, it was their adopted language within a larger context of competing languages. During the political struggle, Tumbuka became the northern regional language (Vail, 1981). However, the situation in the central and southern part of Malawi was different: education was less effective. In the south the planters wanted to run their estates or their workers without government intervention or missionary interference. Consequently, missionary work was barred from the estates and the network of schools that were established in the north did not develop in the south (Vail & White, 1989: 167). Among the Yao Islam became the main blocking factor. As Alpers (1972: 175) observes: ‘the Yao embraced Islam because they regarded it as the most amenable way of modernising their societies, especially of acquiring literacy for their people … every Muslim village had its own Koranic schools’. Islam in Africa had first offered a way of advance beyond rigid tribalism and still provided a possible alternative for the African who sought some status and dignity vis-à-vis the Europeans (Shepperson & Price, 1958: 407). Kishindo (1994: 133) argues that the development of schools and consequently of Yao as a lingua franca, unlike that of Tumbuka, was a consequence of complex and shifting attitudes of the colonial government influenced by Christian missionary antagonism to Islam.25 While this is true to a greater extent (especially the period Kishindo quotes (1912) and thereabout),26 this does not explain the favourable attitude the government had towards the Yao which will be shown later in this monograph. It can be argued that the linguistic environment itself in the southern part of Malawi, coupled with the early development of Nyanja, did not allow for the development of a competing lingua franca since Nyanja had for a long period already occupied that position.27 As observed by Greenberg (1972: 201), once

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

107

a lingua franca is established as advantageous to know, it rapidly overshadows other languages existing in the same market. Education also contributed to the production of the early elites and lobbyists who documented the histories of their ethnic groups. The documentation of certain ethnic groups’ history inculcated ethnic consciousness and separatism. Vail (1981) singles out cultural brokers like Edward Bote Manda, Andrew Nkonjera and Cullen Young for the Tumbuka, Kamuzu Banda for the Chewa, Bandawe for the Lomwe, Abdallah for the Yao and Yesaya Chibambo for the Ngoni. In short, these histories emphasised separatism and the important existence of each ethnic group within Nyasaland. The writers glorified the past of the people they wrote about whom they portrayed as empire builders, people with a culture and tradition. Although it is difficult to generalise about the consequences of the missionary or educational impact on Malawian society, it can be noted that the policy of different missionary bodies and the reaction of the indigenous people themselves to education are important in explaining the language practices that emerged. As McCracken (1972: 230–31) argues: The dynamic response of various northern peoples, when combined with Livingstonia’s own exceptional concern for change, had the effect of making the northern province the most advanced area in terms of educational activity in Central Africa.28 Second, education was selective and open to few people, so society was stratified, making English accessible to the few only. Third, the growth of the Malawian elite in a region that had no industries led to mass migration to areas of employment in the southern part of Malawi which was predominantly Chewa speaking. Fourth, education gave this elite bargaining power and led to the development of political pressure groups. The emergence of political problems beyond single self-interested groups to issues that could be put forward to the colonial government united their otherwise disparate separate claims. In the process of this political evolution, lingua francas were used to articulate their grievances. Vail and White (1989) argue that political discontent was viewed differently by different regions. For the southerners it was the abolition of the Thangata system (a system of labour in exchange for land) and access to appropriated land. The central region focused on the European monopoly over the tobacco trade that suppressed African involvement. What is worth noting, however, is that all this culminated in the formation of the Nyasaland Educated African Council which allowed these intellectuals (from the south and the north) to air their views.29 What is also significant is that for the north, Tumbuka became the language that united the people whilst in the south no one language did so (Vail, 1981; Vail & White, 1989). Government contribution 1918–1964 Nyanja gained the lead over the other languages for various reasons. Nyanja was geographically favourably spread in both the central and southern parts of Malawi. Secondly, the colonial government documented languages that it considered vital in the running of the country. Having settled in an area where

108

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Nyanja was the dominant language and a lingua franca, the government chose Nyanja as their language for administration and promoted it through a series of publications.30 Thus, Nyanja became the official language of the police and the army. Using early-educated Nyanja elites as agents, the language was carried to other areas where it was not spoken in both Malawi and Zambia (Heine, 1970: 61) and Zimbabwe.31 The Nyanja acted as intermediaries between Europeans and Africans. ‘On account of lack of skilled workers in the neighbouring territories to serve as clerks, overseers, artisans and specialists, the Nyanja soon spread themselves into Zambia and Zimbabwe, taking the language beyond its borders’ (Heine, 1970: 61). The government also required officers of the colonial agricultural, veterinary and forest service to have a thorough knowledge of the language for administration. The colonial government reinforced the significant position of Nyanja by making it a language for examinations in the civil service. All new entrants to these posts were to write a higher standard examination in Chinyanja as a precedent to the first efficiency bar or proscribed bonus (Kittermaster, 1936a: 4). Chinyanja also received international recognition when it was included in the syllabi of the Cambridge School Certificate for both Nyasaland (Malawi) and Northern Rhodesia now Zambia in the late 1940s: ‘Two of the vernaculars, Chibemba and Chinyanja, have been accepted for about twenty years as subjects for the Cambridge School Certificate Examinations’ (Mwanakatwe, 1968: 21). Chinyanja was also being studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London using Malawians as informants (Kishindo, 1990: 65). Thus Nyanja became widespread as an important lingua franca in both Zambia and Malawi due to the government policy. Another language promoted by the government (but not so much as a national or regional lingua franca) was Yao. Rashid (1978) argues that the interaction between the Yao, Lomwe (Mbewe group) and Nyanja contributed to a multiethnic society which was primarily Nguru and Nyanja in origin, among whom the Yao language was gaining popularity. Through this interethnic interaction and ivory trade, the Lomwe adopted the language of a numerically very small but prestigious trading elite … It may have been an advantage in state building and assimilation that the language being adopted was not a lingua franca of one of the major ethnic groups … its use is linked to economic advantage and prestige. (Rashid, 1978: 20) Thus the rise of Yao can be traced to trade. Politically, the British embraced the most traditional and conservative chiefs, the Yao, as instruments of indirect rule (Vail & White, 1989: 170). These two authors also argue that the colonialists formulated ethnic theories and stereotypes of African differentiation. This is substantiated by the favourable attitude towards the Yao unlike the other ethnic groups; while to the whites the Lomwe were ‘gangsters, irregular soldiers, cringing-starving unclothed refugees … drunken, slothful and vicious … They were candid bandits, their prey human flesh and blood and having gorged eyes like hyenas, they then returned to Manguru for the most part replete’ (Nyasaland Times, 13 July and 6 August 1942). The Nguru (Lomwe) ‘are represented among

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

109

the idle and criminal classes to a disproportionate extent’ whilst the ‘Yaos are intelligent and quick, making excellent servants, while as soldiers, they have proved of inestimable value; they also speak perhaps the finest of all Central African languages’ (Murray, 1922: 55–7, 95). Compared to the Yao the Nyanja ‘are industrious, quiet and peace loving people but have not the physique nor the brains of the Yao nor the agricultural perseverance of the Nguru … He is easily impressionable’ (Murray, 1932: 83). These stereotyped images of Lomwe, Yao and Nyanja were to remain powerful, particularly of the Lomwe, into the early 1980s (Vail & White, 1989: 173) and contributed greatly to the decline of the language. Vail and White argue that after the war official support for the political and economic authority of the Yao ruling elite continued to grow and this further led to the growth of an alliance between the British administrators and the Yao. As a mark of respect for a people with real history, in marked contrast to other local Africans, Abdallah’s The Yaos was published in both Yao and English by the Government Press, with the aim of writing ‘a book that would tell all about the customs of we Yaos, so that we remind ourselves whence we sprang and our beginnings as a nation’ (Abdallah, 1919: Preface). Note that the Yao looked at themselves as a nation within a multilingual protectorate. This documentation was certainly not a consolidation of personal power base as Kishindo (1994) might suggest. The coordinated period Nyanja continued to be recognised as a lingua franca as evidenced by the discourses of the colonial government, the missionaries and the Malawians themselves in a more coordinated manner. In 1918, a government administrator proposed that Nyanja be made an official language for use in all schools on the basis that it was widely spoken in the protectorate. Despite the colonialists’ fear that such a move would unite the diverse Malawian ethnic groups (Mombera District Annual Report 1918–1919 in File No. S1/1008/19), the government, concerned with cutting down on administrative costs, argued for the adoption of a single official language for unity and economic purposes (Moggridge, 1919: 4). In June 1930, the Ordinary Committee on Education endorsed the recommendation by making Nyanja a compulsory subject in all assisted schools, not later than the stages of class three in elementary vernacular schools. The Advisory Committee also adopted the recommendation of its Language and Textbook Sub-Committee that Chinyanja be introduced as the medium of instruction not later than Class 4 in all government and assisted schools (Young H. to Cunliff-Lister, 1934). However, the LMS, which had already been working with Tumbuka in the north and had published a lot of texts in it announced on 15 July 1933 their inability to accept a ruling that jeopardised their efforts socioeconomically (Turner, 1933; Young, 1933). Whilst the Ngonde (Chief Kyungu to District Commissioner, 9 November 1932: 18) and Tonga on whom the mission had imposed Tumbuka accepted the ruling, the Tumbuka themselves, using their cultural broker and educationist, Levi Mumba, were opposed to the idea, saying it was ‘unfair to force people to accept a language which they do not wish … People go to school to learn their own vernacular books, after which they wish to learn English which

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

110

is more profitable’ (NNM1/16/4, Mombera District Council, 1931/39). If anything, the language issue resulted in a merger of local Tumbuka and ethnic consciousness into a new regional coalition glued together by the possession of a common language in a country of many languages. Tumbuka became the language for focusing their political discontent with the colonial government (Vail, 1981: 165). Faced with this opposition, the new governor Sir Hubert Young, in an attempt to sell the policy to the northern region, met with a varied response. The Ngoni leaders told him, ‘Chinyanja is not wanted in this Tumbuka speaking area’ and ‘Tumbuka should be preserved for future generations as seed for native produce, domestic and wild animals is preserved for them’ (NN1/2005, Native Administration, Mzimba, 1932, Minutes of Barazas). Levi Mumba, a high ranking Tumbuka on the influential Advisory Committee of Education, in agreement with the anti-Nyanja forces, argued that it was much too early to have a lingua franca in Nyasaland and that if ever one were adopted, it should be English (S1/449/32, Minutes of 19 October 1933 and 1936 Round Table Conference in PROCO 525/161). Thus English was held in high esteem and was the language to learn. Despite the resistance from LMS, the Tumbuka and the Yao, in 1934 the government proclaimed: After careful consideration, the government of Nyasaland has decided definitely to encourage Chinyanja as the lingua franca and as the official language of the protectorate. Competency in Chinyanja would be sine qua non to admission to the native civil service and the missions which worked in areas where Chinyanja was not the mother tongue would be asked to introduce and teach it as a subject in all assisted schools beginning in class 3 of the village schools. (Young, H., 1934: 7) The missions were being forced either to comply with the new government regulations or lose their government education grant. The LMS however appealed directly to Whitehall officials in London (Turner to Vischer, 1935). Sir Harold Kittermaster was ordered to hold a conference and not to implement the policy (Kittermaster, 1936b; Bottomley to Sir Kittermaster, 1935). A round table conference was held in Zomba on 22 June 1936 and resolved that Nyanja be encouraged as a lingua franca in the protectorate but the free use of other native languages should not be suppressed or discouraged (Public Records Office, Colonial Office (PROCO) file no. 25352, CO 525/161 1936: 5–7). In 1947, after World War II, Nyanja and Tumbuka were made official languages (Vernacular Language Policy, 1947). They were broadcast on the radio, taught and used as medium of instruction in schools within their regions. The working of the language policy can best be captured in the following quotations: Chinyanja is the lingua franca throughout the territory … The request of the Tumbuka people has been granted and Tumbuka is the educational lingua franca in the northern province … (Annual Report, Nyasaland Education Department, 1949: 8) Or in 1951 we are told: Chinyanja remains the lingua franca of the country but there is an increas-

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

111

ing awareness that Tumbuka is the natural language in the northern province and the government itself now recognises this language for language examination purposes. (Annual Report, Nyasaland Education Department, 1951: 11) Standardisation and implementation Policy implementation involved the standardisation of Nyanja32 in an attempt to bridge the differences between the various dialects. A committee was appointed, and its first meeting held in 1931. Among its significant recommendations was the production of the Chinyanja Orthographic Rules of 1931. In 1945, the Phelphs-Stoke Commission took over the work and reconvened the meeting at the invitation of the African Publications Bureau. In 1953 the federal government decreed that all languages with a substantial number of speakers should be standardised. As a result, a number of languages were broadcast on the radio and these were Nyanja and Tumbuka in Malawi. After viewing the trend that the language issue took during this period, some pertinent questions need to be raised. Why were only Nyanja, Tumbuka and Yao selected and not the other languages? And why did Tumbuka, a language spoken by a minority group, gain such status? In answer to the former question, the growing status and spread of Nyanja (apart from being a lingua franca in the south and centre) owes much to the following factors: (1) It was the first contact language between the indigenous people and the missionaries; between the governed and the government which promoted it. It became the first language, through this contact, to have a literary heritage. (2) It was close to the seat of power and authority. The colonisers having their headquarters in the Nyanja-speaking area and using Nyanjas as aides, guides or catechists created prestige for the language. Because of this contact they were to constitute the bulk of the first generation elite. (3) Emergence of new economic poles in towns located mainly in Nyanja-speaking areas attracted people from various areas and ethnic origins to look for better opportunities. Linguistic heterogeneity in the south created the need for a lingua franca and Nyanja was the obvious choice because it was already established. It is clear from the historical as well as the sociopolitical facts examined that the main outcome of colonialism was the tremendous boost of Nyanja prestige nationwide due to these interrelated factors. Despite the rise of Yao as a trade lingua franca and a language of instruction in the UMCA schools, it did not achieve regional lingua franca status for the reasons already discussed. As for Tumbuka, the alliance of educated Africans as well as the Scottish missionaries was a vital one. It ensured and promoted Tumbuka’s current position. It is clear that, apart from being a language that swamped Ngoni, Tumbuka was still a minority language whose regional status can only be explained in terms of education and the pride of the people themselves. One cannot refute the fact that education gave Africans bargaining power. Without influential people like Levi Mumba and missionaries like Cullen Young, Tumbuka would not have gained such a status. As much as the mission sup-

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

112

ported the people, it also stood to gain from the policy economically. They did not have to publish new books or train new teachers. So for both economic and educational reasons Tumbuka stayed. The advent of colonialism, the introduction of Christianity and education had the effect of elevating the status of two indigenous languages as official languages. From a sociolinguistic point of view, this also changed the existing culture and the value of these languages vis-à-vis the rest. Among these languages, Nyanja was an important lingua franca that dominated colonial administration for vertical communication, setting an important trend as urbanisation developed, coupled with the fact that industries were located in the Nyanja areas. English continued to be an important educational and official language for horizontal and vertical communication and therefore a language of high educational attainment that consequently led to better employment opportunities. Exploring the relationship between the imported language and Nyanja, English had more prestige than Nyanja. Thus language stratification had already taken root. Firstly, through the attitude of the whites themselves who looked at their language as a language of high culture, implying that the indigenous languages and their cultures were less prestigious. Thus English became the language of higher education, parliament and law, of the elite, and in general of superiority and power. Secondly, as the indigenes themselves attained education, the practice was perpetuated as they looked down upon themselves and their culture in favour of the foreign language and culture. As Roscoe (1977: 4) has argued: Colonial conditions produced a situation whereby functional literacy in a European language for all practical purposes came to be equated with the ability to speak English. As a result, the African was deliberately made to look upon his language as ‘primitive’ and to look at the knowledge of English as the golden means of breaking out of the old peasant pattern into the money economy and white collar comfort of the coloniser. Thus, from the colonial times Nyanja and other languages were a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of acquiring English. When Nyasaland (Malawi) gained independence in 1964, the country inherited that colonial policy. The post colonial period since 1964

The Kamuzu Banda Phase: 1964–1994 Whilst Nyanja was a well-established lingua franca in Malawi, its spread beyond its boundaries into the northern part of Malawi was done single-handedly by Dr Hastings Banda, the first president of the republic of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. Banda’s language policy was a deliberate and militant way of spreading the language as can be seen in its implementation and dissemination. During the 1968 Annual Convention of the then ruling Malawi Congress Party held in Lilongwe, the question of national unity resurfaced and the Convention recommended that in the interest of national unity: (1) Malawi adopt Chinyanja as a national language.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

113

(2) That the name Chinyanja henceforth be known as Chichewa. (3) That Chichewa and English be the official languages of the state of Malawi and that all other languages will continue to be used in everyday private life in their respective areas. (Malawi Congress Party, 1978: 6)

Policy implementation and dissemination The decision to make Chichewa the sole Malawian official language affected the use of other languages such as Tumbuka on the radio and in the mass media in general. The second phrase in resolution three in the policy formulation implied that other languages could still be used in the country and that Chichewa was going to be used solely for intra-communication and national integration. The other vernaculars could be used in political mass rallies and day-to-day life. Thus the dissemination of Chichewa was constantly expanding and its implied status as a lingua franca was increasingly reinforced. The policy was implemented by the education sector and various other organisations set up for its dissemination. Ministry of Education and Culture Following the convention’s recommendation, Parliament decreed that Chichewa and English were the only two official languages in the country. This decree was followed by a Ministry of Education and Culture announcement that from the 1969–70 academic year, Chichewa was to be taught in all elementary schools as well as in teacher-training colleges. English became a mandatory subject and a prerequisite for obtaining any certificate or for educational and general purposes up to the certificate level. As a result, in the first three years of primary education, Chichewa served as the medium of instruction whilst English was taught as a subject. Gradually from the third year, English took over up to university level. In the last five years of primary education, English became the sole medium of instruction whilst Chichewa became a compulsory subject up to the end of secondary level and an optional subject at university level. The establishment of the Malawi Certificate Examinations Board (MCEB), now the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB), to replace the Cambridge Overseas Exam was followed by a change in examinations grading policy which required both northerners and southerners to obtain higher grades in their School Leaving Exams than those in the central region if they were to qualify for places in the secondary schools (Short, 1974; Vail & White, 1989). Also the Parliamentary Secretary for Education further decreed that all school children who failed their required examinations in required courses in Chichewa would be required to resit the exams (Short, 1974). All these stringent measures were imposed to enhance the status of Chichewa and ensure that other ethnic groups had no option but to learn it. Personalities and the role of the Chichewa Board According to Nahir (1977, 1984), language reform is a deliberate manipulation of language triggered by the need to facilitate language use as well as to serve the underlying political, socioeconomic, cultural and ideological tendencies of the community at the time. Perry (1985: 295) defines language reform as ‘primarily a sociopolitical, not linguistic and cultural, process, though its effects remain to colour the speech and literature of succeeding generations’. Language reform

114

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

during Banda’s era was handled under the Chichewa Board which he established in 1972 and mandated to look into the expansion of Chichewa and its purification, befitting its role as a national language in Malawi (see Chichewa Board 1984 Malawi Congress Party Convention Fliers Ref. No. CD/4/25/104). The Board was set up with the aim of: • providing a new Chichewa dictionary (see A brief history of the Chichewa Board (1970–71) Ref. No. ADM/1/40:1) to replace the existing ones which were inadequate not only because they were compiled by non-native speakers but because they were unrepresentative since they were preoccupied with the Mang’anja dialect; • providing guidance to language users in education, media and publishing; • encouraging as well as carrying out research work with the aim of standardising the description of Chichewa, the results of which would be reflected in the media publishing and the materials used in the educational institutions (A brief history of the Chichewa Board 1970–1971: 1; Kishindo, 1990: 67). The reform process during Banda’s era can be likened to the Turkish (Dogançay-Aktuna, 1995) and French Academy views of language. In Malawi, however, unlike in Turkey, it was not religious factors, but rather political, as well as Banda’s personal preferences that prevailed. Reform took the shape of purification and the removal of all words that were not in Kasungu Chewa, the Chichewa that Banda spoke. Banda saw language as an integral part of national building and elevating Chichewa to become the national language was equated with the unification of the diverse Malawian population. At the same time Banda did not believe in authentication of other Malawian languages. Banda’s interest in Chichewa is traced back to 1937, when he acted as an informant to Mark Hannah Watkins who published A Grammar of Chichewa, a Bantu language of British Central Africa in 1937.33 Banda’s continued interest is also seen in the number of lectures he delivered in the early to mid-1970s (1972–1976) at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, on various aspects of the language (see Banda, 1975). Banda, who was the ‘highest authority on Chichewa matters’ (Kishindo, 1990: 67), took a purist attitude to language preservation or reform. ‘Chinyanja would first have to be standardised into a real Chinyanja, a real Chichewa’ as it had been spoken in his youth and was still spoken in the villages of the central region. He did not want the anglicised ‘Chi-mission’ or ‘Chi-Heaven or Chi-planter’ which was currently in the town’ (Hansard, 1963: 844). Thus the ‘correct’ form of Chichewa was that of the Chewa dialect understood by him as opposed to the popular Mang’anja dialect of the southern region. He stressed it in his speeches and public Bible readings. As Vail (1981: 147) has observed: the message in the late 1960s and 1970s was clear. The Chewa people and the Chewa culture was the core of modern Malawi by right of being the most ancient and least compromised by colonialism, and Malawi culture would be considered synonymous with Chewa culture. Like Turkish language reform, Malawian language reform was centralised

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

115

(Tollefson, 1981) and government sponsored. The reform essentially consisted of two undertakings: changing the orthography and strengthening the use of ‘correct’ Chichewa. The Board first produced the orthography rules (Chichewa Board, 1973, 1980, 1992), which were supposed to correct the 1931 rules written by the missionaries. The Chichewa Board was then to carry out corpus planning decisions to be codified through dictionaries, grammars and guides. Implementation occurred as a centralised activity supervised by the president.

The role of the University of Malawi Banda further strengthened the spread of Chichewa by directing the establishment of the Department of Chichewa at the University of Malawi to do research on and describe the language. The department (now African Languages and Linguistics) trained Chichewa teachers (Bachelor of Education) and other linguists to graduate level (Bachelor of Arts). It was not clear if there was any coordination between the two language bodies that Banda set up to strengthen Chichewa, that is, if the Board incorporated research findings of this department in its decisions or changes. The media and publishers As in education, the media also adopted a bilingual policy even though most of the published materials were in English, unless they were for rural population consumption. This contributed to the prevalence of publications in English and Chichewa and no other languages. Periodicals containing news, articles of opinion, features and advertising were mainly bilingual. (For a discussion on language for publications see Ng’ombe, 1985). Short stories, plays, novels are mainly in English (Chimombo, 1994). Almost all academic and government publications and other magazines that were not intended for rural consumption were published exclusively in English. The Bible Society, however, continued to print the Bible and hymn books in various vernacular languages. The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) also adopted a bilingual policy. The main news bulletin and news briefs were broadcast in both English and Chichewa at alternative hours. Kishindo (1990) categorises Chichewa programmes into purely musical entertainment, didactic and educational. Programmes specifically designed to promote Chichewa were Timphunzitsane Chichewa (Let’s teach each other Chichewa), where listeners wrote to the programme expressing their views about a particular expression, vocabulary item or syntactic structure. A panel headed by a member of the Chichewa Board then discussed their views. At the end of the programme a solution or conclusion was reached and recommended to the listeners. The spread of English English plays a vital role in Malawi, though its spread cannot be compared to Chichewa. Its vital role but limited spread should be contextualised within the functional load along vertical and horizontal modes of communication; and the concepts of elite closure (Djité, 1990; Scotton, 1993) and imperialism (Phillipson, 1992). Both of these terms refer to the privilege or domination of one language over another, its use by the elite of power, culture and money, in so many domains as to limit the access of speakers of other languages to positions of power

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

116

and privilege. The dominance and limited access to English from the colonial times to the present has created an elite group. The use of English in Malawi can be conceptualised on a proficiency continuum. At one extreme of the continuum are members of the small intellectual Malawian elite who have received their formal education to university level or other higher levels of education. Their proficiency in English is near native (Kayambazinthu, 1994).34 According to my 1992 data these elites maintain and regularly use their knowledge of English in their professional environments, where they typically occupy the higher ranks of the political, administrative and academic institutions. At the other extreme of the proficiency continuum are the completely unschooled, who do not use English at all or have limited knowledge of English in the form of word expressions or trade and joking phrases used by illiterates, especially the vendors at markets and by some comedians. A wide range of proficiency marks the area between the two extremes. Codeswitching and borrowing in the form of words or phrases is common (Kayambazinthu, 1994, 1998). Since level of education is an important correlate to the learning of English in Malawi (Kayambazinthu, 1994), the education figures given earlier in the paper are indicative of an education system with a very high drop out that gives rise to this lack of access to high proficiency in English. Girls are particularly susceptible under this system. The effects of these historical gender-related asymmetries are seen in men having higher proficiency and use of English than women (Kayambazinthu, 1994). From experience, there is a general outcry in Malawi on the gradual decline of standards and level of expression in English as evidenced by data in Table 5. Most employing organisations complain about the students’ standard of expression as do University of Malawi external examiners’ reports. The causes of this drop in standards may be attributed to the education system itself, lack of resources (textbooks) and the high pupil–teacher ratio. With respect to the population’s English usage patterns, Kayambazinthu (1994) reports that the number of households in which English served as the exclusive means of interaction was negligible (2%), even though use increased with codeswitching (14%) in the home. One would therefore argue that English has a Table 5 English performance 1987–9857 Year 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987

Distinction 0.13 0.19 0.13 0.4 0.22 0.18 0.17 0.37 0.30 0.30 0.62

Credit 13 14 12 13 37 27 32 39 38 38 38

Source: Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB, 1998).

Pass 71 68 55 56 71 60 70 7 81 80 90

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

117

very minor role to play in the home context where the Malawian languages flourish. Although the spread of English is confined to the few elites, its functional spread and importance in Malawi cannot be denied. As already argued, English dominates Malawians’ reading and writing practices, as well as through codeswitching or codemixing. In the 1968 Constitution, English was identified as the country’s official language. As an official language, English is confined to the institutional, formal and written patterns of interaction. At the level of horizontal communication, English is the medium of interaction in all legislative, administrative and judicial institutions in Malawi. In the legislative assembly, English is the medium of communication for debates and speeches in the Malawian parliament, making it difficult for those whose proficiency is low to fully and meaningfully participate in the debate. It is also the only language in which the constitution of Malawi and all other legal texts are written. At the administrative level, all written correspondence between officials as well as oral contacts in formal contexts such as in meetings and the like, are in English (Kayambazinthu, 1994). In the judicial system, all laws and decrees, as well as written reports, prosecutions and trials are in English. Overall, all forms of horizontal communication at an institutional level are typically the domains of English. At the formal socioeconomic and political decision making level, English is the exclusive language of government matters, only to be abandoned when disseminating the information to the masses. By virtue of its confinement English is not a language of mass communication but of power and prestige, hence its limited spread but crucial role in the running of the country. Table 6 indicates the domains of official language use during Banda’s era. English is the main language of the court beyond the lower courts. In the magistrates courts and high court, interpretation services for people who do not understand English is available. All laws, statutes, decrees, directives, rules and regulations, contracts and documents pertaining to them are written in English, making them inaccessible to the average Malawian and empowering the elite. The use of classical languages The introduction of Greek and Latin in schools again was a single-handed effort. Their use stems from Banda’s philosophy that ‘no man can truly call himself educated’ without learning the Classics (A brief history of the Academy and Kamuzu Academy Programme, 1986: 13). Banda opened his own school, Kamuzu Academy (popularly known as the Eton of Africa), in order to reintroduce Latin in schools after a 15-year absence. Banda declared in the opening speech at the Academy that ‘if you are not prepared to learn these subjects (Latin and Greek, my own emphasis) you must not come here (because) such subjects as Latin are there to discipline the mind and the brain’ (New Era in Education, 1981). The Ministry of Education was forced to reintroduce the Classics in schools and in order to cater for the demand of scarce teachers in classics, they rehired the old retired teachers. Under the same pressure, the University of Malawi established the Department of Classics to accommodate Academy students selected to Chancellor College and to produce secondary school teachers of Classics (Kishindo, 1998: 261). Banda’s rhetoric and enthusiasm about Latin and Greek far outweighed the usefulness of these languages in Malawi. Hence, as

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

118

Table 6 Summary of official language usage in Malawi, 1968–1994 Domains Parliament Law/Legislature Courts: Magistrate High Lower Radio Films Newspapers Advertisements Magazines Adult literacy Agricultural extension services Education medium of instruction: Lower primary Standard 5 up to university Subjects: Lower primary Secondary up to university International communication

English ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ⫺ ⫺

Chichewa ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ++ ++ ⫺ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++

Language used French ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺

Latin ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺

Greek ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺

⫺ ++

++ ⫺

⫺ ⫺

⫺ ⫺

⫺ ⫺

++ ++

++ ++

⫺ ++

⫺ ++

⫺ ++

++

⫺

++

⫺

⫺

Source: Kayambazinthu (1995).

Kishindo (1998) observes, now they are dying a natural death at least within the Ministry of Education programmes. The foregoing discussion has contextualised the spread of Chichewa and English within colonial and neocolonial practices. The dissemination of Chichewa can be seen as a deliberate or explicit policy to promote and spread the language, using education and the mass media as implementation agents. The Kamuzu Banda phase shows that direct, forceful and unambiguous decisions were made about the language questions without proper consultation (surveys, etc.) or guidance and evaluation of the programme. For fear of its inadequacies in planning, evaluation of the policy was guarded and undemocratic. Amendments to the educational policy, broadcasting, etc., are clear examples. There was also a deliberate and active denigration of repression of the development of other languages apart from Chichewa (e.g. see the mandate for establishing the Chichewa Board and Chichewa Department at Chancellor College), hence their restricted use and spread. This denigration has resulted in language shift, especially among the Yao and Lomwe, as evidenced by the failure of their youth to acquire proficiency in these languages (see Kayambazinthu, 1989/90, 1994, 1995). The Banda era was also characterised by the neglect of ‘open’ research into Malawi’s rich multilingual and multicultural heritage. The study of other Malawian lan-

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

119

guages was hampered and neglected. Also the teaching of these languages as second languages was prohibited and English which is an exclusive second language was promoted. The development of Chichewa into a neutral lingua franca was hampered by the purist attitude prescribed by Kamuzu Banda who saw the Chichewa of Kasungu as the model Chichewa or the standard variety. Whilst a standard dialect needs to emerge, studies have to be done to establish it. Chichewa needs to be allowed to continue borrowing from other languages in Malawi to broaden its base. The policy decisions made during the Banda phase, though explicit, deliberate and to some extent practical, were politically directed and representative of particular political positions and cultural values of a particular ethnic group, the Chewa. The introduction of other languages on the radio has come about only because of the current language policy in Malawi that forms the basis for the discussion in the next section.

Part III: Language policy and planning Language planning has been defined as ‘a deliberate language change … planned by organisations established for such purposes’ (Rubin, 1984: 4) to influence the behaviour of others with respect to the acquisition, structure or functional allocation of their language codes’ (Cooper, 1989: 45). As noted by Kaplan and Baldauf (1997: 3) language planning undertaken by the government is intended to solve complex sociopolitical (my emphasis) problems, even though a great deal of societal level language planning is different and modest. The discussion that follows puts into perspective deliberate language planning directives in Malawi focusing also on important players in decision making and implications for policy formulation. This section of the paper will also focus on the political philosophy, Zasintha (things have changed) behind the current language policy decisions in Malawi. The current decisions should be understood from the conceptualisation of freedom from the autocratic Banda era35 and should therefore be viewed as politically and pragmatically motivated. The present phase 1994– Newspaper publications during the pre- and post-referendum period (1992–94) initially signalled ethnic language resurgence. According to Kishindo (1998: 260) opposition papers such as the United Democratic Front’s UDF News and The New Voice started publishing in languages such as Lomwe, Sena, Tumbuka and Yao. This could have been indicative of people’s ethnic aspiration or publishers capitalising on ethnic consciousness for the forgotten languages during a period of general protest. The fact that most of the papers that published in these languages are defunct or that these languages are no longer used may also be indicative of readership apathy towards vernacular languages. The evolution of the general ethnic consciousness was reflected by that of the corresponding language policies. Cultural and linguistic activities among Malawians were initiated during the referendum period. After the referendum the government took an active policy of linguistic pluralism on the radio and schools. The significance of language movements among the minority or neglected languages in Malawi is closely connected to the new wave of ethnic consciousness that emerged among Malawians.

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

120

The 1995 Malawi Government Constitution stipulates in article 26 on culture and language that ‘every person shall have the right to use the language and to participate in the cultural life of his or her choice’ (1995: 18). The constitution is silent on what is the national language and what is the official language. The 1996 UDF Government Education Policy Document also is silent on the issue. On the basis of current linguistic practices we can say that the country is still upholding, with some modifications, the 1968 MCP Convention resolutions cited earlier in this monograph. The draft National Cultural Policy Plan of Action of 1996 sheds more light on language issues in Malawi. The document is intended to provide guidelines from which all players can derive short, medium and long-term programmes. The overall goal of the policy is ‘to achieve Malawian cultural identity through the preservation of her cultural heritage …’. In this document, culture is defined as ‘the people’s way of life’. Research into and local use of vernacular languages is encouraged and the print media are also encouraged to devote some pages to articles in Chichewa or in any other vernacular languages (1996: 8). On languages, the cultural policy affirms the role of Chichewa as the national language but advocates a neutral name because it is a language that every Malawian understands and speaks though with varying degrees of fluency. The unifying potential of such a language is obvious and if Malawi is to maintain a national language, there cannot be much debate about the choice. The debate should perhaps be on what to call it. Reverting to the old terminology of Chinyanja would be ideal in such a situation. That would reflect the international status of the language for it is also spoken widely in Zambia and in Mozambique. Besides it would be a politically correct terminology locally. Malawi should also recognise the existence of other vernacular languages and their local importance in the areas in which they are regularly spoken. Research in all of Malawi’s languages should therefore be encouraged with a view to promoting one common language to reflect national unity. (1996: 14) The cultural policy, which also recommends or embodies the policy the government would like to follow, indicates the need to recognise the role of other vernaculars that should be researched and preserved. However, the policy seems to look at this research as a feeder for the promotion of Chichewa. The policy also falls short of recommending the areas in which the vernaculars should be used. That this is left to the Ministry of Education and the president is evidenced by the number of language policy directives the UDF government has issued since it came into power in May 1994. The current language policy The present situation poses its own problems and idealism resulting from the Zasintha philosophy. There is an assumption that all Malawian languages can be fully utilised or rehabilitated into full use. It has been a period of general protest and political activism where sections of the population have mobilised to agitate for social reform in the promotion of the lesser-used languages as if the nation has the resources to sustain such a policy. The UDF government under Dr Elson Bakili Muluzi came into power on 17

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

121

May 1994 through a multi-party general election. Their policy making has been ad hoc and reactive. On 25 June 1994 the president directed that Tumbuka be reintroduced on the radio without prior identification of resources and training of personnel (Kishindo, 1998). Similarly, on 15 November 1996 the presidential directive to introduce Yao, Lomwe and Sena for news broadcast on MBC radio also preceded personnel training, as was evident in the failure of a Yao newsreader to read the news.36 On 13 September 1997 the president, at a political rally in Nkhata Bay, directed the introduction of Tonga on the radio upon a request from Chief Fukamapiri (a Tonga). On 31 July 1995, a cabinet directive dissolved the Chichewa Board and replaced it with the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) which came into operation on 1 April 1996. The directive was implemented by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Department of Statutory Corporations that mandated the University of Malawi, Chancellor College establish a Centre for local Malawian languages. The Centre was mandated with the responsibility of promoting and developing Malawian languages. The Centre’s objectives are: • • • • •

to establish orthographic principles of Malawian languages; to develop descriptive grammars for Malawian languages; to compile lexicons of Malawian languages; to promote and preserve Malawian languages to teach various languages of socioeconomic and political relevance to Malawi; • to provide translation, interpretation and editing services and to promote research in language studies. (Chancellor College ‘Proposal for the establishment of a Centre for Language Studies’ Ref. No. CC/2/1/3/1) The Centre therefore provides research and consultancies in both Malawian and relevant foreign languages such as English, German, Portuguese and Spanish.37 Apart from this, the Centre also offers services such as translation, interpretation, editing, and conducting short courses in both Malawian and non-Malawian languages in collaborating with foreign research centres. It is doubtful that the Centre will be able to fulfil its mandate given budget cuts and the irregular funding it gets (Deputy Director of CLS, 1998, personal communication). The introduction of all these languages can be accounted for by the new political orientation or Zasintha political philosophy. Kishindo (1998: 264–5) who believes that the introduction of Tumbuka was for political expediency rather than serious linguistic concerns, questions the introduction of a minority language such as Tumbuka, which ranked fourth in the 1966 census, instead of the elevation of Lomwe or Yao which ranked second and third respectively. According to Kishindo (1998) the introduction of Tumbuka could only be justified on the basis that Muluzi was trying to win political favours in the northern region where his party had polled badly (7% of the total votes) during the general election.38 However, contrary to Kishindo’s argument, Tumbuka though a language of about 6% northerners, mainly in Rumphi, Mzimba and part of Karonga — since its imposition in schools by the Livingstonia Mission in the 1940s — has and

122

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

would have sustained its regional lingua franca status if it was not for its ban in 1968 that limited its prospects. Kishindo’s argument is a misrepresentation of the linguistic situation in Malawi, where neither Lomwe nor Yao are learnt as second languages in their areas, where Chichewa is learnt as the main lingua franca. Lomwe, as evidenced by two surveys, is a dying language and does not have the number of speakers indicated in the census (Kayambazinthu, 1989/90, 1994; Matiki, 1996/97). Secondly, Tumbuka in the north is learnt as a second language by 64% of the population in a linguistically heterogeneous region. Tumbuka is the only language that has regional lingua franca status in the north as affirmed by the recent Tumbuka survey. In my view, Malawi has only two lingua franca zones, that is, the central and southern regions of Malawi are dominated by Chichewa whilst the north uses Tumbuka. The political overtones for the promotion of Tumbuka cannot be doubted but the pragmatics of it cannot be denied either. A significant directive on education policy came on 28 March 1996, introducing a three plus or minus language formula. The Secretary for Education stated that: The Ministry of Education would like to inform all … that with immediate effect, all standards 1, 2, 3 and 4 classes in all our schools be taught in their own mother tongue or vernacular language as a medium of instruction. English and Chichewa will however, continue to be offered as subjects in the primary curricula. In the past Chichewa was used as both a medium of instruction and subject, making it very difficult for beginners to grasp ideas. However, English will be used as a medium of instruction beginning in standard 5. (Secretary for Education’s Letter. Ref. No. IN/2/14.) The justification39 for this directive is based on hearsay and systematic research elsewhere, not in Malawi, as the circular revealed: You may wish to know that research has revealed that school children learn better and faster if they are taught in their own mother tongue or in their own vernacular language during the first 4 years of their formal education than when they are taught in a second language as a medium of instruction. It is for this reason that this policy is being instituted. This policy typifies a policy-by-decree approach that was not based on any research or proper planning despite the fact that it is the only policy document that assigns a role for the vernacular languages in Malawi other than Chichewa in the national education system. It should be noted, however, that this directive preceded the training of teachers, preparation of materials and resources and general research into the current language situation and attitudes in Malawi. Because of the impromptu nature of the directive it is not surprising that the government is failing to implement the policy. The ministry continues to post primary school teachers where they are needed regardless of whether they know the language of the community or not, thus contradicting the declaration and its intentions. The failure of the plan is related to the lack of adequate background planning before the policy was decreed. The policy also contradicts other rele-

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

123

vant provisions against the backgrounds of availability of physical and material infrastructure for the successful implementation of such a policy in Malawi. People’s reaction to the education policy Chauma et al. (1997: 38) (see also Kazembe, 1996; Saukani, 1996) have summarised the public’s negative reactions to the directive through their asking pertinent questions and giving reasons ranging from having an inferiority complex to the economics of language planning. Examples of these reactions were: • If pupils from Standards 1 to 4 are to be instructed in local language dominant or common in an area in which a school is located, children will get inferior education and will end up drawers of water and hewers of wood. • It is a political decision because the ruling United Democratic Front does not want to be reminded of the former ruling party, the MCP, which made the teaching of Chichewa in primary schools compulsory … • The use of the mother tongue will encourage tribalism in the country. Smaller groups of people will want to identify themselves with their mother tongue. • What happens to children staying with their parents in areas where their mother tongue is not dominant? Will they have to transfer back to their home district to be taught in their mother tongue? (Malawi News, 22–28 June 1996). • The policy is aimed at saving the face of some teachers who, according to some people, are not conversant with English. • New teachers’ guides, textbooks, manuals, pupils’ reading materials in all dialects or vernaculars will need to be produced and printed. Problems of educational policy Under this new political orientation, it is obvious that Malawian minority languages are in a favourable position considering their introduction in schools. However, the intention of the ministry to develop native language skills and national literacies is not an end in itself. One looks at the entire programme as a stepping stone to prepare pupils for further instruction in Chichewa and English. The policy does not build in the development and maintenance of reading and writing skills in the native languages. It will be interesting to find out if in a decade’s time people have acquired literacy in these languages. The Ministry of Children Affairs and Community Services runs adult literacy classes. The general policy has been to teach reading and writing skills in Chichewa only throughout the country.40 As previously pointed out in this monograph, the process of vernacularisation does not improve the linguistic and cultural situation without the accompanying measures of broader socioeconomic impact. The general tendency of viewing the elevation of a language through functional use on the radio or in early primary school does not always raise its prestige as much as it might change its sociolinguistic position. Research has yet to be done to ascertain the impact that these elevations are having on the languages and how the speakers themselves view the move towards the preservation of their languages. Another crucial is-

124

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

sue is the unilateral emphasis on native languages in schools rather than learning them in families and during preschool education. It is doubtful that Lomwe children who do not learn the language in their homes will pick it up in schools. Msonthi’s (1997) BEd dissertation on the vernacular policy in Malawi concludes that parents are not in favour of vernacular languages in schools. They would rather have their children learn English, the prestigious socioeconomic language. Similarly, the 1996 Yao survey also revealed that parents would favour the strong use of English (which would make them clever) or Chichewa in schools rather than Yao (see also Bwanali (1998: 10) on Chichewa as a communication tool). Also, the policy seems to treat the issue of mother tongue use as a monolithic problem. In areas where three languages prevail which one will be used and what criteria will be used for selection? Will the teacher’s proficiency determine it or its wide usage in the area? How will the system cater for pupils with insufficient knowledge of the school language? It is clear from the discussion that the current policy is giving higher priority to ideological and prestigious issues rather than practical objectives in planning for language in education. The needs of the communities are parallel with the government policy. If the general public is complaining about the decline of the standards of English (the cherished language) what will happen when the number of hours are reduced because of the proliferation of languages of instruction? The government, which is one of the poorest and most debt ridden in the third world, has to realise that it cannot sustain such a policy, hence its failure to implement it. One would also question whether the standard pattern of creating and developing literacy language (i.e. alphabets, school textbooks, formation of national elites), and popularising them through the media is always the way to go. Probably efforts should be spent on teaching and learning the ethnic language in its oral mode first in the villages or urban schools and creating conditions for the preservation of the language in its traditional domains before the formal school system as Chauma et al. (1997) suggest. National consciousness: Debates in newspapers and language movements Kishindo (1998) states that in the months preceding the National Referendum of 14 June 1993, writers openly debated the language issue in the newspapers. The arguments revolved around Chichewa as a national language vis-à-vis other vernacular languages and what to call the national language. Arguing on the basis of national unity one contributor said ‘the use of one language as a national lingua franca makes people really feel as one’ (Phiri, 1993). Another argument recognising the spread and use of Chichewa stated that: Chichewa should still be used as a national language … as long as it is widely spoken. Not of course (because) Chichewa was chosen by MCP as it is Kamuzu’s language … I think people must learn and appreciate that a common language is the one of the most powerful means of communication. (Mandimbe, 1994) Counter-arguments against Chichewa wanted equal treatment of all languages because the elevation of Chichewa as a national language was

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

125

detrimental to the development of other vernaculars and called for a change in the name of Chichewa Board to be all-encompassing. The truth is that the country has only preserved Chewa culture and this is very unhealthy, and if not checked, our children will question our thinking. The Chichewa Board should change. It should be called the Language Board. I do not see the future of our children where only one language dominates the conversation of our nation. This is our dream. Our children shall switch from Chichewa to Tumbuka, Yao, Nkhonde, Tonga, Sena etc., and our children will never look down upon other language speakers (Timau, 1993). The name of the language also became a contentious issue. Some contributors felt that Chichewa was too closely identified with Dr Banda and wanted to revert to the old name Chinyanja for neutrality. This debate reflects people’s strong feelings against the way Banda elevated and implemented Chichewa in Malawi. The language policy that Banda followed (the Chewalisation of the Malawi nation) was seen as divisive. The issue of using Chichewa as a tool of communication was not well understood in that climate. The earliest case of ideologically ethnic based movements was that of the Yao (two journalists and six intellectuals) who formed a ‘Society for the advancement of Chiyao’, formerly known as ‘Society for the preservation and promotion of Yao culture and the language’ in order to promote cultural and literary activities in Yao.41 According to the minutes of their first meeting (n.d.), the idea was hatched by two journalists in collaboration with a linguist at Chancellor College. Committee members agreed on the need to provide a philosophy as a foundation for cultural diversity and for divergent views of life, to promote cultural pluralism and to help establish the basis of national unity. The society was going to focus on research in Yao, build schools where Yao culture could be taught and create a Yao cultural Centre which would preserve and promote Yao. The society was also going to draft a bill for tabling in parliament with the intention of including Yao in the MSCE syllabus as an optional subject. The meeting noted that Yao was becoming more or less extinct (Minutes of the first meeting of members of the Likuga lya Chiyao, n.d.). It was also documented in these minutes that Yao was the official language of deliberations, even though the minutes were written, as usual, in English! Apart from the Yao group, the Tumbuka formed an ‘Association for the Advancement and Preservation of languages and cultures — Chitumbuka language and culture sub-division’ — claiming that the movement was nationwide. The letter mentions the organisation of a workshop involving Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena and Nkhonde. A prominent member in this group was M.S. Mkandawire who had been involved in Chitumbuka text production before Tumbuka was banned in schools. Like the Yao group, they viewed themselves as a forum for all matters pertaining to the preservation of Tumbuka and its introduction in the school curriculum (Letter from Secretary of the Association to the Secretary for Education, Science and Technology, n.d.). Another Association, the Abenguni (or Ngoni) Revival Association was

126

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

formed in 1998 by Mr Thole, a Ngoni, who is also the chairperson. The association has more than 100 members comprising Ngoni chiefs, journalists and some intellectuals. The objectives of the Association are to: • revive the language which is not being passed on from their forefathers to younger generations; • bring unity to the Ngoni from both central and northern region; • foster Ngoni identity. The association’s activities include the drafting of a constitution, revival of the Ingoma dance using old Ngoni songs as provided by Dr Soko, a Malawian Ngoni and French linguist. The Association runs a club at the Mzuzu museum, which practises old songs and also provides entertainment to museum visitors, Ngoni classes which have produced a handout in Zulu/Ngoni language using two books: Learn Zulu by C.L.S. Nyembezi and A Zulu Comprehensive Course by A.T. Cope, both bought from South Africa. Thus, the Ngoni want to go back to their roots — are taking a purist attitude towards Ngoni revival — instead of concentrating on Mzimba-Mpherembe-Ekwendeni Ngoni that has survived the century.42 The association is hoping to have village-based clubs where Zulu learning lessons will be offered and teachers will be identified by the chiefs. At the moment they have two volunteer teachers who have learnt Zulu up to O level in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The association has not liaised with the government or the Ministry of Education.43 It is well documented that the recent political changes in Malawi have affected positively the role of other indigenous languages in Malawi. The sudden wave of democratisation and liberalisation following the collapse of Dr Banda’s Malawi Congress Party machinery stimulated non-Chewa Malawians to raise their national consciousness and to activate their long suppressed ethnic movements. Apart from political movements, the democratisation process has included linguistic movements. It is difficult to judge the impact of such movements on the current state of affairs in Malawi. However, concessions from the government have now been obtained in the form of the right to use language in education, on the radio and in the newspapers. At the same time, the legal functions of these languages have increased, allowing official services and documents to be produced and circulated in them. Even so, the lack of official status and all other necessary supporting institutions such as vernacular language schools, materials for teaching, mass media, or norms for linguistic standardisation, makes these efforts less worthwhile. Institutional recognition and semi-official status of Yao, Tumbuka and Lomwe The functional attribution of Tumbuka, Yao and Lomwe to institutional domains such as education, administration and jurisdiction gives these languages ‘semi-official status’. This status is substantiated by other types of formal and institutional recognition of these languages. However, there are no statements in the Malawian constitution or Malawian laws that clearly name these four languages as a specific class within the totality of Malawian languages. In education as well, the only explicit distinction made in the official instructions is between

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

127

English on the one hand, and Malawian languages on the other, the latter category being treated as a block. This lack of direction in a multilingual country like Malawi strengthens English and gives it a stranglehold in these domains. In administration; there are no official instructions at all regulating the choice of language in oral contracts, which is similar to the situation in jurisdiction, where the instructions only refer to orality, not to the languages to be used in this oral component. It must be stressed that the absence of any explicit government policy does not imply that language in Malawi is in no way affected by the political realm. In practice, there exists a set of linguistic practices applied in domains which are to be situated outside of the government’s official legislation but which are undeniably close to the political authorities and which have a distinctively semi-official and institutional character. Chichewa is the working language of the president and all who are involved in mass communication. The prominence of Chichewa is a product of the interrelationship between implicit activities and the outcome of a consciously modelled policy. This does not imply however, that the unintended results are less tangible. These invisible activities are making quite an impact on Malawian society. For example, both Presidents Banda and Muluzi, though they have not given Tumbuka the official status of a northern region lingua franca, have indicated its status by accepting the use of translation into Tumbuka when in the northern region. In July 1998, a Nkhonde chief who does not speak Tumbuka addressed President Muluzi in Nkhonde, and the interpreter interpreted in Tumbuka, a regional language he assumed a Chewa and Yao-speaking president should understand. In other words, Tumbuka’s regionality and interethnicity is further entrenched. In the south and the central region, Chichewa is the only language used in political or presidential discourse. The Bible Society in Malawi continues to follow its policy of translating the Bible and Jesus Films into various vernaculars in Malawi such as Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Nkhonde and Braille. Other language planning agents include the British Council in Malawi and the French Cultural Centre which are both engaged in the spread of their languages by providing courses, expertise and training in English and French respectively. Islam is seeing a revival in Malawi and the Islamic Centre has just completed the translation of the Koran not into Yao, but in Chichewa (Quran Out, The Nation, 14 July 1998), the language of wider communication in Malawi. This section of the monograph has attempted to contextualise the historical, social and political ecology of the current language planning and implementation in Malawi. The section has focused on the evolution of change in Malawi and the perceptions taken by the government and the people. The next section will focus on language maintenance and prospects in Malawi.

Part IV: Language Maintenance and Prospects In a linguistically heterogeneous country such as Malawi, the likelihood of linguistic groups coexisting relatively permanently or some losing their language is expected. Language maintenance or shift in Malawi may be characterised by a number of factors with common denominators such as numerical strength, so-

128

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

cioeconomic value of the language(s) and migration. The social contacts between the various groups produce stable or unstable bilingualism, codeswitching and loanwords. Where shift is occurring it tends to be unidirectional to Chichewa in the central and southern part of Malawi and to Tumbuka in the north. This section discusses the implications of the various language policies followed in Malawi for the maintenance of Malawian languages. Data on Lomwe, Yao, Chichewa and Tumbuka will be used to illustrate the current patterns of language use and intergenerational transmission of languages from which planners can draw some insights for future rational planning. I am using the term language shift according to Holmes (1992: 65) and Fasold (1984). The former defines language shift as a process by which one language displaces another in the linguistic repertoire of the community and the result of the process, whilst the latter adds a temporal aspect and describes language shift as a long-term, collective result of language choice. Language shift means that a community gives up (consciously or unconsciously) its language completely in favour of another (Fasold, 1984: 213). Language maintenance is the opposite of language shift. The Ngoni In Part I, I indicated that Ngoni is a dying language that is not being transmitted to children in the various Ngoni settlement areas. Only a small pocket of Ngoni speakers can be found in Ekwendeni and Mpherembe in Mzimba district. According to Soko (1998, personal communication), a Ngoni, in these two areas, Ngoni is even spoken by the children. However, as there is no quantitative survey data to give the exact figures on Ngoni, its decline can only be discussed based on qualitative reports. Both Kishindo (1995) and Mtenje and Soko (1998) attest to the decline of the language, which, as reported by the chairperson of the Abenguni Association, is not being passed on to the younger generation. The cultural aspects of the Ngoni, especially the oral traditions, are still alive and distinguishable (Mtenje & Soko, 1998: 15), but cultural preservation did not include the language. The Ngoni are linguistically either Tumbuka or Chewa depending on their settlement areas. Factors such as intermarriage, nature of conquest and assimilation of captives; and the fact that Ngoni, compared to Tumbuka or Chichewa, was an aristocratic language not available for everyday communication (Kishindo, 1995: 52) account for the fact that the language is dying. Hopefully the activities of the Abenguni Association will be properly funded and will focus on linguistic research to revive the dying language. The Lomwe The dispersion of the Lomwe from Mozambique and their migration into Malawi due to Portuguese brutality, their advanced stage of assimilation where they settled among the Nyanja and Yao in the Shire Highlands, longstanding negative attitudes towards the use of Lomwe by both the Lomwe themselves and other ethnic groups, the perceived difficulty of the language, make the Lomwe an interesting case study of language shift. Lomwe has been well surveyed and both rural and urban Lomwe data are presented to show how the Lomwe have shifted from their language to Chichewa.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

129

The discussion of Lomwe language shift revolves around the interplay of both external and internal factors and the pressures that were brought to bear on the people and the language. According to Kulik (1994: 4) shifts in language are not caused by languages as such, they are rather caused by shifts in the values and goals of the speakers of the language (see also Holm, 1993). Lomwe historiography and cultural practices are bases from which to understand their process of language shift. Lomwe historiography has already been presented in Part I of this monograph. According to Tew (1950) the Lomwe doubled in number between 1921 and 1931 increasing from 120,776 to 235,616. In 1945, they were 379,638, an increase of 144,022 or 61%. According to the 1966 Census report, the Lomwe formed the second largest ethnic or linguistic group (14.5%) in Malawi and they stood at 476,306, an increase of 20% over a period of 21 years. Their growth rate had slowed. The evolution of negative attitudes towards the Lomwe language and the identity crisis of the Lomwe can be better understood by examining not only the values and attitudes of the Lomwe people but also those of the non-Lomwe ethnic groups. Labov (1966, 1972) defines a speech community as the sharing of norms and values and the homogeneous usage of forms and elements. Hymes (1972, 1974) adds that members of a speech community share strong feelings of belonging to a local territory and of participating in an interactional network inside this territory (also see Milroy, 1987). Both historians (Boerder, 1984; Chipendo, 1980/81; Rashid, 1978) and sociolinguists (Kayambazinthu, 1989/90, 1994, 1995; Matiki, 1996/97) have confirmed by empirical evidence the evolution or change in Lomwe usage from the days of settlement to the present situation. The questions that can be raised include: Does there exist a Lomwe speech community? Is there a Lomwe culture that can be attached to language preservation and aspects of identity? What has really distinguished the Lomwe from the other ethnic groups that they settled amongst? Apart from the distinct family surnames, language, and dances, what were the Lomwe core cultural values (Smolicz & Secombe, 1985)? According to Chipendo one side effect of mission education, which used Chichewa and English as mediums of instruction was the dying out of the Lomwe language. After their arrival and prior to the 1960s the Lomwe language was fluently and frequently spoken and meetings were held in Lomwe. However, when writing and doing research in 1980, Chipendo (1980/81) noted that it was mostly the old people who spoke the language in Mthiramanja area and that the youth communicated in Chichewa. Chipendo indicated that this was due to the fact that the young people learnt everything in English and Chichewa only, and no Lomwe was spoken at school. Chichewa replaced Lomwe even at home because it became less and less of an advantage to use and preserve. The Lomwe began to view their language as a severe handicap to socioeconomic advancement, Chichewa being dominant at work, political and commercial activities or domains. According to one 70-year-old lady, shifting to Chichewa was a way of weakening the traditional stigmatisation towards themselves and especially their children (1992, personal communication). Makonokaya (1981: 12), who studied the Lomwe of Lirangwi, reported his respondents saying: ‘We teach them Lomwe, but when they go out and meet

130

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

friends who speak Chichewa, they easily forget what they had been taught. Most of the time our children laugh at what we teach them. I do not know what is awkward about our language. This prevents them from learning how to speak Lomwe’. However another respondent had a different view that sheds light on the conscious loss of Lomwe: ‘It would be difficult for the children to learn Chichewa after acquiring Lomwe as their mother tongue’. To eliminate such problems the informant said, ‘we prefer teaching them Chichewa at an early stage so that they should be able to grow up with Chichewa as their first language’. The children (N = 39) themselves said they were not interested in learning Lomwe because ‘most of our friends don’t know how to speak Lomwe. Now for us to have easy communication with them we prefer learning Chichewa. Moreover, in our schools, we are not taught Lomwe but Chichewa’ (Makonokaya, 1981:12). Recent data collected at different times by different researchers exemplify language shift. Kayambazinthu’s 1992 survey44 collected data in three main cities in Malawi (Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu) and involved 107 Lomwe speakers born mainly in the southern region of Malawi, in Lomwe-speaking areas but now living in the cities. Both observation and survey techniques using a questionnaire were used as data collection tools over a period of three months. Respondents were purposely selected on the basis of being Lomwe households. Matiki’s 1995 study (Matiki, 1996/97) was carried out in rural areas of Lomwe-speaking villages in Thyolo, Mulanje and Chiradzulu; and involved 180 respondents. It also employed observations and the questionnaire was the main data collection tool. Respondents’ age, education and place of birth were correlated with language competence and use. While accepting that each set of data is representative of the particular groups in question, at that particular time and situation, the two groups are still comparable in certain important ways. Thus, some similarities and contrasts can be observed from the data especially on fluency and frequency with which respondents used Lomwe. Patterns of language use across four generations and the actual language use in domains was revealing. Data analysis revealed that the majority of rural (50%) and urban (70%) the Lomwe acquired Chichewa as their first language. Data further showed that only 40% of rural Lomwe and 9% of urban Lomwe acquired Lomwe as a first language. Both Kayambazinthu (1995) and Matiki (1996/97) report that during fieldwork most Lomwe reported having acquired both Chichewa and their ethnic language simultaneously during childhood within their neighbourhoods before reaching school age. Thus, childhood bilingualism was a common phenomenon. Societal bilingualism has been cited as a crucial stage or precursor in the processes leading to language shift (Lieberson, 1972). Lieberson (1972: 1981) noted that almost all cases of societal language shift came about through intergenerational switching. Since intergenerational switching requires the earlier generation to be bilingual, the proportion of a population that is bilingual constitutes an ‘exposure to risk’ that one of the languages might eventually be lost (Lieberson, 1972: 242), as was and is the case with the Lomwe. The parental language acquisition pattern was rather different. Rural data showed that most parents (mothers, fathers and grandparents) spoke Lomwe, whilst urban data showed the reverse. Very few of the urban respondents (16%)

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

131

and their parents (father 6%, mother 4%), children (12%) and spouses spoke the language or used it as a home language (14%). Matiki’s data on intergenerational bilingualism showed that the first generation of parents and grandparents of the 50–82 age cohort and parents of the 35–49 age cohort, was monolingual in Lomwe (51%) followed by those who were bilingual in both Lomwe and Chichewa (37%). Monolingualism in Chichewa was minimal (12%) amongst this group. The second (72%) and third (76%) generation were mainly bilingual in Lomwe and Chichewa; and if they were monolingual it was mainly in Chichewa. By the fourth generation, bilingualism in Chichewa and Lomwe was still the dominant pattern (59%) but monolingualism in Chichewa was rising rapidly (41%). By this stage, no one claimed to be monolingual in Lomwe. Matiki (1996/97) observes that from the first to the third generation, the number of bilinguals in Lomwe and Chichewa increased by a little over 100%. By the fourth generation, however, the percentage of these bilinguals decreased by 17%. The Lomwe used Chichewa (76%) more regularly than Lomwe (33%). These data illustrate that the Lomwe have overwhelmingly shifted from monolingualism in Lomwe in the early twentieth century through bilingualism in Chichewa and Lomwe to monolingualism in Chichewa in the late twentieth century. The data show that Lomwe and Chewa contact did not lead to stable bilingualism but to displacement. Data on competence and frequency of use of Lomwe revealed that most respondents could speak (41%) and understand (50%) Lomwe but could not read (46%) or write it (54%). Their skills in speaking (69%), understanding (71%), reading (59%) and writing (59%) Chichewa were far superior to their abilities in Lomwe. It is obvious that the respondents were more fluent and literate in Chichewa than in Lomwe. More important is the comparatively high level of mastery of Lomwe by the rural Lomwe compared to urban Lomwe. The urban respondents could not speak (65%), understand (43%), read (71%) and write (79%) Lomwe at all. This pattern reflects the literacy policies followed by both the colonialists and the neocolonialists who did not provide opportunities for the development of Lomwe reading and writing skills. Data on how frequently respondents used Lomwe revealed that Lomwe was not used regularly (33%) compared to Chichewa (76%). This tallies with their competence in the language as well. Lomwe use was split between very little (31%) and regularly (33%) which means that it was a language that was dependent on speakers’ availability. Of the 107 urban Lomwes, 43% claimed never to use the language or to use it sometimes (43%). Chichewa was usually used (68%). Even though the rural Lomwe show more competence in the language and to some extent use the language more than the urban Lomwe, they are similar in their higher competence and use of Chichewa than their language. Data on respondents’ actual language use in various domains: home, neighbourhood, school, religion and media use revealed the significant and dominant use of Chichewa over Lomwe, whether in the rural or urban areas. Literature on language shift has documented the fact that shift can be detected from the home domain and if parents are passing or not passing the language to their children. Even in the family domain, the inability of the Lomwe to maintain the home as an intact domain for the use of their language has been decisive in language shift. It

132

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

can be observed that respondents in the two surveys reported to speak only or mostly in Lomwe to parents and older relatives. The proportion claiming the use of Lomwe with brothers and sisters or siblings fell substantially among rural Lomwe and was almost non-existent among urban Lomwes. These results are comparable with the generational decline in Lomwe usage. Romaine (1995: 42) states that the low usage of an ethnic language in the home domain is symptomatic of a more far-reaching disruption of domain distribution and pattern of transmission. Fishman (1991) emphasises the significance of intergenerational transmission. He proposes a scale to measure the degree of disruption and shift which a community has experienced in the use of its language. He calls this the Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS). Fishman proposes that only when a language is being passed on in the home is there some chance of long-term survival. Otherwise efforts to prop up the language elsewhere (e.g. school, church) may end up being largely symbolic and ceremonial. The low usage and mastery of Lomwe, especially among urban Lomwes and rural Lomwes, to some extent reflects the low priority given to the language in homes, community and schools. This tallies with Chipendo’s observation of the non-reciprocal use of Lomwe between parents and their children. The high use of Chichewa indicates the tolerance Lomwe adults have of Chichewa. They do not mind its use; neither do they reinforce Lomwe with their children. Urban data showed a similar trend even though it showed a more complete shift towards Chichewa and only few respondents used Lomwe to older brothers and sisters (4%) and older relatives (7%). None of the children were spoken to in Lomwe and there were no Lomwe exchanges between husbands and wives. Due to the nature of their immigration, interaction and settlement, the Lomwe experienced stigmatisation. First, they were nicknamed the Nguru,45 a stigmatised Yao description of those people who lived on the fringes of Yaoland and could not speak the Yao language properly (Bandawe, 1971). Secondly, due to their settlement patterns, the Lomwe were seen as less intelligent and more ignorant than the Yao.46 An attempt to revive this flagging Lomwe image resulted in the creation of the Lomwe Tribal Association in the 1940s to try to regain the dignity of the Lomwe. This dignity unfortunately did not include the revival of the flagging language. Even during this recent period of ethnic consciousness, a Lomwe group has not yet been set up. Right from the settlement days the Lomwe were not a coherent group. Use of Lomwe began to decline slowly, the low status of the Lomwe and the low prestige of the language accelerated the process. Urbanisation and industrialisation at the beginning of the twentieth century transformed the communities. These developments made it possible for the Lomwe to escape their poverty and find better paying jobs and provide their children with educational advantages. These economic and social processes fostered assimilation into the Chewa culture and had negative consequences for the growth of Lomwe language. The proclamation of Chinyanja as the sole and obligatory lingua franca in Malawi and medium of instruction in schools, alongside English as an official language since the 1920s, gave no opportunity for the development of Lomwe script in schools or its extended use in other domains apart from the home. Nyanja domi-

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

133

nated the neighbourhood domain as a lingua franca in a Nyanja-speaking environment. The Yao Another language that has been undergoing shift is Yao. The earliest Yao survey carried out in the Malindi and Domasi areas in 1987 (Kayambazinthu, 1989/90) revealed that Yao was the dominant mother tongue (77%) and most frequently used language in the home (72%). However, in both Malindi and Domasi, Chichewa was the main lingua franca outside the home domain and bilingual acquisition and use of Chichewa and Yao was the norm. Yao was confined to intraethnic communication. The 1992 urban survey however, revealed that the Yao were shifting to Chichewa. Of the 112 Yao interviewed, 14% learnt it as their first language and both Chichewa (35%) and Yao (37%) were their best languages. Chichewa was also the respondents’ most frequently used home language (61%) and that of their children (71%). Thus, in the urban areas Chichewa was the dominant lingua franca except when talking to ethnic friends, siblings and neighbours who spoke the language. Another Yao survey was carried out in 1996 (9–30 April) Kishindo et al. (1997) with the aim of investigating the current attitudes to Yao among Yao native speakers of Mangochi, Machinga, Dedza, Salima, Nkhota Kota, Blantyre, Zomba and Chiradzulu. The survey specifically wanted to find out: • whether native Yao speakers in these Yao-speaking areas would favour the introduction of Yao as a medium of instruction in primary schools; and • the Yao speakers’ attitudes to the national language, Chichewa. The survey also wanted to find out if Chichewa has made headway since it was made the national language, as a lingua franca for different ethnic groups or was ever used between members of the same ethnic group. To test these questions, data were collected from 862 randomly sampled subjects from the Yao-speaking districts already named over a period of three weeks. The results showed that 93% of the total sample could speak Yao and that Yao was the mother tongue of 83% of the respondents. Ninety-five per cent of these respondents could also speak Chichewa and only 5% were monolingual in Yao. Most of the respondents (66%) used Yao more frequently more than Chichewa (3%) and other languages (4%). Sixty-two per cent of the respondents were in favour of Yao becoming a language of instruction in Yao-speaking areas and the Yao in general had a strong and positive attitude towards their own language. However, the results also showed that the least educated were the ones who were in favour of Yao in schools, unlike the educated who favoured English (Kishindo et al., 1997: 13). The de facto position of Chichewa as a lingua franca in Malawi is seen in the following figures. Respondents (94%) reported that they liked speaking Chichewa. Fifty per cent of the total population interviewed, in response to the question: ‘Which language they would prefer as a language of instruction in schools?’, gave a bilingual answer. Fifty per cent chose Chichewa followed by Yao (47%) and English (11%). Yao was selected for the radio by 59% of the respondents, followed by Chichewa (41%). Overall, Yao was the language the respondents

134

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

wanted for reading (54%), radio (41%) and health extension work. In all these areas, Chichewa was the next most favoured language. Age grading, however, showed a different pattern. That is, the younger generation (5–20 years old = 49% and 21–35 year olds = 19%) preferred to speak Chichewa, unlike the older generation of 46+ (17%) who liked to speak Yao. The Tumbuka Surveys done on Tumbuka in urban areas and within its region revealed high use of the language and its maintenance. The survey I carried out on 400 respondents in Rumphi and Karonga Districts in 1991 revealed that Tumbuka was highly used both as a home language and an interethnic language. Another Tumbuka survey was carried out on 1732 respondents in 1997 by the Centre for Language Studies.47 Data was collected through interactive interviews in all five districts in the Northern Region of Malawi: Rumphi, Mzimba, Nkhata Bay, Karonga and Chitipa. The authors observed a high competence in Tumbuka. The report indicates that about 76% of the respondents who took a vocabulary and comprehension test of Tumbuka showed clear understanding of Tumbuka. The vocabulary test showed a pass rate of 96%. Interviews with teachers showed a high approval rating and acceptance (from 59% to 72% in all districts) of Tumbuka as both a subject and medium of communication. This showed that teachers in the northern region are prepared to teach in Tumbuka and that Tumbuka is a de facto regional lingua franca. Tunbuka was the language most frequently spoken at school in both Karonga (51%) Rumphi (100%) and Mzimba (94%). In Chitipa, Lambya (41%), Sukwa (29%) and Bandia (29%)48 were commonly spoken. In Nkhata Bay, Tonga (92%) was prevalent. Chichewa was the dominant language for radio broadcasts and newspaper articles in Nkhata Bay, Chitipa and Karonga, unlike Rumphi where Tumbuka use was the same as Chichewa (50%). This further indicates the regionality of Tumbuka and Chichewa as a national lingua franca. Recognising the power of English, most respondents opted for English in Parliament followed by Chichewa then Tumbuka. Most of the pupils interviewed (59%) wanted to learn in English followed by Chichewa. Their desires seem to reinforce the two long-standing subjects and mediums of communication, and suggest that they have become more established school languages than Tumbuka, which was marginalised for nearly 30 years. The results also showed favourable liking for Chichewa in radio, newspapers, church and hospitals especially in Nkhata-Bay and to some extent in Karonga. Tumbuka was favoured for radio, newspapers, church and hospitals in Rumphi, Karonga and Mzimba (Centre for Language Studies, 1998).49 Observations The distribution of speakers according to age groups serves as a reliable indicator of the chances for the preservation of a language. The data in all the surveys showed that the level of competence in the native language was lower among the younger generation and all the sociolinguistic surveys give that uniform picture. The complete absence of native speakers among children, or among people below 30–40 seen in Lomwe reflect the lower use of Lomwe and Yao especially in

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

135

the urban areas. However, when considering these figures one should also account for conservative patterns of behaviour and that when people grow older they sometimes learn the language. Also to be taken into account is the preservation of languages such as Yao and Lomwe in the rural areas. Despite its ban in 1968 Tumbuka is still thriving in both rural and urban areas. The results of these surveys point to three important issues: (1) Malawi has two lingua franca zones: Chichewa in the centre and southern region, and Tumbuka in the northern region. (2) Of the two lingua francas, Chichewa is the de facto national lingua franca in Malawi and Tumbuka is the de facto northern regional lingua franca by virtue of being the language that is best understood by the majority of people in the region. (3) The elevation of Chichewa and the teaching of English and Chichewa only in schools have had a major impact on coexisting languages such as Lomwe and Yao to some extent, which are in decline. Vernaculars continue to fulfil intraethnic communication. These results have further implications for language planning in Malawi. What Malawian planners need to do is to ascertain the role of minority languages especially in the health sector, agricultural extension and community development. Future prospects This monograph has raised a number of issues that Malawi needs to address for language planning purposes: (1) In Malawi, conscious and deliberate language planning in response to sociopolitical and economic problems has been ad hoc and has not been preceded by any research into the linguistic situation. If the move towards pluralism is to be effective, surveys and linguistic analyses need to be done to determine and establish standard varieties of the languages involved. (2) Historically, Malawi has planned for trilingualism by deliberately neglecting second language education in schools in indigenous languages other than Chichewa. Malawi has also practised linguistic imperialism by promoting English, associated with social and economic mobility at the expense of Chichewa and other Malawian languages; and by using Chichewa as a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of acquiring English. If Malawian planners intend to vernacularise the education system then there is need to tie vernacular education to job opportunities, which is not done at present. Cases of language shift testify to the active and deliberate denigration and repression of some Malawian languages during the colonial and Banda eras. Language planning in a multilingual and multicultural country such as Malawi is a complex process that needs serious consideration rather than ad hoc or reactive measures. As an emergent underdeveloped country, Malawi needs to address national concerns, pedagogical concerns and social or human rights concerns. Within the Zasintha philosophy the latter and the former issues are

136

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

fulfilled, but the various logistical programmes and pedagogical issues have not been fulfilled. While a pluralistic alternative has many appealing features, it also brings its own pluralistic dilemmas. Bullivant (1981: ix) argues that even in the most enlightened and tolerant societies, pluralistic options can potentially function as ideal methods of controlling knowledge/power, while appearing through symbolic political languages to be acting solely from the best of motives in the interests of ethnic groups themselves. The government’s commitment to multilingualism is commendable but is prohibitively costly. The current recognition of six languages on the radio, the introduction of other vernaculars in schools and the protection of minority languages is a commendable idea, but it raises a number of questions that remain to be answered. Malawian planners have to realise that status planning decisions will have to be reflected in corpus planning decisions. The implementation of specific language policies will be problematic politically, economically and educationally. Where should the line be drawn? If equity is the criterion, then all languages should be treated equally, an undertaking that the government cannot afford. Would the president refuse the Ngoni if they agitate for it to be broadcast on the radio? The emerging picture from the survey of literature on language planning in Malawi, newspaper debates and the various surveys this monograph has reviewed shows that nationally, the selection of Chichewa as national language and English as the official language is not in question. Vernacularisation touches at the core of Malawian authentication of its multiculturalism and multilingualism. It was evident at the launch of the Malawian National Long Term Perspective Studies (Malawi Vision 2020) workshop in November 1997, that Malawians do not like their cultures nor their produce, favouring external products. The authentication of Malawian languages and their ascendancy to fulfil that role or that status demands that Malawians accept that what they have is as good as what they can import, including languages. Attached to vernacularisation should be the economic benefits for the use of Malawian languages, breaking the monopoly of English as the catalyst for socioeconomic development. However, Malawi also needs to tackle global issues and English will still be needed as a global language. The roles of both the national language and the official language programmes need to be clearly delineated, with lexical and orthographic development being attached to status planning. The popularity of English among both the educated and uneducated as the language to learn shows that English has a positive profile in Malawi. However, if access to scientific and technological information is embodied in English, as is the case now, then one can only hope that the government will check English’s role as a stratifying tool or linguistic boundary, to make it more accessible to everyone through free primary education.50 Pedagogically, the use of vernaculars in early primary school is both educationally sound and pragmatic. The role of vernaculars as stepping stones allows the children to adjust to the school system and helps them to understand concepts they would have found otherwise difficult to understand in English (see also Chauma et al., 1997). So, should the Ministry then post people according to their district of origin? This would raise political eyebrows as it did in the Banda era and would also go against teachers’ aspirations and motivation. The Ministry

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

137

of Education needs to produce materials, train teachers in these languages and constantly review the progress of the plan. The government needs to support linguistic research in the various languages in Malawi and establish lingua franca zones of mediums of communication. Linguists should also be involved in the standardisation, production of orthography and lexical expansion of these languages to meet the communicative needs of the communities. A number of Chancellor College intellectuals51 have called for vernacularisation of the school system, a policy that has been adopted in a number of countries both in post colonial Africa and world wide. Although UNESCO and other research studies have endorsed the merits of such a policy, it is unlikely to prove popular in the current Malawian setting, given the popularity of English and its current status. However, the authentication of Malawian languages has its own place. Debates in Parliament would be better done in Chichewa than English. The laws should be translated into the various vernaculars for ordinary people to understand52 and Malawi could benefit from learning the Samoan model (Baldauf, 1990). One cannot but agree with Djité (1990: 98) that: It’s hard to believe that there can be or that one can possibly argue for a true and lasting development under such a policy when so many people do not know their constitutional and legal rights, cannot understand the development goals of their governments, and actively participate in them. The current dominance of English in administration and legislature means that nearly 90% of Malawians are excluded from decisions that affect them. It is also doubtful, given the calibre of our Malawian Parliamentarians, that they are able to understand or follow the bills that they pass in Parliament.53

Conclusion This monograph has attempted to trace and contextualise the historical, social and political ecology of Malawian language policy formulation and implementation from the colonial period to the present situation.54 In an attempt to present the history of language planning in Malawi I have proceeded to present more than an overview of the history. The processes, conflicts and the different lobbyists behind language planning in Malawi are focused upon. Further, the complexity of the issues in language planning and the reactive and ad hoc way that has perversely characterised language planning is shown. During the colonial period consultation and lobbying for languages shaped the language policy. However, the post-colonial period is marked by spontaneous planning without consultation and decisions are connected to the socioeconomic and political environment in which they were made. Hopefully the future development of language policy in Malawi will be systematic and directives will be based on real research, not on vested interest. Acknowledgments Some of the material in Parts I and II of the monograph was covered in my PhD thesis submitted to La Trobe University, Australia. I would like to thank Pascal Kishindo for valuable comments on the earlier draft of this paper and for providing me with valuable sources on language issues during the Referendum Period

138

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

(1992–93) in Malawi. Thanks also to Isabel Phiri for providing salient articles. I am grateful to Moira Chimombo and Dennis Kayambazinthu, in that order, for suggestions and editorial help. Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Dr Edrinnie Kayambazinthu, Department of English, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, P.O. Box 280, Zomba, Malawi ([email protected]). Notes 1. The figure was given at the Malawi population day (11 July 1998) organised by Ministry of Health in conjunction with the NSO. The national census was held in 1998, the first census in Malawi since the 1966 census to include a question on home languages. The census however, was not expected to find out about ethnic composition for one to determine language maintenance or shift in the country. 2. Bailey (1995: 34–35) has an interesting discussion of whether one should use the vernacular language prefix in English for Bantu languages. He recommends the omission of the prefix. 3. I am using Guthrie’s (1967) classification of Bantu languages. 4. During the colonial period up to 1968, Chichewa was known as Nyanja. In all the information on languages where Nyanja appears as a language, it should be read as Chichewa. This is distinct from Nyanja as a dialect of Chichewa. In Zambia, the language is still known as Nyanja. 5. Personal correspondence with Monica Masonga, a Zambian. 6. Vail (1972: 150) on the basis of Tumbuka cultural differences, states that the Tumbuka came from three different areas. Those in the south derived from a mixture of matrilineal peoples of Chewa origin. The northern zone was peopled either by groups who immigrated from the patrilineal system in southern Tanzania and northeastern Zambia or by those who immigrated from matrilineal areas to the west at a relatively later date and adopted a patrilineal system of descent and inheritance. 7. Guthrie (1967) does not classify some of these languages. 8. According to Kishindo (Personal Communication, 1998), there are two Bibles in the two ‘dialects’ and the textual comparisons leaves one in no doubt that they are the same language. 9. Personal communication with Dr Matembo Mzunda, a Lambya speaker and lecturer at Chancellor College, 1991. 10. Personal communication with Peter Lino, a native speaker of Sena. Also, even though I am a fluent Chichewa speaker, I cannot understand Sena news items on the radio. 11. Personal communication with Mazganga Lino, a Ngoni. 12. Nguru has become a derogatory name for the Lomwe. The use of this term is now banned in Malawi. 13. The British were not necessarily the first Europeans to make contacts with Malawians since prior to the British the Portuguese had already been trading with the Malawians but did not take full control of the country. 14. This discussion is based mainly on the 1966 census data because to date, it is the only comprehensive language survey done on Malawian languages. The 1987 census collected data on literacy in the official language (English) and the national language (Chichewa) but excluded all other languages. 15. Vail and White (1989: 180) state that the figure was exaggerated. ‘President Banda was able to lump together the various dialect groups of the southern region — Chipeta, Nyanja and Mang’anja, even Lomwe to produce a national population that was … more than 50 percent Chewa. Banda’s deep concern for a paper majority for the so-called Chewa was demonstrated when he ordered the University of Malawi to no longer use the services of the University of London’s distinguished linguist, Prof.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

16.

17. 18. 19.

20. 21.

22.

23.

24. 25.

26.

139

Wilfred Whiteley, after he had observed in a report prepared for the University of Malawi that the number of Chewa speakers was clearly exaggerated in official estimates’. In 1964 when the country gained independence about 359,841 (approximately 10.5% of the total population (N = 3,275,181) pupils were enrolled in primary school. By 1996 the enrolment rate had grown to 2,887,107 pupils (24.3%) due to free primary education (Basic Educational Statistics, 1996). Personal communication with the principal education methods adviser for French sitting in for the language adviser. Ministry of Education and Culture, 16 January 1998. MASAF is a microlending programme for socioeconomic development of rural communities in Malawi. Privatisation refers to programmes announcing which companies are being privatised and when people can buy shares. Dr W.M. Turner of LMS states that historically, the experience of the missionaries was that for the first 25 years of its work in Nyasaland, Chinyanja was insisted on as the medium of instruction in schools … It was because it was obvious that the policy was failing educationally to reach the mass of the people in the north (my emphasis) that the mission council decided to use the local vernacular and pass them on to English. Since that decision was taken, the advance made in education has been both rapid and continuous, and the education given in the Livingstonia Mission has won a high reputation not only in Nyasaland but in the adjoining territories. (Turner to Chief Secretary, Zomba, 29 July 1933). The discussion on colonial discourses and language policies is based on my archival research, especially File Nos.: S1/1008/19, S1/449/32, S1/235/32, S1/510/30 at the National Archives of Malawi in January 1992 and the University of Malawi Library, Chancellor College, Zomba. White fortune seekers who acquired huge pieces of land for growing coffee and tea in the Shire Highlands in the late nineteenth century. For example, Laws translated Mark’s Gospel in western Nyanja dialect and in 1866 completed his version of the New Testament in the same dialect. At the Blantyre Mission David Scott brought out Matthew and Mark in 1892, the Gospels in 1893 and certain Epistles in 1894 in the Mang’anja dialect (Doke, 1961b: 122). Bishop Mackenzie of the UMCA at Likoma Island translated Mark in 1891 and Archdeacon Johnston the Psalms in 1893 in eastern Nyanja or the Likoma dialect. The New Testament was completed in 1898 and the whole Bible in 1912 by Archdeacon Johnston and Miss K.H. Nixon Smith. This version is still used by this mission (Doke, 1961b: 122). Price (1940: 132) and Heine (1970: 62) note that the move towards union Nyanja did not gain a foothold because the contrast between the two dialects had already deepened far too much and speakers of each dialect felt that each other’s dialect was represented beyond its merit. Local mission presses included the Livingstonia Mission Press (Presbyterian), Likuni Press (Catholic), Montfort Press (Catholic), Malamulo Publishing House (Seventh Day Adventist) Hertherwick Press (Presbyterian) publishing mainly in Nyanja and Yao (Pachai, 1971: 55) and the Government Printer. All these helped in the distribution of books to agencies and schools. Vail (1981: 126) states that in 1893 there were 10 schools with 630 pupils, and by 1901, there were 55 schools with an average attendance of 2800 pupils. When the colonialists were deciding on a lingua franca for Malawi, the other two alternatives, apart from Nyanja, were English and Kiswahili. From the Church of Scotland, James Alexander argued that ‘personally, I would not favour Kiswahili, not merely because it would mean uprooting and replacing the vast output of Chinyanja literature put out by the government and various missions, but also because of its association with Mohammedanism (Islam)’. Letter from Church of Scotland Mission, Blantyre, Nyasaland, 12 September 1932. To the Director of Education, A.T. Lacey from James F. Alexander. James Alexander of the BMS wrote to the Director of Education T.M. Lancey that ‘in our mission Yao was at first the language always used and of course remains the mother tongue of a vast number of natives in these parts but at the beginning of this century the official policy of the mission was to supersede Yao with Chinyanja … The contention has been advanced by those responsible for the working of village schools

140

27.

28. 29. 30.

31. 32.

33.

34.

35. 36.

37.

Language Planning and Policy in Africa in our district that were Yao to be the medium of instruction, the women and girls would come in far greater number to school. A contention that cannot be gainsaid but which economically is impossible’ (James Alexander to T. Lacey (Director of Education) 12 September 1932. Language shift towards Nyanja in the Shire Highlands dates back to early settlement without the intervention of the colonial government or missionaries due to the fact that the Yao were a minority among the majority Nyanja (see the 1921 population census report and Tew, 1950). My urban data collected in 1992 from 450 respondents comprising Chewa, Yao, Lomwe and Tumbuka speakers in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu showed that only 3% of the respondents learnt Yao as a second language and 6% learnt it as a third language compared to Chichewa’s 49% and 30% respectively. By 1904, 64% of the pupils receiving education in Malawi did so in Livingstonia’s schools, whilst all those obtaining post primary training attended the Overtoun Institution (Alpers, 1972: 215). By 1944, the name changed to the Nyasaland African Congress and in 1960 to the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). For example, Sanderson’s and Birthrey’s An Introduction to Chinyanja was written primarily for the increasing number of settlers in Nyasaland both official and unofficial, requiring a working knowledge of Nyanja, whilst Thomson’s Military Nyanja was written to provide a skeleton grammar and vocabulary for those engaged in learning the language for military use, a memory fresher for those who have done so and to serve as a handbook of mainly military terms for those who learn the language in civil life. It should be noted that Nyanja has a speech community in eastern Zambia. On problems of standardisation of Nyanja see Young (1949), Mtenje (1980) and Kishindo (1990). By Chinyanja was meant the Nyanja of southern region of Malawi and central region and it did not include Lake shore Nyanja (Lacey to Chief Secretary, A memoranda 17 April 1936). Banda’s uncle, Chief Mwase of Kasungu, in collaboration with the colonial government also acted as an informant to the colonial linguists in London when the government was trying to elevate Chichewa as a national language and selecting the dialect to be standardised. Most educated Malawians find it very difficult to express academic and technical issues in Chichewa or vernacular languages (see also Gonzalez, 1990, on bilingual education in the Philippines). This was evident at the National Long Term Perspective Study Conference (Malawi Vision 2020 Conference) in 1997 when the vice president asked the resource persons to present their findings in both Chichewa and English for the sake of the uneducated chiefs. While the presenters were very comfortable in English, they struggled to express the ideas in Chichewa or Tumbuka to the amazement of the participants. For a thorough discussion on this era and Banda’s iron fist rule characterised by lack of freedom and lack of dissenting views, see Vail and White, 1989; Chirwa, 1998; Phiri, 1988; Chimombo, 1998 and Kishindo, 1998. My personal communication with one MBC worker revealed that they got the directive two days before the three languages went on air. As such they were caught unawares and were unprepared for the task. That this was a political ploy for the government to gain votes in a particular by-election is clear. This decision also affected the time slot for Tumbuka which used to be aired at prime time, 7.10 pm to 9 pm to the annoyance of the Tumbuka listeners. The Tumbuka were quick to accuse the government of tribalism and politicking. See for example, Chakachaka, L. ‘Why mistime Tumbuka’. Letters, The Star, 20 November 1996, and Manda, M. ‘Welcome Yao, Lomwe, but’ Letters to the Editor, Malawi News, 7–13 December 1996. See also Kishindo (1998). This type of work has not yet been effected. The Centre has so far conducted the Tumbuka survey (sponsored by the German Technical Corporation) and produced a draft dictionary of Chichewa, revised Chichewa orthography rules, Malilime: Mala-

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44. 45.

46.

141

wian Journal of Linguistics, teaching manuals for teaching Tumbuka and Chichewa to non-native speakers. It is well documented in Malawi that the general elections were done along regional lines (see Chirwa, 1998; Kishindo, 1998 among others). The regionalistic and ethnic tendency clearly showed when Tom Chakufwa Chihana, a Tumbuka from the north and candidate for the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) won over 85% of the votes from the region against his 8% from the centre and 7% from the south. Dr Banda, a Chewa from the central region and an MCP candidate got 70% of the votes in his region against 16% from the south and 9% from the north. Elson Bakili Muluzi, a Yao from the southern region won 75% of the votes in the southern region against 23% in the centre and 7% in the north (Kishindo 1998: 265). The secretary for education explained in a press release in The Nation newspaper of 25 June 1996: 13 that ‘The fact has however remained that although other languages were banned as mediums of instruction in Standard 1–4, many teachers teaching in the remote rural primary schools, have used and are still using the commonly spoken languages in their schools as mediums of instruction in Standards 1 to 4 making learning more meaningful to pupils. The teachers, however, make sure that School Inspectors do not find them doing so, otherwise they quickly switch over to Chichewa at the sight of the School Inspectors. The new policy is trying to grant teachers the freedom to use languages commonly spoken in the area where schools are situated. Yet teachers will be posted according to the need of that particular district or region that is regardless of whether one knows the language or that area or not’. Kishindo (1995: 56) footnotes that in 1994 people in Chitipa were calling for the abolition of literacy classes in Chichewa. They wanted to learn in Tumbuka. ‘Recently, literacy instructors in Chitipa have asked the department of community services to teach adults in Chitumbuka which they claim they understand better than Chichewa’. ‘Instructors push for Chitumbuka’, The Nation, 3 October 1994. In another situation, adult learners wanted literacy classes to include English! Pascal Kishindo, lecturer and Head of African Languages and Linguistics Department, says he initiated this movement with the aim of forming clubs that could discuss orthography issues and creative writing in the various languages. However, the initial idea was hijacked and the association turned into a political forum for frustrated Yao politicians. When he pulled out, the association also died. According to Dr Soko, an Associate Professor of French and a resource person to the Association, Malawi Ngoni is closer to South African Xhosa than South African Zulu. He says that when a praise poet from Mzimba (Malawi Ngoni) presented his epic poem at a conference, the Zulu delegates understood only half of what he was saying and a Xhosa delegate understood everything. Dr Soko confirms this from other Malawian Ngonis living in South Africa near the Xhosa who also confirm the close mutual intelligibility between Xhosa and Malawian Ngoni. Therefore Malawi Ngoni is closer to original Nguni than Zulu (see also Mtenje & Soko, 1998). Probably the Malawian Ngonis need to study Malawian Ngoni rather than using Zulu texts. The early missionaries also mistakenly assumed that Ngoni equals Zulu. The whole movement was initiated by Mr Thole, a senior museum curator at Mzuzu Museum by virtue of being Ngoni, his job and interest in the language and its culture (personal communication with Mr A.W. Thole, Chairperson, Abenguni Revival Association). My survey, unlike Matiki’s, took a comparative approach and studied the language use of four major linguistic groups in Malawi: the Chewa, the Lomwe, the Yao, and the Tumbuka in that order. This should be borne in mind when interpreting the data. The origin and use of this word is still contentious. Some authors such as Tew (1950) referring to it as originating from a hill near where the Lomwe came from and some Lomwe claiming it as a dialectical variation of Lomwe (Kishindo, personal communication, 1997). ‘The Anguru are naturally a wild and low-caste race whose ignorance makes them at once savage and timid. The immigrant Anguru rarely or never form communities of their own when settling in British territory but prefer to attach themselves to promi-

142

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

Language Planning and Policy in Africa nent Yao or Anyanja chiefs in return for whose protection they usually perform a certain amount of menial labour. The status of these Anguru strangers in a Yao or Anyanja village is somewhat peculiar. They are often described by other natives and indeed describe themselves as “akapolo” (slaves), a misleading term … although their racial inferiority causes them to be held in some measure of contempt and relegates them naturally to an inferior position as compared with more intelligent tribes’ (Murray, 1910: 107–108). The results of this survey should be understood from the point of view that given the population in the northern region and the sample obtained, on which the results are based, is far from representative. Given the nature of the project that was undertaken a higher sample would have yielded more significant and elucidating results than is given. The survey interviewed 1105 primary school pupils, 194 primary school teachers, and 433 parents/guardians. The sample was skewed towards pupils. A newspaper reporter who visited Chitipa recently says that he was surprised to see that most people in the district could hardly converse in Chichewa despite having been born and brought up in the country. There were also very few people who discussed issues in Tumbuka. Although there are several dialects in Chitipa (he exaggeratedly cites 20) people are able to understand each other, that is, they do not need a lingua franca because the various languages are mutually intelligible. The mutual intelligibility is questionable but probably, Chitipa being a small district, most people have maintained their languages but at the same time they have learnt each other’s language to the extent that they can understand each other. His argument is however flawed in that he assumes that being born and bred in Malawi means one automatically learns Chichewa. At the same time his article raises the important question of how far spread are Chichewa and Tumbuka and Chitipa in the remote villages of Malawi (Ntonya, 1998). The resistance to Tumbuka by the Tonga and the Ngonde is historical. Refer to the colonial debates which also show the two groups resisting Tumbuka and favouring Chichewa in their areas. The resistance stems from the rivalry of the two ethnic groups with the Tumbuka. The Ngonde hated the Tumbuka because the latter collaborated with the Arab slave traders (Mlozi) during the slave trade when Mlozi plundered the Ngonde villages. For the Tonga, according to Wiseman Chirwa (personal communication, 1998), Tumbuka is associated with the Ngoni who also subjugated the Tonga through their raids. Later on though, the Ngoni provided ready labour to the Tonga. As such the Tonga do not hold the Ngoni in high esteem. The president’s speeches which used to be monolingual in Chichewa, have of late tended to be bilingual or containing codeswitching between English and Chichewa (Kishindo, 1998, personal communication), probably as a way of signalling his multiple identity of being a Malawian (Chichewa) and educated (English). See Kamwendo, 1994; Kulemeka, 1995; Chauma et al. 1997. As Kishindo (Personal communication, 1998) rightly points out, Malawian intellectuals harbour contradictions at the personal level. Most intellectuals will send their children to exclusive schools where English is the main language and speaking a vernacular is an offence. It seems Malawian intellectuals pay lip service to vernacularisation and have no confidence in the government school system. The intellectuals also realise that English is a prestigious language they cannot disregard. One of the daily papers reported a meeting where shareholders were angry with the way their constitution was written. The legalese was beyond them and they called for simple language that they could all understand and participate in discussion. These were not village or uneducated people but educated Malawians. What more with the uneducated? The author runs a communication skills course for the Malawian Parliamentarians under the sponsorship of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in conjunction with Malawi Parliament. The debates in the newspapers also indicate that most MPs do not know why they are in Parliament and their participation leaves a lot to be desired.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

143

54. For more details see Kishindo (1990, 1992), Vail (1981), Vail and White (1989), Kayambazinthu (1995). 55. Tables 1 is based on the 1966 census data. 56. The new recommendation from the syllabus committee gives equal number of hours for English and local languages, i.e. five hours each, to give more time to Chichewa and other Malawian languages (Professor Moira Chimombo, personal communication, 1998). 57. The improvement in 1996–1997 may be due to changes in the evaluation of testing. Students are writing multiple question tests than essay type (Moira Chimombo, personal communication, 1998).

References Abdallah, Y.B. (1919) The Yaos (Chikala cha wa Yao). Zomba: Government Printer. A brief history of the Chichewa Board (1970–1971) Ref. No. ADM/1/40 P.I. Zomba. Malawi A brief history of the Academy and Kamuzu Academy Programme (1986) Ms. Abdulaziz-Mkilifi, M.H. (1993) Language use and language development: Review of sociolinguistic theory. In W.A. Foley (ed.) The Role of Theory in Language Description (pp. 421–434). New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Alexander, J. (1932) James Alexander to T. Lacey (Director of Education). Alpers, E.A. (1968) The Mutapa and Malawi political systems. In T.O. Ranger (ed.) Aspects of Central African History (pp. 1–28). London: Longmans. Alpers, E.A. (1972) The Yao in Malawi: The importance of local research. In B. Pachai (ed.) The Early History of Malawi (pp. 168–179). London: Longman. Ammon, U. (1992) The Federal Republic of Germany’s policy of spreading German. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 95, 33–5. Annual Reports. Nyasaland Education Department. 1930, 1949, 1951. Baldauf, R.B. Jr (1990) Education and language planning in the Samoas. In R.B. Baldauf, Jr and A. Luke (eds) Language Planning and Education in Australasia and the South Pacific (pp. 259–276). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Baldauf, R.B., Jr (1994) ‘Unplanned’ language planning. In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Vol. 14) (pp. 82–9). New York: Cambridge University Press. Bailey, R. (1995) The Bantu language of South Africa: Towards a sociohistorical perspective. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 19–38). Cape Town: David Philip. Bamgbose, A. (1976) Mother Tongue Education: The West African Experience. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Bamgbose, A. (1984) Mother-tongue medium and scholastic attainment in Nigeria. Prospects 14 (1), 87–93. Banda, H.K. (1975) A plea for Chichewa. Public lecture delivered at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi. Bandawe L. M. (1971) Memoirs of a Malawian. Blantyre: CLAIM. Basic Education Statistics (1996) Lilongwe: Ministry of Education and Culture. Boerder, R.B. (1984) Silent Majority: A History of the Lomwe in Malawi. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. Bottomley to Kittermaster. 19 October 1935. In File No. S1/449/32. Bryan, M. (1959) The Bantu Languages of Africa. Handbook of African Languages. London: Oxford University Press. Bullivant, B. (1981) The Pluralistic Dilemma in Education. Six Case Studies. Sydney: George Allen & Unwin. Bwanali, A.K. (1998) Chichewa as a communication tool. The Nation, 29 July. Centre for Language Studies (1998) Chitumbuka Survey: A Report. Zomba, Malawi. Chakachaka, L. (1996) Why mistime Tumbuka. Letters to the Editor, The Star, 20 November.

144

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Chambers, J. and Trudgill, P. (eds) (1980) Dialect and language. Dialectology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chancellor College. Proposal for the establishment of a Centre for Language Studies. Ref No. CC/2/1/3/1, p. 1. Chauma, A., Chimombo, M. and Mtenje, A. (1997) Introduction of vernacular languages in primary education: The Malawian experience. In Proceedings of the LICCA Workshop in Dar es Salaam (pp. 37–46). Tanzania, September 1996. Chichewa Board (1973) New Orthography Rules. Pc No. 3/64. Lilongwe, Malawi. Chichewa Board (1980 and 1992) Chichewa Orthography Rules. Zomba, Malawi. Chichewa Board (1984) Malawi Congress Party Fliers. Ref. No. CD/4/25/104. Chief Kyungu to District Commissioner, 9 November (1932) In P.R.O. C.O. 525/153. Chilipaine, F.A. (1985) The linguistic situation of Malawi and the status of Chichewa. Ms. Chimombo, M. (1994) The language of politics in Malawi. Afrikanistiche Arbeitspapiere (AAP) 38, 197–208. Chimombo, M. (1998) Government journalism: From totalitarian to democracy. In K.M. Phiri and K.R. Ross (eds) Democratisation in Malawi: A Stocktaking (pp. 217–236). Blantyre: CLAIM. Chimombo, S. and Chimombo, M. (1996) The Culture of Democracy: Language, Literature, the Arts and Politics in Malawi, 1992–94. Zomba: WASI Publications. Chinyanja Orthography Rules (1931) Circular No. 30 of 1932. Secretariat, Zomba, Malawi. Chipendo, F. (1980/81) The Lomwe in Mthiramanja area: Their adaptation to wage-economy and Christianity. BA dissertation, History Department seminar paper No. 12, History Department, Chancellor College. Chirwa, W.C. (1998) Democracy, ethnicity and regionalism: The Malawian experience, 1992–1996. In K.M. Phiri and K.R. Ross (eds) Democratization in Malawi: A Stocktaking (pp. 52–69). Blantyre: CLAIM. Cole-King, P.A. (1972) Transport and communication in Malawi to 1891, with summary to 1918. In B. Pachai (ed.) The Early History of Malawi (pp. 70–90). London: Longman. Cooper, R.L. (1982) A framework for the study of language spread. In R.L. Cooper (ed.) Language Spread: Studies in Diffusion and Social Change (pp. 5–36). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Cooper, R.L. (1989) Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Diop, A.H. (1989) Language context, language planning and language policy: The study of two bilingual communities in northern Senegal. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania. Djité, P.G. (1988) The spread of Dyula and popular French in Côte d’Ivoire: Implications for language policy. Language Problems & Language Planning 12, 213–25. Djité, P.G. (1990) The French revolution and the French language: A paradox? Language Problems & Language Planning 16, 163–77. Dog ançay-Aktuna, S. (1995) An evaluation of the Turkish language reform after 60 years. Language Problems & Language Planning 19, 221–249. Doke, C.M. (1961a) Bantu language pioneers of the nineteenth century. In C.M. Doke and D.T. Cole (eds) Contributions to the History of Bantu Language (pp. 27–53). Johannesburg: Witwatersland University Press. Doke, C.M. (1961b) Scripture translation into Bantu languages. In C.M. Doke and D.T. Cole (eds) Contributions to the History of Bantu languages (pp. 108–125). Johannesburg: Witwatersland University Press. Eastman, C. (1983) Language Planning: An Introduction. San Francisco: Chandler & Sharp. Elmslie to Laws (1892) National Library of Scotland. Ms 7896. 22 October 1892. Elmslie, W.A. (1899) Among the Wild Ngoni. Edinburgh: Fraser. Faure, E. (1972) Learning to Be. Paris: UNESCO. Fasold, R.H. (1984) The Sociolinguistics of Society. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Fishman, J.A. (1989) Language and Ethnicity in Minority Sociolinguistic Perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Fishman, J.A. (1991) Reversing Language Shift. Theoretical and Empirical Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

145

Fraser, D. (1914) Winning a Primitive People: Sixteen Years Work Among The Warlike Ngoni, The Senga and Tumbuka Peoples of Central Africa. London: Steely Service. Gonzalez, A., FSC (1990) Evaluating bilingual education in the Philippines: Towards a multidimensional model of evaluation in language planning. In R.B. Baldauf, Jr and A. Luke (eds) Language Planning and Education is Australasia and the South Pacific (pp. 319–334). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Greenberg, J.H. (1972) Urbanism, migration and language. In J.H. Greenberg (ed.) Language, Culture and Communication (pp.198–211). Stanford: Stanford University Press. Guthrie, M. (1967) The Classification of Bantu Languages. London: Dawsons of Pall Mall. (Published for the IAI.) Hansard (1963) 15th July, Zomba, Malawi, 858–9. Harding, D.A. (1966) The phonology and morphology of Chinyanja. PhD thesis, University of California. Hartshorne, K.B. (1987) Language policy in African education in South Africa, 1910–1985. In D.N. Young (ed.) Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice in English Second Language Teaching. Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman. Heine, B. (1970) Status and Use of African Lingua Francas. Muchen: Weltforum Verlag. Heine, B. (1977) Vertical and horizontal communication in Africa. Afrika Spectrum 77, 231–238. Heine, B. (1992) Language policies in Africa. In R. Herbert (ed.) Language and Society in Africa: The Theory and Practice of Sociolinguistics (pp. 23–35). Witwatersrand: Witwatersrand University Press. Henriksen, T.H. (1978) Mozambique: A History. London: Rex Collins. Holmes, J. (1992) Sociolinguistics. An Introduction. London: Longmans. Holm, E. (1993) Language values and practices of students in the Faroe Islands: A survey report. AILA Review 10, 23–36. Hymes, D. (1972) Models of the interaction of language and social life. In J. Gumperz and D. Hymes (eds) Directions in Sociolinguistics (pp. 35–71). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Hymes, D. (1974) Foundations of Linguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Jack, J.W. (1901) Daybreak at Livingstonia: The story of the Livingstonia Mission in the northern province. Cited in McCracken (1972: 106). Kalinga, O.J.M. (1985) A History of the Ngonde Kingdom of Northern Malawi. The Hague: Mouton. Kamuzu Academy Programme (1986) 5th Anniversary of the Founder’s Day and a Breif History of the Academy, 21 November. Kamwendo, G. (1994) Chichewa: A tool of national unity? Language ecology in Africa. Logos 14, 90–95. Kaplan, R.B. and Baldauf, R.B, Jr (1997) Language Planning From Theory to Practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Kashoki, M.E. (1990) Sources and patterns of word adoption in Bemba. In I. Fodor and C. Hagège (eds) Language Reform: History and Future V (pp. 31–59). Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag. Kayambazinthu, E. (1989/90) Patterns of language use in Malawi: A sociolinguistic investigation in Domasi and Malindi areas of Southern Malawi. Journal of Contemporary African Studies 8/9 (1/2), 109–131. Kayambazinthu, E. (1994) Patterns of language use in Malawi. La Trobe Working Papers in Linguistics 7. Bundoora: La Trobe University School of Linguistics. Kayambazinthu, E. (1995) Patterns of language use in Malawi: A sociolinguistic investigation into selected areas. PhD dissertation, La Trobe University, Australia. Kayambazinthu, E. (1998) I just mix: Codeswitching and codemixing among bilingual Malawians. Journal of Humanities 12, 19–43. Kazembe, B. (1996) Learning in the vernacular, my turn, The Nation, 22 May. Kishindo, P. (1990) A historical survey of spontaneous and planned development of

146

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Chichewa. In I. Fodor and C. Hagège (eds) Language Reform: History and Future V (pp. 59–82). Hamburg: Helmut Buske. Kishindo, P.J. (1994) The impact of a national language on minority languages: The case of Malawi. Journal of Contemporary African Studies 12 (2), 127–50. Kishindo, P.J. (1995) Endangered languages: An example of Chingoni. Africana Marburgensia XXVIII (1 & 2), 46–58. Kishindo, P.J. et al. (1997) A sociolinguistic survey of Chiyao with special reference to education. Report submitted to German Basic Education. Zomba, Malawi. Kishindo, P.J. (1998) Politics of language in contemporary Malawi. In K.M. Phiri and K.R. Ross (eds) Democratisation in Malawi: A Stocktaking (pp. 252–280). Blantyre: CLAIM. Kittermaster, H. (1936a) Language examinations. 24 October 1936. In P.R.O. C.O. 525/161. Kittermaster, H. (1936b) Chinyanja language introduction to schools. 7 August 1936. In P.R.O. C.O. 525/161. Kulemeka, A. (1995) Rethinking the language issue. Moni 354, 19–22. Kulik, D. (1994) Language shift and cultural change. A paper presented at the workshop on language maintenance and shift. Bundoora: La Trobe University. Australian Linguistic Institute, 9 July. Labov, W (1966) The Social Stratification of English in New York City. Arlington, Virginia: Centre for Applied Linguistics. Labov, W. (1972) Language in the Inner City. Philadelphia: University of Pennyslvania. Lieberson, S. (1972) Bilingualism in Montreal: A demographic analysis. In J.A. Fishman (ed.) Advances in the Sociology of Language (Vol. 2) (pp. 231–254). The Hague: Mouton. Makonokaya, L.D. (1981) Continuity and change among the Lomwe of Lirangwi. History Department Seminar paper No. 12, Chancellor College. Malawi Congress Party (1978) Annual Convention Resolutions 1965–1983. Blantyre: Department of Information. Malawi Government Constitution (1995) Zomba: Government Printer. Malawi National Statistical Office. Population Census Final Reports: 1966, 1987, 1989. Zomba: Government Printer. Malawi National Statistical Office (1996) Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Data. Zomba: National Statistical Office. Malawi Vision 2020 Report (1997) National Economic Council. Lilongwe, Malawi. Manda, M. (1996) Welcome Yao, Lomwe, but. Letters to the Editor, Malawi News, 7–13 December. Mandimbe, J.J. (1994) Chichewa for Lingua franca. Letter to the Editor. The Nation, 7 March. Marwick, M.G. (1963) History and tradition in east central Africa through the eyes of the Northern Rhodesian Chewa. Journal of African History 4, 375–90. Matiki, A.J.I. (1996/7) Language shift and maintenance: Social determinance of linguistic change among the Lomwe people. Journal of Humanities 10/11, 1–25. McCracken, J. (1972) Religion and Politics in Northern Ngoniland, 1881–1904. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McCracken, J. (1977) Politics and Christianity in Malawi, 1875–1940: The Impact of The Livingstonia Mission in the Northern Province. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mchombo, S.A. (n.d.) A note on Chichewa. Ms. McMillan, H.W. (1972) Notes on the origins of the Arab War. In B. Pachai (ed.) The Early History of Malawi (pp. 263–283). London: Longman. Milroy, L. (1987) Language and Social Networks (2nd edn). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Moggridge, L.T. (1919) Mombera Annual District Report. 31 March 1919, in File No. S1/1008/19. Mombera Annual District Report 1918–19. In File No. S1/1008/19. Msonthi (1997) Parents attitudes towards multilingual education in the lower primary school (Standard 1–4): The Malawian Experience. BEd Dissertation, English Department, Chancellor College, Zomba, Malawi. Mtenje, A.D. (1980) Aspects of Chichewa derivational phonology and syllable structure constraints. MA dissertation, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

147

Mtenje, A. and Soko, B. (1998) Oral traditions among the Northern Malawi Ngoni. Journal of Humanities 12, 1–18. Mukama, R.G. (1991) Recent Developments in the language situation and prospects for the future. In H.B. Hansen and M. Twaddle (eds) Changing Uganda (pp. 334–351). London: James Currey. Murray, S.S. (1910) The Handbook of Nyasaland. London: His Majesty’s Office. Murray, S.S. (1922) A Handbook of Nyasaland. Zomba: Government Printer. Murray, S.S. (1932) Handbook of Nyasaland. Zomba: Government Printer. Mwanakatwe, J.M. (1968) The Growth of Education in Zambia Since Independence. Lusaka: Zambia. Nahir, M. (1977) The five aspects of language planning. Language Problems & Language Planning 1, 107–122. Nahir, M. (1984) Language planning goals: A classification. Language Problems & Language Planning 8, 294–327. National Cultural Policy Plan of Action (1996) Ms. New Era in Education. Daily Times, 23 November 1981. Ng’ombe, J.L. (1985) Chichewa in media and publishing in Malawi. Paper presented at UNESCO Conference on Harmonisation and Transcription of Technical Terminologies, 16–20 December, Andrews Motel, Zambia. NNM1/16/4. Mombera District Council, 1931/39. Meeting of 16th September (1933). In S1/449/32. NN1/2005, Native Administration, Mzimba, 1932–1934, Minutes of the Barazas. In S1/449/32 . Ntonya, G. (1998) Tongues in Chitipa. The Weekend Nation, 25–26 July. Nurse, G.T. (1972) The people of Bororo: A lexicostatistical enquiry. In B. Pachai (ed.) The Early History of Malawi (pp. 123–136). London: Longman. Round Table Conference (1936) In P.R.O. C.O. 525/161 File no. 25352, 22 June. Pachai, B. (1971) Christianity and commerce in Malawi: Some pre-colonial and colonial aspects. In G.W. Smith, B. Pachai and R.K. Tangri (eds) Malawi Past and Present (pp. 37–69). Blantyre: CLAIM. Pachai, B. (ed.) (1972) The Early History of Malawi. London: Longman. Pachai, B. (1973) Malawi: The History of the Nation. London: Longman. Palmer, R. (1972) Johnson and Jameson: A comparative study in the imposition of colonial rule. In B. Pachai (ed.) The Early History of Malawi (pp. 293–322). London: Longman. Perry, J.R. (1985) Language reform in Turkey and Iran. International Journal of Middle East Studies 17 (August), 295–311. Phillipson, R. (1992) Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Phiri, D.D. (1993) Change Chichewa to Chimalawi. The Independent, 26 April–3 May. Phiri, K.M.G. (1978) The Chewa of Zomba District and their interaction with the ‘Mangochi’ Yao from 1850 to 1900. Ms. Phiri, K.M. (1988) Dr Banda’s Cultural legacy and its implications for a democratic Malawi. In K.M. Phiri and K.R. Ross (eds) Democratisation in Malawi: A Stocktaking (pp. 147–167). Blantyre: CLAIM. Phiri, K.M.G., Kalinga, O.J.M. and Bhila, H.H.K. (1992) The northern Zambezia — Lake Malawi region. In B.A. Ogot (ed.) General History of Africa. V: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century (pp. 608–620). California: Heinemann. Pretorius, J.L. (1971) The story of school education in Malawi. In G.W. Smith, B. Pachai and R. Tangri (eds) Malawi Past and Present (pp. 69–80). Blantyre: CLAIM. Price, T. (1940) Nyanja linguistic problems. Africa 13, 125–137. Rahman, T. (1995) British language policies and imperialism in India. Language Problems & Language Planning 20, 91–115. Rashid, P.R. (1978) Originally Lomwe culturally Maravi and linguistically Yao: The rise of the Mbewe c. 1760–1840. Seminar paper, History Department, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba. Read, M. (1936) Tradition and prestige among the Ngoni. Africa 11 (4), 453–84. Read, M. (1956) The Ngoni of Nyasaland. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Romaine, S. (1995) Bilingualism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

148

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Roscoe, A. (1977) Uhuru’s Fire: African Literature East to South. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rubin, J. (1984) Bilingual education and language planning. Reprinted in C. Kennedy (ed.) Language Planning and Language Education (pp. 4–16). London: George Allen and Unwin. Saukani, A. (1996) Vernacular non-starter, Letters to the Editor. The Nation, 22 May. Sawadogo, G. (1990) A policy analysis of the language reform in Burkina Faso from 1979–. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Iowa. Schoffeleers, J.M. (1972) The meaning and use of the name Malawi in oral traditions and precolonial documents. In B. Pachai (ed.) The Early History of Malawi (pp. 91–103). London: Longman. Scotton, C.M. (1993) Elite closure as a powerful language strategy: The African case. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 103, 149–63. Secretary for Education’s letter to all Regional Education Officers all Educational Secretary Generals, the Secretary General Teacher’s Union of Malawi and the Director, Malawi Institute of Education Ref. No. IN/2/14, 28 March 1996. Shepperson, G. and Price, T. (1958) Independent Africa: John Chilembwe and the origins, setting and significance of the Nyasaland native uprising of 1915. Cited in Alpers (1971: 174). Short, P. (1974) Banda. London/Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Smolicz, J.J. and Secombe, M.J. (1985) Community languages, core values and cultural maintenance: The Australian experience with special reference to Greek, Latvian and Polish groups. In M.G. Clyne (ed.) Australia, Meeting Place of Languages. Canberra: Australian National University. (Pacific Linguistics C-92). Soka, L.D. (1953) Mbiri ya a Lomwe (The History of the Lomwe). London: MacMillan. Spear, T.T. (1972) Zwangendaba’s Ngoni 1821–1890. A political and social history of a migration. Madison: African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin. (Occasional Paper No. 4). Stubbs, M. (1972) Home languages and national languages understood. In S. Agnew and M. Stubbs (eds) Malawi in Maps (pp. 72–73). London: London University Press. Teaching Standards 1–4 in Vernacular or Mother Tongue. Press Release. The Nation, 25 June 1996. Tew, M.D. (1950) Peoples of the Lake Nyasa Region. London: Oxford University Press. Timau (1993) Fancy this call. The Independent, 26 April–3 May. Tollefson, J.W. (1981) Centralised and decentralised language planning. Language Problems & Language Planning 5, 175–188. Turner to Vischer, 29 April (1935) In P.R.O. C.O. 525/158. Turner, W.M.Y. (1933) Minute of Livingstonia Mission Council of Church of Scotland, 15th July 1933. In File SI /449/32. UDF Government Education Policy Document (1996) A Policy and Investment Framework for Education in Malawi, 1995–2005. Ms. UNESCO (1953) The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education. Paris: UNESCO. Vail, L. (1972) Suggestions towards a reinterpreted Tumbuka history. In B. Pachai (ed.) The Early History of Malawi (pp. 148–167). London: Longman. Vail, L. (1981) Ethnicity, language and national unity: The case of Malawi. Working papers in Southern African Studies 2, 121–163. Vail, L. and White, L. (1989) Tribalism in the political history of Malawi. In L. Vail (ed.) The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa (pp. 151–192). London: James Currey. Vernacular language policy (1947) File no. 14,143. Acting Chief Secretary to Provincial Commissioner, Northern Province, 8 July. Von Gleich, U. (1994) Language spread policy: The case of Quechua in the Andean Republics of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 107, 77–113. Wardhaugh, R. (1987) Languages in Competition: Dominance, Diversity and Decline. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Watkins, M.H. (1937) A Grammar of Chichewa. Philadelphia: Supplement to Language.

The Language Planning Situation in Malawi

149

Webster, J.B. (1978) Drought and migration: The Lake Malawi littoral as a region of refuge. Zomba: Inaugural lecture. History Department, Chancellor College. Welsh, J. (1985) Some issues concerning access to education and wastage in the primary education system in Malawi. Paper presented at the Eighth Southern African Universities Social Science Conference, 15–17 July. Werner, A. (1906) The Natives of British Central Africa. London: Constable. Whiteley, W.H. (1984) Sociolinguistic surveys at the national level. In C. Kennedy (ed.) Language Planning and Language Education. (pp. 68–79) London: George Allen and Unwin. Wilson, M. (1958) Peoples of the Nyasa-Tanganyika Corridor. Communications from the School of African Studies. Cape Town: University of Cape Town. Wilson, M. (1972) Reflections in the early history of North Malawi. In B. Pachai (ed.) The Early History of Malawi (pp. 136–147). London: Longman. World Development Report (1997) Washington: World Bank. Young, C. (1949) Review of Thomson, T.D. (1947) A practical approach to Chinyanja with English-Nyanja vocabulary. Africa 20, 200–218. Young, H. to Cunliffe-Lister, a letter from Government House, 9 February 1934. In P.R.O. C.O. 523/153. Young, W.P. (1933) Chinyanja as a lingua franca, memorandum of W.P. Young, July 1933. In P.R.O. C.O. 523/153.

The Language Situation in Mozambique1 Armando Jorge Lopes Modern Languages Department, Faculty of Arts, PO Box 257, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique This paper addresses the language situation in post-independent Mozambique from both a language-planning and a language-policy perspective. It begins with a presentation of an up-to-date language profile of the country, as well as a discussion of its high linguistic diversity. This is followed by an investigation of the language spread dynamics in education, literacy and media. Then, the paper argues that language- planning activities, which are ultimately derived from the nature of the Mozambican society and the consequent language needs, should lead to a maintenance-oriented promotion type of language policy in the polity. The final section attempts an evaluation of the prospects for an improved cohabitation between the Bantu languages, Portuguese and English in multilingual Mozambique.

Introduction The aim of this paper is to provide a preliminary survey of the language planning situation in Mozambique. This attempt explores the highly topical issue of language planning in the particular context of the lingua franca status of Portuguese in Mozambique, and the political and educational tensions between this and the commitment to multilingualism by segments of society and research institutions. The paper draws on experiences from a range of language institutions, educational bodies, individual researchers, organisations and ministries involved in language planning and language policy activities. To date, no general book on the language planning situation in Mozambique has been published. This is not surprising in a country that became independent only 23 years ago and since then has had to face enormous challenges with a grave shortage of qualified human resources. Such a context does not mean, however, that nobody has been thinking about language planning issues. In fact, researchers have written papers and participated in several national and international scientific gatherings in this general field. Because I have been thinking about and working on the issues for a long time, and probably dreaming about them too, I accepted the invitation to write for the series with great pleasure, and at the same time with the understanding that this was an ideal opportunity to draw up a first compilation on the matter. However, the whole undertaking came to be more complex than I had originally anticipated. Available information was widely dispersed and unsystematic, and insufficient exchange of ideas in published form between researchers has somewhat limited my elaborations on a few of the points instantiated in the questions developed by the series editors. As a result, the paper is a synopsis in some places, although I have been fairly comprehensive in several others. It should also be seen as an invitation to compare and a challenge to query. I have presented several topics, which are developed in this paper, at several places in recent years: the Maputo LASU Conference (1991) on the role of linguis150

The Language Situation in Mozambique

151

tics in the promotion of African languages, the UCLA Symposium on Portuguese Traditions (1993), the 1st World Congress of African Linguistics (1994) in Swaziland, UEM’s Modern Languages Department Seminar on language policy (1994), the Conference on educational employment of African languages and the role of languages of wider communication jointly organised by the INDE and Stockholm University (1994), and the Arrabida Conference on Portuguese as a second language in Africa, held in Portugal in 1998. These meetings have provided valuable opportunity for discussion and criticism of my work. Those previously discussed topics have now been elaborated, and fresh data provided. Also, the manuscript has drawn inspiration and guidance from Kaplan and Baldauf’s (1997) recent book, Language Planning: From Practice to Theory. The paper is in four parts. Part I presents the language profile of Mozambique, supported by 1998 figures disclosed by the National Inquiry on Household Living Conditions. Part II takes us to the areas of education and media, where the dynamics of language spread is discussed. Part III focuses on language planning and language policy legislation, bilingualism and roles suggested for the Bantu languages, as well as the major activities carried out by language planning agencies and their impact on planning and policy matters. Lastly, Part IV deals with language maintenance, with an emphasis placed on the emerging non-native variety of Portuguese. This Part equally attempts to outline the imagined contours of the probable language situation and trends in the future Mozambique. Tables 1–5 and Figures 1 and 2 provide relevant information for a better understanding of the language profile and the language spread.

Part I: The Language Profile of Mozambique Like most African countries, Mozambique is a multilingual and multicultural country. Apart from Portuguese which is the official language, and the Asian languages, all the other languages spoken in Mozambique belong to the Bantu group. These are indigenous languages and constitute the major language stratum, both with regard to number of speakers and in terms of language distribution over the territory. According to Guthrie (1967/71), the Bantu languages of Mozambique fall into four zones and eight major language groupings, namely: 1. Zone G–G40: Swahili; 2. Zone P–P20: Yao and Makonde, and P30: Makua (+Lomwe, Cwabo); 3. Zone N–N30: Nyanja, and N40: Nsenga-Sena; 4. Zone S–S10: Shona, S50: Tsonga (Shangaan, Ronga, Tswa), and S60: Copi.2 But such classification further contemplates subzones and additional groupings of languages as can be seen in Rzewuski’s (1978) addenda to Guthrie’s classification, in which main dialects are also presented. However, no one was or is capable of stating exactly how many Bantu languages and variants are spoken in the territory, mainly because no large-scale dialectological studies have ever been conducted in this part of the world. A comprehensive language atlas of Mozambique is still lacking, and this makes the situation open to all sorts of readings and conflicting interpretations. For instance, Marinis (1981) claims that it is possible to reduce the number of the Mozambican Bantu languages to basically four major languages (Makua, Tsonga, Nyanja-Sena and Shona) and four minor ones (Makonde, Yao, Copi and Gitonga). But Yai (1983) identifies 13 languages, and

152

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

Table 1 Mozambican Bantu languages (total Bantu mother-tongue (L1) speakers: 15,240,068) Language and variants Emakhuwa Emakhuwa Emetto Esaaka Echirima Cisena Cisena Gorongoza Cibalke Tonga Phodzo Mayindu Xichangana Xichangana Xibila Xidzonga Elomwe Elomwe Cingulu Echuwabo Echuwabo Marendje Cishona Cindau Citewe Cimanyika Citawara Cidanda Cimashanga Cizezuru Xitswa Xironga Xironga Konde Cinyanja Cinyanja Cicewa Maganja Cinyungwe Cinyungwe Cikunda Cicopi Cicopi Cilengue

Number of speakers 4,007,010 3,754,456 249,040 3,048 466 1,807,319 1,546,323 123,801 90,425 36,216 5,835 4,719 1,799,614 1,762,867 36,445 302 1,269,527 1,267,966 1,561 1,203,494 644,766 558,728 1,070,471 785,651 169,201 71,547 29,260 7,719 7,051 42 763,029 626,174 625,668 506 607,671 240,740 282,340 84,591 446,567 397,906 48,661 405,521 403,472 2,049

The Language Situation in Mozambique

153

Table 1 cont. Language and variants Ciyao Ciyao Jawa Shimakonde Shimakonde Cimakwe Shindonde Gitonga Ekoti Kimwani Kiswahili Kiswahili Mgao Swazi Cisenga Zulu

Number of speakers 374,426 310,496 63,930 371,111 325,223 37,422 8,466 319,836 102,393 29,980 21,070 14,963 6,107 7,742 3,584 3,529

Source: Inquérito Nacional aos Agregados Familiares sobre Condições de Vida, Resultados Gerais. Instituto Nacional de Estatística, Maputo, Moçambique, 1998.

Katupha (1984) — more in line with Marinis — refers to eight, albeit not quite the same language groupings as those indicated by Marinis. On the other hand, for Ngunga (1987), who challenges his predecessors’ association of Nyanja with Sena as two dialects of one language, it would be premature to state categorically any number of languages said to be spoken in the country. Given the current state of affairs, and until such time as the whole matter has been clarified and a consensus reached, I have suggested (Lopes, 1997b) that the 1989 Report on the Standardisation of Orthography of Mozambican Languages, emanating from the first seminar on the field held at the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), should constitute the major source of reference. The language map presented on page eight of the Report identifies 20 Bantu languages, which are reproduced here in Figure 1. Several sectors of the society took part in the event, and the Report was elaborated by experts from different institutions, including UEM’s NELIMO (Núcleo de Estudo das Línguas Moçambicanas — Unit for the Study of Mozambican Languages) and INDE (Instituto Nacional do Desenvolvimento da Educação — National Institute for Education Development). From March 1996 to April 1997, the National Institute of Statistics carried out a national inquiry on household living conditions. The Final Results (INE, 1998) include information on language, especially figures for mother-tongue speakers per province, sex, age group, and the urban/rural divide. The list of languages is long, but it is obvious that many of these languages constitute variants of certain language groups. On the basis of prior language/dialect classifications, and fundamentally the 1989 Report, I have attempted to rearrange the presentation of the National Inquiry Results as shown here in the Tables and Figures. The reported spelling of each Bantu language follows the spelling adopted by the 1989 Report.

154

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

Figure 1 Percentage of mother-tongue (L1) speakers per Province (major Bantu languages and Portuguese) In the second half of 1997, the government conducted the second National Census (the first was held in 1980), the results of which, it is reported, will be made public only towards the end of the year 1999. It is reasonable to presume, however, that the language patterns and figures of the census will not be substantially different from those revealed by the National Inquiry. Of the largest language groups (see Table 2), the language Emakhuwa (4,007,010 speakers) accounts for 24.8% of the country’s total number of mother-tongue speakers (16,135,403). If Emakhuwa is taken together with Elomwe, an association often made by different typologists and linguists who claim considerable mutual intelligibility between the two, then

The Language Situation in Mozambique

155

Table 2 Mozambique’s largest language groups (total population 16,135,403) Language Emakhuwa Cisena Xichangana Elomwe Echuwabo Cishona Xitswa Xironga Cinyanja Portuguese Cinyungwe Cicopi Ciyao Shimakonde Gitonga Ekoti Kimwani Kiswahili Swazi Cisenga Zulu Other languages (Asian included)

Number of speakers (L1) 4,007,010 1,807,319 1,799,614 1,269,527 1,203,494 1,070,471 763,029 626,174 607,671 489,915 446,567 405,521 374,426 371,111 319,836 102,393 29,980 21,070 7,742 3,584 3,529 405,420

Percentage of population 24.8 11.2 11.2 7.9 7.5 6.6 4.7 3.9 3.8 3.0 2.8 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.0 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.05 0.02 0.02 2.5

Source: Inquérito Nacional aos Agregados Familiares sobre Condições de Vida, Resultados Gerais. Instituto Nacional de Estatística, Maputo, 1998.

Emakhuwa-Elomwe represent 32.7% of the total population. Next in order of size are Cisena and Xichangana each with 11.2%. Given the fact that Mozambique is a country with evidently high linguistic diversity, it becomes difficult to analyse the situation in terms of concepts used in different contexts to classify languages as large-majority and small-minority. The number of speakers per language and the percentage spread over the total population require finer analytical grids. In this context, Robinson’s (1993: 52–5) treatment of linguistic diversity seems to be quite insightful. He defines high linguistic diversity as ‘… a situation where no more than fifty per cent of the population speak the same language’. And he adds that ‘a ranking of degree of linguistic diversity should not be based on the absolute number of languages in a country, but rather on the percentage of the population speaking any single language’. Grimes’ (1992) data on countries of Africa where no single language group exceeds 50% of the population show that 25 of the total number of African countries (58) fall into this category. The Ivory Coast and Gabon are the two most linguistically diverse countries. The former — with 75 languages — where Baoule

156

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

(1,620,100 speakers), the largest language, represents 13% of the country’s total population (12,070,000); and the latter — with 40 languages — where the largest language, Fang (169,650), accounts for 16% of the total population (1,069,000). Ghana (having 73 languages) is the country with the least high linguistic diversity. The largest language, Akan (7,000,000 speakers), represents 46% of Ghana’s total population (15,310,000). Thus, the comparison across different countries shows that the country where the largest language represents the smallest proportion of population is considered as the most linguistically diverse. Mozambique, where Emakhuwa accounts for 24.8% of the total population, ranks among the 15 most linguistically diverse countries in Africa. This means that, on a numerical basis, no Mozambican Bantu language can claim majority language status at a national level. This is not in itself a bad thing. Any situation where no language group is in a position to exert hegemony over the country as a whole may well constitute a contributing factor to relative political stability. But, of course, Emakhuwa constitutes a significant numerical minority nationally, because no other language comes close to it in size, or is widely spoken in at least three out of the country’s 11 Provinces (Figure 1). It should be understood, however, that high linguistic diversity-based analyses are merely attempts to show how prevalent the phenomenon is, and do not attempt to define minority status. The kernel of the traditional majority–minority model, as it has been applied to situations of high linguistic diversity, should probably not be based primarily on numbers, but rather (and perhaps especially) on social and power relationships. Further, it should also take into account the dimension of language spread beyond national borders, as Liphola (1988: 34) is keen to remind us: Ciyao and Shimakonde (Chi-Yao and Chi-Mákonde in the original), among others viewed as ‘minority’ languages, could claim majority language recognition, if one were to take account of the fact that these languages ‘violate’ geographical borders south of the United Republic of Tanzania.3 Indeed, the notion of ‘minority’ language in a country like Mozambique, which shares linguistic groupings across six geographic borders and where some are quite sizeable is controversial to say the least, and adds little to the ‘majority–minority’ language debate, from a language rights viewpoint. The languages Kiswahili and Shimakonde spread north to the neighbouring state of Tanzania. Ciyao spreads to the Republic of Malawi and Tanzania. Cinyanja spreads to Malawi, Tanzania and the Republic of Zambia. Elomwe and Cisena are also home languages in Malawi. Cishona spreads to the Republic of Zimbabwe. Xichangana is shared by the Republic of South Africa, where it is known as Shangaan (or also Tsonga). The same is true of Zulu. As for Swazi, it is shared by the Kingdom of Swaziland, where it is termed siSwati. On the political and legal fronts, Mozambique is an exoglossic state, because Portuguese rather than an indigenous language has been declared the country’s official language (see Article 5 of the 1990 revised version of the Constitution of the Republic). Portuguese is the only medium of government-controlled national communication in the areas of administration and education, and has also been referred to as the symbol of national unity. According to the National In-

The Language Situation in Mozambique

157

quiry, Portuguese mother-tongue speakers account for 3% of the total population, and constitute a substantial percentage of the number of speakers in Maputo City, the country’s capital, which enjoys provincial status (see Table 2 and Figure 1). Over 90% of Portuguese first language (L1) speakers are urban, whereas Bantu L1 speakers are mainly rural, and nearly half of the country’s mother-tongue speakers are grouped around the age bands 5–19 years (Table 3). Unfortunately, the Inquiry has not included Portuguese second language (L2) data (nor Bantu L2, for that matter), but projections based on the 1980 census, which included Portuguese L2 figures, point to a current estimation of 40% of the total population who can speak and understand the official language. Of course, not all of these speakers make the same effective and efficient use of the language. As for the legal terms ‘de jure national language’ and ‘de facto national language’, it must now be clear that they cannot be applicable in the language situation of Mozambique. The term national language, however, has often been used as a synonym for Bantu language, but the term is hardly more than a designation without any legal implications. As for the term religious language, it is not common to hear Mozambicans referring to any language in this way. Even in the case of Arabic, which is mainly used liturgically, people tend to refer to it as a ‘language used for religious purposes’. But, in fact, most Bantu languages, which are not as much confined to religion as Arabic is, are equally used spiritually. Mozambique is a secular state, as is determined by Clause 1 of Article 9 in the 1990 Constitution of the Republic. But Clause 3 also stipulates that the state values the practices by religious denominations aimed at promoting a climate of understanding and social tolerance as well as strengthening national unity. The languages Kiswahili, Kimwani and Ekoti (fusion between Kiswahili and Emakhuwa) are associated with the spread of Arabic, which occurred during the period of Islamic expansion from the eighth century onwards. Al-Quraan (the Koran) is taught and also memorised in many schools and neighbourhood locations in the northern region of the country, especially along the coast, where the population is essentially Muslim. But Al-Quraan is equally taught in the central and southern parts of the country, where there are schools and mosques. The largest Islamic school, located in Maputo, belongs to the Comunidade Maometana, a designation given by the former Portuguese colonial authorities. Portuguese is used by most Christian denominations, but several Bantu languages are also used in the sermons. There is a fairly high number of Catholic and Protestant churches and missionary schools countrywide. Many people read and study the Bible, even where no schools are as yet available. For example, Shrum and Shrum (1998), in a sociolinguistic survey of western Zambezia, report that despite the non-existence of biblical schools or seminaries in western Zambezia, a great many people study the Bible either in Portuguese or Cinyanja through distance learning theological education (Educação Teológica por Extensão). They also report that in Zambezia, where the Bible and hymn-books are available in Portuguese, Cinyanja, Elomwe and Echuwabo, church services are conducted in these languages and, in some instances, primarily in Portuguese with translation into the Bantu language spoken locally.4

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

158

Table 3 Number and percentage of rural/urban mother-tongue speakers Language

Total no. of speakers

Emakhuwa Cisena Xichangana Elomwe Echuwabo Cishona Xitswa Xironga Cinyanja Portuguese Cinyungwe Cicopi Ciyao Shimakonde Gitonga Ekoti Kimwani Kiswahili Swazi Cisenga Zulu Other languages

4,007,010 1,807,319 1,799,614 1,269,527 1,203,494 1,070,471 763,029 626,174 607,671 489,915 446,567 405,521 374,426 371,111 319,836 102,393 29,980 21,070 7,742 3,584 3,529 405,420

Rural No. of speakers 3,246,859 1,602,145 1,269,118 1,242,972 1,081,599 810,400 625,451 220,584 588,783 44,797 301,307 281,727 282,171 324,291 153,575 102,181 29,156 17,933 7,260 3,432 1,999 372,867

%

81.0 88.6 70.5 97.9 89.9 75.7 82.0 35.2 96.9 9.1 67.5 69.5 75.4 87.4 48.0 99.8 97.3 85.1 93.8 95.8 56.6 92.0

Urban No. of speakers 760,151 205,174 530,496 26,555 121,895 260,071 137,578 405,590 18,888 445,118 145,260 123,794 92,255 46,820 166,261 212 824 3,137 482 152 1,530 32,553

Male Female

Mother-tongue speakers by sex 7,849,267 8,286,136

48.6% 51.4%

0–4 yrs 5–9 10–14 15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–49 50–64 65+

Mother-tongue speakers by age group 1,515,793 2,761,473 2,499,827 1,790,431 1,421,292 1,190,382 988,500 879,757 1,254,222 1,356,382 477,344

9.4% 17.1% 15.5% 11.1% 8.8% 7.4% 6.1% 5.5% 7.8% 8.4% 2.9%

%

19.0 11.4 29.5 2.1 10.1 24.3 18.0 64.8 3.1 90.9 32.5 30.5 24.6 12.6 52.0 0.2 2.7 14.9 6.2 4.2 43.4 8.0

Source: Inquérito Nacional aos Agregados Familiares sobre Condições de Vida, Resultados Gerais. Instituto Nacional de Estatística, Maputo,Moçambique, 1998.

The Language Situation in Mozambique

159

As for literacy, Portuguese has enjoyed primacy over other languages. Even during the period (1964–74) of the armed struggle for national liberation and Independence (conquered in 1975), the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) used Portuguese in adult literacy activities. Recently, the educational authorities have experimentally introduced Bantu languages in adult literacy campaigns as well as in primary schooling. (A pilot project began in the Provinces of Tete and Gaza in 1992 and terminated in 1997.) Mozambique’s communication with the outside world is basically carried out by means of two languages, Portuguese and English. Through Portuguese, the country communicates mainly with the other four Portuguese-speaking African countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe), and with Portugal and Brazil. An approximate population of 200 million speakers shares this language. With most of the world, the Mozambicans make use of English, which is here considered the first foreign language. English is a lingua franca in each of the states bordering Mozambique and a common language for inter-communication among them. Both Portuguese and English are the two official languages of the Southern African Development Community (SADC Treaty, 1992) which integrates 15 countries, but, in practice, English has functioned as the major working language. French, which used to be the primary foreign language in the colonial educational system, is now enjoying a comeback at the pre-university level and could, in the future, become Mozambique’s second most important foreign language.

Part II: Language Spread Language spread through education Education is one of the most important means for spreading language. The languages taught through the national educational system (SNE) are Portuguese, English and French. Portuguese is the exclusive medium of instruction from first grade onwards, as well as a subject in primary and secondary education, thus providing a total of 12 years of education. Public primary education, which is free and compulsory, comprises a lower primary level (EP1) from Grade 1 to Grade 5, and a higher primary level (EP2) consisting of Grades 6 and 7. Secondary education (ESG) is taught in two cycles: a first cycle (ESG1) of three years (Grades 8 to 10), and a second cycle (ESG2) of two years (Grades 11 and 12). These 12 years of education constitute the basis for higher education (See Figure 2 for a diagram of the National Educational System). The school calendar year consists of 36 teaching weeks. This period corresponds to a total of 6120 teaching hours for the primary level (EP1+EP2), and 3240 hours for secondary education, first cycle (ESG1). The second cycle of secondary education (ESG2) totals 1512 hours for Group A, 1728 hours for Group B and 1656 hours for Group C (See Table 4 for study plans for both primary and secondary education). The total time-load for Portuguese, as a subject, in the primary level (EP1+EP2) is 2268 hours, which corresponds to 37% of the total teaching hours in the study plan for this level. The time-loads allocated to Portuguese in the sec-

Figure 2 National Educational System (SNF)

160

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

The Language Situation in Mozambique

161

Table 4 Study plan (and weekly hours) for primary education* (Grades 1–7) Subjects Portuguese Mathematics Natural Sciences Biology Geography History Aesthetic & Working Education Physical Education Total

1 12 6

2 11 6

3 10 6 2

2

3

3

2 3

2 22

2 22

2 23

2 25

2 27

8

9

10

Portuguese English Mathematics Biology Physics History Geography Chemistry Drawing Physical Education French Total

5 3 5 3 3 2 2 3 2 2

5 3 5 3 3 2 2 3 2 2

5 3 5 3 3 2 2 3 2 2

30

30

30

Group General subjects A Portuguese, English French, History Geography

C

5 9 6 3 2 2 3

Subjects

B

4 10 6 2

Portuguese, English Mathematics Chemistry, Physics Biology Portuguese, English Mathematics/Physics Drawing, Chemistry

6 6 5

7 5 5

3 3 3 4

4 3 3 4

2 26

3 27

12 (Groups for 11 and 12) 4 4 5/3 5/35h/wGroupAbelow 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 4 4 for Group A only combinations under A, B, C below

University courses** Linguistics, Portuguese Law, History, French Diplomacy English Geography Psychology, Pedagogy Economics Geology Agronomy, Medicine Veterinary Science Biology, Chemistry/Biol. Physical Education Engineering, Architecture Physics and Chemical Sciences Mathematics, Physics Physics, Mathematics

11

Specific subject

English Biology Mathematics Geography Biology

No specific subject in Group C

* For 1–2 shift schools ** Courses to which access is available.Source: Instrução Ministerial No. 1/97, Ministério da Educação.

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

162

ondary level are as follows: 540 hours in ESG1 (17% of the total load in the study plan), 288 hours in ESG2 for Group A (19%), and 288 hours (17%) for both Group B and Group C. English is taught at secondary level (both ESG1 and ESG2), totalling five years of instruction. It is also a compulsory subject (English for Academic Purposes) in the first two years (total load: 256 hours) of most courses administered by the Department of English of the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), the major higher education institution in the country. The total time-load for English is as follows: 324 hours in ESG1, which represents 10% of the total load in the study plan for this level, 360 hours in ESG2 for Group A (24%), and 216 hours (12%) for both Group B and Group C. French is taught in ESG2, Group A only, with a total teaching load of 288 hours, which corresponds to 19% in the study plan. French is also an optional subject (either French or English) in the Social Sciences course at the UEM, and may eventually be reintroduced at the Faculty of Arts in the near future. With regard to the Bantu languages, these are taught only at the UEM: Emakhuwa and Xichangana in linguistics (four semesters) and history (one semester) degree courses. Experimentally, the National Institute for Education Development (INDE) has been carrying out a bilingual project since 1993, involving three primary schools in Tete (with the language Cinyanja) and two primary schools in Gaza (with Xichangana). The adopted ‘gradual transition to L2’ model uses the Bantu language as medium of instruction in the initial years of primary schooling, as a stage towards a later introduction of Portuguese-only classes. Mozambique is a country with a young population. School age Mozambicans (5–24 years) represent more than 50% of the country’s total population. Unfortunately, the national educational system is not yet capable of absorbing all those who ought to be attending primary education (Grades 1–7), defined by the state as compulsory. It should be noted, however, that the government has made considerable efforts in rehabilitating and expanding educational infrastructures and in training staff with a view to responding to pressing needs and challenges in the educational sector. The numbers of school children and youths attending public schools in 1997 were as follows (Directorate of Planning, 1997): 2,180,334 in EP1 (Grades 1–5); 199,126 in EP2 (Grades 6–7); 58,048 in ESG1 (Grades 8–10); and 7037 in ESG2 (Grades 11–12). This represents a real pyramid, and also one in which most EP1 children are rural, most EP2 adolescents are semi-rural, studying mainly in seats of districts, most ESG1 youths attend school in provincial capitals and major provincial districts, and finally, ESG2 students who can do their schooling only in provincial capitals (and not even in all yet). In terms of language exposure, there are thus about 2.5 million pupils who are now using Portuguese as a medium of instruction, as well as doing this language as a subject. Of this total, about 65,000 are also learning English, and some 5500 learning French. These figures stand for the main public stream (General Educa-

The Language Situation in Mozambique

163

tion), but there are some additional 140,000 students who attend night classes, technical and professional schools, adult education programmes, and also attend private education (authorised by a government decree in 1990). There are now some 50,000 pupils in primary and secondary private schools but ‘numerically, the pupils attending private education amount to only 2% of the number who are studying in the public sector’ (Directorate of Planning, MINED, 1996: 57). As for higher education, there are some 8000 students attending this level, of which two-thirds are at the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), a public institution created in 1962 under the name of ‘Estudos Gerais’ and later designated University of Lourenço Marques until 1976, when it received its current name. In addition to UEM, there are two other public higher education institutions — the Pedagogical University, UP (created in 1986) and the Higher Institute of International Relations, ISRI (1986) — and three private institutions, namely the Higher Polytechnic University Institute, ISPU (1996), the Catholic University of Mozambique, UCM (1997) and the Higher Institute for Science and Technology of Mozambique, ISCTEM (1997). They are all based in Maputo, except for UCM which is located in Beira. The UP has established branches in the cities of Beira and Nampula, and ISPU in the town of Quelimane. A seventh higher education institution, which is to be set up in the town of Angoche in Nampula Province, will be called Mussa Bin Bique University. It has been announced that this future institution will primarily operate as a cultural centre for the teaching of Arabic. Following the changes in overall national policies and the end in 1992 of the 16-year war which devastated the country, including the destruction of 50% of primary schools in the rural areas and several teacher training centres, the government, with the support of the international community, has embarked on specific rehabilitation and restructuring programmes. National education policy advocates an expansion of access to all levels, with a special focus on primary education, as well as the improvement in the quality and relevance of the education offered. Simultaneously expanding the system and improving the quality of education poses a dilemma, and that is why the government has strongly encouraged various sectors in society to participate in the process. But problems related to coverage, effectiveness and relevance are immense. According to the Ministry of Education (MINED), the average pupil–teacher ratio in primary education is 50:1, drop-out and repetition rates in the order of 20%. The quality of education is not only prejudiced by overcrowded classrooms, but also by insufficient quantity of school books and teaching materials, and, especially, by the teachers’ poor living conditions and, at times, their inadequate professional training. The quality of education is, above all, a function of the quality of the teacher, since s/he ‘creates the learning environment and mediates between pupils and contents’ (MINED, 1994: 15). Fortunately, teacher training and in-service training are being taken seriously by several teacher training centres and the Teachers’ Upgrading Institute (IAP), as well as the Pedagogical University which is particularly responsible for pre-service training of teachers for secondary education. According to MINED sources (personal communication), parents are not calling the use of Portuguese as a medium of instruction into question. Furthermore, the drive towards the acquisition of higher-level skills in Portuguese can be testi-

164

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

fied by the vast numbers of readers who attend the Portuguese Cultural Centre, as well as by the attendance figures recorded in Portuguese Literature History courses held periodically (Lopes, 1995). The psychological and pedagogical arguments advanced for an hypothetical scenario of mother-tongue (i.e. Bantu) instruction in Mozambique are not clearly understood by parents, even by middle-class adults (personal communication/MINED authorities). Since Portuguese is the official language, most parents tend to see it as the means to ensure their children’s future, to acquire a profession and to climb socially, as well as a means to link them up with Mozambicans who speak a different mother tongue. Other views elicited from parents are that through Portuguese their children can gain good grounding in Science and Mathematics. This, of course, shows that if the government were to be interested in introducing a more rational language-in-education policy, it would have to prioritise programmes leading to consciousness raising and improvement of attitudes towards indigenous languages among parents and pupils. As Lopes has suggested: The educational authorities must succeed in explaining to parents, teachers and children the implications of teaching and learning through a certain medium of instruction (mother-tongue, language of wider communication, or both),and succeed in convincing them of the pedagogical and cultural advantages associated with promotion of mother-tongue education, and with promotion of individual and societal bilingualism. (1997a: 25) Results of language awareness programmes (as shown by Braz, 1995) and of bilingual experiments can indeed be positive, as the assessment of views of parents whose children have just completed the first level of primary education (Grades 1–5) following a bilingual project reveals ‘the parents are in favour of bilingual education, and want it for their schooling-age children’5 (INDE, 1997: 4). I shall deal with aspects of this experimental project and its recent evaluation by INDE in Part III, under language policy implementation in a context of experimentation. Now, if parents’ views with regard to Portuguese can be understood as being pragmatic, given the current state of affairs in terms of the existing official language policy, their views on the importance of English, on the other hand, are candidly favourable. For example, according to MINED sources (personal communication), many parents have voiced their interest in seeing English introduced at a much earlier stage in the educational system. At the same time, parents tend to send their children to specialised schools (mostly private) with intent to strengthen the skills and knowledge of English acquired in the secondary schools. Willingness in learning and developing the English language is also manifested by the enormous demand (youths and adults) for tuition with the Institute of Languages (IOL), a public institution created in 1979 in Maputo, and now with branches in the towns of Inhambane, Beira and Nampula. ‘On average, more than 3000 students enrol for English Language classes at the IOL’ (Nahara, 1995: 29). The IOL offers a wide variety of services and is ‘the biggest single employer in the ELT business’ (Nahara, 1995: 30).

The Language Situation in Mozambique

165

Despite counting on more than 30 full-time ELT teachers, further support (which mainly comes not only but particularly through ODA) is needed in terms of human resources, especially native speakers for advanced courses. ‘The results in FCE (Cambridge) exams were not satisfactory — although most students passed, nobody got higher than C. We think qualified native speakers would help improve the standards’ (Nahara, 1995: 32). Feelings and perceptions with regard to English on the part of students and civil servants and workers in general are extremely positive. Competency in English is a prerequisite for better jobs locally, and an advantage for communication and interchange with the Southern African region and the world at large. Students are also sensitive to the fact that this language is a crucial tool for science and technology in a context where about two-thirds of the existing literature in some higher education libraries is in English. The presence of numerous resident foreign nationals in Mozambique has equally contributed to increasing demands on language provision as well as for foreign language-based education. English is the medium of instruction in several primary and secondary schools, the major ones being MINED’s Maputo International School and the American International School. Portuguese, French, Italian and Swedish schools, amongst others, have also been operating in the country. Language spread through the media Portuguese is widely used in the media, and almost exclusively in the print media. However, history shows that English and Bantu languages were also used in the past in the print media, especially at the turn of the present century. According to Rocha (1996), the first newspaper in Mozambique was printed in both Portuguese and English in Beira, the second major city, in the year 1893. It was a weekly journal entitled Correio da Beira/The Beira Post. Five years later, The Lourenço Marques Advertiser appeared, this time only in English and printed in Barberton, South Africa. The first daily newspaper was The Delagoa Gazette of Shipping and Commercial Intelligence, printed in both English and Portuguese in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) in 1903. This publication was followed by The Lourenço Marques Guardian (1905), a bi-weekly printed in Lourenço Marques in English and Portuguese, and by The Delagoa Bay Gazette (1905), a monthly publication printed in Pretoria, South Africa, originally in English, but later in both English and Portuguese. O Africano (1911) was the first weekly published in both Portuguese and Xironga (a Bantu language of Mozambique). This publication was followed by O Brado Africano (1918) and by Dambu de África (1921), both also in Portuguese and Xironga. These newspapers were printed in Lourenço Marques. With few exceptions, the subsequent years as well as the period after Independence (1975) have seen the print media developing essentially in the Portuguese language. Today’s Notícias (founded in 1926) and Diário de Moçambique (1950) — the two oldest newspapers — are produced by the biggest (in structure) publishers in the country, the former in the capital Maputo, the latter in Beira, the second largest city. These and other previously state-owned publications now operate autonomously, the source of their funding being newspaper sales and advertising. Since

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

166

the 1990 Constitution under which freedom of the press is guaranteed, and more particularly since the 1991 Press Law, the media scenario in the country has changed considerably. ‘The Government in accordance with the liberalization of media control and ownership, relinquished full control of the previously State owned newspapers’ (Palmer, 1996: 5). And also as a result of the Press Law, a number of private newspapers, with special reference to A4 size publications distributed daily by fax, have emerged and circulate mainly in Maputo. Notícias, the only broadsheet newspaper, and the tabloid-format weeklies like Domingo, Savana, Desafio and Campeao enjoy national circulation, primarily in urban areas. Notícias and Domingo, in particular, are said to be ‘pro-governmental’ in their editorial view, whereas Savana, Demos, Fim de Semana and the fax publications are referred to as ‘independent’. (Table 5 summarises details on the print media.) The press, which is essentially an urban phenomenon, makes almost exclusive use of the Portuguese language. The sole publications in English are the monthly Mozambique File produced by the National News Agency (AIM), and the privately owned bi-weekly Mozambique INVIEW. Table 5 Main news publications Name Notícias Diário de Moçambique Tempo Mozambique File Domingo Campo Desafio Mediafax Savana Mozambique in View Imparcial Demos Campeão Correio da Manhã Metical Diãrio de Negócios Fim de Semana Correio Semanal

Type Newspaper Newspaper Magazine Magazine Newspaper Newspaper Newspaper News by fax Newspaper Magazine News by fax Newspaper Newspaper News by fax News by fax News by fax Newspaper Newspaper

Founded 1926 1950 1970 1976 1982 1984 1987 1992 1994 1994 1994 1994 1996 1997 1997 1997 1997 1998

Frequency Daily Daily Weekly Monthly Weekly Bi-weekly Weekly Daily Weekly Bi-weekly Daily Weekly Weekly Daily Daily Daily Weekly Weekly

Circulation 35,000 10,000 7,000 * 25,000 5,000 10,000 ** 20,000 20,000 ** 10,000 10,000 ** ** ** 15,000 8,000

Editorial line Pro-govt. Independent Pro-govt. Pro-govt. Pro-govt. Independent Pro-govt. Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent

* By subscription; ** By subscription. The number of copies distributed by fax varies between 300 and 500, but total circulation figures, which include multiple photocopying, are in the order of a few thousand.

In 1979 an additional urban phenomenon to that of the press occurred on the scene of local communication: the emergence of television. The first broadcasts by RTE (Rádio e Televisão Experimental) were planned for only five weeks, but were resumed in 1981 by the then renamed TVE (Televisão Experimental). TVE remained experimental until 1994, the year when TVE became TVM. The national television, Televisão de Moçambique (TVM), broadcasts in three major

The Language Situation in Mozambique

167

cities, and plans to introduce satellite transmissions in the near future will make virtually any corner in the country capable of receiving the signal. In 1995 the ‘… populational (signal) coverage was estimated to be around two million people’ (de Maia, 1995: 116). TVM programmes are in Portuguese, with the exception of Portuguese subtitled foreign films and series, usually in English. Mozambican artists singing in Bantu languages are also allocated some time in this public television station. Viewers in the capital city Maputo can also tune to RTK (Rádio Televisão Klint), a private Portuguese language station. But, unlike TVM, this Mozambican station also broadcasts a few films (mostly in English) undubbed and without Portuguese subtitles. Worthy of note is RTK’s initial experimentation with major newscasts in both Portuguese and a Bantu language. Shortly, RTK will also operate in Quelimane, while a third Maputo-based TV station (Televisão Miramar) is due to start broadcasting in the near future. The estimated number of television receivers in the country is 80,000. Radio is the most important and effective mass medium in the country. Radio broadcasting includes coverage of areas that are not reached by other media. The major station, Rádio Moçambique (RM) founded in 1933, is public. In fact, RM continues to be the largest and most important social communication institution in the country. RM broadcasts nationally in Portuguese, and locally in Portuguese and in Bantu languages. There is roughly one radio per 25 inhabitants. RM is undoubtedly the national institution that has contributed most to the development and dissemination of the various Bantu languages. The Macomia National Conference (Frelimo, 1975) and the 1st National Information Seminar (MINFO, 1977) had emphatically defined the study and dissemination of ‘national’ languages as crucial, as well as the role assigned to RM in using and promoting them. RM coverage include 12 Bantu languages in addition to Portuguese, but the Provincial broadcasting stations’ current situation regarding language choice, trained staff, equipment and working conditions requires restructuring and expansion (Sitoe et al., 1995). Working in collaboration with the Institute of Social Communication (ICS), these RM Provincial branches have in the past proved to be equally useful in propagating pedagogical programmes prepared by the Ministry of Education. ICS and RM were also pioneers of the country’s first community radio experiment carried out in Xai-Xai in 1983 (de Maia, 1995). ICS has recently been authorised by the Council of Ministers to explore several community radios, namely those located at Ulónguè, Maputo Zona Verde, Manhiça, Moamba, Mocuba and Mutarara. In addition to its national service in Portuguese, RM operates a Maputo city radio station (Rádio Cidade) as well as a Radio Mozambique external service in English. There is also talk of an eventual comeback of a rehashed LM Radio, which, in the colonial period, used to serve commercial needs of audiences in Maputo and South Africa — an important source of income for RM. With large economic and social projects now emerging between Mozambique and South Africa, as is the case with the Maputo Development Corridor linking the regions of Maputo and Witbank, the media, and radio in particular, could equally become an important cross-border vehicle of information and leisure. RM should

168

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

not lose sight of Mozambique’s position and role within the English-language region of southern Africa (Ronning, 1997). In the aftermath of the 1990 Constitution (Article 74), a number of independent radio stations have emerged. As RM no longer holds the monopoly of radio broadcasting, several other entities, both private and cooperative, have registered with the authorities and are operating (a couple still await authorisation), namely Rádio Miramar (Maputo, Beira and Nampula), RTK (Maputo and Quelimane), Rádio Projecção (Maputo), Rádio-Sim (Maputo), Coopimagem Rádio (Maputo), Rádio Capital (Maputo), Rádio Terra Verde (Maputo), Rádio Progresso (Maxixe), Rádio Maria (Massinga), Rádio Pax (Beira), Rádio Encontro (Nampula), Nova Rádio Paz (Quelimane) and Rádio São Francisco de Assis (Nangololo).

Part III: Language Policy and Planning The tenets of Mozambique’s official language policy are expressed in Article 5 of the 1990 revised version of the Constitution of the Republic (República de Moçambique, 1990) in the following way:6 (1) In the Republic of Mozambique, the Portuguese language shall be the official language. (2) The State shall value the national languages and promote their development and their growing usage as vehicular languages and in the education of citizens. This was the first time ever that the official language issue was dealt with in the country’s Constitution (fundamental law). But it is true that practice and occasional pronouncements by the authorities had already made Portuguese function as the country’s official language since Independence in 1975. As a matter of fact, the absence of constitutional statements in the first 15 years of Independence simply meant the continuation of the official policy inherited from the colonial regime. But it also meant a continuation of the practice pursued by Frelimo (Mozambique Liberation Front) during the 10-year liberation struggle for Independence. Portuguese was then chosen to unite nationalist freedom fighters with different language backgrounds — as expressed by Frelimo at a seminar on the theme ‘Influence of colonialism on the artist, his way of life and his public in developing countries’ held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in July 1971: There is no majority language in our country. Choosing one of the Mozambican languages as a national language would have been an arbitrary decision which could have had serious consequences … Thus, we were forced to use Portuguese as medium of instruction and as means of communication among ourselves.7 After Independence, the option for Portuguese was reiterated by two government authorities (the Education Minister and the UEM Rector) who addressed the 1st National Seminar on ‘The Teaching of Portuguese’, held in 1979, in the following terms:

The Language Situation in Mozambique

169

… The need to fight the oppressor called for an intransigent struggle against tribalism and regionalism. It was this necessity for unity that dictated to us that the only common language — the language which had been used to oppress —should assume a new dimension.8 (Machel, 1979: 6) And, … The decision to opt for Portuguese as the official language of the People’s Republic of Mozambique was a well considered and carefully examined political decision, aimed at achieving one objective — the preservation of national unity and the integrity of the territory. The history of appropriation of the Portuguese language as a factor of unity and leveller of differences dates back to the foundation of Frelimo in 1962.9 (Ganhão, 1979: 2) The emphasis at the 1st National Seminar on the Teaching of Portuguese was naturally placed on this language. But, obviously, the meeting could have not down played the relevance and role of the African languages — mother tongues for the vast majority of Mozambicans — in the context of Portuguese teaching and learning. The Minister recalled how the different mother tongues had resisted and survived throughout time, stressed the potential contribution of these languages to the enrichment of Portuguese, and called for the adoption of an L2 methodology in the teaching of the official language (Machel, 1979: 10). In fact, such concern with the Mozambican languages echoed sentiments already aired four years before at the Macomia meeting in 1975. Discussions here had focused on the need for a greater integration between the radio and the press in national development and, in this context, the need for a greater awareness regarding the role that national languages could play in the media, in harmony with the Portuguese language (Frelimo, 1975c: 44). New African nations have in the recent past been confronted with a common difficult problem — that of reconciling claims of efficiency and claims of authenticity (Fishman, 1968). In discussing the language question in sub-Saharan Africa, Bamgbose (1991: 20) reiterates Fishman’s viewpoint in the following terms: Claims of authenticity correspond to the quest for nationalism, while the claims of efficiency correspond to nationism. In terms of language choice, nationalism, which involves sociocultural integration and authenticity, calls for the adoption of an indigenous language, while nationism, which is concerned with political integration and efficiency, calls for any language that can perform these functions. It would not matter at all if the language is not indigenous. In fact, the chances are that it will be a language already used in higher education and technology. Quite expectedly, given post-Independence complexities faced by new nations, experience has shown that the scales have tilted towards emphasis on the claims of efficiency and nationism. In fact, an almost exclusive emphasis, as Mazula (1995: 214), though using a different terminology (modernity-tradition) to address the same problem, is keen to say:

170

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

Instead of rationally facing the problem of the multiplicity of languages spoken in their territories, in the general context of the Modernity-Tradition challenge, African countries have not hesitated to adopt the languages of their former colonisers.10 Nevertheless, in Mozambique, the debate attempting to balance the conflicting claims of efficiency/nationism (via Portuguese) and authenticity/nationalism (via national languages) gained momentum in 1983, a year which, in this regard, was eventful in two ways: (1) the holding of Frelimo’s IV Congress; and (2) the circulation through the Office of the Secretary of State for Culture of a draft paper entitled ‘Contribution towards the definition of a language policy in the People’s Republic of Mozambique’. As for the former, the section on ‘Culture’ in the 1983 Report of Frelimo’s Central Committee to the IV Congress highlighted the Party’s view on the national languages. The decision taken at the Central Committee’s 11th Session on the study of Mozambican languages and on the establishment of a specialised body constitutes a far-reaching cultural measure. This decision deepens the debate on culture and opens up important prospects for social communication, education and professional training.11 (Frelimo Party, 1983: 61) But despite the prospects, the creation of the above-mentioned specialised body is still awaited to this day. The draft paper from the Secretary of State suggested the establishment of a language policy that should aim at optimal bilingualism. Portuguese would enjoy the status of official language, language of national unity and language of communication among all Mozambicans. Mozambican languages would be chosen, by means of research, as national languages. The paper equally called for the study, codification and development of Mozambican languages for their use in administration, social communication, and literacy and perhaps in the first years of formal instruction (Honwana, 1983: 19–20). These documents, together with several other contributions, including Katupha’s (1988) benchmarks for the definition of an ‘appropriate language policy’, undoubtedly created the climate for the organisation by NELIMO of the 1st Seminar on the Standardisation of Orthography of Mozambican Languages. This event, held at the Eduardo Mondlane University in 1988 (Report published in 1989), impacted positively on society and might have influenced a particular official occurrence two years later. The 1990 revised form of the Constitution of the Republic saw, for the first time, the entrenchment of two clauses on language, whose contents appears at the beginning of the present section. From a linguistic human rights perspective, Clause 1 alone is an example of assimilation-oriented prohibition. It makes no mention of other languages besides Portuguese, but would implicitly prohibit their use in functions that are performed through an official language. It would force indigenous African language speakers to use Portuguese for all official purposes instead of their own

The Language Situation in Mozambique

171

languages or instead of a shared usage between these and Portuguese. Clause 2 alone is an example of maintenance-oriented permission. However, Clauses 1 and 2 taken together amount to assimilation-oriented toleration in that there is a situation where the indigenous Mozambican languages are not forbidden, and their use is indeed permitted and supported, though not in official situations. In brief, this provision is still far from a maintenance-oriented promotion type of language policy. The scale used here — ranging from prohibition and toleration, which are assimilation-oriented, to permission and promotion, which are maintenance-oriented — is basically similar to a grid developed by Skutnabb-Kangas and Phillipson (1989: 12, 18) which attempts to chart some key dimensions of language rights in selected countries and covenants. Provision for both official language status and educational language-related rights in legal covenants and other declarations of human rights constitute the two most important dimensions. In the aftermath of the 1990 Constitution, the most salient language-related official pronouncements are to be found in the draft document ‘Proposal of a Cultural Policy for Mozambique’ (MINCULTJ, 1993a) discussed by the National Conference on Culture, an event organised in Maputo in 1993 by the Ministry of Culture and Youth (considerations by Lopes, 1997b). While the adopted Conference General Recommendations (MINCULTJ, 1993b), particularly those on theme 4.j) entitled ‘Mozambican languages’ are too general and basically little more than rephrasings of the principles already stipulated in the Constitution, the ‘Proposal’ document is more specific in policy guidelines. The Conference highlighted the need for a cultural policy by consensus and the valorisation of ethnic, linguistic and geographic diversity as prerequisites to achieve national unity — fundamental considerations which, echo, in one way or another, Mondlane’s (1967: 79) longstanding viewpoint: The positive elements in our cultural life, such as our forms of linguistic expression, our music and typical dances, the regional peculiarities of being born, growing up, loving and dying, will continue after Independence so that they may blossom and embellish the life of our Nation. There is no antagonism between the realities of the existing various ethnic groups and National Unity.12 The Cultural Policy Proposal document, in its Section 5.5. entitled ‘Languages of Communication’, recommends the use of Mozambican languages in public administrative offices, and their compulsory introduction in formal, technical, professional and informal education as languages for transmitting knowledge or as languages functioning as optional subjects. Portuguese was reaffirmed as the country’s official language. Despite these welcomed statements — which nevertheless fall short of a maintenance-oriented promotion type of policy — in more specific statements, one is, however, confronted with an explicit language rights enforcement through a discrimination prescription, in that (1) in order to be appointed for headship positions at the level of a Province, civil servants should have competence in a Mozambican language and knowledge of a local language; and

172

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

(2) government and society should strive towards making the majority of Mozambicans adopt Portuguese as a second language. As for (1), and leaving aside terminological incongruities (after all, aren’t local languages also Mozambican?), I cannot, obviously, agree with promotion of an individual’s multilingualism (Portuguese, ‘Mozambican language’ and ‘local language’) through the proposed line of action, the described purpose of which is ‘to create incentives to reward the knowledge and use of Mozambican languages’. In fact, it does look more like a ‘carrot and stick’ type of policy. You can only aspire to eventually becoming a head in public administration in a Province (i.e. a reward or the ‘carrots’) if you know three languages; but should all these multilingual skills not be present in yourself, all you are then likely to get is ‘stick’, i.e. you cannot be appointed for headship, even if you are bilingual and meet professional criteria for eligibility. As for (2), and though the intention underlying the formulation might have been sound, in the sense of aiming for the widest possible spread of the country’s official language, it seems to be unfair, restrictive and unpredictable to hint that the majority of Mozambicans ought to adopt Portuguese as a second language. While it is certainly true that Portuguese is not a first language for the majority of Mozambicans who can speak it, this condition might not necessarily be the absolute and sole outcome with regard to the future generation of children and youths acquiring (and learning) two languages in parallel — the so-called first language acquisition bilingualism. Each child will acquire her own social identity and will, within this framework, develop her personal identity. This process might depend on different variables, including parental influence, age, habitat (rural/urban), tutoring quality and, perhaps most importantly, the child’s learning spontaneity drive. Last, but by no means least, the criteria for ethnic and glossic definitions, from a human rights viewpoint, should not just be validated by others, by the state or government. The individual should equally have the right to self-identification. That is why a necessary balance must be struck between exo-definitions and endo-definitions, and emphatically so when authorities attempt to address far-reaching national issues. The recommendations of the National Conference on Culture formed the basis of the government’s Culture Programme for 1995–1999 (Conselho de Ministros. República de Moçambique, 1995). The government shall apply a language policy which ascribes Portuguese with the role of official language and language of national unity, and it also commits itself to codify and standardise the national languages and to proceed with ongoing studies with a view to introducing them in formal education, in addition to other functions. This very context has recently led to the approval in the official gazette by the Council of Ministers of Mozambique’s ‘Cultural Policy and its Implementational Strategy’ (Conselho de Ministros. República de Moçambique, 1997). With regard to the subject of national languages (Section 3.2.6.), the content is, in general, similar to that presented in the Cultural Policy Proposal document, alluded to and discussed above. However, the approved cultural policy is less prescriptive than the previously debated proposal of 1993. The policy calls for an intimate collaboration between institutions and the relevant departments involved in language planning, and defines the following prospective actions:

The Language Situation in Mozambique

173

… social valorisation of languages; support to the existing (or to be established) Mozambican languages study centres; codification and standardisation of the orthography of Mozambican languages; and selection of the languages which in each province or region should be introduced in the National Education System, as well as in political, social and economic activity.13 This section on national languages further stipulates that incentives shall be attributed to projects for production of dictionaries, grammars, handbooks, and literary and scientific works in national languages. And the section ends by encouraging the development and expansion of the teaching of the official language, Portuguese. Equally in the present decade, the discussion by different circles on the utilisation of national languages in literacy and education, as well as on the question of language officiality has gained a new impetus. In this regard, three conferences of note were organised locally and in a neighbouring country. One was held in Maputo in 1991 on the theme ‘The role of linguistics in the promotion and effective use of national languages’, and was organised jointly by the Eduardo Mondlane University and the Linguistics Association for SADC Universities (LASU). This 3rd LASU Conference was attended by Mozambican experts and authorities and demonstrated a wide spectrum of professional opinion from universities in the 10 (at the time) regional states integrating the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The second event, in which 150 academic presentations were delivered by delegates from 53 different countries, was the 1st World Congress of African Linguistics which took place in Kwaluseni, Swaziland in 1994, and which was jointly organised by the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Swaziland. The third international conference, held in Maputo in 1994, focused on the theme ‘Educational employment of African languages and the role of languages of wider communication’. It was organised by the National Institute for Education Development (INDE) in cooperation with the Centre for Research on Bilingualism of Stockholm University. On the other hand, and in addition to the impact caused by meetings such as the above on local academic circles, the contributions by Machungo and Ngunga (1991) on the role of language in the teaching–learning process, and by Hyltenstam and Stroud (1993) in the form of a report and recommendations from an evaluation of teaching materials for lower primary education in Mozambique were equally useful in reiterating INDE’s key role in dealing with these matters over the years. The series of projects and materials developed by teams of linguists and methodologists from both the UEM and INDE in the past decade and in the early 1990s have surely paved the way for INDE’s decision to launch and monitor a mother tongue instruction pilot project, known as PEBIMO, for two primary schools (children’s mother tongue: Xichangana) in the Province of Gaza and three primary schools (mother tongue: Cinyanja) in the Province of Tete. The experiment covered the period 1993–1997 and involved Grades 1–5, the lower primary level in the National Educational System (SNE). ‘The gradual transition to L2’ was the adopted bilingual model. The medium of instruction in Grades 1–3 was the mother tongue, and the medium in Grades 4–5 was Portuguese. In addi-

174

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

tion, Portuguese, as a subject, was introduced in the last quarter of Grade 2, and the respective mother tongues continued to be taught as subjects in Grades 4–5. According to Matavele and Machaul (1998: 5), the project produced 23 primer titles in mother tongues and 10 titles in Portuguese, 13 other titles (seven in mother tongues) as supplementary readers, and translated handbooks (11 titles for Mathematics and one for Natural Science). In November 1997, INDE organised an ample debate to assess the results of the experiment. The report of the meeting includes a good account by Zaida Cabral on the political, psycho-pedagogic, socioeconomic, sociolinguistic and cultural motivations justifying the bilingual project, a description of major achievements and difficulties experienced during the five-year period and, finally, a presentation of possible solutions for the detected problems. Here, only two aspects of the assessment — one positive, the other less positive — shall be focused upon. The global efficacy of the project was 3.5 times higher than the efficacy recorded for the normal lower primary mainstream in the national system (SNE).14 The Report (1997: 4) states the following: … the results are very encouraging: the rate of success is good, there is a great deal of interaction between teachers and pupils, and the level of content learning by pupils is better. Besides, parents are in favour of bilingual education and want it for their schooling-age children.15 However, only moderate satisfaction with the project is in order, because the conditions under which the project was implemented were quite different from those in SNE’s normal schools. It should not be forgotten that this PEBIMO project enjoyed a special sponsorship by the UNDP and the World Bank. But it is true that the Report also addresses a few thorny issues, one of which has to do with the adopted model, in particular the transition from the L1 to the L2 medium of instruction: One of the difficulties with the adoption of this model relates to the fact that it has not provided enough oral competence in the L2 so as to permit a gradual and well succeeded transition to the L2.16 (p. 4) And the Report concludes the section on this problem in this way: The ‘ideal’ model, depicted in the last Figure on Annex C-3, … reveals the teaching, from the beginning, of the second language, the gradual transition from L1 to L2, and the maintenance of L1 as a subject … INDE has suggested this model as the best for future adoption.17 (p. 5) Of course, I can only be but pleased to see that my earlier criticism in connection with such problems proved to have been constructive. A delay of a few years in the use of Portuguese as a medium of instruction may result in subtracted competence in this language in later grades, and may prove to be hard to make up, especially in the case of L1 Bantu-speaking children … The ‘initial bilingualism model’ stands a better chance in reducing the risks of future Portuguese incompetence eventually incurred by the ‘gradual transition model’. (Lopes, 1997a: 28)

The Language Situation in Mozambique

175

In the ‘initial bilingualism model’, the change-over to the L2 occurs after a period in which Portuguese, together with Bantu, has already been used as co-medium of instruction. Indeed, a major advantage of the ‘initial bilingualism model’ over the ‘gradual transition model’ is that it reduces risks of under achievement in the proficiency of Portuguese in later grades, because this language is equally used as a medium of instruction, from the beginning of primary education. (Lopes, 1997a: 31) But at the present stage of the project development, I feel that I would like to contribute three new elements for consideration with regard to the model: (1) That programming of Portuguese co-medium of instruction in Grade 1 should aim at no less than one-third of the total allocated time for use of and exposure to both Bantu and Portuguese together (i.e. at least, one-third for Portuguese and two-thirds for Bantu as co-media of instruction). (2) That the use of Portuguese as a co-medium in subjects such as Physical Education and Aesthetic Education — and however important as they may be —should not be solely restricted to these subjects. (3) That, as need arises for the project to be also extended to schools where classmates are predominantly L1 Portuguese-speaking, programming time for Portuguese as a co-medium in Grade 1 should be two-thirds, and Bantu one-third. Of course, when arrived at the point of the changeover to Portuguese-only classes (Grade 5?), both L1 Bantu-speaking and L1 Portuguese-speaking children should reveal identical competence in their command of Portuguese. This feature of a potentially widened model, obviously, calls for an appropriate model design and implementation, including careful planning of activities. The roots of the rationale underlying my ‘initial bilingualism’ proposition are to be found in Machel (1979: 13) when she stated: We know what our objective is: to introduce the child and the adult into a necessary bilingualism, in which the language of unity and the mother tongue may develop side by side.18 In fact, and despite the prevailing strong emphasis on Portuguese at the time, the openness that some authorities evidenced around the bilingualism question in the 1970s was influential in regard to activities which were then and later developed by educational structures such as the ‘Comissão de Elaboração de Textos’ (CET) — operating as early as 1976 and as a precursor of INDE, founded in 1980.19 But the first truly large undertaking, which attempted to investigate a particular form of bilingualism in Mozambican schools, was the G. Meijer-led 1982 INDE project on ‘Bilingualism, cognitive development and pre-school experience of Mozambican children’. Baldo’s (1987) study on how children’s L1 discourse patterns ought to be taken account of in classroom activities for the learning of L2 oral skills was one of the several research examples that branched out of the original project. Today’s INDE, which is possibly the major national language planning research institution and definitely the key educational think-tank, owes a great deal to those early post-Independence efforts mentioned above.

176

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

On the adult literacy planning front, and in the course of the liberation struggle, Frelimo used adult literacy as an effective means to mobilise the people in the liberated zones. The 1975 Mocuba National Plenary document (Frelimo, 1975b), produced during the transitional government period before Independence, refers to an illiteracy rate of about 90%. On the other hand, the 1975 Ribaué document on literacy (Frelimo, 1975a), whilst reflecting the objectives, tone and practice of the liberation movement in the previous decade, also indicated the new challenges awaiting post-Independence Mozambique: literacy understood as a means to liberate the creative initiative of the Mozambican people, as well as a means through which the popular masses are to achieve their complete Independence and initiate national reconstruction. Portuguese had been the medium used, and such practice was to be emphasised by the late President Machel who, at the launching of the National Literacy Campaign in 1978, delivered the following words: The spread of the Portuguese language is an important medium among all Mozambicans, an important vehicle for the exchange of experiences at the national level, a factor consolidating national consciousness and the prospects for a common future. In the course of the war, some people asked: ‘Why are we continuing with Portuguese?’ Some will say that this National Literacy Campaign aims at valuing Portuguese. In which language would you like us to launch this Literacy Campaign? In Makwa or Makonde, in Nyanja, Shangaan, Ronga, Bitonga, Ndau, or in Chuabo?20 (p. 7) Portuguese-medium literacy planning prevailed until the end of the 1980s, and the results were felt to be mixed. Positive in some instances, but unsatisfactory in several others. It is hard to give a balanced assessment of the whole project because most activities were deeply affected by the war. However, it is also quite likely that the exclusive use of Portuguese in several literacy campaigns might have been a major source of a series of failures. In this context, Veloso (1994) has reported that adult literacy activities through the medium of Portuguese had hardly been efficient, especially among peasant women, and that, as a result, the Ministry of Education and UNICEF had jointly decided to embark on a mother-tongue type of programme, subsequently followed by L2 Portuguese teaching input. The ‘Women’s Bilingual Education Project’, as the new attempt became known, took off in 1990 and focused on languages such as Cisena, Xichangana and Cindau. The project, which produced over 20 manual titles and several other materials, seems to have developed reasonably well. Mother tongue literacy experiences are a welcome and adequate cultural and cognitive development, and may prove to be more useful to those intervening in the socioeconomic and political facts of daily life, particularly to Mozambicans in the countryside, who constitute the majority of the country’s population. It may still be argued, however, that the rationale underlying the various literacy programmes is substantially improved literacy skills in Portuguese, i.e. literacy used as a means rather than an end in itself, as Lopes (1992: 23–4) puts it: It is thought that by acquiring literacy skills in the mother tongue in the first place, their transfer to the official language will be smoother and, hope-

The Language Situation in Mozambique

177

fully, bring about accelerated literacy in this second language. In fact, it is on this premise that the so-called ‘bilingual literacy’ projects and programmes are founded. The country’s present illiteracy rate is estimated at 60%. But in addition to those efforts that would normally be needed to make more people literate, Mozambique is also confronted with the after-effects of a very prolonged war, ended in 1992. Since the signing of the Peace Accord, the country has managed in the past six years to repatriate and reintegrate into their homes over one million refugees from neighbouring countries. Out of these, thousands of adolescents and adults who were, at one time, functionally literate in Portuguese have now become post-literate, i.e. they have lost the ability they once had to read and/or write. On the other hand, thousands of returned children, born in refugee camps in neighbouring states, find themselves in a preliterate condition, i.e. they cannot read and/or write because they were never taught these skills. They are now too old to be reintegrated in the pre-primary and the lower primary educational mainstream. In brief, there are mammoth challenges awaiting intervention by society and the government, in particular by the Ministry of Education. Further, a future compilation of literacy demographics should reflect the country’s global situation not just in relation to Portuguese, or even to English in the case of the Mozambicans who underwent a status change as refugees, but equally in connection with the Bantu languages. Experience in formerly colonised situations has shown that literacy in less privileged languages hardly ever counts. In the case of Mozambique, there are individuals who can communicate orally in two languages (e.g. Ekoti and Portuguese), but are only literate in their first language. And some of them are no more than functionally illiterate in their second language (Portuguese), since — to use Kaplan and Palmer’s (1991) insights in this regard — their ability to read and write in this language operates at a level below the normative range for the individual’s particular culture. Individuals who achieved initial literacy through a Bantu language or Arabic, though they may remain illiterate or functionally illiterate in Portuguese, should also be counted at the time of compiling new literacy demographics. The ‘Women’s Bilingual Education Project’ was experimental. What the future holds as to whether planners should continue or not with bilingual type of literacy programmes remains an open question. The absence of an official statement on the explicit use of languages other than Portuguese has not hindered their utilisation in literacy — a kind of ‘unplanned’ language policy, the effects of which should also merit special attention by planners working in language policy and planning issues, as well as in language-in-education planning activities (Baldauf, 1994). While it is true that language corpus planning activities have been developing to a considerable extent, the same cannot be said of language status planning matters relating to decisions on the role of a given language in a country and, not least important, the roles of several languages in a multilingual country like Mozambique. There have been good examples of the former, such as vocabulary expansion and orthography work undertaken by both NELIMO and INDE, as well as production of language material such as manuals, primers and supplementary readers. But as for the latter, the experiments carried out in the domains

178

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

of formal education and literacy have simply remained as pilot projects. The main problem is that status decisions are primarily political matters, and authorities, in general, tend not to move or, at best, to move at a glacial pace when faced with issues like the maintenance, expansion or restriction in the range of uses of a language for particular functions. Disenchantment with this state of affairs was eloquently manifested by both Filmão (1992) in his draft paper, presented to a Coordinating Council at the Ministry of Culture, and Honwana (1994) in his article published in Jornal de Letras. The crux of the matter in language status planning in developing and multilingual nations lies in official recognition. In spite of the great value attached to the bilingual experiments, languages will only truly be recognised, promoted and have fundamental rights, if they can enjoy official status. This position was defended by Lopes in his address to the World Congress in Kwaluseni in 1994 (published in 1997b), by Firmino and Machungo (1994) in their draft paper, which introduced the nuance of regional official status for the Bantu languages, and also by Firmino (1997) who has equally suggested a primary statutory position for Portuguese. Today, I still maintain the same view held in 1994, especially manifested through a proposal for an improved type of language policy constitutionally. Such a proposal for the case of Mozambique is based on the following premises: (1) Language is basic to identity. (2) Fulfilment of basic human needs for development includes the rights of citizens to identify with, and properly learn and use their own mother tongue. (3) The citizens’ right to use mother tongues in official situations and, consequently, all languages spoken natively by Mozambicans should enjoy official status. (4) The right to adequate learning and use of a language of wider communication as a link and unity language at the national level, and as a means of communication with world nations and communities using that language. (5) The increasing need to intensify learning and use of foreign languages for the major purpose of responding to regional and international challenges in communication, cooperation, science and technology. As for the country’s internal language functions: (1) Portuguese should retain its statutory function as a link and unity language at the national level. (2) Bantu languages should gradually be used co-officially (with Portuguese) in, at least, the following domains: initial literacy, lower and upper primary education (Grades 1–5 and 6–7), adult literacy, culture, public administration, justice (emphatically in court rooms), Parliament, rural development and agriculture, health care, child nutrition, family planning, small scale industry, mass media, and religion. (3) The Mozambicans’ native Asian languages, which must equally enjoy official language status, should function in prioritised domains. The following points are suggested as formal and constituent provisions that would contribute to improve current Mozambican language policy — a proposi-

The Language Situation in Mozambique

179

tion that would be closer, surely, to a more maintenance-oriented type of promotion policy: (1) The official languages of the Republic of Mozambique shall be Cicopi, Cinyanja, Cinyungwe, Cisena, Cisenga, Cishona, Ciyao, Echuwabo, Ekoti, Elomwe, Emakhuwa, Gitonga, Gujarati, Kimwani, Kiswahili, Memane, Portuguese, Shimakonde, Swazi, Urdu, Xichangana, Xironga, Xitswa and Zulu. (2) The state shall promote Portuguese as the language of unity and lingua franca at the national level. (3) The state shall introduce mother tongue education for initial literacy, as well as appropriate and feasible models of bilingual medium of instruction. (4) The state shall increasingly encourage the study of foreign languages. (5) Portuguese will be used for record purposes or for other special use, and the other official languages should be developed in order to be equally available for such purposes. (6) A Mozambican Language Board to promote respect for and the study and development of all the official languages will be established. The Board will also promote respect for and the study and development of Arabic and other languages used for religious purposes. The Bantu languages suggested in the proposed point (1) of the above list are the languages presented in the ‘Seminar Report on the Standardisation of the Orthography of Mozambican Languages’, 1989 edition by NELIMO/UEM-INDE. The Language Map (p. 8) and the reported analysis identify 20 Bantu languages, despite some indecision on the establishment of some ‘reference variants’. Obviously, as research progresses towards greater refinement of language and dialectal contours, the list of languages in clause 1 would have to be adjusted accordingly. Some functions in connection to those languages that have not as yet gained official recognition are still restrictive in the present proposal, given the current and the eventual medium- to long-term socioeconomic reality of the country. With regard to the foreign languages, and for geographical, political, economic and practical reasons, English should be introduced in the National Education System at an earlier stage. I would like to suggest its introduction in the first year (Grade 6) of the upper primary level (EP2). As for the arguments by certain circles in society that a multilingual type of official language policy might prove to be expensive to implement, divisive, and premature on the grounds that Bantu languages are not sufficiently developed, it is possible to counter-argue by highlighting the following: (1) Use of a given Bantu language in official situations by a certain group of citizens is surely considered equally economic for that group speaking it. (2) The political claim that national unity demands a one-language official policy is a myth. Much in the same way as ecology shows that biological survival is essentially made possible through a variety of forms, why should it be believed that an officially stated multilingual policy could make the country more vulnerable and more easily destructible.

180

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

(3) Kiswahili in Tanzania or Afrikaans in South Africa were not particularly developed languages when they gained official language status in their respective countries. In fact, it can be argued that their status, acquired in the past, indeed accelerated their development and promotion. On the other hand, Krio in Sierra Leone, like Kiswahili in Tanzania, was originally a tiny language, but promotion efforts have turned this language into a large and developed lingua franca. Certainly, the test of any new future proposal put forward lies with the ability of politicians and policy makers to achieve the very difficult task of striking the best possible balance between goals of efficiency/nationism and those of authenticity/nationalism. Or as Webb (1994: 259) puts it with regard to a certain past proposal in South Africa, it is important to recognise ‘… the extremely difficult task of balancing the need for effective government with the sociocultural and psycholinguistic needs of the country’s citizens’. The new South African policy of 11 official languages and the ongoing implementational attempts surely constitute a fresh reference point. And in the educational sphere, the work by the Catalan bilingualism planners (e.g. Miguel Strubell) showing how they promote Catalan, as well as Gaudart’s (1992) account and discussion of bilingual education in Malaysia could prove to be insightful to Mozambican applied linguists, particularly language planners in national institutions. Some of the most active language planning agencies operating in the polity are the Eduardo Mondlane University, especially through NELIMO, the Ministry of Education through INDE, and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport through ARPAC (Arquivos do Património Cultural). Equally active are Rádio Moçambique, several religious denominations — which increasingly translate, edit and publish liturgical texts in different Bantu languages, Summer Institute of Linguistics/Sociedade Internacional de Linguística-programa de Moçambique (SIL), Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the North-South Austrian Institute and various Mozambican non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Some of these and other Foundations and Associations produce or support production of materials for civic education and electoral purposes, and pursue adult education goals. There are equally several cultural organisations, interest groups and religious denominations which have been involved in aspects of the language planning process, mainly for Portuguese, Xironga, Xichangana and Cisena. Since INDE has already been discussed at some length, the main work undertaken by the other major planning agencies will now be considered. Under E. Rzewuski’s initiative, and in association with M. Katupha as its co-founding member, NELIMO was set up within the Faculty of Arts of the Eduardo Mondlane University in 1978. At the outset, NELIMO first undertook to draw up a bibliography on the Bantu languages of Mozambique as well glossaries of scientific and technical terms in some of those languages for the Ministry of Information, especially the Social Communication Office. Later, it set up a research project on the description of Bantu languages with a view to teaching them in free courses and in a linguistics degree programme at the Modern Languages Department of the Faculty of Arts. In this respect, leitores (teaching assistants) underwent special training, while a series of works were gradually being produced for the first experimental courses, namely the Cadernos Tsonga,

The Language Situation in Mozambique

181

the handbook Byi Xile and the Cadernos Emakhuwa. The project on language description also contemplated lexical work that was later to be used in the compilation of a Kiswahili-Portuguese dictionary and a Xichangana-Portuguese dictionary produced by Sitoe (1996). A major task awaiting further future developments is a detailed dialectological survey, and the subsequent elaboration of more sophisticated language maps and an atlas. Lack of human, material and financial resources hindered the development of a few projected activities in the past. The future of NELIMO is promising in, at least, human terms, since it can count now on a group of specialised Mozambican linguists, recently returned from their doctoral training abroad. Finally, it must be reiterated how instrumental NELIMO’s work has been with regard to the 1988 event on the standardisation of the orthography of several Bantu languages, the articulation with INDE and the National Directorate of Adult Education, and the collaboration with Radio Mozambique. In addition to INDE and NELIMO, the Archives of Cultural Heritage/ARPAC is a language planning agency equally worthy of mention. Linguistics and ethno-linguistics are two of this institution’s major areas of interest and research. The Organic Statutes of ARPAC, approved in 1993 by the Council of Ministers’ Decree 26/93, define national languages and linguistic studies, amongst others, as constituent parts of ARPAC’s area of speciality (Conselho de Ministros, 1993). The dossier-ARPAC on national languages published in 1992 constitutes a useful compilation of writings on language that appeared in the press over the period 1975–92. ARPAC was one of the major organisers of the country’s First National Conference on Culture held in 1993. It maintains close working links with both INDE and NELIMO as well as with regional institutions. Its recent partnership involvement with the South African-based Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) is an example of the latter. SAMP recently commissioned a report as part of a programme to understand the extent to which language rights have been applied to non-South Africans in the new South Africa, and in particular how they have been observed by various state departments and officials. Reitzes and Crawhall’s clear-sighted report entitled Silenced by Nation-Building: African Immigrants & Language Policy in the New South Africa published in 1998 will stimulate debate and pave the way to the carrying out of similar research in other Southern African countries, Mozambique included. Given ARPAC’s recent involvement with SAMP, ARPAC is bound to initiate in the near future pioneering research in an area of critical importance to Mozambique. Radio Mozambique also undertakes language planning activities in close collaboration with several agencies, in particular with NELIMO. It is a major propagator of both Portuguese and the Bantu languages. RM’s recent language planning activities include the 1996 assessment of concepts and language used in radio broadcasts, the groundwork for the 3rd Seminar on Mozambican Languages Broadcasting held in 1996 and the 1997 publication of a Glossary of Political–Social Concepts in 17 Bantu languages and variants. The Austrian Institute for North–South Cooperation contributed actively to this kind of research work and the joint publication of the glossary. And for RM’s future development, the consultancy work on ‘Mozambican Languages in RM’ commissioned to UEM’s Modern Languages Department (report by Sitoe et al., 1995) surely con-

182

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

tains relevant recommendations for the restructuring and expansion of RM’s language planning activities. SIL, the Summer Institute of Linguistics, also known as Wycliffe Bible Translators, has been operating in Mozambique since 1986. SIL has worked with the Eduardo Mondlane University, INDE, some Provincial Education Directorates, local churches and PROGRESSO, a Mozambican NGO. Teams of linguists are now working in several provinces, particularly in the central and northern regions of the country. SIL work in promoting literacy in other parts of the world (e.g. in Melanesia) has won educational awards from UNESCO. But the organisation has not been exempt from criticism either, as Mühlhäusler (1996) describes in Chapter 6, ‘Mission languages and language policies’. However, and despite his contention and arguments, Mühlhäusler takes note of remarks made by Pike (SIL’s President) in a newspaper article and adopts a more moderate stance: I am prepared to give SIL the benefit of the doubt and accept that most of its members are generally concerned with what they regard as bettering the lot of those they work with … (p. 167) A Report by SIL (1997) on its activities in Mozambique over the period 1995–97 describes how active the organisation has been in providing literacy materials, in carrying out translation work, and in the development of orthographies for languages. Work has been done in connection with the languages Kimwani, Shimakonde, Emakhuwa, Ekoti and Cisena. A few linguistic and sociolinguistic surveys undertaken in the Provinces of Manica, Tete and Nampula have also focused on several language variants. In the process of work, several Mozambicans have equally received specialised training (the LIMASHI Project in the Province of Cabo Delgado is, in this context, a good example). It is possible to hold a positive view of SIL’s activities in the country, and as long as the organisation proves to be capable of strengthening its links with the local population and authorities, it is bound to impact positively on their lives and contribute extensively to the goals pursued by national institutions, in particular those by NELIMO. Ultimately, it is the Mozambicans who must determine and specify their own strategy. And I think the same ought to apply to any external language promotion efforts, i.e. the agencies that do not operate in the polity. The major influences affecting language policy and planning in the country are essentially exerted by SADC member states regionally, and by Portugal (and Brazil, in some ways) internationally. Language planning activities in South Africa are likely to influence positively Mozambique’s future status planning and corpus planning efforts, especially in respect to the Bantu languages. English, as a lingua franca between the six nations with which Mozambique shares its borders, is increasingly used by educated Mozambicans in their regional (and, of course, international) dealings. Obviously, it was not just the neighbouring language factor, but rather political events that have contributed to Mozambique’s taking its place as a Commonwealth member at the 1997 Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Summit in Scotland, moving into full membership from its 1987 status as observer.

The Language Situation in Mozambique

183

The strong ‘exceptional’ case for admitting Mozambique to the Commonwealth was defined from the fact that Mozambique’s suffering had occurred largely as a result of its support for democracy and human dignity in neighbouring Commonwealth states, i.e. Zimbabwe and South Africa. Mozambique and the Commonwealth succeeded in assisting to facilitate change in those countries. (SARDC, 1997: 2) In fact, Mozambique applied for membership and was accepted as a Commonwealth member in 1995. This event, which created some concern in Portugal and dismay among French interests, might have contributed as a major impulse towards the ‘accelerated’ formation in 1996 of CPLP, the Portuguese-speaking Countries Community (Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa). Also, the growing French influence over Guiné-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, should not be minimised in this context. CPLP is formed by Portugal, Brazil and a grouping of the five African states known as PALOP countries (Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa). A major Summit meeting between the Seven, well before their integration into CPLP, was held in 1989 in São Luís do Maranhão, Brazil. Their primary objective was to formalise the creation of the International Institute of the Portuguese Language (Instituto Internacional de Língua Portuguesa, IILP). Da Silva and Gunnewiek’s (1992) account of antecedent efforts by Portugal and Brazil to spread Portuguese through agencies such as ICALP (Instituto de Cultura e Língua Portuguesa) and CEBs (Centros de Estudos Brasileiros) is quite interesting. A draft version of the IILP Statutes has now been circulated for discussion among CPLP members, while the Camões Institute of Portugal has been active elaborating terms of reference for projects aimed at promoting Portuguese in international bodies such as the Organisation of African Unity (headquarters in Ethiopia) and the Southern African Development Community (headquarters in Botswana). It is likely that some good will emerge out of all these actions, if the African voice is respected and taken into account. The Maputo-based Bibliographic Fund of the Portuguese Language (Fundo Bibliográfico de Língua Portuguesa) could surely be, in this regard, a major cooperating structure for the dealings of Portugal and Brazil with the African continent. But above all, the degree of success of Portuguese promotion efforts in the so-called PALOP nations will be poor if the African realities are not really taken into account. As a suitable conclusion to the present section, it seems suitable to recall President Chissano’s (1989) words delivered in a joint press conference, which marked the end of the São Luís do Maranhão Summit meeting in Brazil: ‘We ought to consider the other languages and we ought also to develop them concurrently as we develop Portuguese’.21 The establishment of the International Institute of the Portuguese Language in the near future will prove to be instrumental in maximising the Portuguese-speaking nations’ joint efforts regarding language matters. But, the success of such structure will depend on the kind of approach adopted to investigate and study the worldwide varieties of Portuguese. Any tendency to mandate how the Portuguese language should be ‘properly’ spoken (a prescriptive approach) will certainly constitute a recipe for friction or even disaster.

184

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

Part IV: Language Maintenance and Prospects From time immemorial, and from generation to generation, the Bantu languages of Mozambique have been a major vehicle for the transmission of the facts of life and of legends, the ancient knowledge of nature, and the arts and crafts. These languages are the repository of the past, and through them the people have kept their cultural identity alive. In the more recent past, these languages have learned to adjust to the challenges posed by modern society, and have attempted to cohabit with the language brought in by the Portuguese. The colonial situation made this cohabitation extremely difficult, resulting in Portuguese hegemony to the depreciation and disadvantage of the Bantu languages. Today, when compared to the inherited and reinforced prestigious status enjoyed by the Portuguese language in Mozambique, we see that that the status of Bantu languages and the present efforts to develop and promote them in society still have a long way to go. It is a fact, though, that the post-Independence years, unlike the years of colonial control, have witnessed several attempts by authorities and language planning agencies to redress this imbalance. But, true language maintenance ultimately lies with official status recognition of the Bantu languages and the concurrent implementation of shelter programmes. The present maintenance-oriented permission reflected by Article 5.2 of the Constitution is necessary, but not sufficient for powerless Bantu languages to be maintained and developed. What they need is maintenance-oriented promotion, which necessarily implicates the allocation of economic resources to support these languages. The existing pronouncements tend to be vague, and the economic prerequisites for promoting the Bantu languages have been deficient. The argument that a bilingual (Bantu/Portuguese) Mozambican can use the official language (Portuguese) in official situations is flawed for the following reasons: If languages cannot be used in official situations, they will not be adequately learned and developed; and if they are not properly learned, how can people fully and consciously identify with languages which are poorly known, and in some instances (still a tiny minority) not known at all? To afford the Bantu languages official rights is, in my opinion, the proper way to revitalise and explicitly promote them within a maintenance-oriented framework. Efforts to treat every language equally and give each equal respect would augur well for the future of the country. Any attempt in this direction is not wishful thinking but, naturally, the final decision as to what language is used for what functions in society is a political decision. The duty of humble linguists and language planners is to do the spadework that may lead to improved, rational and systematic language policy-making decisions. In Mozambique there is no language that one can say is shared by all Mozambicans, but by virtue of a set of historical accidents of history Portuguese has managed to stand out as an indispensable factor in the creation and development of the new nation. Like it or not, Portuguese is the language of social and economic mobility and the key for job opportunities and professional promotion. It is a fact of life. D’souza’s (1996) comment on the ‘supreme’ role of English in India — despite the fact that Indian languages enjoy official rights which Bantu languages in Mozambique do not have — could, by analogy, be also appropri-

The Language Situation in Mozambique

185

ately applied in connection to the power enjoyed by the Portuguese language in Mozambique: … regardless of policy or plan, people will acquire English. The so-called ‘hegemony’ of English stems from no sinister aspect of the language itself, but from the simple fact that humans like butter on both sides of their bread — and if possible a little jam as well! (p. 259) But while it is true that Portuguese is spoken by increasingly greater numbers of Mozambicans today than it was at Independence, the language is not shared to the same degree by those who can speak it, nor is it always an obvious choice when people from the same Bantu language backgrounds get together. Several circumstances may dictate which language will dominate in a given encounter, and often the result is code-switching and code-mixing in which one of the codes used is Portuguese. Also, the meaning of new words is not always perceived and processed in the same manner, as Matusse (1997: 546) vividly points out: … a great number of words came into common use after independence. This led to yet another interesting sociolinguistic change: using extensive or bombastic terminology was no longer the prerogative of a privileged few. However, not everyone is linguistically competent enough to discern the nuances of some of the new terms coming into use. A popular joke has it that a certain gentleman arriving late at home asked his wife ‘to mobilise the fish, channel it into the frying pan and organise it on the table. Certainly, lexicons of usage and dictionaries are urgently needed. No works of reference of such types have ever been produced in the country or abroad. Research in this direction22 would make a strong case for regarding Portuguese as a language with multiple cultural identities and traditions, and would surely constitute a useful contribution to both the lexicographic world and the developing field of non-native language varieties. Initial research emphasis could be placed on loan words, collocations, idiom, register and style. Given history and the country’s language profile, and with no desire to belittle any language, it is obvious that the spread and consolidation of Portuguese as a national means of communication among all citizens, as well as a language of national unity should be the natural outcome. Mozambique needs to be united and to build a national identity, and both the Bantu languages and Portuguese are key participants in this process. Portuguese is no longer a foreign language and has been evolving as a naturalised variety to serve the needs of Mozambicans. The processes of naturalisation and indigenisation have resulted in the language acquiring new features adapting it to the local realities, including the journalistic and literary registers of use. Of course, the process of evolution of this emerging non-native variety of Portuguese is of a rather complex nature, as one might expect. The alterations to the Portuguese language reveal a logic that goes well beyond the linguistic domain, and translate a different world view and lifestyle. The Mozambicans are in the process of transcending their role as simply users of the Portuguese language and assuming a status in which they are co-producers of this means of expression.23 (Couto, 1986)

186

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

Several Mozambican novelists and short-story writers have put Mozambique firmly on the map of Portuguese-writing literature. Similarly to what has happened to English in India or English in Ghana, the Portuguese language in Mozambique has been gradually taking on the rhythms and harmonics of the languages with which it is in contact and thus has acquired a resonance all its own. These new cadences are as much a part of the nativising process as are borrowing, code-mixing, etc. (D’souza, 1996: 256) Portuguese in Mozambique has been modified in several aspects: in pronunciation, in areas of grammar and discourse, and perhaps most vividly in lexis, where a certain volume of new words has been introduced and other words are used differently. Indeed, two major developments have been taking place in Mozambican Portuguese (MP) lexis, as Gonçalves (1996: 61) is keen to point out: On the one hand, new words have been created as a result of borrowings (from the speakers’ Bantu mother tongues, or from others like English), or on account of lexical productivity (acting on a borrowing basis or on a European Portuguese basis). On the other hand, there is the usage of words that belong to the European Portuguese lexis, but which have been ascribed new semantic values and/or different syntactic properties.24 Several attempts have been made to record and analyse MP formal realisations, primarily in syntax and lexis. The roots of early research activities that involved linguists working at the UEM and INDE can be traced to the first years after Independence in 1975. The results of early projects on error analysis were published at a later stage (Diniz, 1987; Gonçalves, 1986; Machungo, 1987). Also worthy of mention are a few linguistics dissertations (e.g. Dias, 1990; Maciel, 1992; Sitoe, 1997) which have attempted to analyse both syntactic and lexical MP realisations, the latter in the footprints of Lopes’ lexical contribution (1979) for Longman.25 A major problem with the emerging Portuguese non-native variety is that Mozambican learners have to have a norm to which to conform. Over two million children are now learning Portuguese in primary schools countrywide. Which model can they refer to in the interest of their future communication both domestic and international? There has been considerable controversy among linguists over the issue of norm and standards. Some, like Kachru (1985), argue that the traditional notions no longer apply to non-native language situations. Others, like Quirk (1984), feel that it should be a matter for consideration whether the problem is rather one of seeking stability in the face of uncertain grasp and imperfectly internalised rules, than one of varietal development through a naturally creative social dynamic. In this regard, it seems to me that as long as a baseline is retained for national and international communication, the diversity and creativeness of the emerging MP ought to be nourished. With respect to the purpose of systematicity, James (1998: 43–4) suggests that the model, which is necessary to demarcate institutionalised from random usage, would have to be based on Error Analysis (EA). ‘If the local variety is to be nurtured or at the very least respected, it will have to be monitored, and that is what EA is there to do’.

The Language Situation in Mozambique

187

Lopes (1998b) has suggested elsewhere that the norm broadcast by RM (Radio Mozambique) could well constitute such a baseline. RM is one of the most respected and prestigious mass media in the country, and its signal reaches most parts of the territory. The Mozambican Portuguese variety broadcast by RM is appropriately fit to function as a Standard of Mozambican Portuguese, both nationally and transnationally, and would most likely meet with widespread agreement among Mozambicans. Obviously, there would have to be descriptions of the selected ‘standard’ form for purposes of a more systematic learning of the language (da Silva, 1993). In the first years after Independence, European Portuguese was said to be the model that learners would have to aim at in education. But in the course of the following years, practice showed that such an idealistic goal was not achievable, and even no longer desired because it lacked the marks of an emerging national identity. This situation has not as yet been seriously addressed, and as a result school children learn a norm for which the educational system is unable to plan. Language planners and educationalists, in general, ought to consider this matter seriously and urgently, and more so in view of the millions of children who are now attending school. Also, the long-term effects of the currently laissez-faire policy on norm and standards may impact negatively on the future status and role of Portuguese as a lingua franca and as a language of national unity. The words of Craveirinha (1993), Mozambique’s greatest poet in Portuguese, seem to carry part of such implication: The major problem resides in the primary school, where ground is being lost day after day … If nothing is done, we may lose this linguistic presence within the space of a generation.26 (p. 7) For various reasons — in addition to didactic, political and financial ones — the national and international press has voiced concern over the future of the Portuguese language in Mozambique, including the possibility of Portuguese being overtaken by English. The matter has equally merited some attention in research (e.g. Miguel, 1994). Three major reasons have been invoked in order to justify the hypothesis of an eventual substitution of English for Portuguese: (1) Mozambique’s recent membership in the Commonwealth; (2) Mozambique’s sharing of borders with English-speaking countries; and (3) English is a powerful tool for worldwide communication. The historical and cultural influence of English-speaking peoples in the region is visible in the country, and so are the marks of their language on both Portuguese and the Bantu languages. The language argument may indeed be used to refute claims that the English language has had no tradition in Mozambique (Lopes, 1998a; Magaia, 1997). Mozambique’s accession to Commonwealth membership should enable both Mozambique and the southern African region to build a future of regional economic cooperation and integration. It is a fact that Mozambique is completely surrounded by Commonwealth countries, and it is also true that Mozambique’s application for membership was strongly supported by Mozambique’s neighbours. These factors stem from no sinister philosophy of the Commonwealth nor any evil aspect of the English language itself, but from the simple fact that the

188

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

Commonwealth Organisation, as a whole, and Mozambique’s neighbours, in particular, believe that such membership will enhance and advance regional development. Of course, such optimism is not shared by every one: At present, we are surrounded by English-speaking countries from North to South. It is to their advantage that their language should spread in Mozambique, and that we should remain dependent on them. They need our ports, and I hope that we do not find ourselves in a position of having to give ground.27 (Craveirinha, 1993: 7) As for the argument for using English instead of Portuguese on the grounds that Mozambique would communicate more efficiently through English with neighbouring states and the world, it is at least a matter for debate. I think that the English as an International Language argument is, in fact, more an argument for teaching the language rather than an argument for its use as a means of communication in Mozambique. It is true that English is the lingua franca of the Southern Africa Development Community region and that, as the most international language of commerce, technology and academic exchange, English is of vital importance to the development of Mozambique. And it is also apparent that the acquisition and effective deployment of higher-level skills are increasingly dependent on competency in English. But while it is a fact that the Mozambican authorities and managerial elites are keen to develop their English skills, the elites represent only a tiny minority — though a powerful one — who are and will be involved in regional, continental and overseas communication. Mozambican elite groups — such as politicians, people in foreign trade, diplomats, academics and artists — who really need English to communicate internationally should learn it (and learn it well!) in special courses offered by universities and language institutes. Also, given the importance of English in the educational system, it would be worthwhile pursuing the lines of research (including that on contrastive rhetoric) initiated by some investigators of English in Mozambique (e.g. Lopes, 1985; 1987; Manuel, 1994). Kaplan (personal communication), has argued that certain factors can exert great influence in multilingual Mozambique, in particular the question of registers. It appears that the influence of any language on any other language depends importantly on the registers it occupies. If an external language captures a key register (e.g. home language, religious language), the internal language is in jeopardy. And so long as key registers are retained in Portuguese and/or the Bantu languages of Mozambique, it is unlikely that English can have any significant impact. At the same time, to the extent that key registers are captured by English, then Portuguese and/or Bantu languages can be in jeopardy. The register of religious ritual in Mozambique has been partially captured by Bantu languages vis-à-vis Portuguese. The registers of business in the formal market are gradually being captured by English vis-à-vis Portuguese, whilst in the informal market the registers of business have been captured by Bantu languages vis-à-vis Portuguese. But the key registers of administration, formal instruction and the media have exclusively been retained in Portuguese. So long as these registers are retained in Portuguese, or eventually shared in Portuguese and Bantu in the

The Language Situation in Mozambique

189

future, it is difficult to imagine how English could take the place of Portuguese in Mozambique. Furthermore, two hundred million speakers around the world have turned Portuguese into a pluricentric and dynamic language, thus creating pressures that apply in all directions in the considerably extensive ecological system of Portuguese. The Portuguese language in Mozambique is necessarily part (and not an isolate part) of a complex ecological system, which extends through the Portuguese-speaking states of Africa and reaches into the Portuguese-speaking states and communities in Europe, America and Asia. Surely, the influence of English in Mozambique will increasingly be greater but, the interests of the elite, particularly the business elite, in promoting English for their interaction with the outside world will always be balanced by their continuing attachment to Portuguese as a language of national unity, and the Bantu languages as symbols of ethnolinguistic identity and ties. Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Professor Armando Jorge Lopes, Modern Languages Department, Faculty of Arts, PO Box 257, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique ([email protected]). Notes 1. I wish to express my gratitude to Professors Robert B. Kaplan and Richard B. Baldauf, Jr, the series editors, who kindly invited me to collaborate on their impressive language planning project. I trust the reader will find this introductory study useful. Thanks also to the following friends, former students, colleagues and authorities who have assisted me throughout the 15-month period of research: Anwar Latif, Arlindo Folige, Aurélio Simango, Delfina Mugabe, Julieta Langa, Samima Patel, Teresa Alfaro, Vasco Nhussi, Directorate of Planning at the Ministry of Education (Director Virgílio Juvane), National Institute for Education Development (Director Miguel Buendia and staff) and National Institute of Statistics (Vice-President Manuel Gaspar). And, obviously, I am particularly indebted to Alda Costa and Jeremy Grest who gave the draft manuscript a close and very educated reading. I, of course, accept full responsibility for the translation of citations in the text, and for any errors that may occur in this volume. 2. Guthrie (1967/71) established language zones, as well as language groups within language zones, for the purpose of grouping and classifying languages sharing common phonetic and grammatical features. Fifteen zones, each identified by a letter of the Alphabet (A to S) were defined and each group of languages was assigned a number (e.g. G40 stands for the Kiswahili Group which includes the languages Kiswahili and Kimwani). The Zones in Mozambique have been defined by the letters G, N, P, and S. Bantu languages can be found from the Cameroon mountains in West Africa down to the River Tana in East Africa. Zone A languages are located in the northwestern region of the continent. The term Bantu usually refers to typological and genetic relationships and means men, peoples, persons. The Bantu family has been classified as being among the major language families of the world. The term was first used by Bleek (1862–69) who used a noun class system as a key distinguishing feature of a Bantu language. All non-Bantu languages of South Africa, e.g. Khoisan, lack that specific feature. 3. Chi-Yao e Chi-Mákonde, entre outras tidas como línguas ‘minoritárias’, poderiam reclamar o seu reconhecimento de línguas maioritáras se se tomasse em contra o facto de que essas línguas ‘violam’ as fronteiras geográficas a Sul da República Unida da Tanzania.

190

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

4. The translations of the Christian Bible used in Western Zambezia originated in Malawi. The Bible was translated mainly by Catholic Missionaries from English into Cinyanja. In the major Milange district, the Cinyanja Bible as well as sets of catechism books in Cinyanja are widely used. Furthermore, Protestant leaders in Zambezia would also like to have their own Cinyanja version of the Bible. Cinyanja is a language with a long literary and educational history. In Malawi, it is possible that more books have been published in Cinyanja than in English. Over two-thirds of Malawians can understand and speak Cinyanja, Malawi’s major language — also known or referred to as Cichewa. 5. Os pais estão a favor do ensino bilingue e querem-no para seus filhos em idade escolar. 6. (1) Na República de Moçambique, a língua portuguesa é a língua oficial. (2) O Estado valoriza as línguas nacionais e promove o seu desenvolvimento e utilização crescente como línguas veiculares e na educação dos cidadãos. 7. Não existe língua de maioria no nosso País. Escolher uma das línguas moçambicanas como língua nacional seria uma opção arbitrária que poderia ter sérias consequências … Fomos por isso forçados a utilizar o Português como a nossa língua de ensino e para comunicação entre nós. 8. A necessidade de combatermos o opressor exigia um combate intransigente contra o tribalismo e o regionalismo. Foi esta necessidade de unidade que nos impôs que a única língua comum-a que servira para oprimir-assumisse uma nova dimensão. 9. A decisão de se optar pela língua portuguesa, como língua oficial na República Popular de Moçambique, foi uma decisão política meditada e ponderada visando atingir um objectivo — a preservação da unidade nacional e a integridade do território. A história da apropriação da língua portuguesa, como factor de unidade, nivelador das diferenças, veio desde a criação da Frelimo em 1962. 10. Em vez de enfrentar racionalmente o problema da multiplicidade das línguas faladas nos seus territórios, no âmbito geral do desafio da Modernidade-Tradição, os países africanos não hesitaram em adoptar as línguas de antigos colonizadores. 11. A decisão da 11a. Sessão do Comité Central sobre o estudo das línguas moçambicanas e sobre a criação de um órgão especializado constitui uma medida de grande alcance cultural. Esta decisão aprofunda o debate sobre a cultura e abre perspectivas importantes à comunicação social, à educação, à formação profissional. 12. Os elementos positivos da nossa vida cultural, tais como as nossas formas de expressão linguística, as nossas músicas e danças típicas, as peculiaridades regionais de nascer, crescer, amar e morrer, continuarão depois da Independência para florir e embelezar a vida da nossa Nação. No há antagonismo entre as realidades da existência de vários grupos étnicos e a Unidade Nacional. 13. A valorização social das línguas, o apoio aos centros de estudo das línguas moçambicanas existentes ou a estabelecer; a codificação e padronização da ortografia das línguas moçambicanas; e a selecção das línguas que, em cada província ou região, deverão ser introduzidas no Sistema Nacional de Educação, assim como na actividade política, social e económica. 14. In the SNE, out of a sample of 1000 pupils in first grade, only 63 graduated from first level primary eduaction five years later (i.e. 6.3%). In terms of the PEBIMO Project, 38 out of 170 pupils in first grade managed to complete the five-year cycle of primary instruction (i.e. 22%), and without repeating any grade. 15. Os resultados são muito animadores: o aproveitamento é bom, há muita interacção entre professores e alunos, os alunos apreendem melhor os conteúdos. Por outro lado, os pais estão a favor do ensino bilingue, e querem-no para seus filhos em idade escolar. 16. Uma das dificuldades da adopção deste modelo relaciona-se com o facto de não ter providenciado um desenvolvimento oral suficiente na L2 para permitir uma transição gradual e bem sucedida para a L2. 17. O modelo ‘ideal’, representado na última figura no anexo C-3, … descreve o ensino da língua segunda desde o início, a transição gradual da L1 para a L2 e a manutenção da L1 como disciplina … Este modelo foi proposto pelo INDE como o melhor a ser adoptado no futuro.

The Language Situation in Mozambique

191

18. O nosso objectivo sabemos qual é: introduzir a criança e o adulto num bilinguismo necessário, em que a língua de unidade e a língua materna se desenvolvam lado a lado. 19. I count myself among the fortunate ones who were privileged to contribute modestly to the dramatic changes in education that occurred immediately after Independence. 20. A generalização da língua portuguesa é um meio importante entre todos os moçambicanos, veículo importante de troca de experiência a nível nacional, factor da consolidação da consciência nacional e da perspectiva do futuro comum. Alguns perguntaram durante a guerra: ‘Para quê continuarmos com a língua portuguesa?’ Alguns vão dizer que a Campanha Nacional de Alfabetização é para valorização da língua portuguesa. Em que língua é que vocês gostariam que nós desencadeássemos a Campanha de Alfabetização? Em Macua ou em Maconde, Nyanja, em Changana, Ronga, Bitonga, Ndau, em Chuabo? 21. Temos que considerar as outras línguas e temos que desenvolvê-las também ao mesmo tempo que desenvolvemos o Português. 22. It is proposed that there be: (1) compilation of a Lexicon of Mozambican-Portuguese Usage designed to be used for reference purposes; and (2) elaboration of a Concise Multilingual Portuguese–Bantu–English and English–Bantu–Portuguese Pocket Dictionary (with MP variants) designed as a pocket companion for the student, the teacher and the reader, in general. The goals of the proposed research would be to describe certain features of Portuguese usage which are uniquely characteristic of the Portuguese of Mozambican speakers (lexicon), as well as to record in dictionary format both the non-common core and the common core parts (especially the most frequent usages) of Mozambican-Portuguese. The aims of the Lexicon of Usage would be to provide general readers, teachers and students with a work of reference on Mozambican-Portuguese (MP), and to develop their awareness of differences between MP and European Portuguese (contrastive dimension). The aim of the Concise Multilingual Pocket Dictionary would be to provide both Mozambican and English-speaking readers with a systematic list of the most frequent words in Portuguese (MP variants included) as used in Mozambique. The proposed research is qualitative and corpus-based and shall primarily make use of library resources, in particular the literature on non-native language variety, lexicology and lexicography. The Lexicon should contain innovations recorded among MP speakers’ writing and speech, including descriptions of some infrequent items, especially if they exemplify a certain trend or pattern. The proposed Lexicon should only consist of those MP items whose form and/or function are different from European Portuguese (EP) items. That is to say, the non-common core part of MP. A rough estimate of this part is 300–400 items, and the scope of the work would be both microlinguistic (syntax, semantics and lexis) and macrolinguistic (discourse, rhetoric and idiom). The Concise Multilingual Pocket Dictionary would be designed as a pocket companion for the student, the teacher and the general reader. The dictionary would consist of one list of the most frequent Portuguese words in Mozambique — both the common core and the non-common core parts of MP — one list of the corresponding Bantu language items, and one list of English items compiled into a handy volume, providing each of the lists with equal recognition. My estimate for the original list is 5000 items. The items would be dealt with in Portuguese, Bantu and English in such a way as to require no specialised knowledge of the grammars of the languages involved in order to be able to use the dictionary. The format would be straightforward and easy to understand, with directive words given in brackets, to indicate the particular shade of meaning associated with the particular headword. The selected content areas of the dictionary would specifically include such themes as formal and informal economy, primary health care, family planning, gender, literacy, education, culture, democracy, and topics in connection with water, housing and communications. 23. As alterações da língua portuguesa têm uma lógica que ultrapassa o domínio linguístico e que traduzem uma outra apreensão do mundo e da vida. Os

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

192

24.

25.

26. 27.

moçambicanos estão a superar a condição de simples utentes da língua portuguesa para ascenderem ao estatuto de co-produtores desse meio de expressão. Por um lado está a criação de novas palavras, resultantes de empréstimos (às LB/L1’s dos falantes, ou outras como o Inglês) ou devidas à produtividade lexical (actuando sobre bases-empréstimo ou sobre bases do PE). Por outro lado, está o uso de palavras já pertencentes ao léxico do PE, às quais são atribuídos novos valores semânticos e/ou diferentes propriedades sintácticas. Lopes’ research was carried out during the period 1978–9. His 1979 contribution (published in 1980) was sent for inclusion in a bilingual dictionary, following a request by the Longman English Language Teaching Division Publisher to assist in adding some Mozambican-Portuguese variations, where they existed, to a bilingual dictionary that was then being compiled. The dictionary — intended principally for the speaker of Portuguese not the speaker of English — was primarily aimed at the Brazilian market. The original text was an English–English dictionary at an intermediate level — that is for learners with between three and five years of learning English — to which Portuguese glosses had been added. Where the Portuguese word differs in Brazilian (BP), European (EP) and Mozambican Portuguese (MP) this has been indicated. The dictionary consists of 10,000 English headwords with English definitions and examples followed by a translation of the headword in the meaning being defined in BP, EP and MP. O grande problema está na escola primária, onde se está a perder terreno todos os dias … Se nada for feito, podemos perder esta presença linguística no espaço de uma geração. Neste momento estamos cercados desde o Norte até ao Sul por países de língua inglesa. Convém-lhes que a sua língua avance em Moçambique e que nós fiquemos numa posição dependente. Eles precisam dos nossos portos, e espero que não fiquemos em posição de ter que ceder.

References Arquivo do Património Cultural (1992) Línguas Nacionais: Moçambique, Dossier ARPAC. Maputo: Arquivo do Património Cultural. Baldauf, R.B., Jr (1994) ‘Unplanned’ language policy and planning. In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 14 (pp. 82–9). New York: Cambridge University Press. Baldo, M. (1987) Discourse patterns in first language use at home and second language learning at school: An ethnographic approach. PhD thesis, University of London. Bamgbose, A. (1991) Language and the Nation: The Language Question in Sub-Saharan Africa. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Bleek, W.H. (1862–69) Comparative Grammar of South African Languages. London: Trubner & Co. Braz, S. (1995) Consciencialização linguística no processo de ensino-aprendizagem. ‘Licenciatura’ Dissertation, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Chissano, J. (1989) Valorizar também as línguas nacionais. Conferência de imprensa em São Luís do Maranhão. Notícias, 5 November. Conselho de Ministros (1993) Decreto No. 26/93. Criação do ARPAC e aprovação do estatuto orgânico. Boletim da República I Série, Número 45. República de Moçambique. Conselho de Ministros (1995) Cultura. In Programa do Governo para 1995/1999 (pp. 42–5). Maputo: CM, República de Moçambique. Conselho de Ministros (1997) Resolução No. 12/97. Política Cultural de Moçambique e Estratégia de sua Implementaço. Boletim da República I Série, Número 23. República de Moçambique. Couto, M. (1986) Uma maneira moçambicana de contar histórias moçambicanas. Entrevista à Gazeta de Artes e Letras. Tempo 835. Craveirinha J. (1993) O Português pode ser substituído numa geração. Notícias, 23 August.

The Language Situation in Mozambique

193

da Silva, J.G. (1993) Variation linguistique et norme: Étude de cas des pratiques correctives des professeurs de Portugais à Maputo. MA dissertation, Université Stendhal-Grenoble III. da Silva, J. and Gunnewiek, L. (1992) Portuguese and Brazilian efforts to spread Portuguese. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 95, 71–92. de Maia, J. (1995) Moçambique, 1975–1995. Vinte anos de comunicação social. Caminhos percorridos. Unpublished consultancy report, Maputo, UNESCO-PNUD. D’souza, J. (1996) Creativity and language planning: The case of Indian English and Singapore English. Language Problems and Language Planning 20 (3), 244–62. Dias, H. (1990) Análise de erros da preposição com produzidos por alunos moçambicanos. ‘Licenciatura’ Dissertation, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Diniz, M.J. (1987) Análise de erros na frase relativa. Limani 2, 31–40. Directorate of Planning, Education Ministry (1996) Development of Education: National Report of Mozambique. Maputo: Ministério da Educação, República de Moçambique. Directorate of Planning, Education Ministry (1997) Estatística da Educação: Levantamento Escolar — 1997. Maputo: Ministério da Educação, República de Moçambique. Filmão, E. (1992) Do mal-estar com as línguas moçambicanas até às promessas difíceis de cumprir.Que papel para o Ministério da Cultura na promoção do uso social das línguas? Unpublished paper, Ministério da Cultura, República de Moçambique. Firmino, G. (1997) O caso do Português e das línguas locais em Moçambique. Valencia: Universitat de Valencia. (CECII Working Paper No. 8). Firmino, G. and Machungo, I. (1994) Política linguística em Moçambique. Unpublished manuscript, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Fishman, J. (1968) Nationality-nationalism and nation-nationism. In J. Fishman, C. Ferguson, and J. Das Gupta (eds) Language Problems of Developing Nations (pp. 39–51). New York: Wiley. Frelimo (1975a) Objectivos da alfabetização. Unpublished document, Ribaué, Departamento de Educação e Cultura. Frelimo (1975b) Plenário nacional de Mocuba. Sobre a alfabetização (capítulo VIII. 4). In J. Reis and A. Muiuane (eds) Datas e Documentos da História da Frelimo (pp. 293–328). Maputo: Imprensa Nacional. Frelimo (1975c) Documentos da conferência nacional do Departamento de Informação e Propaganda. Unpublished document, Macomia, Departamento de Informação e Propaganda. Frelimo (Party) (1983) Relatório do Comité Central ao IV Congresso do Partido Frelimo. Colecção 4°. Congresso. Maputo: Imprensa Nacional. Ganhão F. (1979) O papel da língua portuguesa em Moçambique. 1°. seminário nacional sobre o ensino da língua portuguesa. Unpublished paper, Ministério da Educação e Cultura, República Popular de Moçambique. Gaudart, H. (1992) Bilingual Education in Malaysia. Townsville: Centre for South-East Asian Studies. Gonçalves, P. (1986) O Português em Moçambique: Análise de erros em construções de subordinação. Limani 1, 11–23. Gonçalves, P. (1996) Português de Moçambique: Uma Variedade em Formaço. Maputo: Livraria Universitária, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Grimes, B.F. (ed.) (1992) Ethnologue: Languages of the World (12th edn). Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Guthrie, M. (1967/71) Comparative Bantu. London: SOAS, University of London. Honwana, L.B. (1983) Contribuição para a definição de uma política linguística na República Popular de Moçambique. Unpublished manuscript, Gabinete do Secretário de Estado da Cultura, Ministério da Educação e Cultura. Honwana, L.B. (1994) Línguas moçambicanas e língua portuguesa. Jornal de Letras , 615. Hyltenstam, K. and Stroud, C. (1993) Final Report and Recommendations from the Evaluation of Teaching Materials for Lower Primary Education in Mozambique. II. Language Issues. Research Report Series No. 3. Maputo: National Institute for Education Development (INDE).

194

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE) (1998) Inquérito Nacional aos Agregados Familiares sobre Condições de Vida. Resultados Gerais. Maputo: INE. Instituto Nacional do Desenvolvimento da Educação (INDE) (1997) Relatório do debate sobre ‘estratégias de introdução e expansão do ensino em línguas moçambicanas’. Unpublished report, INDE, Ministério da Educação. James, C. (1998) Errors in Language Learning and Use: Exploring Error Analysis. London: Longman. Kachru, B. (1985) Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle. In R. Quirk and H.G. Widdowson (eds) English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures (pp. 11–30). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kaplan, R.B. and Baldauf, R.B., Jr (1997) Language Planning: From Practice to Theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Kaplan, R.B. and Palmer, J.D. (1991) Literacy and applied linguistics. In W. Grabe and R.B. Kaplan (eds) Introduction to Applied Linguistics (pp. 191–209). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Katupha, J.M. (1984) Alguns dados sobre a situação linguística na R.P.M. e as suas implicações para o desenvolvimento rural. Unpublished paper, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Katupha, J.M. (1988) O panorama linguístico de Moçambique e a contribuição da linguística na definição de uma política linguística apropriada. Lua Nova, 27–32. Liphola, M.M. (1988) As línguas banto de Moçambique: Uma pequena abordagem do ponto de vista sócio-linguístico. Lua Nova, 33–7. Lopes, A.J. (1979) Mozambican-Portuguese words and expressions. A lexical survey commissioned by Longman, and included in the Longman English Dictionary for Portuguese Speakers (pubublished 1980). Harlow: Longman ELT. Lopes, A.J. (1985) Schemata theory and contrastive analysis. Unpublished paper presented at the Gregynog linguistics colloquium, Gregynog, North Wales. Lopes, A. J. (1987) The role of prior language knowledge on target language discourse processing. Summary in A. Pongweni (ed.) Second LASU Conference Report (pp. 12–4). Harare: University of Zimbabwe Press. Lopes, A.J. (1992) Considerations on literacy in the promotion of effective learning and use of African languages. In A.J. Lopes (ed.) The Role of Linguistics in the Promotion of National Languages. Proceedings of the III LASU Conference (pp. 19–31). Maputo: University Press, Eduardo Mondlane University. Lopes, A.J. (1995) The age of re-discovery: The Portuguese language in Mozambique. Crossroads 4, 83–7. Lopes, A.J. (1997a) Language Policy: Principles and Problems. Maputo: Livraria Universitária, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Lopes, A.J. (1997b) Language policy in Mozambique: A taboo? In R.K. Herbert (ed.) African Linguistics at the Crossroads (pp. 485–500). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. Lopes, A.J. (1998a) English in Mozambique: Jogging the collective memory. Op. Cit. 1, 39–45. Lopes, A.J. (1998b) O Português como língua segunda em África: Problemáticas de planificação e política linguística. Unpublished paper presented at the Arrábida conference on language policy, Lisbon Summer University. Machel, G. (1979) Discurso de abertura do 1°. seminário nacional sobre o ensino da língua portuguesa. Unpublished, Ministério da Educação e Cultura, República Popular de Moçambique. Machel S. (1978) Discurso de abertura da campanha nacional de alfabetização. Unpublished, República Popular de Moçambique. Machungo, I. (1987) A construção reflexiva-passiva. Limani 2, 41–58. Machungo, I. and Ngunga, A. (1991) O papel da língua no processo de ensino-aprendizagem em Moçambique. Unpublished manuscript, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Maciel, C. (1992) O lexema verbal no Português de Moçambique. ‘Licenciatura’ dissertation, Instituto Superior Pedagógico, Maputo.

The Language Situation in Mozambique

195

Magaia, A. (1997) Anglofilia moçambicana: Uma realidade histórica. Notícias, 22 February 1997. Manuel, C.J. (1994) Aspectos contrastivos na retórica do discurso científico em Português e Inglês. ‘Licenciatura’ Dissertation, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Marinis, H. (1981) Línguas bantu: Sua história e sua classificação. Unpublished manuscript, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Matavele, C. and Machaul, D. (1998) Síntese das actividades desenvolvidas ao longo do projecto. Seminário de avaliação do projecto de escolarização bilingue em Moçambique (PEBIMO). Unpublished report, INDE, Ministério da Educação. Matusse, R. (1997) The future of Portuguese in Mozambique. In R.K. Herbert (ed.) African Linguistics at the Crossroads (pp. 541–54). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. Mazula, B. (1995) Educação, Cultura e Ideologia em Moçambique: 1975–1985. Edições Afrontamento e Fundo Bibliográfico de Língua Portuguesa. Miguel, V. (1994) Língua portuguesa: Língua ameaçada em Moçambique? ‘Licenciatura’ Dissertation, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Ministério da Cultura e Juventude (MINCULTJ) (1993a) Proposta de política cultural de Moçambique. 1a. conferência nacional sobre cultura. Unpublished document, Ministério da Cultura e Juventude, República de Moçambique. Ministério da Cultura e Juventude (1993b) Recomendações gerais da conferência. 1a. conferência nacional sobre cultura. Unpublished document, Ministério da Cultura e Juventude, República de Moçambique. Ministério da Educação (MINED) (1994) In- and pre-service teacher training for primary school teachers, Mozambique: A systems approach. Unpublished interim programme document, Ministério da Educação, República de Moçambique. Ministério da Informação (MINFO) (1977) Línguas nacionais na informaço. 1°. seminário nacional da informação. Unpublished document, Ministério da Informação, República de Moçambique. Mondlane, E. (1967) Tribos ou grupos étnicos moçambicanos (seu significado na luta de libertação nacional). In J. Reis and A. Muiuane (eds) (1975) Datas e Documentos da História da Frelimo (pp. 73–9). Maputo: Imprensa Nacional. Mühlhäusler, P. (1996) Linguistic Ecology: Language Change and Linguistic Imperialism in the Pacific Region. London: Routledge. Nahara, T. (1995) The Institute of Languages and ELT. In T. Eduardo and E. Uprichard (eds) The Proceedings of the First National Conference on English Language Teaching in Mozambique. Research Report Series No. 7. (pp. 29–32) Maputo: National Institute for Education Development. Núcleo de Estudo de Línguas Moçambicanas (NELIMO) (1989) I Seminário sobre a Padronização da Ortografia de Línguas Moçambicanas. Maputo: INDE-UEM/NELIMO. Ngunga, A. (1987) As línguas bantu de Moçambique. Limani 2, 59–70. Palmer, D. (1996) Mission report on the print media: Strengthening democracy and good governance through development of the media. Unpublished consultancy report, Mozambique, UNESCO. Quirk, R. (1984) A dubious linguistic democracy. EFL Gazette, September. Rádio Moçambique and Austrian Institute for North-South Cooperation (1997) Glossário de Conceitos Político-Sociais em 17 Línguas e Variantes Linguísticas Nacionais. Maputo: RM. Reitzes, M. and Crawhall, N. (1998) Silenced by Nation-Building: African Immigrants & Language Policy in the New South Africa. Southern African Migration Project. Cape Town: Idasa. República de Moçambique (1990) Constituição de Moçambique. Boletim da República I Série, No. 44. Robinson, C.D.W. (1993) Where minorities are in the majority: Language dynamics amidst high linguistic diversity. AILA Review 10, 52–70. Rocha, I. (1996) Tábua Cronológica da Imprensa. In F. Ribeiro and A.Sopa (eds) 140 Anos de Imprensa em Moçambique: Estudos e Relatos (pp. 293–303). Maputo: Associaço Moçambicana da Língua Portuguesa. Rønning, H. (1997) Language, cultural myths, media and Realpolitik: The case of Mozambique. Media Development 1, 50–4.

196

Language Policy and Planning in Africa

Rzewuski, E. (1978) Línguas de Moçambique em classificação de M. Guthrie. Unpublished manuscript, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Shrum, J. and Shrum, M. (1998) Levantamento linguístico na Zambézia Ocidental em Moçambique. Unpublished report, Maputo, Sociedade Internacional de Linguística (SIL). Sitoe, B. (1996) Dicionário Changana-Português. Maputo: Instituto Nacional do Desenvolvimento da Educação. Sitoe, B., Langa, J. and Simango, A. (1995) As línguas moçambicanas na Rádio Moçambique. Unpublished consultancy report, Maputo. Sitoe, S. (1997) Processos de importação de neologismos de origem bantu no Português de Moçambique. ‘Licenciatura’ Dissertation, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. and Phillipson, R. (1989) Wanted! Linguistic Human Rights. ROLIG-papir 44. Roskilde: Roskilde University Centre. Sociedade Internacional de Linguística. Programa de Moçambique (1997) Relatório de Actividades. Maputo: SIL. Southern African Development Community (1992) SADC Treaty. Windhoek: SADC. Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (1997) Mozambique in the Commonwealth. Maputo: SARDC. Veloso, M.T. (1994) Algumas experiências de desenvolvimento de ortografias de línguas moçambicanas. Unpublished. Comunicação elaborada para a conferência sobre ‘o uso das línguas africanas no ensino e o papel das línguas de comunicação internacional’. Webb, V. (1994) Language policy and planning in South Africa. In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 14 (pp. 254–73). New York: Cambridge University Press. Yai, O.B. (1983) Elements of a Policy for Promotion of National Languages. Report for the Government of the People’s Republic of Mozambique. Paris: UNESCO.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu University of Natal, Durban, South Africa This monograph examines the language planning situation in South Africa, where language has been instrumental in the country’s transition from colonialism to apartheid to democracy. In particular, it addresses, diachronically and synchronically, the issues of language spread and use, language policy and planning, and language maintenance and shift. The monograph is divided into four parts. The first part presents the language profile of South Africa to provide the background against which the aforementioned issues will be discussed. The second part discusses language spread and use, with a focus on language-in-education and the media. The third section looks at language policy and planning, with a focus on South Africa’s new language policy and on attempts currently being made to implement it. It shows that there is a mismatch between the language policy and language practices, with the former promoting additive multilingualism, and the latter showing a trend towards unilingualism in English in virtually all the higher domains of language use. The implications of this trend for the current language policy and for language maintenance and shift are discussed in the final part, with special reference to the country’s official languages.

As its name suggests, the Republic of South Africa is located at the southernmost tip of the African continent. The country covers a total area of 1,219,080 km2 (470,689 sq. miles) – slightly smaller than Alaska, Peru, and Niger; slightly larger than Colombia or the Province of Ontario, Canada. It shares borders with six African countries: Namibia in the north-west; Botswana in the north; Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland in the north-east; and Lesotho in the east. To the south, South Africa is surrounded by two oceans, the Indian Ocean in the south-east, and the Atlantic Ocean in the south-west. South Africa is known to the rest of the world mostly for its now defunct, divide-and-rule apartheid system, on the basis of which South Africa was ruled from 1948 to 1994 and whose legacy is likely to haunt the country for years to come. The ideology of rule, ‘apartheid’ or ‘separateness’, was directed at ensuring that Baasskap, which the Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles (Penny et al. 1996: 36) defines as ‘domination, especially by whites, of other groups’, remained in the hands of an Afrikaner elite controlled by the secret society known as broederbond ‘sworn brotherhood’. The latter’s mission was to protect and develop white economic, social and cultural interests while dividing and ruling the majority African people, the Coloureds, and the people of Asian descent (Indians and Chinese) (Prah, 1995). The architects of the apartheid system believed strongly that ‘cultural attainments were racially determined and races were inherently unequal’ (Omer-Cooper, 1999: 974). To them, skin colour formed what Prah (1995: 36) calls the physiognomic index for social stratification. Each racial group had to have its own territorial area within which to develop its unique cultural personality.1 This notion led to the partition of South Africa into what came be known as tribal, mostly language-based, homelands for the African popula197 The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

198

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

tion on the one hand; and separate, skin-colour-based areas for the Coloureds, the Indians and the Whites (including the Chinese who were considered honorary Whites), on the other. In regard to the homelands there was, for instance, a Zulu tribal homeland for isiZulu speakers; a Ndebele homeland for isiNdebele speakers; a Xhosa homeland for isiXhosa speakers; and a Venda homeland for Tshivenda speakers. With this fractionalisation of the African population into the tribal homelands, or ‘nations’ as the architects of apartheid called them, the notion of ‘an African majority’ officially became a fiction (Alexander, 1989; Prah, 1995). The homelands were reintegrated into South Africa when apartheid died and a new South Africa was born in 1994. The new South Africa comprises nine provinces: i.e. the North West province, the Northern province, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, the Northern Cape, the Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, and Kwa-Zulu Natal (Figure 1). According to the 1996 census figures, South Africa has an estimated multiracial population of 40,583,573 made up of Africans2 (76.7%); Whites (10.9%); Coloureds (people of mixed race: 8.9%); Asians (2.%) and unspecified/other (0.9%) (The People of South Africa Population Census 1996, 1998: 9). The 1996 census does not make any projection about the population’s future growth. However, according to the 1991 census figures, South Africa’s population is expected to grow to 49.5 million people by 2005, and to 53.4 million by 2010 (Sadie, 1993). In making these projections the 1991 census did not take into account the AIDS pandemic, which is ravaging South Africa and so has serious implications for the country’s population growth. According to press reports, in South Africa about one in nine people is HIV-positive (Mail & Guardian, 27 July to 2 August 2001, p. 34); every day an estimated 1600 people are infected with the AIDS virus (Daily News, 7 September 2001, p. 10) and about 150 children are born HIV-positive. All these people add to the number of those who are already infected with the disease. Currently it is estimated that there are four million people living with AIDS in South Africa and these people account for a sizeable slice of the country’s sexually active population. Therefore, contrary to the 1991 census projection, by 2010 AIDS-related deaths are expected to cut the population forecasts to 47 instead of the 53.4 million projected under a no-AIDS scenario (Sunday Times, 29 July 2001). One of the characteristic features of South Africa is its linguistic diversity, a fact that previous governments, and the apartheid Government in particular, utilised to justify and legitimise their divide-and-rule policies, such as the creation of ethnic homelands for the Blacks. This monograph addresses issues relating to this diversity, with a focus on language spread and use, language policy and planning, and language maintenance and shift and prospects especially for the country’s official languages. The discussion of these issues draws in part on my previous work on language planning issues in South Africa (Kamwangamalu, 1995, 1996, 1997b, 1998a,b, 2000a, b, 2001a, b) and on the feedback on the papers presented on these issues at various professional conferences.3

The Language Profile of South Africa The population of South Africa is not only multiracial but it is also multilin-

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

199

Figure 1 Map of South Africa, showing the post-apartheid provinces

gual. It is estimated that about 25 languages are spoken within South Africa’s borders. Of these languages, 11 have been accorded official status, including English and Afrikaans – formerly the only two official languages of the state – and nine African languages,4 Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu, all of them newcomers to the new South Africa’s official languages map (see Table 1). These were chosen because the majority of South Africans, probably more than 98%, use one of these languages as their home language or first language (Department of Education, South Africa’s New Language Policy: The Facts, 1994: 4). Demographically, isiZulu (23%) and isiXhosa (18%) are the most commonly spoken first home languages in

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

200

Table 1 The official languages of South Africa Language

Number of speakers

Percentage Geographical areas of concentration

Afrikaans

5,811,547

14.3

W. & N. Cape, Gauteng

English

3,457,467

8.5

KZ-Natal, WC, Gauteng Gauteng, Mpumalanga

IsiNdebele

586,961

1.4

7,196,118

17.7

Eastern Cape

IsiZulu

9,200,144

22.7

KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng

Sepedi

3,695,846

9.2

IsiXhosa

Gauteng, N. Province

Sesotho

3,104,197

7.7

Free State, Gauteng

Siswati

1,013,193

2.5

Mpumalanga, Gauteng

Setswana

3,301,774

8.1

North West, Gauteng

876,409

2.2

Northern Province

Tshivenda Xitsonga

1,756,105

4.3

Gauteng, N. Province

Other

583,813

1.4

Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal

Total

40,583,573

100

Source: The People of South Africa Population Census 1996, 1998: 12–3.

South Africa. The 1996 census reveals that Afrikaans (14.4%) and English (9%), while widely spoken in all provinces, are less frequently used as first home languages than some of the indigenous languages (The People of South Africa Population Census 1996, 1998: 14). The estimated 25 languages spoken in South Africa fall into three major groups: European languages, African languages, and Asian languages. In the discussion that follows each of these language groups will be described. Also, I shall discuss briefly the pidgin languages that have emerged as a result of contacts among the language groups under consideration, namely: Fanagalo, Tsotsitaal and Iscamtho. The European languages The European languages spoken in South Africa include two of the country’s 11 official languages, namely English and Afrikaans, and six immigrant languages: Dutch (7.89%), French (4.26%), German (27.05%), Greek (11.28%), Italian (11.15%) and Portuguese (38.36%), the de jure national language in neighbouring Mozambique (see Table 2) (Lopes, 1998). As already observed, English and Afrikaans are widely spoken throughout the country. The immigrant languages, however, are mostly concentrated in some of the country’s larger cities, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Durban. They function mainly as a medium of in-group communication within their respective communities. Some communities, e.g. the German communities in KwaZulu-Natal, or the Portuguese communities in Gauteng and Cape Town, have a well-developed network aimed at maintaining their languages (South Africa Year Book, 1998). These networks comprise private schools offering these languages as subjects and/or as a medium of learning; as well as after-school activities, cultural activities and church services conducted exclusively in these languages. Speakers of

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

201

Table 2 The European immigrant languages in South Africa Languages

Number of speakers

Percentage

Portuguese

57,080

(38.36%)

German

40,240

(27.05%)

Greek

16,780

(11.28%)

Italian

16,600

(11.16%)

Dutch

11,740

(7.89%)

French Total number of speakers

6,340 148,780

(4.26%) (100.%)

Source: Language Atlas of South Africa (Grobler et al. 1990: 17).

immigrant languages, particularly the older generations, are generally bilingual in their respective languages and English. Table 2 presents the estimated number of speakers of the immigrant languages.

English English came to South Africa via the British occupation of the Cape of Good Hope, now Cape Town, in 1795, to the detriment of Holland, to control the strategic Cape sea-route between Europe and Asia (Lass, 1995). In 1802 the British returned the Cape to Holland, which had occupied it from 1652 until the British invasion in 1795. But during the Napoleonic wars (1805–1815) the British occupied the Cape again and embarked at once upon the creation of a colony that was British in character as well as in name (Warwick, 1980: 12). This they did by, among other things, intensifying the policy of Anglicisation they had introduced earlier to the Cape during their first occupation of the territory. The policy of Anglicisation ‘sought to replace Dutch by English in all spheres of public life’ (Davenport, 1991: 40). All official posts were reserved for the English speaking. As Reitz (1900: 10) points out, ‘the Boers5 were excluded from the juries because their knowledge of English was too faulty, and their causes and actions had to be determined by Englishmen with whom they had nothing in common’. By 1814, English was firmly established as the official language of the colony (Lanham, 1978). Dutch, and later its offspring, Afrikaans, were suppressed by the British Government for ideological reasons. In education, for instance, Dutch children had to be taught in English rather than in their first language, Dutch. In this regard, Malherbe (1925: 414) notes that The struggle for the recognition of the Dutch language and of the principle of mother-tongue instruction has had a very long history in South African education .... From the times of the founding of the English school of Lord Charles Somerset (1822), of the establishment of Government Schools (1839), of the 1865 grants-in-aid Regulations, the Dutch-speaking child was at a disadvantage in the school with regard to his mother-tongue. The Governor of the Cape, Lord Charles Somerset, conceived it as their honest duty to anglicise the colonists as soon as possible because

202

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

they were only a little over thirty thousand in number, and it seemed absurd that such a small body of people should be permitted to perpetuate ideas and customs that were not English in a country that had become part of the British Empire. Already Sir John Cradock had issued a notice that no one who did not understand the English language would be appointed to any post in the Civil Service. (Malherbe 1925: 57) In furthering this aim to Anglicise the colonists, in 1822 Lord Somerset issued a proclamation requiring the use of English for all official documents from 1825, and for all proceedings in courts of law from 1828. Also, as Warwick (1980: 351) notes, state-funded schools were required to use English as the medium of instruction, teachers were expected to use their best efforts to promote Afrikaner acceptance of British rule, and imperial history formed a large part of the curriculum. The policy of Anglicisation struck at the heart of Afrikanerdom. The Afrikaners resented this policy for they saw it as a threat to their language, culture and identity. To counter this policy, they set up private schools where Dutch or Afrikaans (as it was called from 1925) was the medium of instruction. For the Afrikaners, as Hexham (1981: 132) puts it, maintaining their language, Afrikaans, was essential to preserve their national identity. To them, the future depended upon which language and culture would triumph in South Africa. Also, it was felt in some sections of the Afrikaans-speaking white community that Afrikaans was a gift from God to its white speakers, a view which van Rensburg (1999: 86) says ‘is abundantly clear in Afrikaans dictionaries’; and that God had not allowed them (the Afrikaners) to become Anglicised (Watermeyer, 1996). Afrikaner resistance against Anglicisation is, among other factors,6 said to have contributed to the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902, which the British won (see e.g. Moodie, 1975). British heavy-handedness in South Africa is said to have strengthened Afrikaner resistance (Skinner, 1998: 239). It is noted further that contemporary Afrikaner oppression of other ethnic groups often simply mirrors earlier British treatment of Afrikaners. The policy of Anglicisation lasted, in theory, until 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed, giving English and Dutch7 equal status as the co-official languages of the Union. In practice, however, the British never accepted parity between Dutch and English, especially in education. The British Government policy, for both political and economic reasons, had laid down that English was a prerequisite for state aid in education (Hartshorne 1995: 310). Also, according to a British official, quoted in Headlam (1931: 514), ‘the principle of the equality of the two languages [Dutch and English] had consistently been rejected by us [the British] from the first’. Thus, it is not surprising that the Afrikaners complained that their language, Dutch, did not receive the recognition guaranteed to it by the law, particularly in education. Malherbe (1925) remarks that, in 1915, the Education Language Commission was appointed to inquire into the working of the language Ordinance of 1912 (by which Dutch and English were made the official languages of the Union). The Commission found that ‘the law was not carried into effect, and that the Dutch-speaking child was the sufferer’ (Malherbe, 1925: 415). This situation changed only after the Afrikaners came to power in 1948. The status of Afrikaans after 1948 will be discussed below. English has a special status in South Africa both as a native language for some

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

203

(e.g. the younger generation of South African Indians and a segment of the white population) and as a non-native language for others (e.g. the black population). According to the 1996 census statistics, English is spoken as home language by 3,457,467 (9%) of the people including 1,711,603 (39%) Whites, 974,654 (94.4%) Asians, 584,101 (16.4%) Coloureds and 113,132 (0.4%) Africans. It has a wider distribution than most official languages, but the majority of its speakers are concentrated in metropolitan and urban areas. Two provinces, Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal, each have more than a million English speakers; these are followed by the Western Cape province with more than half a million speakers. In post-apartheid South Africa, English enjoys far more prestige than any other official language, including Afrikaans. Its fortunes date back to the heyday of apartheid, and especially after the Bantu Education Act of 1953 and the ensuing Soweto uprising of 16 June 1976. These two events, to which I shall return later, saw English become, in the minds of the majority of South Africa’s population, the language of struggle against, and liberation from, the apartheid system, whereas Afrikaans came to be perceived as the language of oppression, because of its association with apartheid (Barkhuizen & Gough, 1996; Shingler, 1973). In the new South Africa, English is the medium of instruction at most schools throughout the country, except at historically Afrikaans-medium schools and universities, where it competes for space with Afrikaans to accommodate Black students’ demand for English-medium education. English is widely used in the print media, on the radio, the television, and the Internet; it is the language of science and technology, of job opportunities, of interethnic and international communication and is the language most used for the conduct of the business of the state. It is seen by many as the language of power, prestige and status, and as an ‘open sesame’ by means of which one can acquire unlimited vertical social mobility (Samuels, 1995). In short, English is, as some people put it, ‘a language that can take you anywhere’ (Virasamy, 1997); and it is, in the words of Pakir (1998: 104), ‘a language with no sell-by date attached to it’. Despite all its positive attributes, in South Africa (and in other former British colonies on the African continent), English has been accused of being a double-edged sword for the following reasons. (1) Although it provides access to education and job opportunities, it also acts as a barrier to such opportunities for those who do not speak it, or whose English is poor (Branford, 1996: 36). (2) It is an important key to knowledge, science and technology, but it is increasingly being seen as the major threat to the maintenance of indigenous languages (Masemola & Khan, 2000: 11), as a remnant of colonialism and a cause of cultural alienation (Schmied, 1991: 121), and as a vehicle of values not always in harmony with local traditions and beliefs. (de Klerk, 1996: 7) The implications of the multiple functions of English in South Africa (as described above) for the maintenance and promotion of the indigenous languages will be considered in the final part of this monograph.

Afrikaans Afrikaans is spoken as a home language by 5,811,547 (14.4%) people including 2,558,956 (58%) Whites, 2,931,489 (82.1%) Coloureds, 217,606 (0.7%) Africans and

204

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

15,135 (1.5%) Asians (The People of South Africa Population Census 1996, 1998: 12). The majority of Afrikaans speakers are concentrated in metropolitan areas and urban centres in the Western, Eastern, and Northern Cape provinces. Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa, also has a relatively higher density of Afrikaans speakers (Grobler et al., 1990). Although, like English, Afrikaans is described here as a European language, its history is not quite the same as the history of English (Webb & Sure, 2000). Unlike English, Afrikaans evolved from an ex-colonial language, Dutch, on the African continent. In this sense, Afrikaans is not a European language in the way English is. Although its major source is Dutch, Afrikaans is not (and never was) spoken outside the African continent. As Skinner (1998: 239) observes, culturally if not philologically, then, it might even be considered an ‘African’ language, rather as Afrikaners can regard themselves as the ‘white African tribe’. Several sources associate the presence of Afrikaans in South Africa with the arrival in Cape Town in 1652 of approximately 180 Dutch settlers headed by Jan van Riebeeck; they came to erect a re-supply station between Europe (Amsterdam) and South-east Asia (Batavia) for the ships of the ‘Dutch East India Company’ (Vereenigde Oostindische Companie, VOC) (Maartens, 1998; Ponelis, 1993; Roberge, 1995). According to Grobler et al. (1990: 9), Afrikaans, as it is known today, originated from various 17th and 18th century Germanic languages that came into contact on the Cape. Combrink (1978: 70) disputes this view, for its proponents consider Afrikaans as a spontaneous development from the interaction of Germanic languages only. Drawing on research into the evolution of various aspects of Afrikaans, Combrink attributes the origin of Afrikaans to several sources, among them the Dutch dialects, which constitute more than 90% of the structure of Afrikaans; and several foreign influences (e.g. Khoi (also spelt as Khoe) and Southern Bantu languages, French, German, Portuguese, Malay, and English). Against this background, Combrink argues convincingly that ‘we are now in a position to declare that Afrikaans was born of a polygamous shotgun marriage involving several Dutch dialects, albeit under pressure of various foreign influences’ (1978: 70). Like Combrink (1978), Roberge (1995) and Webb and Sure (2000) also support the view that Afrikaans has a heterogeneous origin. In Roberge’s (1995: 68) view, three physically, culturally, religiously and linguistically distinct groups were primarily responsible for the formation of Afrikaans: these include European settlers (from 1652), the indigenous Khoikhoi (also spelt as Khoekhoe), and enslaved peoples of African and Asian provenance (from 1658). Similarly, Webb and Sure (2000: 39) point out that, because the Dutch possessed the necessary regional power in the Cape, their language became the dominant language and had to be learned by anyone who needed to deal with them. Out of this, Webb and Sure note, grew Afrikaans, a form of Dutch found mainly in the mouths of Dutch soldiers, sailors, Khoikhoi herders and labourers, and the slave community of the Cape. Afrikaans is characterised by a long history of struggle for its sociopolitical rights, a history8 which cannot be covered within the scope of this monograph. Suffice it to say that two developments at the turn of the 19th century have radically affected the political, economic and social context of the Afrikaans speech community. These are (1) the shift in the economic base from farming to mining after the discovery of diamonds (1870) and the hugely productive main gold reef

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

205

on the Witwatersrand (1886); and (2) the Anglo-Boer war of 1899–1902 (Hexham, 1981, Warwick, 1980). As a result of these developments and the Anglo-Boer War in particular, the ideological battle between English and Afrikaans that had started in the course of the 19th century intensified, and Afrikaans became the focus of Afrikaner nationalism and competing ideologies (Ponelis, 1993: 52). For the British and their English-speaking supporters, economic and political control was the ultimate prize. For the Boers, their very survival as a distinct people was at stake, and in the process of fighting the war, a national identity was forged where previously local attachments had been paramount and a sense of community diffuse and ill-defined (Attwell, 1986: 56). Put differently, the war renewed and strengthened ties of kinship between Cape Afrikaners and their brethren in the north of the country (Moodie, 1975: 39); it replaced an older fragmented political order with a unified state (Ponelis, 1993: 53); it gave the Afrikaners a much sharper image of themselves as a distinct people (Attwell, 1986: 79); and it brought British imperialism sharply into focus as the single entity that the Afrikaner nationalism sought to mobilise against. The major unifying factor in the Afrikaners’ struggle against British domination was the Afrikaans language itself. Before the war, and indeed for some time afterwards, Afrikaans was regarded as inappropriate for educated discourse (Moodie, 1975: 40). Rather, Afrikaans was described derogatorily as ‘a kitchen language’ or kombuistaal (Attwell, 1986; Watermeyer, 1996); as ‘a bastard jargon, ... the present atrocious vernacular of the Cape’ (Ponelis, 1993: 60), used and suitable for communication mainly between the Boers and their servants. Ponelis (1993: 60) reports that in a leading article, published on 19 September 1857, an advocate for Dutch (which was then the official language of the Cape) describes Afrikaans as follows: The poverty of expression in this jargon is such, that we defy any man to express thoughts in it above the merest common-place. People can hardly be expected to act up to sentiments which the tongue they use fail entirely to express. There can be no literature with such a language, for poor as it is, it is hardly a written one. These enduring sentiments, notes Ponelis, were the focus of the Afrikaner ethnic movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that would strive to attach to Afrikaans positive ideological content. The first meeting that laid the ground for Afrikaans to replace Dutch took place in 1875 and was organised by ‘a rebel society’ called the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (GRA) (The Fellowship of True Afrikaners) (Combrink, 1978: 69). This meeting constitutes the foundation of what came to be known later as the First Afrikaans Language Movement. Its aims were to promote the interests of Afrikaans (Webb & Kriel, 2000: 21) and to lay the basis for the political unity among white speakers of Afrikaans (van Rensburg, 1999: 80). The years following the Anglo-Boer War saw various sections of the white Afrikaans-speaking community (the clergy, journalists, academics) rally to the cause of, and argue for, Afrikaans to be elevated to the status of a language of culture. The rally for Afrikaans came to be known as the Second Afrikaans Language Movement. This was part of a general defensive reaction aimed at preserving Afrikaans as well as Afrikaner values and traditions from destruction by conquering power, Britain (Hexham, 1981: 128). The case for the elevation of Afrikaans was made more forcefully by a leading Afri-

206

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

kaner academic, Dr Malan, at a meeting of the Language Movement in Stellenbosch in 1908: Raise the Afrikaans language to a written language, make it the bearer of our culture, our history, our national ideals, and you will raise the People to a feeling of self-respect and to the calling to take a worthier place in world civilisation . . . A healthy national feeling can only be rooted in ethnic [volks] art and science, ethnic customs and character, ethnic language and ethnic religion and, not least, in ethnic literature. (Pienaar, 1964: 169, 175–6) The Afrikaans Language Movement therefore involved elevating the status of the language beyond a kombuistaal (i.e. kitchen language), using the intellectual base of the movement as a method of giving the Boers a sense of their own unique identity and of rallying them politically (Attwell, 1986: 66). As a result of the efforts of the Language Movement, in 1909 the Zuid-Afrikaanse Akademie voor Taal, Letteren en Kuns (The South African Academy for Language, Literature and the Arts) was established (later to be renamed and restructured as Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns or The South African Academy for Arts and Science) (van Rensburg, 1999: 80). The Akademie, through its Language Commission, devised the standardised Afrikaans orthography, the first edition of which was published in 1917 (Ponelis, 1993: 54). In 1925, Afrikaans was added to Dutch as an official language. The Language Movement, together with Afrikaner nationalism, procured official recognition for Afrikaans and, in this way, contributed to the spread of the language over the whole spectrum of South African society (Hexham, 1981; Moodie, 1975; Ponelis, 1993). The development of Afrikaans took centre stage during the apartheid era (1948–1994). The apartheid system turned the language into an instrument of social control over the majority of South Africa’s population, the (black) Africans (see Language Spread, below). During this period, Afrikaans was invested with almost mystical status (Skinner, 1998: 240) and enjoyed more privileges than any other language in the land. It was used extensively in all the higher domains including the media, government and administration, the army, education, economy, science, to list but a few. It was a compulsory subject for high school matriculation throughout the country. Knowledge of Afrikaans was a prerequisite for employment and proficiency in the language was required for positions in the civil service, teaching, the media, and in positions dealing with the public, such as that of receptionist (van Rensburg, 1999: 81). Today, as a result of the demise of apartheid in 1994, Afrikaans has lost some of the privileges it had during the apartheid era. For instance, Afrikaans is no longer required for matriculation at all high schools in the country and is gradually being replaced by English as the language of the army (de Klerk & Barkhuizen, 1998). It shares television air time not only with English but also with nine African languages. Despite these changes, Afrikaans remains both ‘a prominent transactional language in South Africa’ (Ponelis, 1993: 58) and the only language that competes for territory against English in most of the higher domains of language use. In the public sector, for instance, forms, identity cards, letterheads, public signs and road signs are written in Afrikaans and English, much as they were in the apartheid era. Similarly, written business transactions are conducted exclusively in Afrikaans and English; the text on the country’s

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

207

bank notes is written in English and Afrikaans. Afrikaans is no longer used in passports alongside English as it was in the apartheid era. Rather, the language has been replaced by French. In spite of this, the transactional use of Afrikaans is very well established in the workplace as well as in all the higher domains of language use. In this respect, it is not surprising, as van Rensburg (1999: 90–91) puts it, that more than any other language in South Africa, Afrikaans has taken on the functions of a lingua franca. It is noted further that, in many parts of South Africa, Afrikaans is widely used on factory floors and farms, in construction work, shops, and other places. These remarks suggest that, despite what some call ‘the fall of Afrikaans’ (Maartens, 1998: 32) as a result of the demise of apartheid, Afrikaans remains a vibrant language. The Asian languages of South Africa: Indian and Chinese These languages fall into two major categories: on the one hand there are the Indian languages, Gujarati (25,120 speakers), Hindi (25,900 speakers), Tamil (24,720 speakers), Telugu (4000 speakers) and Urdu (13,280 speakers); and on the other hand the Chinese languages (Hakka and Cantonese) (2700 speakers). The speakers of Indian languages, estimated to be 93,020 in 1990 (Grobler et al., 1990: 18), are concentrated mainly in the province of KwaZulu Natal, where there is the largest population of Indian-language speakers outside India – about one million. The Indians first came to South Africa in 1860 as indentured labourers to work in sugar plantations in Natal. Initially they used their respective languages for in-group communication and learned the pidgin Fanagalo for communication with outsiders. Mesthrie (1996: 80) points out that, when they came to South Africa some 140 years ago, the vast majority of Indian immigrants (perhaps 98%) had no knowledge of English. Since then, however, the Indian population in South Africa has undergone extensive language shift and now uses English for in-group as well as inter-group communication. In the 1960s and 1970s, English became the first language of a majority of Indian school children (Mesthrie, 1996: 81). The shift from Indian languages to English was caused by a combination of factors, among them the instrumental value of English, apartheid discriminatory language policies (Malherbe, 1925; Shingler, 1973), the attitudes of the Indians themselves towards education in their own languages (Prabhakaran, 1998), and what Mesthrie (1996: 81) terms a ‘closed cycle of reinforcement’ in language shift; that is, ‘in the homes parents learnt English from the youngest children rather than vice versa’. As a result of this process of language shift, today Indian languages are mainly used for religious purposes and are taught as subjects especially at the University of Durban-Westville, which, in the apartheid era, was designated as an exclusively ‘Indian’ university. Indian languages do not have any role in public life in the South African society. However, the new Constitution provides for their protection, as it does for other minority languages. Also, a number of community-based cultural organisations have been set up to maintain these languages. Maharaj (1974) identifies a number of organisations,9 which, according to Prabhakaran (personal communication, January 2001) are currently active for the Hindi-speaking community. The South African Indian Muslim community, says Maharaj, also has its own cultural organisations.10 There are other organisations,11 not listed in Maharaj (1974) but which, according to Prabhakaran (personal communication) also aim to promote Indian languages

208

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

and cultures in South Africa. The reasons for the ability of Indians and other South African Asians (e.g. Chinese) to establish such organisations, which empower them to maintain their languages, are religion and affluence. In terms of religion, most of these organisations use their respective community languages (e.g. Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, etc.) to teach religion to the younger generations. For instance, Natal Tamil Federation teaches Tamil through, among other media, the study of the Thevaram, that is, Hindu religious texts written in Tamil. I shall return to the issue of language and religion later. In terms of affluence South African Asians are, after the Whites and to some extent the Coloureds, arguably among the most well-off ethnic groups in South Africa. Therefore, they are able to set up organisations or schools that promote their respective languages. For instance, Hindi Sikha Sangh teaches Hindi reading and writing skills; Gujarati Khathiawad Association teaches Gujarati language and culture in Gujarati patasalas (schools). In spite of all these organizations, as a result of discriminatory language policies and of contact with economically more viable languages such as English and Afrikaans, the Indian languages do not seem to have a bright future in South Africa. Although the older generation of South African Indians may be conversant in some of the Indian languages and use them as home languages, the younger generation is largely monolingual in English. The other segment of the Asian population in South Africa consists of the Chinese, especially Cantonese speakers, who came to South Africa soon after the second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) to work in the gold mines (South Africa Year Book, 1999). It is not known whether, like the South African Indians, the South African Chinese have undergone complete language shift. However, it would seem that the older generations are bilingual in English and Chinese, and use the latter mostly for in-group communication. The majority of South African Chinese are concentrated in Johannesburg, Witwatersrand and Port Elizabeth. In accordance with current official language-in-education policy (see Language Policy and Planning, below), schools in these metropolitan centres that have a significant number of Chinese children offer Chinese as a subject in the school curriculum. The African languages of South Africa The African languages of South Africa comprise mainly the Bantu languages, of which four distinct groups can be distinguished: (1) the Nguni languages (isiXhosa, isiZulu, isiNdebele, and siSwati); (2) the Sotho languages (Sepedi, Sesotho and Setswana); (3) Venda and (4) Tsonga. As the 1996 census figures show (see Table 1), the Nguni language group is the largest with about 18 million speakers, followed by the Sotho group with a little over 10 million speakers, the Tsonga group with almost 2 million speakers, and the Venda with nearly a million speakers. (Also, see Lopes’ (1998) discussion of Bantu languages in Mozambique.) There is a clear relationship between linguistic affinity and the geographic distribution of these language groups. The Nguni languages are found mainly in the east and along the coast; the Sotho languages in the west and on the inland plateau; the Venda group in the north; and the Tsonga group in Mpumalanga (formerly Eastern Transvaal) (Schuring and van der Merwe, 1990: 73). All four language groups belong to what Doke and Cole (1961) call the south-eastern zone12 of Bantu languages, which covers a large part of southern

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

209

Africa, including South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Like other Bantu languages, the Bantu languages of South Africa are thought to have originally spread from the West African transitional area of eastern Nigeria and Cameroon (Cole, 1937: 309, cited in Schapera & Comaroff [1953] (1991); Wald, 1987: 285). From this area, Bantu languages were carried eastward and southward in several waves of migration starting no later than the early centuries of the first millennium CE. The term ‘Bantu’, which means people, was first coined in 1856 by W. H. I. Bleek, a German philologist, to refer to a vast ‘family of languages’, i.e. Bantu languages share certain common features (Guthrie, 1948: 9; Silverstein, 1968: 112). These include agglutinative morphology (i.e. extensive use of prefixes and suffixes together with stems in the formation of words), a concord of the pronouns with the nouns to which they respectively refer, and the resultant distribution of the nouns into classes or genders. So characteristic are these features for the large number of languages from roughly the Cameroons to southern Africa (excluding the Khoisan area in the south-west) that Bantu languages have often (in part) been genetically defined in terms of these features (Fivaz, 1981: 4). Although it is used widely in African language studies, the term ‘Bantu’ has been controversial, especially in South Africa, where the apartheid system used it as a racial epithet and official population designator (Herbert, 1993: ix). Accordingly, attempts have been made, but have not gained academic currency or acceptance both locally or internationally, to replace the term ‘Bantu’ with ‘Kintu‘ or ‘Sintu‘ (see, for instance, Khumalo, 1984; Mfenyana, 1977) or to avoid it altogether (Poulos, 1990: 2). Thus, in African language studies, the term Bantu remains the most generally used term to describe a family of languages that share the aforementioned features. The Bantu languages of South Africa were first reduced to writing in the 19th century, and until 1860 their literatures were confined to translation of scripture (Lanham, 1978: 16). The first printed text appeared in isiXhosa in 1823; this was followed by a dictionary in 1826, a grammar in 1834 and a translation of the New Testament in 1846 (Schuring, 1990: 27). The Bantu languages are primarily used for everyday oral communication and enjoy limited use in some higher domains, particularly in the media and education. In education, for instance, the official Bantu languages are used as a medium of instruction only in the first four years of primary education at predominantly black schools; after that they are taught in some schools, often in English, as optional subjects throughout the remainder of the educational system, including secondary and tertiary education.13 The official Bantu languages are also used in the media, especially on the radio and to a lesser extent on the television and in the print media (see Language Spread, below). According to the 1996 census figures, the speakers of Bantu languages, most of whom reside in rural areas, represent over two-thirds of South Africa’s entire population. That most of these speakers reside in rural areas should be understood against the background of the then apartheid regime’s notorious ‘pass laws’, whose main goal was to restrict the movement of black people not only from the rural areas to the urban areas, but also from one area of urban concentration to another (Omer-Cooper, 1999: 975). As a result of the demise of apartheid, increasing numbers of black South Africans have been flocking to urban areas in

210

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

search of employment and better living conditions. Consequently, the urban population of speakers of Bantu languages is likely to increase in the years ahead. In the next section, I shall briefly describe the Bantu language groups outlined previously, with a focus on the Nguni, Sotho, Venda and Tsonga, drawing mostly on Schuring (1990). But first, it is worth noting that besides these Bantu language groups, a number of other languages, including Bantu and non-Bantu languages, are spoken in South Africa. Mention can be made for instance of Bantu languages such as Shona and ciChewa, spoken by migrant workers from neighbouring African countries (e.g. Zimbabwe, Malawi); of pidgins such as Fanagalo, Iscamtho, Tsotsitaal, which are the product of contacts between indigenous languages, English, Afrikaans, and the languages spoken by migrant workers; and of non-Bantu languages such as Khoi-San (also spelt Khoisan or Khoesan) languages, of which only Nama is spoken in South Africa. Lanham (1978: 14) remarks that the Khoi-San distinction is a cultural one associated with salient differences between a socially and economically more complex society of nomadic cattle keepers (Khoi, meaning ‘humans’ and San, ‘hunter-gatherers’). The majority of Khoisan, especially Nama speakers, are concentrated in Namibia and Botswana, but a few can be found in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, where they are identified as ‘Coloured’ (Lanham, 1978: 15). The new Constitution of South Africa provides for the protection and development of the Khoisan languages. Nama is offered as a subject in schools that have a high population of Nama speakers. Recently the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) launched a radio station in the Northern Cape Province to promote the Khoisan languages: Nama, Xu and Khwe (Daily News, 12 September 2000).

The Nguni languages The Nguni language family includes isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele and siSwati. Each of these languages has its own history (for details see Schapera, 1937; Schuring, 1990) and all have, in their development, been influenced by the languages with which they came into contact, among them the Khoisan languages and later Afrikaans and English. The scope of this monograph does not lend itself to covering the history of each individual Nguni language. It is sufficient to note that the ancestors of the Nguni-speaking people migrated from central Africa and have settled on the east coast of South(ern) Africa since at least the 16th century (Ownby, 1981). Here, they came into contact with the Khoisan people, whose languages (most of which are now extinct) have left their mark in the Nguni languages. In particular, the presence in Nguni of the click sounds is evidence of the Khoisan influence on the Nguni languages. Linguistically, the Nguni languages can be divided into two groups: Zunda Nguni and Thekela Nguni (Schuring, 1990: 25). IsiXhosa, isiZulu and (Southern) isiNdebele belong to the Zunda group, while siSwati and (Northern) isiNdebele belong to the Thekela group. The main distinguishing feature between the Zunda Nguni and the Thekela Nguni is the use, by the former, of /z/ instead of /t/ and vice versa, as in isiXhosa imizi versus Siswati imiti (villages). Despite this difference, the Nguni languages are to a large extent mutually intelligible. The majority of South Africa’s population have one of these languages as a home language. In Bryan’s (1959: 152) classification of Bantu languages, the Nguni languages, isiXhosa, isiZulu, siSwati and isiNdebele, are placed in Zone S.41, S.42, S.43 and

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

211

S.44 respectively (also, see Guthrie, 1971). The term ‘Zone’ refers to a group of languages ‘which have a certain geographical contiguity and which display a number of common linguistic features as well’ (Guthrie, 1948: 28; for a summary of these features see Guthrie, 1948: 67–70). Thus, linguistically there is no reason to treat isiXhosa (S.41) as distinct from isiZulu (S.42), siSwati (S.43) or isiNdebele (S.44); they could easily be regarded as a cluster of dialects (Guthrie, 1948: 29). As a matter of fact, it is on these grounds that, about 60 years ago, a proposal was made and recently revived that the two main language groups, the Nguni languages and the Sotho languages (discussed below) should each be harmonised internally (Alexander, 1989). That is, a single written variety common to all the languages within each language group should be developed for use in school textbooks and to facilitate closer unity between the language communities. The language communities concerned (i.e. the Nguni and the Sotho) rejected harmonisation on three grounds. (1) They felt that developing a new language through harmonisation would result in the loss of their respective native languages and sociocultural identity (Webb & Sure, 2000). (2) Speakers of smaller languages within each group (e.g. Swati and Ndebele for Nguni and Tswana for Sotho) saw harmonisation as a malicious attempt to undermine their languages and assimilate them into the larger language communities. (3) Purists in each language group rejected harmonisation for, in their view, it would erode the ‘purity’ of their respective languages. Besides, some critics have characterised ‘harmonisation’ as ‘neo-Bantu linguistic engineering’, arguing that ‘no sizeable group of people has ever been willing to learn an artificial language which is not already the language of a speech community’ (van den Berghe, 1990: 59). Others see ‘harmonisation’ as arising from a fear or distrust of multilingualism, thus projecting the latter as a problem rather than a resource (Heugh, 1996: 46).

The Sotho languages The Sotho languages constitute the second largest Bantu language group in South Africa. This group consists of three major languages: Sesotho, Sepedi and Setswana, also known as Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho and Western Sotho, respectively. Sepedi (i.e. Northern Sotho) is the largest of the three Sotho languages, with 3.6 million speakers; it is followed by Setswana with 3.3 million speakers and Sesotho with 3.1 million speakers. All three varieties have developed from several Middle Sotho dialects. Like the Nguni language group, the Sotho languages (except, to some degree, Southern Sesotho) are also mutually intelligible. Setswana and Sesotho have official status in Botswana and Lesotho, respectively; they are spoken, each in their region, as first language by the majority of these countries’ respective populations. Setswana is a written language of the Middle Sotho dialects, as are Sepedi and Sesotho. Geographically, the main areas of concentration of the Sotho languages include, for Sesotho: the Free State, Transkei, Lesotho; for Sepedi: Mpumalanga, Lebowa (Northern Province), northern Gauteng; and for Setswana: Northwest Province, Northern Cape,

212

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Mpumalanga, and Botswana (Nyati-Ramahobo, 2000). Linguistically, the Sotho languages differ from the Nguni languages in that the former have fewer nasal clusters than the latter (Schuring, 1990). The first printed text in a Sotho language, a catechism, appeared in 1835 and was written in (Southern) Sesotho (or simply Setswana according to Breutz (1989: 10), who uses ‘Setswana’ as a cover term for all the Sotho languages). It was followed by a translation of the New Testament into Setswana in 1840, and readers in Sepedi in 1870 (Schapera & Cameroff, [1953] 1991: 11; Schuring, 1990: 29–30).

The Tsonga The Tsonga language group consists of Ronga and Tshwa, both spoken in Mozambique, and Xitsonga, spoken in South Africa. The Xitsonga speakers in South Africa come originally from Mozambique, where Tsonga tribes have lived since at least the 15th century (Schuring, 1990: 31). The Tsonga are said to be a very enterprising, innovative and mobile people, travelling and settling long distances away from their original home. The Xitsonga language itself is said to be a result of code mixing between Zulu and the original Tsonga dialects. A high concentration of Xitsonga speakers can be found in Gazankulu (Northern Province), Mpumalanga, and Gauteng. Some pockets of Xitsonga speakers are also found in Zimbabwe. Like the other official indigenous language (e.g. Tshivenda, isiNdebele, isiZulu, etc.) in South Africa, Xitsonga is used as a medium of learning in lower primary education, especially in Xitsonga-speaking areas, and as an optional subject in upper-level education including secondary school and university. Also, like Tshivenda and other minor official indigenous languages, Xitsonga is used in radio and television broadcasts, but not to the same extent as the major official languages such as isiZulu, isiXhosa, and Sesotho, let alone English and Afrikaans. Compared to the Nguni and Sotho languages which were written down much earlier, Xitsonga was put in writing by missionaries only towards the end of the 19th century. The Venda The Venda people migrated from Zimbabwe and settled in the Northern Province of South Africa at the beginning of the 18th century. Their language, Tshivenda, spoken by less than a million persons, is related to Shona of Zimbabwe and is the smallest of all the official indigenous languages in South Africa. Tshivenda shares common linguistic features, as already discussed, with the other official indigenous languages. However, it is not mutually intelligible with any of these languages. Schuring (1990) describes Tshivenda as a relatively homogenous language, with little dialectal variation. According to Poulos (1990: 8), the following are the only known dialects of Tshivenda, with the first considered to be the standard dialect of the language: Tshiphani, Tshiilafuri, Tshironga, Tshimbedzi, Tshilembethu and Tshitavhatsindi. Like Xitsonga, Tshivenda was graphised towards the end of the 19th century. Contact languages: Fanagalo, Tsotsitaal, Iscamtho The South African linguistic scene includes not only the language groups described in the previous sections, but also the following pidgin languages: Fanagalo, Tsotsitaal and Iscamtho. Brown (1995: 312) considers Fanagalo (also spelt Fanakalo) to be of uncertain genesis; while Cole (1953) describes it as a

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

213

mixture of isiZulu and English initiated by Indian indentured labourers on the sugar plantations in Natal from approximately 1860. Cole attributes the origin of Fanagalo to the Indians, because the Zulus referred to Fanagalo as isikhulu (the language of the ‘coolies’ – a derogative term for Indians). Mesthrie (1992, 1995a) disputes this view and argues that Fanagalo predates the arrival of Indians in Natal, describing it as ‘a pidgin language of Southern Africa’ (1995: 142), ‘stable for over a hundred years, showing the effects of contact between Germanic languages (Afrikaans and English) and South East Bantu languages (specifically the Nguni languages – isiZulu and to a lesser extent, isiXhosa)’ (Mesthrie, 1992: 57). The discovery of gold and diamonds in the 1880s led to the proliferation of mineworkers in Johannesburg and Kimberly respectively. The plethora of languages spoken by the mineworkers, some from as far afield as Zambia and Malawi, necessitated a common medium of communication. Fanagalo provided this medium. It seems that since then Fanagalo has gradually been replaced by Afrikaans, especially in the mines. The shift from Fanagalo to Afrikaans is said to have gained momentum after the election of the National Party Government in 1948. Whatever the factors in the development or the arguments over the origins of Fanagalo, most studies do at least concur that in South Africa Fanagalo is an urban, out-group language used mainly for communication between white employer/master and black employee/servant (Calteaux, 1996: 54; Makhudu, 1995: 298; Mesthrie, 1992: 57). In the black communities, Fanagalo is generally seen as a language of exploitation (Makhudu, 1995: 298), as an insulting language in which the white employer orders the black employee around (Lynn, 1995: 57), and as a language which the Africans (especially the educated ones) invariably associate with racist attitudes (Calteaux, 1996: 55; Ntshangase, 1993: 116). Despite all these negative attributes, there is ethnographic evidence, discussed in Adendorff (1995: 188–91) and in Calteaux (1996: 67) that, at times, Blacks use Fanagalo to express solidarity with one another and to reinforce interpersonal relationships, or to communicate with one another if no other common medium is available. Tsotsitaal, also known as Flaaitaal (i.e. ‘fly language’, from the English verb ‘to fly’ and the Afrikaans noun taal ‘language’) is mainly an Afrikaans-based pidgin which emerged early in the 20th century from contacts between a non-standard dialect of Afrikaans and Nguni languages (especially isiZulu) in the black townships in Johannesburg (e.g. Sophiatown) and Pretoria (e.g. Lady Selborne) (Ponelis, 1993: 61). Etymologically, the name ‘Tsotsitaal’ consists of the Sotho morpheme tsotsi (con, thief, city-wise) and the Afrikaans morpheme taal ‘language’. Iscamtho is an isiZulu/Sesotho-based pidgin arising from code switching between English and these two languages. Unlike Fanagalo, both Tsotsitaal and Iscamtho are in-group languages associated with criminality and commonly used in the townships for interaction among equals, especially younger urban black males or ‘townies’ (Ponelis, 1993: 59), to mark urbanism, slickness, progressiveness, sophistication, city-wiseness, modernity and in-group solidarity (Calteaux, 1996: 58, 73–5; Makhudu, 1995: 301; Ntshangase, 1993: 18; 1995: 292, 295). Calteaux (1996: 64–76) provides a sociolinguistic profile of each of the pidgin languages considered here, including their origins and developments, linguistic make-up, variations, domains of use, interlocutors, status, and functions in black communities.

214

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Language and religion South Africa is not only a multilingual and multiracial country, but also it is religiously plural. Besides the indigenous religions commonly known as African Independent or Traditional Religions, South Africa is also home for nearly every religious tradition that constitutes what has often been referred to as ‘world religions’: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Zionism, Zoroastrianism (Parseeism), etc. There are four major religions in South Africa. These are, in numerical order, Christianity, African Traditional Religions, Hinduism and Islam. Table 3 presents the number of Table 3 Membership of the various religions as a percentage of the total Religion

1980 census

1991 census

77.0

66.4

Hinduism

1.8

1.3

Islam

1.1

1.1

Judaism

0.4

0.2

Other faiths

0.1

0.1

No religion

2.1

1.2

Nothing/object

3.1

29.7*

Christian churches

Uncertain

14.4*

* The people in these two categories are believed to include many members of the African traditional religions.

Table 4 Membership of the Christian churches as a percentage of the total (Kritzinger, 1993) Churches

1980 census

1991 census

African Independent churches

26.6*

33.5*

Dutch Reformed churches (NGK)

17.9

15.6

Roman Catholic

12.3

11.4

Methodist

11.4

8.8

Anglican

8.4

5.7

Lutheran

4.6

3.8

Presbyterian

3.2

2.2

Apostolic Faith Mission

1.5

2.0

Congregational

2.5

1.9

Dutch Reformed churches (NHK)

1.5

1.3

Baptist

1.3

1.2

Dutch Reformed (GK)

1.0

0.8

Other Apostolic churches

2.5

2.8

Other Pentecostal churches

2.6

2.3

Other churches

2.7

6.9

*These figures include members of the Zion Christian Church, whose following rose from 2.7% of all Christians in 1980 to 7.4% in 1991.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

215

members of the various religions practised in the country and Table 4 the membership of the Christian churches. Subsequently, data will be presented about the languages in which the various religions are practised. In spite of this religious pluralism, in the apartheid era South Africa was persistently declared a Christian country, underwritten by a particular Protestant, national understanding of Christianity. The country’s inherent religious diversity was not officially acknowledged, nor was its linguistic diversity, except where this was convenient for the purpose of dividing and thus having political control over the majority of the country’s population, the Blacks. Christianity, says de Gruchy (1995: 28), developed in South Africa along two distinct paths. In the first instance, it was the established religion of the European powers, both Dutch and later British, who colonised the Cape from the mid–17th century onwards. The second strand in the development of Christianity came as a result of missions to the indigenous peoples of South Africa, peoples who were thought not to have any religion at all (see later), and to those who had been brought to the Cape as slaves from the east. The discussion that follows examines the role of the church and religion in language promotion in South Africa, with a focus first on Dutch, Afrikaans and English; and then on the African languages.

Dutch/Afrikaans, English and religion The first white settlers to arrive at the Cape, the Dutch, were Protestants and belonged to the Nederlandse Gereformeerde Kerk, or Dutch Reformed Church (DRC). Their commander, Jan van Riebeeck, a ship’s surgeon by profession, regarded the establishment and promotion of the Reformed religion as part of his mandate. Reformed Christianity, which derived from the Swiss Reformation led by John Calvin in the first half of the 16th century, had already become the established religion in Holland by 1579, after that country had won its independence from Catholic Spain (Chidester, 1996: 29). Against this background Jan van Riebeeck and the company he headed, the Vereenigde Nederlandsche Ge-Octroyeerde Oost-Indische Companie, or the United Netherlands Chartered East India Company, expressly forbade the practice of Roman Catholicism in the Cape. So, the Dutch Reformed Church became the established church at the Cape of Good Hope. Throughout the era of ‘Dutchification’ (see Language Policy and Planning, below), Dutch was not only the language of administration in the colony, but it was also the language of the Dutch Reformed Church. It provided the medium through which church services and activities were conducted. As will be pointed out in Part III, the status of Dutch changed when the British took control of the Cape from them first in 1795 and then effectively in 1806; they banned Dutch especially from administration and education and imposed English (hence ‘Anglicisation’) throughout the colony. The British authority used what Sundermeier (1975) calls the myth of the Chosen People to justify British imperialism in the colony. One advocate of this imperialism, Cecil Rhodes, justified it religiously as follows: Only one race ... approach God’s ideal type, his own Anglo-Saxon race; God’s purpose then was to make the Anglo-Saxon race predominant, and the best way to help on God’s work and fulfil His purpose in the world was to contribute to the predominance of the Anglo-Saxon race and so bring nearer the reign of justice, liberty and peace. (Sundermeier, 1975: 25)

216

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

In other words, the mythology of the Chosen People served, among other factors, as justification for Anglicising the conquered territories. English was the language not only of administration but also of the Anglican Church. With the Cape now in British hands, the way was opened for a steady inflow of English-speaking Christians belonging to various denominations including the Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, Catholic, and Baptist churches (Prozesky, 1995a: 9). Anxious to promote English and to further reduce the influence of Dutch, Lord Charles Somerset, governor of the Cape from 1814 to 1826, brought out Scottish Presbyterian ministers to serve in Dutch Reformed churches and Englishmen to teach in country schools (Moodie, 1975: 5). Despite these efforts, says Ponelis (1993), Dutch remained the language of the Dutch Reformed Church, which was then the most powerful Dutch church in the Cape. After the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), the ideological battle involving English and Dutch (later Afrikaans) intensified and, as was pointed out above, Afrikaans became the focus of Afrikaner nationalism. On the religious front, the battle against Anglicisation was led by the ‘Doppers’, that is, conservative members of the Dutch Reformed Church who considered themselves Christian Afrikaners whose whole development came from, and was the fruit of, Christian principles. Willem Postma, who introduced the term Doppers in his book of the same name published in 1918, explains that the term comes from the Dutch domper, the device used to extinguish candles. Like this device, the Doppers earned their nickname because they fought to extinguish the ‘new light’ of the Enlightenment (i.e. new ways of life introduced in South Africa by British imperialism through its agents, e.g. missionaries, soldiers, settlers and officials) which threatened to destroy Afrikanerdom. Accordingly, the Doppers were with heart and soul anti-English. For them, the threat of Anglicisation meant destruction of their religion, culture and language. They shared the view, expressed by Professor W. J. Viljoen of Stellenbosch, that, as a result of the defeat of the Boers by the British in the Anglo-Boer War, ‘The Republics (i.e. the Orange Free State and the South African Republic) have fallen and with them their independence, but our autonomy as a South African nation has been retained ... in two things: our Church and our Language’ (Hexham, 1981: 135). The two republics, now lost to the British Empire, inspired and became a rallying point for young Afrikaner writers, constantly challenging them to true patriotism. This is discussed, in religious terms, by Dunbar Moodie who says that ‘The Republics, like Christ, had come and yet were to come. Even as Christ’s resurrection was the promised first fruits of the final resurrection, so the Orange Free State and the South African Republic were the first-fruits of a republican second coming’ (Moodie, 1975: 14). As far as ‘language and religion’ was concerned, Hexham (1981: 135–6) adds that ‘while the return of the Republics was awaited, Afrikaans became the Holy Spirit of the republican movement, the Doppers. It was their comforter; a symbol and seal of the promised fulfilment’, and the sole instrument they had to ensure the survival of their nation and religion. So, the necessity of developing Afrikaans was seen by the Dopper leaders as an essential part of their struggle to maintain a distinct Afrikaner identity and thus preserve their own religious community. Put differently, to preserve their identity as a religious community the Doppers realised how essential it was to preserve the language, Afrikaans, which set them apart from the English. A Dopper writing in

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

217

the student magazine Fac et spera (Act and Hope) declared, ‘for our nation to survive our language must survive’ because ‘it is our language which makes our nation a separate nation’ (Hexham, 1981: 123). Another Dopper, writing in Het Kerblad (lit: The Journal of Knowledge) (4 January 1905), summed up these relationships between the church, Afrikanerdom and language as follows: ‘We struggle for the preservation of Afrikanerdom, our Nationality, our Religion, and our Language’. To maintain Afrikaans was, therefore, not merely a national duty but a religious one as well: ‘The soul of our private religious lives is our language’ (W. Postma, in The Vriends des Volks (The Friends of the People (28 October 1910)). The key to preserving their language was therefore religious: Postma adds, ‘Take away our language and we will become Englishmen and accept their (i.e. the English) religion’. The language, Afrikaans, would express the Afrikaners’ unique character as a people, or volk, with its own culture, history and religion, since no nationality could be created without its own language (Giliomee, 1989: 34). Reaffirming this religious legitimisation of the volk in 1944, the chairman of the Broederbond, J.C. van Rooy, asserted that God created the Afrikaner people with a unique language, a unique philosophy of life, and their own history and tradition in order that they might fulfil a particular calling and destiny here in the southern corner of Africa (Moodie, 1975: 110–11; Thompson, 1985: 29). The Doppers‘ preoccupation with and view of themselves as a distinct race, separate from the British and the Blacks, is said to have laid the seeds for afschieding (separation), later to become known as apartheid (Moodie, 1975; Villa-Vicencio, 1988). They were staunch advocates of this ideology of apartheid, with some arguing for its implementation from 1905 onwards (Hexham, 1981: 180). Accordingly, the Doppers advocated teaching biblical history in conjunction with national history so that one would succour the other and help create a strong national consciousness among Afrikaners. The church, which until then exclusively utilised Dutch rather than Afrikaans, was won over in the course of the decade 1910–1920 and gave its approval to the translation of the Bible into Afrikaans. In this regard, Ponelis (1993: 54) notes that a draft translation appeared in 1922, followed by the final version in 1933. The church’s endorsement of Afrikaans was followed, in 1925, by the recognition of Afrikaans as one of the official languages of the state alongside Dutch and English. The official recognition of Afrikaans prompted the state to begin systematic and widespread translation into Afrikaans, which presupposed extensive terminological research. A central bureau for translation and terminology was instituted in the civil service, assisted by similar bureaux in a host of government institutions (the Departments of Transport, Postal Services, Mining, Defence, Geological Survey, etc.) and parastatal organisations (the Broadcasting Authority, the Energy Supply Commission (ESCOM)) (Ponelis, 1993). The Dutch Reformed Church, and the Doppers in particular, saw themselves, as far as racial matters were concerned, as the mouthpiece for all Afrikaners. In this capacity, they declared: ‘It is the conviction of the majority of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans and the majority of the Dutch Reformed Church that the only way of insuring the continued survival of the nation is by observing the principles of racial separation’ (Strassburger, 1974: 190). As might be expected, after the National Party came to power in 1948, those principles of racial separation supported by the Dutch Reformed Church were legislated in the Mixed

218

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Marriages Act (1949), the Population Registration Act (1950), the Group Areas Act (1950), and the Immorality Amendment Act (1950). Also, the Dutch Reformed Church became more militant than the Government in demanding total racial separation (Chidester, 1992: 199). Conventionally, Protestant churches in South Africa have been separated by language (Hofmeyr & Cross, 1986). Churches speaking Dutch, and later Afrikaans, have been distinguished from English-speaking churches. The largest and most influential English-speaking churches have been the Anglican and Methodist churches (Hinchliff, 1963). Other churches that belong in this category of English-speaking churches include the Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists and Lutherans. Afrikaans-speaking churches include the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (i.e. Dutch Reformed Church), the one with the largest followings; and two Reformed churches, the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (founded 1853) and the Gereformeerde Kerk (founded 1859, also known as the Doppers) (de Gruchy, 1995: 28–32). The Reformed denomination churches remain the stronghold of Afrikaans, but that language is poorly represented among Roman Catholic churches, which in the main are English speaking. English is also said to be much stronger in the Charismatic denominations that are growing rapidly among Afrikaans speakers (Hinchliff, 1963; Ponelis, 1993). Afrikaans-speaking churches, though small, lent considerable support to the development of the ideology of white supremacy, Afrikaner nationalism, and apartheid. As a matter fact, Chidester (1996: 75) says that ‘the Dutch Reformed Church was organized as a branch of government. It rejected social equality of Blacks and Whites in South Africa, and promoted social differentiation and spiritual or cultural segregation’. The following section looks at the role of the church and religion in the development and promotion of African languages.

African languages and religion In this section, the European traders and missionaries’ view about the people of South Africa and their religious beliefs is presented to provide the background against which language and religion interacted in this part of the world. This will be followed by a discussion of the emergence and development of independent churches and of the impact of missionaries on the development of African languages in the region. Earlier contacts between Europeans and the indigenous people of South(ern) Africa began not with the first European settlers in the Cape, the Dutch of ‘Dutch East India Company’, but rather with the Portuguese navigators in 1488, especially Bartolemeu Dias, whose raising of a cross at Kwaaihoek on the south-eastern coast is the first known Christian act in South Africa (Prozesky & de Gruchy, 1995). Almost a decade later, in 1497, another Portuguese sailor named Da Gama gave a Christian name to the eastern coastal area, Tierra da Natal (Land of the Nativity), for he sighted the area, the present-day Province of KwaZulu-Natal, on Christmas day (Prozesky, 1995b). According to published research, these early contacts between Europeans and Africans had nothing to do with religion (e.g. Beck, 1989; Du Plessis, 1965; Greetz, 1973; Prozesky, 1995a). If the account given by Du Plessis (1965) of how the Dutch East India Company was founded is anything to go by, the contacts were based on commercial enterprise: In 1648, the Dutch East Indiaman ‘Haarlem’ was stranded on the north-eastern shore of Table Bay. The crew reached the shore in safety, and

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

219

made their way to the spot on which Cape Town was subsequently built. On their return to Holland five months later, two of the wrecked mariners named Leendert Jansz and Nicolaas Proot, drew up a document which they entitled: ‘Remonstrance, in which is briefly set forth and explained the service, advantage and profit which will accrue to the United Netherlands Chartered East India Company, from making a Fort and Garden at the Cabo de Boa Esperance’ ... The man to whom was entrusted the task of carrying out this important project was Jan van Riebeeck, a ship surgeon by profession, a man who thus became the founder of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. (du Plessis, 1965: 19) (emphasis added) It seems that, as Prozesky (1995a: 7) puts it, the European impact on South Africa was, neither in its origins nor in its subsequent main line of development, primarily motivated by religious conviction, and not especially by any great missionary concern for the soul of Africa. Reporting back home on their contacts with the indigenous people of South(ern) Africa, Portuguese, Dutch and English traders asserted that Africans had no religion (Chidester, 1996: 15). This assessment was echoed by early missionaries to South Africa. The London Missionary Society, for instance, assumed that Africans provided a natural focus for Satan’s attention, and saw them as ‘essential sinners, as people of wild birth and dark colour who, in the order of things, lived like children unknowingly close to evil’ (Landau, 1995: xvi). Landau observes further that African worship of fetishes was described, in the words of Godefroy Loyer in 1714, as neither a cult, nor a religion, nor rational, because ‘not one of them [the Africans] knows his religion’. As the Wesleyan missionary William J. Shrewsbury put it, the indigenous people of southern Africa lived ‘without any religion, true or false’ (Chidester, 1996: 13). J.T. van der Kemp wrote back to London in 1800 about Xhosa-speaking people he stayed with in the eastern Cape: ‘I never could perceive that they had any religion, nor any idea of the existence of God’ (Van der Kemp, 1804: 432). Twenty years after van der Kemp, the Methodist missionary to the Xhosa, William Shaw, argued that they (i.e. the Xhosa) ‘cannot be said to possess any religion’, while in the north, the Methodist T. L. Hodgson reported that the Tswana ‘appear to have no religious worship’, ‘with no idea of a spirit’ (Cope, 1977: 155, 367). Like the Xhosas, the Tswanas and other South(ern) Africans, the Zulus were also believed to have no religion. For instance, the survivors of the shipwreck of the Stavenisee, as reported by Simon van der Stel, the Cape Governor to the Netherlands in 1689, had discovered an absence of religion among people in the eastern coastal region: ‘During the two years and eleven months which they passed amongst that people (i.e. the Zulus)’, the Cape Governor recorded, ‘they were unable to discover amongst them the slightest trace of religion’ (Chidester, 1996: 118–19). Further, Chidester notes that during the 16th and 17th centuries, travel reports frequently coupled the lack of religion with the absence of other defining human features, such as the institution of marriage, a system of law, or any form of political organisation. In many cases, the diagnosis of an alien society without religion was delivered bluntly in the assertion that such people were brutes and beasts in comparison to Europeans (1996: 13). This initial, sweeping denial of African religion, says Chidester (1992: 38), represented South Africa as if it were totally open for missionary activity and

220

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Christian conversion. Soon enough, however, Europeans began labelling aspects of southern African behaviour in religious terms. Looking at BaTswana, for example, what might otherwise be called ‘invoked ancestors’ became demons, and dingaka (priest healers) aware of the ancestors’ presence were termed ‘sorcerers’ (Geertz, 1973). By the 1850s, Christian missionaries had been forced by their engagement with African resistance to conversion into acknowledging, grudgingly, that Africans did in fact have a religion, but one which, in the words of the government agent, J.C. Warner, in the eastern Cape, ‘ [was] a regular system of superstition which answers all the purposes of any other false religion’ (Chidester, 1996: 13). They discovered that the Africans did indeed believe in a Supreme Being, a God, and that this God had a name: Modimo in Setswana and Sesotho, uNkulunkulu in isiZulu and siSwati, Mudzimu in Tshivenda, xiKwembu in Xitsonga, uZimu in isiNdebele, Qamatha in isiXhosa, etc. This Supreme Being is closely associated with natural phenomena. The essence of mystery, It evokes a sense of awe. It represents the ultimate source of man’s well-being, but is not directly involved in the affairs of the living. Its influence is mediated through the ancestors, badimo in Setswana, amadlozi in isiZulu, makhulukulu in Venda, izinyanya in isiXhosa, etc. One missionary after another suddenly found evidence of this once ‘unknown God’ among the many language groups in the region. W.J Colenso found it among the Zulu in the 1850s, Henry Callaway among the Xhosa in the 1870s, and D.F. Ellenberger among the Sotho-Tswana at the beginning of the 20th century (Beck, 1989; Cope, 1977). In brief, the missionaries found that all Africans in south(ern) Africa, simply by virtue of birth, actually had a religion, a common, generic religious system that could be identified as Bantu religion. The discovery that black South Africans had a God was not an accident. Chidester (1996) explains that this discovery came about after the European colonial authorities, in collusion with the church, had achieved their initial goal to conquer and impose their power over the African people. Put differently, the discovery of an indigenous religious system in southern Africa depended upon colonial conquest and domination. Once conquered, dispossessed and contained under colonial control, the African people, who supposedly lacked any religion at the beginning of the 19th century, were all credited with having the same religious system at the century’s end (Chidester, 1992, 1996; Cobbing, 1988; du Plessis, [1911] 1965; Geertz, 1973; Hofmeyr & Cross, 1986). An assessment of the impact of missionaries in South Africa must acknowledge both good and ill. Indeed, Christian missions in South Africa were interlinked with the economic, social, and military advance of European colonial interests. In different ways, and with different intentions, Christian missionaries appeared as agents of conquest (Majeke, 1952). The implication of Christian missions in conquest gave rise to the common aphorism that ‘when the white men came to Africa, the black man had the land and the white man had the Bible, [but] now the black man has the Bible and the white man the land’ (Zulu, 1972: 5). Although in some ways they were destructive, the missionaries also brought tangible advantages. Perhaps most comprehensive were literacy and education (Ashley, 1974, 1980, 1982; Lye & Murray, 1980: 67). From the start, they founded schools, which remained the basis of local educational systems. The church became the first context where the indigenous languages were used as written languages. Put differently, the educational system of South Africa developed out

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

221

of the work of the churches. So the kind of language used in church and school became the ‘standard’ among the new elite. Kritzinger (1995) points out that of the larger churches, only the Dutch Reformed Church family (NGK) has an absolute majority of speakers of a specific language, Afrikaans. The Anglican Church family (AC) has 50% of its members speaking either English or Afrikaans as home language. The Zulu speakers, as the largest language group, have a strong representation (more than 1 out of 3) in churches such as the African Traditional Churches (ATR), Roman Catholic (RC) and Lutheran Churches. In general, every church has (on a national level) sizeable representation of ten or more languages. At the local level, especially in the rural areas, there are however many monolingual congregations. When missionaries first arrived in South Africa, they did not speak any of the local languages, so it was difficult for them to convert the Africans to Christianity. Initially they utilised a wide range of material means, goods and services, which might help promote this aim. However, they soon realised that to reach out to the indigenous people and preach the word of God to them, they had to learn local languages. The Protestant missionaries believed people had to get the Bible in their own language (Petersen, 1987). They were convinced that the experience of Pentecost, when everyone heard the message of the great deeds of God ‘in his own language’ (Acts 2), also had to become real for this new language group (Kritzinger, 1995). That is why so much effort was put into the reduction of the language into writing, and the subsequent translation of the Bible into the various African languages. By the turn of the 20th century, complete Bibles had been published in five South African indigenous languages: Setswana (1857), isiXhosa (1859), Sesotho (1881), isiZulu (1883) and Sepedi (Northern Sotho) (1904). The Setswana Bible of Robert Moffat was not only the first in any African language, these five were among the first eight to be published (Kritzinger, 1995). According to Human Science Research Council (HSRC) (1985: 20–24), in 1984 among South African Blacks there were 2,419,000 Methodists (11%); 2,022,000 Roman Catholics (9.4%); 1,300,000 Dutch Reformed (6.1%); 1,224,000 Anglicans (5.7%); 948,000 Lutherans (4.4%); 516,000 Presbyterians (2.4%); 297,000 Congregationalists (1.4%); and 141,000 members of the Apostolic Faith Mission (0.7%). European missionaries were later joined in their effort to spread the word of God by African independent churches that emerged and proliferated in number from the early 20th century onwards. In this regard, Oosthuizen et al. (1989: 5) note that from an estimated 32 independent denominations in 1913, indigenous churches had multiplied to 800 in 1948, 2000 in 1960, and nearly 5000 different denominations by 1990 with an estimated following of about 9,000 000 adherents or 30% of the black population of South Africa (Oosthuizen, 1987, 1989). African Traditional churches are known for their strong emphasis on healing. This emphasis appears to be one of the main reasons for the phenomenal growth of these churches. One of the most prominent independent churches that attracts a huge following mainly because of its emphasis on healing is the Church of the Nazarites, started in 1911 by the Zulu prophet and healer, Isaiah Shembe. By the time of Shembe’s death in 1935, the Church of the Nazarites had a following of nearly 30,000 members, almost completely comprised of Zulu-speaking converts (Sundkler, 1961: 133). Today, one can estimate that the Shembe church has a following of about two million adherents in southern Africa. Table 5 provides the

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

222

Table 5 The home languages of African Traditionalists (ATR), Hindus and Muslims in South Africa, 1980 (in thousands and percentages) Language

ATR

Afrikaans %

Hindu

Muslim

1

135

0.2

English

464

38.2 168

%

88.0

47.6

Gujerati

10

18

%

1.9

Hindi

5.1

21

%

4.0

Tamil

19

%

3.6

Telegu

2

%

0.4

Urdu

1

7

0.2

2.0

% N.Ndebele % N.Sotho

50 1.4 861

%

24.9

S.Ndebele

42

% S. Sotho % Swazi % Tsonga % Tswana % Venda % Xhosa % Zulu % Total %

1 0.3

1.2 175 5.1 121

1

3.5

0.3

339

1

9.8

0.3

130 3.8 66 1.9 421 12.2 1224

2

35.4 3456 100.0

0.6 527

353

100.0

100.0

Source: Republic of South Africa (RSA) (1985). Population Census 1980. Social characteristics. Report no. 02–80–12. Pretoria: Government Printer.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

223

figures about the home languages of African Traditionalists (ATR), along with Hindus and Muslims. As one might expect, African Traditional Religion is well represented among most of the black language groups, while Hinduism is found among South African Indians. Hinduism is to a large extent practised in one or other of the Indian languages. However, as a result of the language shift from the Indian languages to English, by far the majority of the South African Hindus are actually English speaking. South African Islam offers an interesting case study. Its official language is Arabic, the language in which their holy book, the Quran, was written, but classical Arabic is not a spoken (i.e. community) language and no form of Arabic is spoken in South Africa. This creates a formidable barrier to understanding. On the other hand, almost 40% of South African Muslims are Afrikaans speaking, and are generally credited to be original Afrikaans speakers (Kritzinger, 1995). (It is known that the earliest written Afrikaans was in Arabic script). Apart from the official use of Arabic, therefore, the Holy Book is also translated into Afrikaans and English and these languages are used in general instruction and personal worship. To conclude this discussion on language and religion in South Africa, let me reiterate that the country has a long history of language struggle, a history in which religion has been deeply embedded. On the one hand, religion has been implicated in forces of dehumanisation in South Africa. It has been entangled with economic, social and political relations of power that have privileged some, but have excluded many from a fully human empowerment (Chidester, 1992: xi). Some of the European missionaries who settled in South Africa worked as spies for the colonial authorities (Cochrane, 1987; de Gruchy, 1995: 62) and so played a major role in the oppression to which the African people were subjected. On the other hand, by introducing literacy and education in South Africa, among other things, the missionaries have contributed substantially to the development of the country and its linguistic heritage.

Language Spread This section discusses language use and spread in the media and education. With regard to the media, the focus will be on language use in the medium of television, the radio and the print media. With respect to education, I shall examine language spread in three historic periods, the pre-apartheid years, the apartheid years, and the post-apartheid years. Each of these periods has its own distinct characteristics. The pre-apartheid years are marked by the struggle of the Afrikaners against the British policy of Anglicisation. The apartheid years are marked by the policy of Bantu education, which, among other things, sought to bring Afrikaans to equality with English by using both of these languages as a medium of instruction in black schools. This policy and its legacy are discussed later in this section. The post-apartheid years are marked by the dismantling of the administrative structure of apartheid-based education and the adoption of a new education system, the outcomes-based education, also called Curriculum 2005. The section that follows describes language spread through education in the aforementioned three historic periods.

224

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Language spread through education

The pre-apartheid years In order to understand language spread through South Africa’s present education system, it is important to look back at the country’s past education system, and especially the legacy of colonialism and apartheid-based education. This is so because, although they often do, education systems do not always change just because there is a change of government (Hofmeyr & Buckland, 1992: 15). Also, as Archer (1984: 3) rightly observes, once a given form of education exists, it exerts an influence on future educational change. In the pre-apartheid years the South African education system reflected, in the main, the struggle of the Afrikaner people to escape the domination of the policy of Anglicisation introduced in the earlier part of the 19th century by British rule (Engelbrecht, 1992: 498). The British rule and with it English domination subsided, in theory, with the formation of the Union in 1910, when the parties involved agreed to bring English to equality with Dutch and to recognise the two languages as official languages of the newly formed Union: Both the English and Dutch languages shall be official languages of the Union, and shall be treated on a footing of equality and possess and enjoy equal freedom, rights and privilege. (Union Constitution, Article 137, quoted in Malherbe, 1977: 8–9) Accordingly, Dutch served as the medium of instruction in Dutch schools until 1914, and then its offspring, Afrikaans, took over unofficially as the medium of instruction. The change over from Dutch to Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools and colleges was ratified by Parliament in 1925 (Malherbe, 1977). The African languages had no place in the state’s educational system, whether as a medium of instruction or as a subject. Rather, the languages were marginalised along with the political marginalisation of their speakers (McLean, 1999: 12). In the early 1930s, missionaries requested that African languages be used as a medium of instruction in the early years of schooling. In this respect, Hartshorne (1995: 308) notes that by 1935 in all four provinces of South Africa ‘vernacular language was a compulsory subject or a prerequisite for success in junior Certificate (Grade 10) or Senior Certificate (Grade 12)’. In regard to the medium of instruction, Hartshorne summarises the policy as follows for African (black) education: the pupil’s mother tongue was to be used for the first six years of schooling in Natal, for the first four years in the Cape and the Free State, and for the first two years in the Transvaal. Thereafter an official language – in practice almost always English – was to be used as medium [of instruction]. (Hartshorne, 1995: 308) For the Afrikaners, the continued domination of English in education constituted a barrier to the spread of Afrikaans and was perceived as a threat to Afrikaner culture and identity. As Malherbe (1977: 3) observes, the Afrikaners felt that ‘the language of the conqueror (English) in the mouth of the conquered (the Afrikaners) was the language of slaves’. Against this background, the Afrikaners under the leadership of the movement The Afrikaner Broederbond (sworn broth-

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

225

erhood) started what came to be known as the taal stryd (the language struggle) (Lanham, 1996: 25) against die vyand se taal (the language of the enemy), English (Branford, 1996: 39). In education this struggle expressed itself in a commitment to separate schools, and in a rigid mother-tongue education policy (Hartshorne, 1995: 309). In 1953, that is five years after the Afrikaners took the reins of government in 1948, this policy of mother-tongue education culminated in what came to be known as the Bantu Education Act. I shall discuss this controversial piece of legislation in a subsequent section. But first, let me give a brief introduction to the administrative structure of the apartheid-based education system.

The apartheid years (1948–1994) In the apartheid era, South Africa had 19 distinct departments of education: one national and four provincial departments for White education, one department for Indian education, one for Coloured education, and 12 for Black education, including one department each for the various black ethnic groups that were then divided into the so-called ‘ethnic homelands’. Each department of education had its own language policies and was responsible for determining assessment policies as well as the content of the curriculum. While it is beyond the scope of this monograph to describe in detail the language-in-education policies of each individual department of education, under each a child was exposed to 12 years of general education comprising, seven years for primary and five years for secondary education. The educational system as a whole was divided into four phases: (1) the junior primary school phase (grades 1–3); (2) the senior primary school phase (grades 4–6); (3) the junior secondary school phase (grades 7–9); and (4) the senior secondary school phase (grades 10–12). At the end of the last year of secondary education (grade 12), each department of education required pupils to sit a written public examination, known as the matriculation examination. This examination determined access to tertiary education. The ethnic segregation of the apartheid educational system was in keeping with apartheid thinking that education was an ‘own affair’, that is, that each ethnic group had to look after its own interests including education (Hofmeyr & Buckland, 1992: 38). Accordingly, language, and first language in particular became central to apartheid-based education. For white education, English or Afrikaans was the medium of instruction throughout and beyond the 12 years of general education. In other words, there were English-medium and Afrikaans-medium white schools, with the latter being attended mostly by the Afrikaners, that is to say, South African Whites of Dutch descent. Education was segregated not only at the primary and secondary level, but also at the tertiary level. Separate institutions – both universities and colleges of education – were set up for Black, Coloured, Indian and White students. Like primary and secondary schools, white universities were also divided into Afrikaans- and English-medium universities to cater for the education of Afrikaans- and English-speaking Whites, respectively. That division exists to this day. However, it must be noted that in the current context the division is aimed at meeting the needs not only of the Whites, but also of the Afrikaans-speaking and English-speaking population at large. To cater for this population, most historically Afrikaans universities are increasingly becoming dual-medium institutions, offering tuition in both English and Afrikaans.

226

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

For ‘Indian’ education, as a result of the language shift to English in the Indian communities as described in The Language Profile of South Africa, above, English was used as the medium of instruction for primary, secondary and tertiary education. For ‘Coloured’ education, Afrikaans was, in general, the medium of instruction, since the majority of those racially classified as ‘Coloured’ speak Afrikaans as a first language. Thus, for each of the ethnic groups mentioned, education was provided exclusively through the medium of the group’s first language, English for Whites of British descent and the Indian communities, and Afrikaans for the Afrikaners and the majority of Coloured communities. Education for the Black people was different from that for other ethnic groups in many respects. First, in black schools, an African language was used as medium of instruction for the first four years of primary education, years during which, from grade two onwards, English and Afrikaans were taught as subjects. Second, English became the medium of instruction in the fifth grade. The switch from an African language to English as medium of instruction resulted in high rates of failure and extensive drop-out, and was attributed in part to the inadequate linguistic preparation of the pupils in the second language prior to the switch in the medium of instruction (Musker, 1993; Walters, 1996: 215). In this respect, Macdonald and Burroughs (1991: 15) observe that at the end of the fourth grade, the pupils may have acquired up to 800 words in English but the fifth grade syllabus required them to have at least 5000 words. According to Macdonald (1990) the disjuncture between the level of competence expected in the second language in the fourth grade and the adoption of this second language as the medium of instruction in the fifth grade placed too great a burden on pupils. Also, pupils learning any L2 will be assisted by linguistic contact with native speakers of the target language. However, in South Africa the policy of separate development made it very difficult for black pupils to have contact with mother-tongue speakers to practise their English. These pupils, being barely able to communicate in English, could not cope with the demands of the curriculum and so simply dropped out of school. The face of ‘Black’ education changed drastically with the advent in 1953 of the Bantu Education Act, which has had far-reaching implications for language education in South Africa. The following section provides the background to the Bantu Education Act and points out that this policy has impacted negatively on black South Africans’ attitudes towards the use of African languages as media of instruction.

The Bantu Education Act At the heart of the Bantu Education Act was the notion of ‘mother-tongue education’. UNESCO ([1953] 1995) defines mother-tongue education as ‘education which uses as its medium of instruction a person’s mother tongue, that is, the language which a person has acquired in early years and which normally has become his natural instrument of thought and communication’. The concept of ‘mother tongue’ is essentially vacuous. As Ferguson (1992: xiii) observes, ‘much of the world’s verbal communication takes place by means of languages that are not the users’ “mother tongue”, but their second, third, or nth language, acquired one way or another and used when appropriate’. This point can be illustrated

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

227

with the following extract from Mesthrie’s (1995b: xvi) interview with a 23-year-old student from Germiston (Johannesburg) about the languages he is proficient in: My father’s home language was Swazi, and my mother’s home language was Tswana. But as I grew up in a Zulu-speaking area we used mainly Zulu and Swazi at home. But from my mother’s side I also learnt Tswana well. In my high school I came into contact with lots of Sotho and Tswana students, so I can speak these two languages well. And of course I know English and Afrikaans. With my friends I also use Tsotsitaal. It is not clear what the mother tongue of the student who produced this text is. Ferguson (1992: xiii) suggests that the whole mystique of ‘mother tongue’ should be dropped from the linguist’s set of professional myths about language. The concept of ‘mother-tongue’ is being used here because it was central to the apartheid government’s language-in-education policies, particularly mother-tongue education. The campaign for mother tongue education was driven by the church and by the apartheid government’s philosophy of Christian Nationalism. The Christian Nationalism philosophy propagated notions of the separate identity and development of each volk (people) and of the God-given responsibility of the Afrikaner volk to spread the gospel to the native inhabitants of Africa and to act as their guardians (Shingler, 1973). Engelbrecht (1992: 499) observes that the basic values of this philosophy – among them the promotion of a Christian philosophy of life with the emphasis on Calvinistic beliefs; support for the principle of nationalism (a national ideal, traditions, religion and cultures); mother-tongue instruction and parental involvement in education – reinforced the doctrine of separate provision of education for groups of people with different languages, religion and cultures. In support of this philosophy and especially the notion of mother-tongue education, the church preached that ‘God had willed it that there [should] be separate nations each with its own language and that, therefore, mother tongue education was the will of God’ (Malherbe, 1977: 101). With the church’s backing, the apartheid Government saw to it that every ethnic group was educated in its own mother tongue. So, language became a yardstick for segregated education: isiZulu mother-tongue speakers had to be educated in isiZulu-medium schools; isiXhosa mother-tongue speakers had to be educated in isiXhosa-medium schools; the Whites of British descent had to be schooled in English-medium schools; their Dutch counterparts had to be schooled in Afrikaans-medium schools. What distinguished mother-tongue education for the Whites from mother-tongue education for the Blacks was that the former was an education with a difference: it was intended to promote white interests, to ensure that the white segment of South Africa’s population had access not only to the languages of power, English and Afrikaans, but also to the privileges with which these languages were associated. To achieve these objectives, the apartheid government introduced legislation known as the Bantu Education Act no. 47 in 1953. The Act, also dubbed ‘Slave Education Act’ (Grobler, 1988: 103), superficially had two main objectives. First, it was aimed at ensuring equity between English and Afrikaans by using them equally as a medium of instruction in black schools. Second, it was intended to extend mother-tongue education from grade 4 to grade 8 in black schools to

228

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

promote the philosophy of Christian Nationalism as described previously. It could well be argued that studying in one’s first language is cognitively advantageous and so extending first-language education up to grade 8 was in the interest of the learners (for a discussion of the advantages of first-language education, see Akinnaso, 1993, UNESCO, 1995, Walker, 1984). However, the subsequent political events in South Africa suggest that there was more to the Bantu Education Act than its above-stated objectives (see e.g. Alexander, 1997; Heugh, 1995a; Malherbe, 1977; Prah, 1995; RESA (Research and Education in South Africa), 1988; Shingler, 1973). First, for Dr Verwoerd, who engineered the apartheid system and its laws, the aim of the Bantu Education Act was to teach a black child that he [was] a foreigner when he [was] in White South Africa, or at best stateless; that equality with Europeans was not for him; that there was no place for him in the European community above the level of certain forms of labor . . . For that reason it [was] of no avail for him to receive a training which [had] as its aim absorption in the European community. (Malherbe, 1977: 546) Second, it seems that in the apartheid era, one of the motives behind the drive for mother-tongue education was linguistic nationalism, i.e. the identification of language with national or group self-interest. Thus, as Malherbe (1977: 72) observes, for the Afrikaner the Afrikaans language became the symbol of the struggle for national identity and in the course of time the State school was seized upon as the means to foster that consciousness of ‘a nation with a God-given destiny’. This struggle was aimed at achieving one prize, to make Afrikaans the sole (official) language of South Africa. This is clear from the following statement by Mr J.G. Strijdom, a one-time Prime Minister of South Africa: ‘Every Afrikaner who is worthy of the name cherishes the ideal that South Africa will ultimately only have one language and that language must be Afrikaans’ (Malherbe, 1977: 72). The thinking behind this statement was the myth of one-nation-onelanguage – for the ruling Afrikaners, Die taal is gans die volk (Language and nation are wholly one) (Webb & Kriel, 2000: 45ff). Also, in their view, ‘wherever a separate language is found, there a separate nation exists which has the right to take independent charge of its affairs and to govern itself’ (Williams, 1994: 5). This myth of one-nation-one-language, which in the apartheid era led to the creation of language-based ethnic homelands for the Blacks, resonates in today’s South Africa. Since the country became a democracy in 1994, some leading politicians in the Afrikaner community have been lobbying the Government for the creation of a separate homeland – volkstaat – for the Afrikaners, one in which Afrikaans would play a central role. Third, it is clear, again from Malherbe’s work, that first-language education was an exercise in acquisition planning (Cooper, 1989: 33), for it was intended to increase the number of users of Afrikaans. The apartheid government felt that requiring black pupils to have Afrikaans as medium of instruction would contribute to the demographic growth of the language. This is evident from a

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

229

paper entitled ‘Threatening Cultural Dangers’, published in 1937 by the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK) (Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Organisations): We must see to it that the Natives learn Afrikaans . .. If we should speak to the Kaffir (sic!)..., what language is to be used? I believe that it should be Afrikaans. That gives us another seven million people which will make our language the strongest and the preponderating one in this part of the world . .. If every Kaffir in South Africa spoke Afrikaans, the economic power of Afrikaans would be so strong that we should no longer need an F.A.K. to watch over our cultural interests. The Native will in future be a much bigger factor in the development of our country than is the case at present, and we must shape that factor so that it serves our purpose, assures our victory, and perpetuates our language, our culture and our volk . . . The Kaffir who speaks Afrikaans . . . can be our cultural servant as he is our farm servant. (Malherbe, 1977: 73–4) Fourth, by extending first-language education to grade 8, the apartheid system intended to restrict Africans to menial status and poorly-paid occupations (Prah, 1995: 68), to allow them limited access to the languages of power (English and Afrikaans), and to ensure that the majority of them failed to match the academic achievements of native speakers of English and Afrikaans (Heugh, 1995a). As Research and Education in South Africa [RESA] puts it, the ultimate goal of the Bantu Education Act was: to protect white workers from the threat of African competition for skilled jobs which emerged as a result of economic expansion coupled with African rural-urban migration during the Second World War; [to provide the Africans with limited skills in English and Afrikaans] to meet the demands of white farmers for unskilled African labor; and to produce a black population not only educated to a level considered adequate for unskilled work and subordinated, but which would also accept its subordination and inferior education as natural, as fitting for a ‘racially inferior’ people. (Research and Education in South Africa (RESA), 1988: 1–2, 6) Finally, the following quotation from a Christian National Education (CNE) pamphlet illustrates further the ideology behind the Bantu Education Act. We believe that the teaching and education of the native must be grounded in the life and world view of the whites, most especially those of the Boer nation as the senior white trustee of the native, and that the native must be led to a mutatis mutandis yet independent acceptance of the Christian and National principles in our teaching. We believe that the mother tongue must be the basis of native education and teaching but that the two official languages must be taught as subjects because they are the official languages, and to the native, the keys to the cultural loans that are necessary to his own cultural progress. (Article 15, CNE pamphlet, cited in Rose & Turner, 1975: 127–8) The Bantu Education Act had serious implications for the languages of learning and teaching in black schools. Black children had to receive education

230

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

through three languages, Afrikaans, English, and their first language; while for their white, coloured, and Indian counterparts education was dispensed exclusively in Afrikaans or in English, depending on whether one was Afrikaans- or English-speaking. The black pupils resisted first-language education, as promoted by the Bantu Education Act, because they recognised it for what it was: one of the strategies used by the apartheid Government to deny the Blacks access to higher education and thus restrict their social and economic mobility (Kamwangamalu, 1997b: 243). The black pupils saw education in their own mother tongue as a dead-end, a barrier to more advanced learning, a lure to self-destruction and a trap designed by the apartheid Government to ensure that the black pupils did not acquire sufficient command of the high-status languages (English and Afrikaans), for such education would enable them to compete with their white counterparts for well-paying jobs and prestigious career options (Alexander, 1997: 84). The resistance to first-language education was a resistance to Verwoerdian instruments of repression, intended to limit access to the mainstream of political and economic life (Nomvete, 1994). The resistance to Afrikaans was a resistance to what was perceived as a language of oppression, as well as a desire for greater access to English. The black pupils’ resistance to the Bantu Education Act, and the apartheid Government’s determination to impose it, led to the bloody Soweto uprising of 16 June 1976, which marked the end of Afrikaans as a language of learning and teaching in black schools and concomitantly boosted the status of an already powerful language, English, not only in these schools, but also in the black communities as a whole. Thus, for the black people English became the language of liberation, despite the fact that prior to the rise of Afrikaans both the Boers and the Blacks viewed English as an instrument of domination. The Boers’ feelings towards English need not be explained any further. For the Blacks, the view that English was an instrument of domination was reiterated by the current ruling party (the ANC) as recently as 1992, when the organisation referred to English as ‘a shackled language’: English is in many ways a shackled language in the sense in which any language that has been used for exclusion, division or domination is a shackled language: it becomes trapped in the interests of money makers and power makers. (ANC, 1992: 7) In response to the pupils’ resistance against first-language education, the apartheid Government amended the Bantu Education Act in 1979 and reintroduced African languages as the medium of learning for the first four years of primary school, after which parents could choose one of the then two official languages – English or Afrikaans – as the medium of instruction. This policy was entrenched in Act 90 of 1979, which included the following clause on the medium of instruction: that the universally accepted education principle of the use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction must be observed: Provided that this principle shall be applied at least up to and including Standard Two (i.e., grade 4): Provided further that wishes of the parents shall be taken into consideration in the application of this principle after Standard Two, and

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

231

also in the choice of one of the official languages as a medium of instruction where the mother tongue cannot be used as a medium of instruction after Standard Two. (Hartshorne, 1995: 313) In spite of the language choice offered by the policy, and against the background of the events of 16 June 1976, the black population opted for English as the medium of instruction in their schools (Cluver, 1992: 119). This situation prevails to this day. Hartshorne (1987: 92) points out that African opinion never became reconciled to the extension of first-language medium beyond Standard 2 (i.e. grade 4). Thus first-language education, at least for the black population, became stigmatised in South Africa, even after Bantu Education was largely abolished. Along these lines, Heugh (1995b: 342) notes that the rejection of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in 1976 has had the uncalculated effect of advancing the position of English, not only over Afrikaans, but also over African languages. Attempts to promote the indigenous African languages are seen with suspicion and are considered as a neo-apartheid strategy designed to separate Whites from Blacks and, even more importantly, to split Blacks (Makoni, 1997: 15). The legacy of the Bantu Education Act foreshadowed current negative attitudes towards the use of African languages as languages of learning and teaching. This is a stumbling block in efforts to promote these languages. It is against this background and in an attempt to break with past language-in-education discriminatory policies that the current multilingual language policy was developed and enshrined in the country’s new Constitution. The new policy is discussed under Language Policy and Planning, below. For now, let me turn to language spread through education after apartheid.

The post-apartheid years (1994-) As a result of the demise of apartheid, a number of changes have taken place in the South African education system. First, during the apartheid era education was not compulsory for all population groups. But there was, as a matter of government policy, ten years’ compulsory schooling for white children (van Rensburg, 1999: 84). For black children, the struggle for liberation against apartheid took precedence over education. In post-apartheid South Africa, however, education is compulsory for all population groups including children between seven and 15 years of age (Department of Education, 1997: The South African Schools Act 84). Second, a single, unified and non-racial education system14 has been established. Instead of the 19 departments of education of the apartheid era, South Africa now has a single national and nine provincial education departments. Since segregated education15 has ended, pupils are free to attend any school and to be taught in a language of their choice. The schools are, in theory at least, expected to grant the pupils’ wish and promote multilingualism. With this in mind, from grade 3 onwards all pupils are required to study the language in which they are taught plus at least one other approved language, i.e. minority languages such as the Indian languages (Tamil, Hindi, etc.). A pupil who fails a language subject cannot be promoted to the next grade (South Africa Year Book, 1999: 339). According to the National Department of Education, there are 30,000 public schools (grades 1–12) in South Africa. In 1998 the number of students at

232

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

these schools was estimated to be 11,921,948. The average pupil-teacher ratio varies considerably, depending on whether a school is located in an urban or a rural area, whether it was formerly a ‘White’, ‘Indian’, ‘Coloured’ or ‘Black’ school. Whatever the case, it is common knowledge in South Africa that formerly white schools have the lowest pupil-teacher ratios, (approximately 30: 1), whereas formerly black schools have the highest pupil-teacher ratios, (approximately 60: 1 in urban areas, and about 100: 1 or more in rural areas). The third major change in the South African education system is the new national curriculum based on the principles of outcomes-based education, which was introduced in all grade 1 classes in January 1998. The new curriculum, known as Curriculum 2005, is described in the next section. For now, let me say that despite the changes outlined above, in terms of the medium of instruction and, to a large extent, the assessment policies, the South African education system has remained relatively unchanged. I shall first consider the issue of the medium of instruction. In this respect, South African schools at all levels including primary, secondary and tertiary institutions fall into two language-based categories, much as they were during the apartheid era. There are the English-medium schools on the one hand, and the Afrikaans-medium schools on the other. In regard to the English-medium schools, in the apartheid era non-English-speaking background students were required to learn English as a second language (L2). However, in the new South Africa the distinction between ‘English as a first (L1) and/or second (L2) language’ has been called into question. For instance, Young (1988: 8) argues that the ‘apartheid’ labels L1 and L2 should be discarded because they imply that Blacks are not able to assimilate western language and culture. Policy makers voice a similar view, i.e. that the term ‘second language’ implies a ‘deficit view of language competence’ (ANC, 1992: 2) and that ‘the aim of a fully bilingual education system is rather to achieve a single level of language proficiency by the end of compulsory schooling’ (Barkhuizen & Gough, 1996: 459). In 1993 a Core Syllabus Committee for English was set up to look into this issue. The committee noted that the use of the terms English as a first- and/or second-language is complicated by the fact that most second-language learners, even those in rural areas for whom English can be described as a foreign language, use English as their medium of instruction. Therefore, the committee proposed that: these terms [English as a first or second language] be replaced with the term English. Nevertheless, the principle of equity demands some acceptable and brief way of acknowledging the verifiable differences . . . between mother-tongue and non-mother-tongue learners of English. For this purpose then, it is proposed that a growing international practice of referring to all learners for whom English is not their mother-tongue as bilingual learners of English, be adopted. (Murray & van der Mescht, 1996: 258) Since then, there seems to be a trend (as yet to be documented) for everyone in English-medium schools, irrespective of home language, invariably to learn English as L1 and Afrikaans or an African language as L2. In Afrikaans-medium schools everyone learns Afrikaans as L1 and at least one other language, in practice most commonly English, as L2. Unlike in English-medium schools, in Afrikaans-medium schools there seems to be no need to distinguish between

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

233

Afrikaans as a first and/or as a second language since these schools are attended mostly by native speakers of Afrikaans. Whether the school is an English- or an Afrikaans-medium school, English and Afrikaans have the same time allocation. At the primary school level, a first-language subject (English or Afrikaans or an African language) is taught for five–30-minute periods per week, or a total of 150 minutes per week. What this means is that since in South Africa a school year is 41 weeks long, in English-medium primary schools, pupils have 205 periods of 30 minutes each during which they study English, i.e. a total of 103 hours per school year. At the secondary school level a first-language subject is taught for five periods of 50 minutes each per week, i.e. a total of 250 minutes per week or 171 hours per school year. A language taught as L2, such as Afrikaans in an English-medium school or English or an African language in an Afrikaans-medium school, is allocated four periods of 50 minutes each per week, i.e. a total of 200 minutes per week or 137 hours per school year. Recent developments in education, such as the Curriculum 2005, suggest that the amount of time allotted to language instruction was not sufficient. According to the 1997 language-in-education policy, 70% of class time is now to be spent on language instruction (and maths). In predominantly black schools, especially those located in rural areas, African languages continue to be used as the medium of instruction for the first four years of primary school, much as they were in the apartheid era. However, recent trends in language education suggest that, in these schools, even where no qualified English teachers are available, English is increasingly being used, in whatever form, as the medium of instruction from grade one onwards. Preference for English as a medium of instruction is mainly due to economic considerations. As Bendor-Samuel (quoted in Eggington & Baldauf, 1990: 100) points out, a language must ‘fill a hole’ in the community for the teaching of that language to be viable and meaningful. Accordingly, most black parents are opting for English-medium education from day one of schooling because of the instrumental value of the language. They consider education in an African language as ‘miseducation’16 and useless, for it has no cachet in the broader socioeconomic and political context. Along these lines, black parents who can afford to do so send their children to formerly white schools (commonly known as ‘Model C schools’) to expose them early to English and quality education, since these schools remain the best equipped both in terms of facilities and teacher qualification. This state of affairs has not helped the new language policy (see below) to achieve its goal of promoting additive bi-/multi-lingualism in education. On the contrary, even in predominantly black schools, there seems to be a general trend towards the use of English as the sole medium of instruction from grade one onwards. A number of questions arise as a result. How does one promote multilingualism in education if African languages are not used as a medium of instruction throughout the entire educational system? How does one promote African languages as the medium of instruction against the stigma left by the Bantu Education Act? If the distinction between English as L1 and/or L2 is not maintained, how does one prevent the emergence of a society in which, as Peirce (1992: 6) warns, power is concentrated in a minority of speakers of standard English? Should the country reintroduce first-language education despite its

234

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

close association with apartheid, or should it promote English-medium education despite its elitist nature and the high failure and dropout rates, especially among black learners. Future language-in-education policies must address these issues if attempts to implement multilingualism in education in South Africa are to succeed. Assessing language subjects in South African education In South Africa, assessing language subjects is a very complex process, especially at the senior secondary school level (i.e. grades 10–12). Unlike in primary school and junior secondary school, in senior secondary school pupils are required to choose at least six subjects for the Senior Certificate Examination. The Department of Education (1999: 9) describes the Senior Certificate Examination as serving a critical role in the current education system. It is the culmination of 12 years of educational endeavour and serves as the entrance into higher education by accrediting school leavers with a certificate of achievement. The six (or more) subjects for the Senior Certificate Examination must include at least two languages, one of which must be the medium of instruction (that is English for English-medium and Afrikaans for Afrikaans-medium schools). The other four (or more) subjects can be chosen one each from the following, non-exhaustive, lists: (1) science/biology; (2) geography/history/drama/art; (3) Afrikaans L2/Zulu L2 (or English L2 for Afrikaans-medium schools); (4) science/drama/home economics; (5) mathematics/typing/business economics. Some subjects, such as science and drama, appear in more than one list to give students more options in choosing their subject package. Each of the subjects, including the language subjects, may be taken on either the Higher Grade or Standard Grade level.17 But the Matriculation Board prescribes that at least three subjects must be passed on the Higher Grade for a learner to qualify for admission to university. A subject taken on the Higher Grade level is studied in depth and is more difficult than a subject taken on the Standard (or Lower) Grade. Accordingly, there is a different syllabus for each level at which a subject is studied; and there are different examinations, one each for the various syllabi. Each provincial department of education sets its own matriculation examinations for all the subjects. As Barkhuizen and Gough (1996: 465) aptly point out, this means that the range of language assessment in South African education is extremely broad, and the quality of assessment enormously variable. The only link between the various ranges of assessment is that they all aim at one goal: to decide by means of the Senior Certificate Examination whether or not a learner qualifies for entrance to university or technikon. In each province, the matriculation examinations are assessed anonymously by grade 12 teachers appointed by the province’s Department of Education on the basis of their academic qualifications and teaching experience at the grade 12 level. In a recent press statement the Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, has indicated that by 2005 all these various matriculation examinations will be brought under one roof; that is, there will be only one matriculation examination for all grade 12 pupils throughout the country (Daily News, 11 September 2001, p. 3). There are 22 full-fledged universities and 15 technikons in South Africa. The technikons are tertiary institutions that provide vocational education to supply

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

235

the labour market with individuals who have particular skills, as well as adequate technological and practical knowledge in a specific field (Rauntenbach, 1992: 358). In South Africa, vocational education usually starts after the age of 16 and follows a general preparatory education. Seventeen of the universities are English-medium institutions and five formerly Afrikaans-medium universities have largely become English/Afrikaans-medium institutions. Like Afrikaansmedium secondary schools, since the end of apartheid, Afrikaans-medium universities have also opened their doors to black students. Note that the majority, if not all, of these students are not native speakers of Afrikaans. Accordingly, all Afrikaans-medium universities, whose population includes a substantial number of black students, offer an English-medium stream to accommodate the needs of these students. It seems that, in future, Afrikaans-medium universities are most likely to operate on a dual-medium system, thus offering tuition in both Afrikaans and English. This is likely to occur, especially in the light of the strong competition among the universities to attract students from previously disadvantaged communities. Language education in the outcomes-based Curriculum 2005 As observed earlier, the Ministry of Education introduced a new national curriculum in 1998, Curriculum 2005, which is to gradually replace the curriculum the country has inherited from the apartheid-based education system. The new curriculum was initially scheduled to be implemented in grades 1–9 by the year 2005, hence the name ‘Curriculum 2005’. However, due to the difficulties it has encountered in its efforts to implement the outcomes-based education (OBE) system (see below), the Department of Education has decided not to implement the plan by 2005 but to aim at a later date. It is now projected that the revised curriculum will be implemented by 2008. The rationale for introducing the new curriculum is that, under the previous system, learners of different racial groups did not get the same quality education. Curriculum 2005 is based on the concept of OBE. According to Spady (1995), who is regarded as the founder of OBE, outcomes are what learners can actually do with what they know and have learned; that is, the tangible application of what has been learned. An outcomes-based education is a learner-centred, results-orientated approach to education based on the expectation that all learners can learn and succeed (Department of Education, 1998b). One of the key characteristics of OBE is the acknowledgement of, and support for, the learners’ use of their primary languages for acquiring knowledge, whether or not such languages are the formal languages of the school for learning and teaching. Other characteristic features of the OBE system include the following. Learning is considered an interactive process occurring between the teachers (educators) and the learners, with the latter playing a central role in the learning process, and the former serving as facilitators. The focus of learning is on what learners should know and do – the outcomes. A strong emphasis is put on cooperative learning, especially group work on common tasks or activities. The learner’s progress is determined on the basis of continuous assessment, rather than on year-end examinations or on the accumulation of a series of traditional test results (Gultig et al., 1998). OBE may be a new concept in the South African context, but it has been imple-

236

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

mented in many first world countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom, most often in training. In South Africa, the idea of OBE seems to have come about after the members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) visited Australia and New Zealand in the early 1990s and were impressed with OBE as a model for training (Department of Education, 1997). Since its announcement in 1997 and its subsequent launch in 1998, Curriculum 2005 has received a mixed reaction from the stakeholders. To my knowledge, and except for a lone three-day conference on OBE organised by the Western Cape Department of Education in December 1999, there has been very little academic debate on OBE in South Africa (e.g. Gultig et al., 1998). The argument for or against OBE has been aired mostly in the local newspapers. The opponents of OBE, among them a mix of journalists, members of opposition political parties and right-wingers, have said that OBE is a ‘very dangerous experiment in social engineering’ (Sunday Times, 22 June 1997). According to its critics, OBE has been a disaster in the first world countries where it has been implemented. The critics see it: as a system aimed at producing ‘confident illiterates’, a system which refutes the need for competition and its essential element: individual excellence. It is based on the group and seeks not so much to endow children with skills as to make them feel good and to raise their self-esteem. (Sunday Times, 1 June 1997) In contrast, the proponents of OBE, including the current ruling party (The African National Congress) and their associates, refer to the achievements of the OBE system in the very same first world countries where, according to the critics, OBE has been a failure. For instance, in a newspaper article, van der Horst and McDonald (1997) remark that: having studied the instructional systems of some states in the United States, Australia, South America, the United Kingdom (including the Scottish system), various European countries as well as Singapore and Japan, it became clear to us that outcomes-based education has a place and function in South Africa at this time. (Sunday Times, 22 June 1997) The proponents of OBE argue that those who oppose OBE have ‘allegiance to the elitist, inequitable and fragmented status quo which protects their privileges while condemning millions to a life of poverty, illiteracy and ignorance’ (Sunday Times, 15 June 1997). It may be too soon to comment on the merits or demerits of OBE for South African education. Just because OBE has succeeded or has failed in the first world context does not necessarily mean that it will succeed or fail in South Africa. Only after OBE has been implemented at least partially in the latter context would we be able to tell which way the pendulum might swing. In this regard, a recent study (Holman, 2001: 8) assessing OBE in 65 schools in Johannesburg, indicates that thus far OBE has been successful. In particular, the study set out to examine learner performance in these schools. It was based on the OBE standards test that enables schools to compare their learners’ performance with an average obtained by all participating schools. The study summarises its findings as follows:

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

237

learners are performing as well as under the previous system, and sometimes even better. The ability of children to think and solve problems is improving. There are, however, some problems that require immediate attention, especially in the areas of literacy, mathematics, and group work. With regard to literacy, Holman (2001) observes that teachers appear to concentrate more on vocabulary, verbal skills and language structure at the expense of reading. This, Holman explains, is perhaps due to misinterpretation of the OBE instruction that says, ‘let learners find their own answers’. This does not necessarily mean that teachers cannot assist the learners, particularly the weak ones, when the need arises. With regard to mathematics, the study shows that there seems to be too much emphasis on measuring to the detriment of basic arithmetic and number patterns. Finally, Holman (2001) says that teachers mistakenly equate OBE with group work. As a result, weak pupils tend to rely too much on the group rather than strive for individual achievement. Teachers should ensure that all learners understand the language of tuition. The latest input on Curriculum 2005 is that it will be streamlined according to the recommendations of a group of academics who reviewed it recently at the request of the Minister of Education (Sunday Times, 20 August 2000). As far as language is concerned, 70% of classroom time will now be allocated to language teaching/learning and mathematics in grades 1 to 3 and 50% from grade 4 onwards. The complex jargon of OBE will be eliminated so that the discourse on OBE can become accessible to the stakeholders. Other changes are envisaged, among them the following: a plan to translate the English-language policy documents into Afrikaans, Sotho and an Nguni language (isiZulu, isiXhosa, Ndebele or siSwati: it is not as yet clear which one of these languages will be chosen and why); and a clear statement of what pupils should achieve, and how they should go about it. In this regard, it is noted that by the end of grade 9, pupils should be able to communicate effectively; solve problems through critical thinking; organise and manage activities responsibly; work with others; collect, analyse, organise and evaluate information; use science and technology; and understand how the world functions as a whole (Sunday Times, 5 August 2001, p. 7). Put differently, the revamped, much improved and leaner-centred Curriculum 2005 aims to ensure that no pupil will leave school at the end of grade 9, which is the cut-off grade for compulsory schooling in South Africa, unable to read, count and write. In spite of all the changes highlighted here, the key features of OBE as described earlier will remain at the core of Curriculum 2005. According to the Department of Education, the retention of the main features of OBE is a rejection of the apartheid philosophy of Christian National Education (Sunday Times, 20 August 2000). Table 6 presents a summary of curriculum reform in South Africa since the Bantu Education Act of 1953 as well as the various stages in the development of Curriculum 2005 (Potenza, 2001).

238

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Table 6 South Africa’s Curriculum reform timeline 1953–1994: Bantu Education1953 and Christian National Education 1967

2003: Implementation of C2005 in its existing form in grade 6. Training of teachers in the National Curriculum Statement. Development of textbooks and other learning support materials based on the National Curriculum Statement.

1995: National Education and Training Forum (NETF) prepared the way for the development of a core interim syllabus and removed content of an offensive and inaccurate nature from the school curriculum.

2004: Proposed implementation of the National Curriculum Statement in the Foundation Phase (grades R–3). Ongoing training of teachers and development of learning support materials based on the National Curriculum Statement.

1996: Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. SA Schools’ Act established one national educational system and outlined the powers of the national department and the provinces; it also established School Governing Bodies and gave them power to determine aspects of the curriculum at school level

2005: Proposed implementation of the National Curriculum Statement in the Intermediate Phase (grades 4–6). Ongoing training of teachers and material development as specified above.

1996/7: The process of designing C2005

2006: Proposed implementation of the National Curriculum Statement in grade 7. Ongoing teacher training and material development as specified above.

1997: C2005 becomes national policy for all schools. Piloting of C2005 in grade 1

2007: Proposed implementation of the National Curriculum Statement in grade 8. Ongoing teacher training and material development as specified above.

1999: Implementation of C2005 in grade 2. 2008: Proposed implementation of the Piloting of C2005 in grade 7. National Curriculum Statement in grade 9. Ongoing teacher training and material development as specified above. 2000: Implementation of C2005 in grade 3 2009: Possible review of the National Curriculum Statement? and grade 7. The review of C2005. Piloting of C2005 in grades 4 and 8. 2001: Implementation of C2005 in its existing form in grades 4 and 8. Development of the National Curriculum Statement, i.e. a revised, streamlined version of C2005 specifying learning outcomes and assessment standards on a grade-by-grade basis. Source: Potenza (2001).

Language use in the media The sociopolitical history of South Africa has played a major role in language use in the country’s media: television, newspapers and radio. By all accounts, and because of its instrumental value, English is by far the most widely used language in the media in South Africa. It is followed by Afrikaans and the African languages, in that order. In this section, I describe18 language use in these three

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

239

media. The first experimental radio broadcast in South Africa was undertaken in Johannesburg in 1923 by a railway company, the Western Electric Company. Subsequent developments include the establishment of the current South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in 1936; that was followed by radio broadcasting services in both English and Afrikaans in 1937, and in African languages in 1942 (South Africa Year Book, 1999: 470). Today, the SABC has 16 radio stations, broadcasting for a combined air time of 300 hours per week to an audience of some 28 million listeners daily. In addition, the SABC also has an external service, Channel Africa (formerly The Voice of South Africa), established in 1966. It broadcasts 217 hours per week in four languages, English, French, Kiswahili and Portuguese to millions of listeners in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands (Europa World Year Book, 1999, II: 3227). Its programmes include news, music, sports, and social, economic and political issues, etc. Some 12 private and about 90 community radio stations complete the network of radio broadcasting services in South Africa. The majority of these radio stations broadcast in English and Afrikaans. There is, however, at least one radio station for each of the nine official African languages. The radio remains the most powerful medium of language use in South Africa, reaching as it does all South Africans in urban, as well as remote rural, areas in the language they understand. However, the same cannot be said about the television or the print media, for they cover mostly urban areas and major cities. Compared to the radio, TV broadcasting is a relatively recent event in South Africa. The country launched its first television channel in January 1976 (Africa South of the Sahara, 1999: 1007), six months prior to the Soweto uprisings of 17 June of that year. Today, SABC has three television channels, SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3. About 50% of all the programmes presented on SABC are produced locally. Another 50% consists of programmes imported from overseas, especially from the United Kingdom and the United States. It is estimated that some 14 million adults of all ethnic groups watch SABC television daily. Currently most of the programmes, both local and imported, are in English. Thus, English has the lion’s share of air time for all the three SABC channels combined. This is evident from Table 7, taken from a study in which Kamwangamalu (2000a) examined the distribution of the total weekly air time of the 11 official languages on the SABC’s three channels. Briefly, the data for the study was collected from a TV guide for the week of 10–16 May 1998. The TV guide indicates that, for that week, the 11 official languages had 126 hours, or 7560 minutes of air time per channel, that is, a total of 22,680 minutes for all three channels combined. Also, the TV guide lists the various programmes, as well as the languages in which they are presented. Therefore, except for multilingual programmes, it was relatively easy to determine the amount of air time allocated to each individual language. The study shows that the distribution of air time on SA television is strikingly uneven, with English taking up to 20,855 minutes or 91.95% of the total weekly air time; Afrikaans 1,285 (5.66%) and all nine African languages sharing a mere 520 (2.29%) minutes, or an average of 0.25% of air time collectively. Note that, in Table 8, some African languages such as Tshivenda, isiNdebele, siSwati and Xitsonga are marked (00)?, because the TV guide shows that they have no share of air time at all for the week of 10–16 May 1998, on which the study was based. (For further details see Kamwangamalu, 2000a: 54–5.)

Current Issues in Language Planning

240

Table 7 Weekly air time distribution on SABC in minutes: TV guide 10–16 May 1998 Languages

Channels SABC 1

SABC 2

SABC 3

Total air time (22,680 minutes)

Ndebele

(00)?

(00)?

(00)?

(00)?

Swati

(00)?

(00)?

(00)?

(00)?

Tsonga

(00)?

(00)?

(00)?

(00)?

Venda

(00)?

(00)?

(00)?

(00)?

Sepedi

00

35

00

35 (0.15%)

Tswana

00

65

00

65 (0.28%)

Xhosa

90

00

00

90 (0.39%)

Zulu

120

00

00

120 (0.52%)

Sotho

30

200

00

230 (1.01%)

30

1255

00

7290

6005

7560

Afrikaans English

1285 (5.66%) 20,855 (91.95%)

Source: Kamwangamalu (2000a: 254).

Table 8 Monthly air time distribution in hours on SABC: TV Talk , April-June 2001 Languages

Channels SABC 1

SABC 2

SABC 3

Total air time: 4664.52 hrs

isiNdebele

0

5.52

0

5.52

SiSwati

0

0

0

0

Xitsonga

0

0

0

0

Tshivenda

0

0

0

0

Sepedi

0

32

0

32

Setswana

0

27

0

27

IsiXhosa

34

0

0

34

IsiZulu

53

0

0

53

Sesotho

0

74

0

Afrikaans

0

483.5

0

1269

1104.5

English

1580.5

74 484.00 3954.00

A subsequent survey, also by Kamwangamalu (2001a) but on a relatively larger sample (90 days from April-June 2001) supports the conclusions of the first survey that, for all three SABC channels combined, English has more air time than any other official language. Table 8 shows that, for the period surveyed, all 11 official languages had a total of 4664.52 hours of air time to share, including 1356.5 hours for SABC 1, 1727.02 hours for SABC 2, and 1581 hours for SABC 3. Of the overall air time for the three channels combined, English alone takes up to 3954.5 (85%) hours; followed by Afrikaans with 484 (10%) hours, and the African languages with a combined air time of 226.02 (5%) hours, or 25 (0.5%) hours per language. Note that unlike in the week of 10–16 May 1998, in the period covered by the second survey, the TV Guide lists only eight of the 11 official languages,

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

241

excluding the smaller languages, siSwati, Xitsonga, and Tshivenda. In other words, except for their occasional use in multilingual programmes, these three languages are not given any specific time slot of their own on any of the three TV channels. No explanation is given for this state of affairs. It seems that the cost of broadcasting programmes in all 11 official languages is gradually taking its toll. Consequently, in a few years from now SABC might cease providing services in minor official languages such as those mentioned above. So, in terms of the performance and despite the constitutional principle of language equity (see Language Policy and Planning, below) smaller languages such as Tshivenda, isiNdebele, siSwati and Xitsonga are becoming less and less visible as compared to their majority counterparts, especially in the higher domains such as the media. Besides the SABC channels, there are two private television channels (satellite TV not included): the M-Net, a private pay-TV19 service launched in 1986; and Midi Television, a private but free-to-air TV service launched in 1998 and operating a channel called E.TV (Entertainment Television). The M-Net channel has over 1.23 million subscribers. It broadcasts 24 hours per day in English to some 41 countries across the African continent, and in English and Afrikaans within South Africa. In South Africa, the M-Net’s audience consists mostly of white viewers and some wealthy urban blacks (in the generic sense of this term – Indians, Africans, and Coloureds). The programmes presented on the M-Net channel include movies, sports, dramas, magazines, music, and specialised community services for the local Indian, Portuguese, Italian, Jewish and Christian communities. Like the M-Net channel, the E.TV channel also broadcasts 24 hours per day, mostly in English in South Africa. Its estimated audience is over 600,000 viewers. But unlike the M-Net channel, in addition to programmes such as movies, sports, dramas and music, the E.TV channel also broadcasts news bulletins in English, Afrikaans and some official African languages (e.g. isiZulu, isiXhosa, and Sesotho). With respect to the print media, the first known newspaper, a government gazette entitled Cape Town Gazette, appeared in the early 19th century together with a commercial advertiser, African Advertiser/Kaapsche Stads Courant en Afrikaansche Berigter (South Africa Yearbook, 1998: 435). Three Sunday newspapers, Sunday Times, The Sunday Independent and Rapport are considered national newspapers. The first two are published in English and the third is published in Afrikaans. Of these three (and other Sunday newspapers – e.g. City Press), the Sunday Times has the largest circulation (452,461 copies in 1998), followed by Rapport, which has a circulation of 376,101 copies. Besides these national newspapers, there are 17 daily newspapers, 8 weeklies, about 200 weekly tabloids, almost 300 consumer magazines, and hundreds of neighbourhood newspapers known as ‘knock-and-drops’ or ‘freebies’ (Europa World Year Book, 1999, II; South Africa Year Book, 1998). Except for the three main Afrikaans dailies (Beeld (The Portrait), Die Burger (The Citizen), Die Volksblad (The People’s Paper)) and weekly magazines (Huisgenoot (You Magazine), Sarie (Suzanne (a women’s magazine)) Rooi Rose (Red Roses)), most of the dailies, weeklies and magazines with a relatively wide circulation are published in English. Among the dailies, in 1999 The Sowetan had the largest circulation (217,324 copies), followed by The Citizen (125,966) and two of the three main Afrikaans dailies, Die Burger (112,844) and Beeld (107,965) (South Africa

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

242

Table 9 The main newspapers in South Africa Name

Frequency

Language

Circulation in 1999

Beeld

D

Afrikaans

111,958

Business Day

D

English

41,000

City Press

W

English

259,374

Daily Dispatch

D

English

39,000

Diamond Fields Advertiser

D

English

8,000

Die Burger

D

Afrikaans

112,844

Die Volksblad

D

Afrikaans

28,000

EP Herald

D

English

30,000

Evening Post

D

English

19,000

Ilanga

Twice W

Zulu

117,000

Imvo Zabantsundu

W

English/Xhosa

31,000

Mail & Guardian

W

English

32,510

Natal Witness

D

English

28,000

Post

W

English

42,203

Pretoria News

D

English

25,500

Rapport

W

Afrikaans

Sunday Independent

W

English

353,000 39,456

Sunday Times

W

English

458,000

Sunday Tribune

W

English

113,000

The Argus

D

English

85,000

The Cape Times

D

English

53,000

The Citizen

D

English

125,966

The Daily News

D

English

71,600

The Independent on Saturday

W

English

77,500

The Mercury

D

English

42,000

The Sowetan

D

English

225,000

The Star

D

English

162,316

Transvaaler

D

Afrikaans

40,000

Umafrika

W

English/Zulu

60,000

English/Afrikaans

35,119

Vista

Twice W

Note: D = daily; W = weekly. Sources: Compiled from South Africa Year Book 1998: 434–437, 1999: 476–479; The Europa World Year Book, 1999 (II): 3223–3225; and Africa South of the Sahara, 1999: 1003–1005.

Year Book, 1998, 1999). While some newspapers and magazines are published in English or Afrikaans, the tabloids and the ‘freebies’ are published mostly in English, except for those that cater exclusively for Afrikaans-speaking communities. Table 9 presents the main dailies (D) and weeklies (W) in South Africa, together with information about circulation and language of publication. Table 10 presents the country’s other, mostly weekly, newspapers.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

243

Table 10 Other newspapers in South Africa Name

Frequency

Language

Circulation in 1999

African Jewish Newspaper

W

Yiddish

N/A

Afrika News Press

W

English

N/A

China Express

Tu/Fr

Chinese

N/A

Die Afrikaner

W

Afrikaans

10,000

Eikestadnuus

W

Afrikaans/English

7,000

Ladysmith Gazette

W

Afrikaans/ English/Zulu

7,000

Noord Transvaaler

W

Afrikaans

12,000

Noordwes Gazette

W

Afrikaans/English

35,000

Northern Review

W

Afrikaans/English

10,300

P & V Herald

W

Afrikaans/English

5,000

Rustenburg Herald

D

English/Afrikaans

11,000

The Herald Times

W

English

Vaalweekblad

W

Afrikaans/English

16,000

5,000

Vrye Weekblad

W

Afrikaans

13,000

Note: D = daily; W = weekly; Tu/Fr = published on Tuesday and Friday. Sources: Compiled from the same sources as Table 9.

Language Policy and Planning Kaplan and Baldauf (1997: 3) define language planning as a body of ideas, laws, and regulations (language policy), change, rules, beliefs, and practices intended to achieve a planned change (or to stop change from happening) in the language use in one or more communities. It is, in the words of Fishman (1987: 49), the authoritative allocation of resources to the attainment of language status and language corpus goals, whether in connection with new functions that are aspired to, or in connection with old functions that need to be discharged more adequately. In South Africa, language planning has historically been what Tollefson (1991: 13) calls an arena for struggle, where the white segment of the country’s population has sought to exercise power over other ethnic groups, hence the term baasskap (‘domination, especially by whites, of other groups’; see the second paragraph of this monograph), through control of language. It has been more so because, as Wiley observes (1996: 104), decisions about language often led to benefits for some and loss of privilege, status, and rights for others. Not much is known about language policy and planning in South Africa prior to the arrival in the Cape in 1652 of white settlers led by the Dutch colonist Jan van Riebeeck, as discussed in The Language Profile of South Africa, above. From this time onwards the history of language policy and planning in South Africa can be described in terms of the following four important eras: Dutchification (1652–1795, 1803–1806), Anglicisation (1806–1948), Afrikanerisation (1948–1994), and language democratisation (1994-present). Dutchification refers to the official promotion and use of the Dutch language in all the higher domains, such as administration, education, trade, etc. by the Dutch officials of the Dutch East

244

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

India Company who settled in South Africa after 1652. During the century and a half of the Dutch occupation of the Cape from 1652 to 1795, only knowledge of Dutch served as a catalyst for access to resources and employment in the civil service. Anyone who wanted to do business with the Dutch authority had to display knowledge of Dutch. The indigenous population of the area, the Khoi and the San, lost their languages entirely (language death) and acquired an interlanguage form of Dutch, so that today the descendants of all these people are Afrikaans- (or Sesotho-, isiXhosa-) speaking. The Dutchification of the Cape came to an end in 1795, when Britain first took control of the Cape of Good Hope (now Cape Town) to prevent the territory from falling into the hands of the French, who had already laid claim to Holland during the Napoleonic wars (Watermeyer, 1996: 101). However, Dutchification continued in the north of the country, where the Boers had established the Boer Republics of the Free State and the Transvaal. The latter was later renamed the ‘South African Republic’. Anyone who lived in the Boer Republics and especially in the South African Republic, including the Uitlanders (foreigners, mostly British immigrants) were subject to Dutchification. The Uitlanders’ request to Britain for protection against Dutchification in education and for franchise in the South African Republic is said to be one of the contributory factors to the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902. Thus, education became politicised. As Malherbe (1925: 287) notes, it [education] was seized upon by politicians as one of the instances in which the rights of the Uitlanders were infringed, and was made a contributory cause to the [Anglo-] Boer war. For instance, in a dispatch from H.M. Government, dated 10 May, 1899 to Government of South African Republic on 13 June, 1899, Mr Chamberlain wrote: the education system was ‘more directed to forcing upon the Uitlander population the habitual use of Dutch language than to imparting to them the rudiments of general knowledge’. After the war, which the British won, the policy of Anglicisation continued, as discussed earlier (Moodie, 1975; Ponelis, 1993; Warwick,1980). This policy ended only in 1948, when the Afrikaners took the reins of government. With the power now in their hands, and in the interest of Afrikanerdom, the Afrikaner politicians replaced Anglicisation with Afrikanerisation. The Afrikaans language took centre stage in the administration of the state, and, as Webb and Kriel (2000) put it, the use and power of Afrikaans increased dramatically. All government-controlled institutions, the state administration, the radio and television, the education sector, the defense force and semi-state institutions gradually [became] almost wholly Afrikaans. The [white] Afrikaans-population was in total control, and Afrikaans was considered to have earned, and was thus given, a monument: the gigantic language monument on a hill in Paarl, a town near Cape Town, where one of the organized movements for the promotion of the language, [the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (GRA) (Society of Real Afrikaners) had its roots. (Webb & Kriel, 2000: 22) Knowledge of Afrikaans became a requirement for entry into the civil service. The state invested heavily, both politically and financially, in the development of

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

245

Afrikaans and often praised the language as a gift from God. In this regard, Webb and Kriel (2000) quote the following from former state president P.W. Botha’s addresses to Parliament and celebratory ceremonies marking the achievements of Afrikaans: We pay homage to the cultural leaders of the past, but we also stand humbly before the Creator of all languages and all nations [volkere], grateful for this miraculous gift to our soul. (Webb & Kriel, 2000: 42) .... Langenhoven ... referred to Afrikaans as the expression of the soul of South Africa ....We believe that a human being has a soul, and that a volk and a nation has a soul .... Afrikaans is the God-given instrument used by millions of people in Africa when performing their daily task ... but also when praying ... when serving their Creator. (Webb & Kriel, 2000: 42) Efforts to promote Afrikaans led the apartheid Government to enact drastic policies, such as the Bantu Education Act (see above). The end of apartheid and the subsequent birth of democracy in South Africa in 1994 created a new era for Afrikaans. The change from apartheid to democracy brought about the official recognition that South Africa is a multilingual rather than the bilingual country it had been assumed to be in the apartheid era. This recognition has translated into a new, multilingual language policy, hence language democratisation. It is to this new language policy that I now turn. The new, multilingual language policy The new language policy accords official status to 11 languages: English, Afrikaans and nine African languages. The policy itself is stipulated as follows in South Africa’s 1996 Constitution: The official languages of the Republic (of South Africa) are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu. (The Constitution, 1996, Chapter 1, Section 6(1)) All official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably. (The Constitution, 1996, Chapter 1, Section 6(2)) A number of questions have been raised concerning this policy. Why 11 official languages? Why not settle for English only? What language will be used as the medium of instruction? These questions are addressed in section 3 of the Interim Constitution (1995). According to the Interim Constitution, South Africa has chosen 11 languages: (a)

to ensure and guarantee the freedom and human dignity of all South Africans under a new dispensation, (b) to recognise the country’s linguistic diversity as well as the fact that the majority of South Africans – probably 98 per cent – use one of these languages as their home or first language, and (c) to ensure that the process of democratization is extended to languagerelated issues as well (The Department of Education: South Africa’s New Language Policy: The Facts, 1994: 4, 6).

246

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Similarly, South Africa has not declared English the only official language, as it is a minority language, spoken as first or home language by only 9% of South Africa’s population. Also, it is worth noting that South Africa has opted for a multilingual language policy in order not to re-ignite the long-standing ethnolinguistic rivalries20 among the speakers of the various African languages on the one hand, and between English-speaking and Afrikaans-speaking Whites on the other. As Webb (1994: 255) observes, the incidence of ethnic nationalism, for instance among the Afrikaans-speaking Whites and within the Zuluspeaking community, is language related and has a high potential for intergroup conflict. The Afrikaans-speaking Whites, the Afrikaners, have fought against English domination for the past 300 years and, therefore, they would not have accepted English (let alone any of the African languages) as the sole official language of the state. Similarly, speakers of the various African languages consider their respective languages as symbols of cultural identity. Accordingly, it would have been inconceivable, especially for the speakers of major languages such as isiZulu, isiXhosa or Sesotho, to accept any one of these languages as the sole official language of the state. With regard to the question of the medium of instruction, the new Constitution of South Africa stipulates that: matters such as the medium in which a pupil’s instruction takes place and the number of languages that are to be compulsory school subjects may not conflict with the language clause in the Constitution [Section 3] nor with section 32, which provides that every person shall be entitled to instruction in the language of his or her choice where this is reasonably practicable [author emphasis]. I have highlighted the phrase ‘where this is reasonably practicable’ to underline the ambivalence, vagueness and non-committal nature of the policy. For instance, who decides what is ‘reasonably practicable’21 and what criteria are used in making this decision? One of the main objectives of the new multilingual language policy has been to promote the status of the nine official African languages against the backdrop of past discriminatory language policies. Accordingly, the new Constitution states that ‘recognizing the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of our people, the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages’ (The Constitution, 1996, Chapter 1, section 6 (2)). The Constitution also makes provision for the establishment of a Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB) with the responsibility to, inter alia: ‘promote and create conditions for the development and use of these (African) and other languages’ (The Constitution, 1996, Chapter 1, section 6 (5a)). Building on the aforementioned constitutional principles, in 1997, the Minister of Education announced a language-in-education policy whose main aims are: (a) to promote additive multilingualism, that is, to maintain home language(s) while providing access to and the effective acquisition of additional language(s); (b) to promote and develop all the official languages;

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

247

(c) to counter disadvantages resulting from different kinds of mismatches between home languages and languages of learning and teaching; (d) to develop programs for the redress of previously disadvantaged languages. (Department of Education, Government Gazette no. 18546, 19 December 1997). The policy also mandates the schools, through their respective governing bodies, to stipulate how they will promote additive multilingualism through the use of more than one language of learning and teaching, and/or by offering additional languages as fully-fledged subjects, and/or applying special immersion or language maintenance programmes. It is clear from the constitutional clauses cited above that the thrust of the new language policy is to promote additive multilingualism through mothertongue22 education – that is, by using the official indigenous languages as media of learning and teaching. However, not much progress has been made yet in attempts to implement the policy, especially with respect to the issue of mother-tongue education. Rather, the status quo prevails: English and Afrikaans remain the chief media of learning in English-medium and Afrikaans-medium schools respectively, much as they were in the apartheid era. Put differently, if anything has changed at all in terms of the language practices, it is that English has gained more territory and political clout than Afrikaans in virtually all of the country’s institutions, including the legislature, education, the media, and the army. Language practices in the media have already been discussed (see above). The discussion that follows will focus on the language practices in the remaining institutions, beginning with the legislature. Commenting on language practices in the legislature, Gunning (1997: 7) remarks that most provincial legislatures use English. He explains that: ‘politicians seem to prefer English over other languages, practical circumstances dictate its use, it [English] is used to avoid confusion, it is the main language of documentation’. Pandor (1995) makes a similar remark in regard to language practices in the country’s Parliament. She observes that in 1994, 87% of the speeches made in Parliament were in English, less than 5% were in Afrikaans, and the remaining 8% were in one of the nine official African languages – that is, less than 1% in each of the languages, despite the fact that about 80% of the members of Parliament are Africans, the majority of whom are fluent in at least two of the official African languages. Besides being prevalent in the majority of the speeches made in Parliament, English has also been proposed as the sole language of Hansard, the Parliament’s historical record of proceedings, formerly published in both English and Afrikaans. The proposal was, understandably, prompted by the prohibitive cost of publishing Hansard in all 11 languages.23 A similar proposal was made recently by the Minister of Justice. Parliament approved the idea that English should become the sole language of record in the courts (The Daily News, 20 October 2000). The implications of these proposals for language practices in the higher domains are obvious. The proposals contribute to the further exclusion from these domains of both Afrikaans and the previously marginalised languages, the African languages. Along these lines, in its investigation into language practices in public institutions, the Language Plan Task Group (LANGTAG, 1996: 47) found that:

248

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

some cabinet ministers and directors-general refuse to respond to documents unless they are in English; at the provincial level, correspondence between Provincial Governments and the Central Government is conducted mainly in English; at local Government level, City and Town Council meetings are held monolingually in English because some councilors refuse to let other councilors speak in any other language. With respect to the language practices in the army, English has increasingly become the de facto language of the army’s administration and training (de Klerk & Barkhuizen, 1998). In their study of language use on a military base in the Western Cape, de Klerk and Barkhuizen (1998: 68) found a strong shift from the use of Afrikaans to the use of English. They explain that English has become a lingua franca on the base, because it is seen by most staff and troops as a ‘neutral’ code, a language best understood by the greatest number, including former members of the liberation armies who have been incorporated into the National Defense Force, and the only language that can be used for inter-ethnic communication. In education, besides being used as the medium of instruction in ‘black’ schools and ‘Model C schools’,24 English is also increasingly being used, alongside Afrikaans, as the medium of instruction in (traditionally) Afrikaansmedium schools and universities, to accommodate black students who attend these institutions of learning. In a recent newspaper article, for instance, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stellenbosch, an Afrikaans-medium university, described by the newspaper as one of the last enclaves of white Afrikaner intellectualism, states that ‘Stellenbosch would become “language-friendly”’, that is, in addition to Afrikaans, Stellenbosch would start offering an Englishmedium stream to accommodate black students. This is aimed, in the ViceChancellor’s words, at ‘shedding the image of [Stellenbosch as] an institution that is unwelcoming to black people’ (The Daily News, 4 September 2000). Other historically Afrikaans-medium universities have already embarked, or are in the process of embarking, on a dual-medium system to meet the educational needs of black students. Language practices in these higher domains (the legislature, the media, the army, and education) show that Afrikaans has lost a lot of the ground it used to have in the apartheid era. It is not surprising that, in its capacity as official language, Afrikaans is currently described as being in ‘a state of demise’ (Webb & Kriel, 2000: 23). In spite of this loss, Afrikaans remains the only language that competes with English for territory in these other domains of language use. Thus, some sort of ‘slanted’ English-Afrikaans bilingualism, or what Clyne (1997: 306) would call asymmetrical bilingualism, where English is the High language and Afrikaans is the Low language, reigns supreme by default in post-apartheid South Africa. This state of affairs should not be surprising, especially if one takes a closer look at some of the language-related clauses in the country’s Constitution. For instance, Chapter 1, section (3) of the Constitution (1996) stipulates that: the national government and provincial governments may use any particular official languages for the purposes of government, taking into account usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of the needs

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

249

and preferences of the population as a whole or in the province concerned; but the national government and each provincial government must use at least two official languages (author emphasis). It is clear that there is a loophole in the clause under consideration, namely, the lack of specification about the official languages that must be used at the provincial and national level for the purpose of government. And since the Constitution does not specify which official languages should be used in which province or by the national government, both provincial and national governments have tacitly opted for the status quo and thus use English and Afrikaans as the languages of administration, much as was the case in the apartheid era. If the policy is couched in sufficiently general terms, says Bamgbose (1991: 113), it may go down well, since it will be a ‘catch-all’ formula that may be interpreted in a flexible manner. And because the policy is vague and so is subject to multiple interpretations, it has hardly been implemented, especially with respect to the African languages. In 1998 the lack of progress in attempts to promote the African languages prompted the Government to embark on a year-long multilingualism awareness campaign. Drawing on the tenets of the 1997 language-in-education policy as described earlier, the campaign was aimed at, among other things: (a) promoting multilingualism so that South Africans will view multilingualism as a valuable resource; (b) bringing about an appreciation that, in a multilingual society, knowledge of more than one language is an asset both in an immediate economic sense and in the larger social sense; (c) breaking down the legacy of apartheid by means of the promotion of African languages. The elaboration, modernization and development of these languages are important requirements for the attainment of social and economic equality and justice for the majority of South Africans. (Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, 1998: 20) As Kamwangamalu (2000b) observed elsewhere, it is too soon to tell what effect, if any, this campaign will have on language practices in South Africa. What is clear, however, is that language practices in most of the country’s institutions flout the principle of language equity enshrined in the Constitution: ‘All official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably’ (The Constitution, 1996, section 6 (2)). The language practices support the Language Plan Task Group (LANGTAG) and its research findings that ‘despite the constitutional commitment to multilingualism, . . . there seems to be a drift towards unilingualism [in English] in public services’ (LANGTAG, 1996: 31); and that ‘all other languages are being marginalised’25 (LANGTAG, 1996: 47). What role, then, do the indigenous languages play in South Africa in their capacity as official languages? What does the term ‘official language’ mean for these languages and their speakers? Walker (1984: 161) defines an official language as one designated by government decree to be the official means of communication of the given state in government, administration, law, education and general public life. Eastman (1990: 71) sees it as one used in the business of government. A true official language, says Fasold (1984: 74), fulfills all or some of the functions

250

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

listed in (1)-(5), below, to which Fishman (1971: 288) would add those in (6) and (7). The official language is used: (1) as the language of communication for government officials in carrying out their duties at the national level; (2) for written communication between and internal to government agencies at the national level; (3) for the keeping of government records at the national level; (4) for the original formulation of laws and regulations that concern the nation as a whole; (5) for forms such as tax forms; (6) in the schools; and (7) in the courts. Current language practices in South Africa, as described in the foregoing discussion, show that only Afrikaans and English perform some or all of these functions. The inclusion of the nine African languages in the Constitution seems to be merely symbolic, to say the least. It is obvious from the description of the language practices in the higher domains (e.g. the media, the army, the legislature, education) that government structures have failed in their mission to implement the proposed multilingual language policy. Accordingly, it has become almost impossible to convince parents and pupils that multilingualism is a resource, that African languages can be used as a medium of instruction throughout the entire educational system. It is not surprising, therefore, that, when presented with the following models26 of literacy, parents overwhelmingly opt for the third model. (1) Initial literacy in the mother tongue followed by a shift to English. (2) Initial biliteracy in English plus an indigenous language. (3) Literacy only in English throughout the entire educational system (e.g. de Klerk, 2000b; Heugh, 1995a; Roodt, 2000). As pointed out earlier, the choice of English over the African languages has to be understood against the background of the negative attitudes people have towards the African languages, an obvious consequence of the legacy of apartheid-based Bantu-education. Also, English is perceived to be materially more relevant than African languages. For instance, citing a 1992 ANC’s language policy document, Heugh (1995a: 341) reports that ‘large sections of black urban communities have already pressurized primary schools into beginning with English as the medium of instruction from day one’. In a more recent survey on the choice of the medium of instruction in the Pretoria area, Roodt (2000) also found that ‘98% of black parents want their children27 educated in English, 1% prefer Afrikaans and only 1% an indigenous African language’. He concludes that many non-English speakers, be they Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Sotho, Venda, Tsonga, Afrikaans, etc. are choosing to abandon their mother tongue by speaking English to their children. De Klerk (2000b) draws a similar conclusion in her investigation into language practices in isiXhosa-speaking communities in Grahamstown. The study reveals that Xhosa parents not only choose to send their children to English-medium schools, they also encourage them to speak English rather than isiXhosa at home. The following extracts from interviews

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

251

between de Klerk and Xhosa parents are telling. They show that, for mostly economic reasons, parents prefer English to isiXhosa for the education of their children: there is a tradition between me and my children that if they catch one another speaking Xhosa (see Note 3 concerning the spelling of the names of African languages), they use two clicks to remind the other to speak English; they (the children) hardly speak Xhosa . . . all the time they like English. I don’t encourage them to speak Xhosa, not at all; it’s fine to let it (Xhosa) die. We have never teach (sic!) our son any Xhosa; I don’t think there will be a need to be a Xhosa-speaker later on; I am a Xhosa, but I can’t use it anywhere else; Xhosa cuts you off (de Klerk, 2000b: 93–94, 103). The implications of this state of affairs for the maintenance of African languages will be discussed in Language Maintenance and Prospects, below. These extracts suggest, however, that unless the black communities28 value their own languages, as the Afrikaners have valued theirs since the era of Anglicisation, the Government will be powerless to enforce change and so top-down efforts to promote the indigenous languages will not succeed. In the next section, language planning agencies are described. In the subsequent section, some of the factors that influence language policy and planning in the polity, with a focus on market forces, the legacy of apartheid education, elite closure, and linguicism are discussed, followed by a discussion of literacy. Language planning agencies Over the years a number of agencies, both governmental and non-governmental, have played a significant role in shaping South Africa’s language planning. Most of these agencies are listed in Webb (1994: 261). They include: government ministries; government-sponsored bodies such as the National Terminology Services, the State Language Services, among others; language bureaux of major corporations such as postal and telephone services, the Electricity Supply Commission, the South African Broadcasting Corporation; universities, the Department of Art, Culture, Science and Technology; National and Provincial Language Committees; and professional language associations, such as the Linguistic Society of Southern Africa (LSSA), the African Languages Association of Southern Africa (ALASA), the South African Applied Linguistics Association (SAALA), the South African Association for Language Teaching (SAALT), the English Academy, and Afrikaans-based associations such as the Stigting vir Afrikaans (Foundation for Afrikaans) and the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (the South African Academy for Arts and Science). Besides these language planning agencies, other recent individual and government-sponsored language planning bodies include: the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA), the Language Plan

252

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Task Group (LANGTAG) and the Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB). PRAESA is an independent research and development unit founded in 1992 by Dr Neville Alexander of the University of Cape Town. It emerged from the struggle against apartheid education, to which it sought to provide an alternative. Its main goals are to: further an additive approach to bilingualism and biliteracy in education; raise the status of the (official) African languages, with a focus on isiXhosa in the Western Cape Province; assist teachers in coping with the challenges of working in multilingual classrooms; and contribute towards a database of research relating to language policy, planning and practice (PRAESA, 1999a: 3). The Language Plan Task Group (LANGTAG), the precursor to PANSALB, was a policy advisory body appointed in 1995 by the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. Its brief was to produce a report that would provide the then Government of National Unity with guidelines for: the realisation of language policy and planning across all social sectors; the promotion of multilingualism and, more specifically, the development of the African languages; and combating the trend towards unilingualism resulting from the perception by many South Africans that multilingualism is a problem (PRAESA, 1999b: 13). LANGTAG completed and submitted its report, entitled Towards a National Language Plan for South Africa: Final Report of the Language Plan Task Group to the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in August 1996. The report contains discussions of, recommendations for, and data on, various aspects of language policy and planning in South Africa, among them language equity, language development, language as a resource, language in education, language in the public service, to list but a few. PANSALB is an independent statutory body appointed by the Senate and enshrined in the country’s new Constitution. Its aims, as stipulated in the 1996 Constitution, Chapter 1, section 5, are: [to] promote, and create conditions for the development and use of (i) all official languages; (ii) the Khoi, Nama and San languages; and (iii) sign languages; and (b) promote and ensure respect for (i) all languages commonly used by communities in South Africa, including German, Gujarati, Hindi, Portuguese, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu; and (ii) Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit and other languages used for religious purposes in South Africa. PANSALB has as yet to achieve the goals for which it was enshrined in the Constitution. Financial constraints and the lack of political support have made it difficult for PANSALB to execute its constitutional mandate to promote multilingualism. Besides the language planning agencies already discussed, there are several interest groups involved in language planning activities, especially for Afrikaans and English. Apart from PRAESA, which concentrates its

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

253

activities on isiXhosa in the Western Cape, there exist very few language planning organisations involved with the remaining African languages. Factors influencing language policy and planning in the polity The language planning agencies highlighted in the previous section support the new multilingual language policy and would certainly want to see it implemented. There are, however, quite a number of factors that interact in complex ways to impede policy implementation, especially in regard to the African languages. Some of these factors include, for instance, (1) the legacy of apartheid education, (2) market forces, (3) elite closure, and (4) linguicism. I have already commented on the legacy of apartheid education, noting that it has rendered indigenous African languages instrumentally valueless and has foreshadowed current negative attitudes towards the proposal that these languages be used as languages of learning, save in the lower grades in predominantly black schools. As explained earlier, generally, education in an African language is seen as a dead end aimed at denying one access to English, the current language of the ruling classes and one in which, as Lynn (1995: 55) puts it, the elite reproduces itself. As far as market forces are concerned, there is no sustained demand for multilingual skills in the African languages for academic, economic, administrative and employment purposes. The lack of this demand has ensured that English and to some extent Afrikaans remain central to virtually all the higher domains of language use. As Verhoef (1998: 192) remarks, the demand for multilingual skills in the African languages would contribute towards raising the status of these languages and change the way in which the languages are perceived by the various language communities. Several studies have shown, for instance, that black South Africans have ambivalent attitudes towards their own languages: they value the languages highly only as symbols of ethnolinguistic identity and as vehicles for intergenerational transmission of indigenous cultures and traditions; but they prefer English for all the higher-level functions and for personal upward social mobility (see Slabbert, 1994; Verhoef, 1998; Virasamy, 1997). Elite closure (Scotton, 1990) refers to ‘linguistic divergence’ created as a result of using a language which is only known to or preferred by the elite, in this case English. This divergence may be purposeful, as a measure of control. Laitin (1992) observes that the elite use the preferred language for intra-elite communication and a different lingua franca for communication with the masses. In South Africa, however, the linguistic behaviour of the elite is characterised by an almost exclusive use of the preferred language, English, irrespective of whether they interact among themselves or with the masses who have little or no knowledge of the language. This does not mean that the elite make no effort to converge. However, such effort is often stage-managed and purposeful. At election time, for instance, the elite tend to use code switching involving English and local languages when addressing the masses; but they rarely do so at any other times. Also, the literature indicates that, in order to preserve the privileges associated with knowledge of the preferred language, the elite tend to resist any language planning efforts which seek to promote the languages of the masses (see Bamgbose, 1991; Kamwangamalu, 1997a; Schiffman, 1992). Elsewhere in Africa, such resistance has been deliberate rather than innocent, as is the case for the elite

254

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

in Tanzania (Mafu, 1999). Mafu notes that, while expressing official support for Swahili-medium instruction, the Tanzanian elite generally send their own children to ‘English academies’, that is, to private English-medium schools that have mushroomed in Tanzanian urban centres. In South Africa, the mismatch between the new language policy and language practices (as described above) in the higher domains resembles the Tanzanian trend, although the indigenous South African languages do not have the high sociolinguistic profile that Swahili does in Tanzania. Also, by adopting English as the sole language of Hansard and court records, the South African elite are, perhaps consciously, resisting the new language policy. Linguicism refers to ‘ideologies and structures which are used to legitimate, effectuate and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources between groups which are defined on the basis of language’ (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1988: 13; see also Phillipson, 1988, 1992). It is an ideology according to which the language of the politically or economically dominant group or class is given a higher social status than the indigenous languages. That view is self-evident in South Africa, where English and Afrikaans have historically been assigned a higher status than African languages. Because of linguicism, Western donors, for instance, tend to support educational programmes that promote subtractive and transitional bilingual programmes, where African languages are used in early years of schooling, and subsequently a world language (English) takes over as the medium of instruction. In this regard, Heugh (1995a: 343) observes that foreign donors, including World Bank officials, who visited South Africa in 1992, made it clear that additive bilingualism was not on the World Bank’s agenda and that funds would not be available to support such programmes. As Kamwangamalu (1998a, b) has observed elsewhere, foreign aid, in part, constitutes one of the challenges to implementing the new language policy in, say, education, especially if doing so is geared towards additive rather than subtractive bilingualism; not only do foreign donors influence language-in-education policy by providing funds, they also often serve as government advisors on that very policy. Thus, Popham (1996: 39, as quoted in Master, 1998: 717) is right when he notes that ‘while the engine of colonialism [and apartheid in South Africa] long ago ran out of steam, the momentum of its languages and legacies is still formidable, and it is against their tyranny that the smaller languages fight to survive’. Therefore, pupils who are, or who become, bilingual in English and an African language, as is the case in de Klerk’s (2000b) study, must, in practice, become monolingual in English, that is, follow monolingual usage in order to succeed in life. Accordingly, bilingualism, and by extension the bilingual learner, is viewed in deficit terms, a problem to overcome, rather than a resource to be promoted (Landon, 2000). Literacy Many definitions of literacy can be found in the literature. However, Herbert and Robinson (1999: 248) note that there has been a radical shift away from the dominant view of literacy as a neutral, technological skill unaffected by social contexts (or what Street (1995) calls the ‘autonomous model’) towards a broader view, the ‘ideological model’, whereby material and social conditions determine the outcome. Anticipating the latter model, Street (1984: 28) defines literacy as ‘a

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

255

social construction, not a neutral technology, . . . [whose] uses are embedded in relations of power and struggles over resources’. This view of literacy cannot be emphasised enough in the South African context, as will be evident later from the statistics about the distribution of literacy in the country. Literacy arrived in South Africa with the establishment, in 1652, of the Dutch re-supply station at the Cape for the ships of the Vereenigde Oostindische Companie (Dutch East India Company), which I have alluded to earlier. However, as French (1988: 27) notes, literacy was introduced to many of the peoples in the country only in the 19th century by missionaries, the extension of white colonisation and the industrial revolution centring on the discovery of diamonds and gold. During the apartheid era, literacy in the indigenous languages was rigorously promoted; the languages that now count among the official languages of South Africa were each allocated their own language board. But as Bhola (1992: 251) points out, promoting literacy in these languages was a mechanism of marginalisation and exclusion of the black people from the economy and from politics, domains that required English and Afrikaans. In the new South Africa, the right to education and literacy has been entrenched in the country’s 1996 Constitution. According to section 29(1), everyone has the right to (i) a basic education, including adult basic education; and (ii) to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible. In section 29(2) the Constitution stipulates that: everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. These constitutional principles are bold in theory but they have, in practice, remained unimplemented. For instance, despite an increase in enrolment of black pupils in formerly White, Indian and Coloured schools, there has not been a comparable change in the schools’ language policy, with respect to the medium of instruction. And, as a reviewer observes, why should there be a change in the schools’ policy because it is the very policy that attracted the students in the first place. The problem here is the mismatch between the schools’ inherent policy and the new language-in-education policy. Most of these schools do not offer tuition in an African language, whether as a medium of learning or as a subject. The heritage of apartheid-based Bantu education makes it difficult for parents and politicians alike to support literacy in any African language (i.e. mothertongue education) even in the first few years of school, or to maintain additional bilingualism later (Reagan, 1995: 324). Most black parents consider African languages as irrelevant in the education process (Msimang, 1993: 38) because, unlike English- or Afrikaans-medium education, education in an African language is not rewarding. Against this background and the legacy of apartheid-based Bantu education, the stigma associated with education in the African languages lingers. Consequently, the pupils who cannot cope with the demands of learning in a foreign language, in this case English, simply drop out of school, thus adding to the high rate of illiteracy in black communities. In South Africa, a person is described as literate if he or she has completed

256

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

grade 7. However, and against the backdrop of apartheid-based education, the LANGTAG report (1996: 143) recommends that a more realistic measure of literacy is completion of grade 9, which is also the cut-off grade for compulsory schooling in South Africa. It must be noted, however, that completion of a given grade, in this case grade 9, may not be a good measure of literacy for every learner in South Africa. Due to a lack of adequate facilities, a learner who has completed grade 9 at a rural school may not be as literate as his or her counterpart in a well-equipped urban school. Viewed from this perspective, literacy is not merely the ability to read and write; it is the ability to use reading and writing to achieve societal goals (Kaplan, 1992: 289), to develop one’s full potential and to participate in the social, economic and political life of the country through lifelong learning (Bock, 1996: 32). Along these lines, Hillerich (1976: 53) states that: a person is literate when he (sic) has acquired the essential knowledge and skills which enable him to engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning in his group and community and whose attainments in reading, writing and arithmetic make it possible for him to continue to use these skills towards his own and the community’s development. The statistics about literacy/illiteracy in South Africa vary from one study to another. However, they all do have one feature in common: they all testify that a very large number of South Africans, the majority of them Blacks, are illiterate; white and Indian South Africans have the highest rate of literacy, 99% and 93% respectively (Ellis, 1987; LANGTAG, 1996; The Population of South Africa Census 1996, 1998: 41; van Zyl Slabbert et al., 1994). Ellis (1987: 17) puts the number of adult Blacks who were illiterate in 1980 at five million people or 55% of the overall adult population. It is worth noting that at that time the number of illiterate Blacks must have been much higher, especially as Ellis’s study does not include the black populations that then resided in the former independent homelands. According to the 1991 census figures, 49% of the black youth between 15 and 24 years of age do not speak, read, or write English (van Zyl Slabbert et al., 1994: 109). A recent report by the current Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, indicates that 12 million South Africans are illiterate and that about 20 million others, mostly schoolchildren, are not fluent readers in any language (The Sunday Times, 16 April 2000). I would like to emphasise, once again, that all these figures about literacy refer mostly to black communities. In the latest survey on literacy, the Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB) reports that about 50% of non-English-speaking South Africans (read mostly black South Africans) do not understand statements or speeches made in English by government officials (The Star, 8 September 2000). The distribution of literacy reflects the profile of inequality in South Africa and prejudices the use of African languages in many domains. In Language Maintenance and Prospects, below, suggestions will be made as to how literacy in the indigenous language can be promoted to enable the masses to participate actively in the development of the state. A number of literacy agencies, including governmental and non-governmental agencies, have been established to promote literacy, especially in black communities. The first South African (adult) literacy organisation, The Bureau of Literacy and Literature, was initiated in 1946 (French, 1988: 27), that is, two years

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

257

before the apartheid Government came into power. This organisation is credited with publishing course books in the majority of South(ern) African indigenous languages and running training courses for literacy instructors. One of the most recently established literacy agencies is the South African National Literacy Initiative (SANLI), a government-sponsored body, whose brief is to reduce adult illiteracy through, among other things, the mobilisation of voluntary services in support of a nationwide literacy campaign, development of training programmes for volunteer educators, evaluation, development and procurement of reading and resource materials for use in the nationwide literacy campaign, recruitment of learners and the servicing of their needs (Sunday Times, 12 November 2000). Other literacy agencies include the churches, SABC TV and radio (literacy) programmes, newspapers, Trade Unions (COSATU) literacy projects, universities, the South African Association of Literacy and Adult Education, which has close ties with the International Council of Adult Education, as well as the National Literacy Cooperation and Project Literacy, each of which has at least one regional branch in each of the nine provinces. Most of these agencies produce learning materials for adults and provide training in basic methods for literacy instructors.

Language Maintenance and Prospects In the last part of this monograph, I shall consider the implications of the current multilingual language policy and language practices for language maintenance and shift, with a focus on South Africa’s official languages. Currently, these languages coexist in what may be characterised as a hierarchical, three-tier, trilingual system, one in which English is at the top, Afrikaans in the middle, and the African languages at the bottom. Following Clyne (1997: 306), this trilingual system can be described as asymmetrical multilingualism, for at least one of the languages, English, has more prestige than the others. The system reflects the roles that the official languages perform in the South African society. These roles, already discussed in The Language Profile of South Africa and to which I shall return below briefly for ease of reference against the background of the multilingual language policy, are vital in determining language maintenance and shift and prospects for the country’s official languages. Joshua Fishman, a pioneering scholar of language maintenance and shift, defines the field as: the relationship between change (or stability) in language usage patterns, on the one hand, and ongoing psychological, social or cultural processes, on the other hand, in populations that utilize more than one speech variety for intra-group or for inter-group purposes. (1972: 76) The term ‘language shift’ is invoked here in the sense of Fishman (1991: 1), who uses it to refer to ‘speech communities whose native languages are threatened because their intergenerational continuity is proceeding negatively, with fewer and fewer users (speakers, readers, writers and even understanders) or uses every generation’. The opposite of language shift is language maintenance. The literature indicates that many factors are responsible for language maintenance and shift, the most important among them being generation, the numerical

258

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

strength of a group in relation to other minorities and majorities, language status, socioeconomic value, education, and institutional support/government policies (see Fishman, 1991; Paulston, 1987; Romaine, 1995; Sridhar, 1988). These factors, I argue, do not operate independently of one another, but they interact in complex ways in determining language maintenance and shift. For instance, quite a number of scholars maintain that generation is the single most vital factor of language maintenance and shift (Fishman, 1991; Gupta & Yeok, 1995; Sridhar, 1988). It is argued that the ability and desire of parents to transmit the ancestral language to their children (Gupta & Yeok, 1995: 302), or the extent to which the language is used among the younger generations (Sridhar, 1988: 83), constitute the litmus test for language maintenance and shift. It is worth noting, however, that individuals’ decisions to transmit or not to transmit the ancestral language are often influenced not by generation alone, but also by other factors, such as the status of the ancestral language in the wider society, government’s language policy vis à vis the ancestral language in question, community support, etc. (Tollefson, 1991). A case in point is the shift from Indian languages to English in the South African Indian community. Prabhakaran (1998: 302) describes the shift as a conscious choice that Indian parents made for their children. She explains that parents forced their children to learn English and discouraged them from learning Telugu or any other vernacular, because, first, the social identity associated with English was more desirable than that associated with Indian languages and, second, the Government’s language policies did not assign the Indian languages any role in the South African society. In what follows, I examine how the factors highlighted in this section, particularly education, socioeconomic value, generation and language policy impact on language maintenance and shift and prospects for South Africa’s official languages: English, Afrikaans, and the nine previously marginalised indigenous languages. English The new Constitution of South Africa does not accord English any special rights or advantages over the other official languages. As a matter of fact, in section 3(2), the Constitution stipulates that ‘any person may communicate in writing or orally with a government department in any official language’, and that ‘any attempt by the government to act in any linguicist manner or to allow any language/languages to dominate others would be unconstitutional’ (The Constitution of South Africa, 1996). Other constitutional measures, already discussed under Language Policy and Planning, also call for parity of esteem among, and equity in the use of, the official languages. Despite all these measures, language practices in the country’s institutions point to a different reality – that English has a special status in South Africa. This is evident from the language practices in the higher domains such as the media, the legislature, education and the army, as discussed above. It is also evident from the language practices for political events, such as the inauguration in 1994 of Nelson Mandela as the first democratically elected president of South Africa, the annual openings of Parliament, the signing ceremony on 10 December 1996 of South Africa’s new Constitution, and various official announcements or press releases. In South Africa, most official events, including those mentioned above, are conducted exclusively through the medium of English.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

259

The hegemony of English can be explained in terms of the key factors in language maintenance and shift outlined earlier: status, generation, socioeconomic value, numerical strength, education, Government language policy. In terms of the status and socioeconomic value, and because of the multiple functions it performs in South African society (see The Language Profile of South Africa, above), English ranks higher than any of the country’s other official languages. Because it is seen as the key to upward social mobility, English is the language in which the majority of South African parents want their children to be educated. This reality explains why, when apartheid ended in 1994, and with it school segregation, the country witnessed an influx of speakers of African languages into formerly White or Indian schools in their quest to be educated only through the medium of English. In terms of generations, English receives a lot of support not only from the minorities (e.g. South African Whites of British descent and South African Indians, who speak it as a native tongue) but also from many Afrikaans-speaking parents, who believe that their children’s future lies with the global language, English, and from all black South Africans, who speak English as a second or third language and value it more highly than their own indigenous languages. We have seen, for instance, that African members of Parliament make their speeches almost exclusively in English, and that some provincial authorities do not respond to letters and administrative memoranda written in languages other than English. The language practices of the members of Parliament and other authorities add to the hegemony of English. Finally, in terms of the new language policy, English has covertly been put on a pedestal. For instance, when the policy says that ‘the national government and each provincial government must use at least two official languages‘ (author emphasis) for the purposes of government (see previous discussion), this is in general understood to mean that one of the required two official languages must necessarily be English. Accordingly, multilingualism in the new South Africa in practice means English plus any other languages, and not the use of any two languages without English (i.e. an English-knowing bilingualism as in Singapore; see Pakir (1998)). Thus, in the new South Africa, English reigns supreme, and its hegemony is felt country-wide, especially in the higher domains, to the extent that none of the other official languages can match it. The multiple roles that English performs in South African society indicate that the language is not likely to come under any threat from the other official languages. If anything, the other official languages, especially the African languages, are likely to see some of their traditional domains (e.g. the family) taken over by English, particularly in urban communities. A discussion now follows about the prospects for Afrikaans followed by a discussion of language shift and the prospects for indigenous languages. Afrikaans Afrikaans is the only language that could present a challenge to the hegemony of English in all the higher domains, except diplomacy. And this despite the fact that Afrikaans has lost most of the privileges and political prestige it had during the apartheid era. It is no longer a compulsory school subject in the country’s educational system, it no longer receives the special financial support it had during the apartheid era, it is no longer the sole language of the army and is grad-

260

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

ually being replaced by English in this domain to accommodate the members of former liberation armies who have been incorporated into the new South African National Defense Force (de Klerk & Barkhuizen, 1998; Barkhuizen & de Klerk, 2000). Furthermore, Afrikaans is struggling to shed its tarnished image as the language of oppression, an image it has acquired because Afrikaner politicians associated the language with apartheid. Of the determining factors in language maintenance and shift outlined earlier, generation, education and socioeconomic value stand out as the key for the maintenance of Afrikaans. With regard to generation, Afrikaans is the symbol of Afrikaner identity and culture, and of exclusivity and separateness. It is the core, if not the single vital feature, of what it means to be an Afrikaner29 (that is, a white South African of Dutch descent). It is used in every domain of public and private life in the country, and it occupies a central place in the Afrikaner community, where it is used for daily communication, cultural ceremonies, church services, leisure and sports, especially rugby and cricket. The community-based support for Afrikaans guarantees the transmission of the language from one generation to the next. Besides the Afrikaner community, the majority of the so-called ‘Coloured’ people do also contribute to the intergenerational transmission of Afrikaans, which they speak as a native language. There are, however, some in the ‘Coloured’ community who have turned their back on Afrikaans due to its association with apartheid oppression (McCormick, 1989) although their number is not significant enough to impact negatively on the language. Note also that McCormick’s study is now quite old. Many English-orientated Coloured people may have changed their attitudes towards Afrikaans since then. New research might shed light on language use and language attitude in the target Coloured community. With respect to education, like English and unlike the African languages, Afrikaans has a fully developed infrastructure. Its rich literature and its use as a medium of education at all levels of schooling (primary, secondary and tertiary), as well as its use in virtually all the higher domains, ensure that the language retains much of the vibrancy developed during the apartheid era. As van Rensburg (1999: 92) puts it, it seems that Afrikaans’s negative image is being cast off. Its speakers are too interwoven in the future of South Africa to warrant any substantial decrease in the role played by Afrikaans. The vitality of Afrikaans is maintained through various initiatives, such as preparations for the establishment of Afrikaans private schools, universities, and television stations; and the establishment after 1994 of a Volkstaat Council (people-state council), a political body investigating the possibility of selfdetermination (i.e. the creation of a separate homeland) for the white Afrikaans-speaking community (Webb & Kriel, 2000: 44). Besides generation and education, the Afrikaners constitute the largest and most economically powerful minority group in South Africa. For instance, in a statement on SABC TV (1 May 2001) by an advocate for Afrikaans, it was said that the Afrikaners control at least 52% of South Africa’s economy. In the statement the speaker accused the Government of being anti-Afrikaans. He urged the Afrikaners to use their hold on the economy to maintain Afrikaans and their standard of living. Thus the Afrikaners are, as Romaine (1994) would put it, in a better position by dint of numerical and economic strength to make themselves prominent and to mobilise themselves in support of their language. As a matter of fact, Afrikaans emerged

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

261

on the South African linguistic scene as a result of Afrikaner mobilisation for the language against the British Government’s oppressive policy of Anglicisation, which banned Afrikaans from the public service in the 1880s. Prior to its rise to prominence with the coming to power of the National Party in 1948, (Dutch-) Afrikaans had survived 300 years of British oppression. Under the current Government, Afrikaans is, like all other official languages, protected by the Constitution. Therefore, although as a result of the demise of apartheid, Afrikaans no longer receives special treatment from the state and has been reduced to one of the 11 languages in the country’s official linguistic heritage, the language is not likely to come under any threat of attrition, in spite of the territory it has lost and is likely to lose to its historical rival, English, in the higher domains, such as the government and administration, the media, the army, the court, to list but a few. On the contrary, I would like to postulate that the continued rivalry between English and Afrikaans might lead the Afrikaners to mobilise again for their language which, as Webb and Kriel (2000: 20) note, they profess to ‘love’ and for which they are prepared to make material sacrifices to ensure its continued maintenance. If the press statement referred to above is any indication, the seed for the Third Afrikaans Language Movement might have already been sown. The official indigenous languages As a result of past language policies, and particularly the Bantu Education Act, most African people attach a higher value to English than to their mother tongue, which they believe to be deficient and unsuitable for use in a modern society (Maartens, 1998). This point is echoed in Nyamende (1994: 213–14), who describes isiXhosa speakers’ attitudes towards their own language as follows: Not only are [isi]Xhosa variants denigrated today, but even [isi]Xhosa, the standard dialect, as a school subject or university course, is looked down upon by school people as a subject for the simple-minded and or rustics. These two factors, the hegemony of English and people’s negative attitudes towards the indigenous languages, must be addressed if efforts to develop the indigenous languages are to succeed. Access to English should not translate into the demise of the indigenous languages. Furthermore, people’s attitudes towards the indigenous languages might change if the languages were in some way economically important in the community. This last point will be discussed further in the last section of this monograph. The discussion that follows highlights the formal steps that have been taken by government-sponsored agencies to modernise the African languages. The new language policy provides for the development of the official indigenous languages, so that the languages can function beyond the traditional domains of the home, family and immediate community, in domains such as the media, education system, and science and technology (see, for instance, Department of Education, 1994a; Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, 1996). Also, research shows that there is a high failure rate in science and mathematics at the end of grade 12, and that the failure rate is much higher in schools where science is taught via English rather than via the mother tongue of the learner (Carstens, 1997: 1). So, there is a real need to develop the indigenous languages so that students can access science and technology via the medium of

262

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

their native languages. In the current South African context, developing the indigenous languages entails, in particular, the elaboration and modernisation of their vocabulary, especially in the field of science and technology. This, as Godman and Veltman (1990: 196) put it, has the economic benefits of making science and technology and other higher domains accessible in the indigenous languages. In this regard, Cluver (1996) notes that lexicographers must be trained to embark on the task of creating a scientific lexicon for each official indigenous language. Also, African language practitioners must be trained to facilitate the dissemination of information in the official indigenous languages. These are all top-down and costly undertakings, which the Government alone cannot afford for all the indigenous languages. The main challenge will be for each language community, in cooperation with government structures, to take the lead in developing their own language so that they will have access to science and technology through that language. A number of language development projects, including lexicography projects and electronic corpora for all the official languages, have been initiated by linguists in collaboration with scientists at various South African universities. One such project is the multilingual dictionary for students of chemistry, initiated by Dr A. Carstens of the Department of Afrikaans at the University of Pretoria and the Chemistry Division of the South African Academy for Science and Art in 1998. The project, titled Quadralingual Explanatory Dictionary of Chemistry, aims to provide access to new or incompletely learnt special-field concepts by means of the first language of the user. Carstens (1997: 2) describes the project as ‘designed to be a multilingual explanatory special-field pedagogical dictionary with English as the source language and Afrikaans, isiZulu and Sepedi as target languages’. Its emphasis is on comprehensible definitions in plain English of scientific terms, provided by the chemists, plus translation equivalents and definitions of these terms in the remaining three languages: Sepedi, isiZulu, Afrikaans. It is noted that, by offering linguistic and encyclopaedic information in English, Afrikaans, Sepedi and isiZulu, the concepts of the subject field are made accessible not only via the language(s) of wider communication, English, but also via the mother tongue of the student, Afrikaans, Sepedi, or isiZulu. To date the dictionary has compiled 1000 scientific terms. The government and language activists must sensitise the communities to the benefits of projects such as the one described here, for they both contribute to language development and ensure language maintenance. In terms of the key factors in language maintenance and shift discussed earlier, two factors – namely numerical strength and generation – constitute the lifeline for the survival of the major official indigenous languages, such as isiZulu and isiXhosa, which have a little over nine million and seven million speakers, respectively. Minor official indigenous languages, such as Tshivenda and isiNdebele, which have less than a million speakers each (see Table 1), face a serious threat from English, especially in urban areas. Their chances of survival in these areas are comparatively slimmer than those of, say, any other indigenous languages, including isiZulu and isiXhosa. Also, in terms of performance in the higher domains, minor official languages are becoming increasingly far less visible than the major indigenous languages, as is evident from the data on language use in the media and other domains. Recent research shows that, in urban areas, English is steadily intruding into the family domain for daily communication,

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

263

particularly among the younger generations (Bowerman, 2000; de Klerk, 2000b). Domain intrusion, observe Appel and Muysken (1987: 39, 41) is a clear warning sign of language shift. Romaine (1994) points out that language shift generally involves bilingualism (often with diglossia) as a stage on the way to monolingualism in a new language. She goes on to explain that typically, a community which was once monolingual becomes bilingual as a result of contact with another (usually socially and economically more powerful) group and becomes transitionally bilingual in the new language until their own language is given up altogether. (Romaine, 1994: 50) Along these lines, as Fishman (1989: 206) puts it, ‘what begins as the language of social and economic mobility ends, within three generations or so, as the language of the crib as well, even in democratic and pluralism-permitting contexts’. Fishman’s and Romaine’s remarks reflect what has happened within the Khoisan and the Indian communities in South Africa. As a result of contacts with economically more viable languages, in this case Afrikaans and English, the Khoisan and the Indian communities are now mostly monolingual in either Afrikaans or English, respectively. Against this background and with English increasingly infiltrating the home domain in urban African communities, the question arises as to whether these communities are on their way to monolingualism in English. Pauwels (1988: 12) observes that the maintenance of an ethnic language in its communicative function appears to be largely dependent on the number of speakers in that community who cannot rely adequately on English for their communicative needs. At present the majority of black South Africans live in rural areas and rely on the indigenous languages for their daily communication needs. Therefore, if these languages are to give in to English, they are likely to do so in urban rather than rural areas, as two recent studies suggest (see, Bowerman, 2000; de Klerk, 2000a). Bowerman (2000) undertook a study of language use in urban black communities in the Western Cape Province. Two aspects of the study are relevant for our purpose; namely, language use in interactions with family members and with neighbours and friends. The study shows that the respondents use an African language, rather than English, in their interactions with older family members, irrespective of the latter’s degree of proficiency in English. However, they use English regularly for interactions with family members around the same age as themselves; and this number, the study concludes, ‘increases significantly (to more than a third of the (31) respondents) when it comes to communicating with family members of younger generations’ (Bowerman, 2000: 138). The author draws a similar conclusion with respect to language use in interactions with neighbours and friends: ‘[if] the neighbor/ friend interlocutors are of the younger generation, ... there is significant spread of English dominance over these interactions’ (pp. 157–158). de Klerk’s (2000a) report is on the influx of speakers of isiXhosa into English-medium schools in the Eastern Cape Province. In particular, de Klerk aims to investigate parents’ reasons for sending their children to these schools and the linguistic and psycho-social effects of the move on the children and on the long-term situation of their native tongue, isiXhosa. The study shows that language shift from isiXhosa to English is currently taking place among the wealthier and more privileged members of the isiXhosa-speaking community, both on a practical level

264

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

and on a socio-psychological level. Another finding of de Klerk’s study shows that there is considerable internal conflict in the minds of both the parents and children undergoing the shift as to the future role of isiXhosa language and culture in their lives. If the trend towards language shift as described in both de Klerk’s and Bowerman’s studies continues, one can project that, in the next two generations or so, the indigenous languages, especially the minor ones (e.g. Tshivenda, isiNdebele, etc.) are most likely to be replaced by English, especially in urban black communities. Should this happen, the result will be what Skutnabb-Kangas (2000) has termed ‘linguistic genocide’. By this term, Skutnabb-Kangas means that, just as physical genocide occurs when people are systematically killed, so linguistic genocide, in her words, occurs when (indigenous) languages are systematically killed as a result of contact with more powerful languages. Education will play a vital role in stopping or guaranteeing linguistic genocide in the indigenous languages. As observed earlier, education has often been cited as one of the key factors in language maintenance and shift (Walker, 1984). For instance, Lee (1982) argues that people with a higher education and socioeconomic status, such as described in the de Klerk study, have greater resources to maintain native traditions such as language. Demos (1988), however, argues the opposite. In a study of ethnic mother-tongue maintenance among Greek Orthodox Americans, he concludes that educational attainment is a vehicle of social and geographical mobility and that college education is particularly likely to encourage the development of critical values incompatible with maintenance of traditional forces such as language (Demos, 1988: 67). Current language practices in South Africa’s urban African communities as described in de Klerk (2000a) and Bowerman (2000), lend support to Demos’s study. The practices suggest that a higher level of education has a negative effect on ethnic first-language retention, particularly in urban African communities. In these communities, parents consciously choose English for the education of their children at all levels of schooling, including primary, secondary, and tertiary education. For instance, recent press reports indicate that the number of students studying African languages at universities has been declining by half each year since 1996. According to the University of South Africa (UNISA), the only institution that offers courses in all official African languages, ‘the number of undergraduate students registered for these courses has dropped from 25,000 in 1997 to 3,000 this year (i.e. 2001). The number of postgraduate students has also decreased, from 511 to 53 in the same period’ (Sunday Times, 4 March 2001, p. 2). The implications of these facts for the retention of the indigenous languages, and for language policy, are as yet to be fully investigated. As Kamwangamalu (1998b: 122) has remarked elsewhere, unless these communities make a deliberate effort to maintain and promote their own languages, the chances are that the languages will face the same fate as the Indian and the Khoisan languages did – attrition and eventual death. In this respect, the suggestion that Lopes (1997) makes about consciousness raising and improvement of attitudes towards indigenous languages among parents and pupils in Mozambique applies to the language situation in South Africa: The educational authorities must succeed in explaining to parents, teachers and children the implications of teaching and learning through a certain

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

265

medium of instruction (mother tongue, language of wider communication, or both), and succeed in convincing them of the pedagogical and cultural advantages associated with promotion of mother tongue education, and with promotion of individual and societal bilingualism. (Lopes, 1997: 25) A similar view is expressed by Luckett (1992), who says that until educational resources in the African languages are developed to a higher conceptual level and not unless these languages are perceived to facilitate access to the wider society and economic advancement, the attraction of English as opposed to the African languages will continue to be overwhelming. (Luckett, 1992: 18) The section that follows concludes this monograph by addressing the implications of the aforementioned trend in language shift for the current language policy. The main point to be made is that if this trend is to be reversed, South Africa must review its language policy with a view to revalorising ethnic first language. This can be done by extending the use of these languages to all the higher domains and rewarding multilingual skills in these languages. The discussion will focus on one such domain, education, and will make the case for mother-tongue education in African languages. It is worth noting at this point that in the absence of serious language modernisation, there seems to be little hope of raising the African languages to genuine equality with English and Afrikaans. Therefore, the demand for English in particular is most likely to continue unabated, especially in urban black communities (but see note 28). Language policy and planning: The way forward One of the key issues that this monograph has highlighted, and that I would like to focus on in this section, is the mismatch between South Africa’s multilingual language policy on the one hand, and language practices on the other. The language policy promotes additive multilingualism, or what Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas (1996) would call the ‘ecology-of-language paradigm’, while the language practices promote unilingualism in English or what the authors would call the ‘diffusion-of-English paradigm’. There is strong evidence, as shown in this monograph, with regard to the language practices in education, the media and other higher domains that, in South Africa, the diffusion-of-English paradigm is gaining momentum in virtually all of the country’s institutions. I have explained that the mismatch between the language policy and language practices derives, in the main, from three key factors, comprising the status and instrumental value of English as a global language, the ambivalent languagerelated clauses in the country’s Constitution, and the legacy of apartheid’s language-in-education policies, especially the Bantu Education Act. These factors, together with vested interests and market forces, have been a stumbling block in the country’s efforts to promote the status of African languages in the higher domains, including education. English has been used officially in South Africa for at least the past 200 years. And yet its distribution remains restricted to a minority elite group. Efforts to make English accessible to the masses have been resounding failures. The majority remains on the fringe. Language-based division has increased, economic

266

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

development has not reached the majority (Alexander, 1997: 88), and the illiteracy rate, especially among the black population, remains high. Although people will always want to learn English, particularly because of its instrumental value, there is a need for extending the use of the indigenous languages to all the higher domains and especially to the entire educational system. Using indigenous languages in such higher domains as education is vital, not only for an efficient promotion of those languages, but also for the rapid and massive development and spread of literacy among the populace to empower them to participate actively in the social, political and economic development of the state. Promoting the indigenous languages also requires policy revision on the one hand, and ridding the languages of the legacy of the Bantu Education Act on the other. With regard to the former, the language policy must state unequivocally which official languages must be used in which province for what purposes. It is not enough to have legislation in place that accords recognition and equal status to all the official languages. One needs a sustaining rather than a laissez faire policy (see Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997: 210–213 for discussion). This is because, as Schiffman (1992) points out, egalitarianism in language policy does not necessarily result in equal outcomes; nor does it necessarily entail language promotion. Language policy is more than a language clause in the Constitution; rather it is, as Djité (1990: 96) points out, ‘the realisation and the consciousness raising about language as a cultural heritage and as a primary factor of socioeconomic development, the calculated choice of the language(s) of education and administration, and the actual implementation of that policy’. Unless the loopholes inherent in the current language policy are closed, efforts to promote the indigenous languages will be doomed to fail. Fortunately, the question of policy revision now appears to be one of the top priorities of the Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal. In a recent newspaper article, the Minister remarks that ‘language policy “is not working for all” [the official languages]’ and so it ‘requires an immediate review’ (Daily News, 8 May 2001). He points out that Although the language policy promulgated in 1997 was theoretically sound, it had not really worked on the ground. ... Some school governing bodies refuse to comply with all the provisions of the language-ineducation policy because of racism and use explanations as varied as school culture, corporate vision, capacity and resource availability as covers for their actions. (Daily News, 8 May 2001) It is not clear what amendments will be made to the language policy, but they should be informed by the findings of current research, discussed in this monograph, into why the policy has not worked in the first place (e.g. Kamwangamalu, 1997a, 1998b; LANGTAG, 1996; Verhoef, 1998). Most importantly, the amendments should be geared towards making the indigenous languages ‘fill a hole’ in their respective communities, as explained below. Finally, the legacy of apartheid30 education not only has rendered the indigenous languages instrumentally valueless, but it has also led black South Africans to equate education in the indigenous languages (their own languages) with inferior education. Therefore, for the indigenous languages to become competitive vis à vis English- or Afrikaans-medium education, they must be ‘cleansed’ of the stigma of inferiority they have been carrying for decades (Kamwangamalu, 1996,

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

267

1997b). This cleansing can be achieved by investing the indigenous languages with some of the advantages and perquisites that are currently associated only with English and/or Afrikaans. For instance, a certified knowledge of the indigenous languages should become one of the criteria for upward social mobility, for political participation, and for access to employment in the civil service, much as was the case during the eras of Dutchification, Anglicisation and Afrikanerisation (Kamwangamalu, 2000a, 2001b). The black communities will not accept education in the medium of an African language and will ‘trade in’ their own language for English unless they are convinced that the outcomes of education in an African language will be as rewarding as those of English or Afrikaans-medium education. Put differently, would education in the medium of an African language enhance the target population’s standard of living? Would it give them a competitive edge in the employment market? What benefits would individuals actually reap, particularly in the labour market, because of their skills in an indigenous language? And how, as Grin (1995: 227–31) asks, would these benefits compare to the benefits deriving from the skills in English or Afrikaans? A related question is, who must ensure that an indigenous language becomes economically viable? Language communities tend to rely on the Government to develop their respective languages. But the Government does not have the resources to develop all these languages, nor, as the Soweto uprising has shown, does it have inherent power to impose a particular language on the population. Whether a language becomes economically viable or not is largely dependent on its users. As the studies by Heller (1995) in Canada and Woolard (1988) in Catalonia have shown, fundamental shifts in language values come with movements where a substantial proportion of a population is mobilised around a particular language, as an emblem of identity and citizenship. Along with this idea, language activists should mobilise speakers of the indigenous languages around their respective languages both to bring about shifts in the values of and attitudes towards these languages and to stave off the threat of linguistic genocide (Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000). Language activists have mobilised their respective communities against harmonisation, a language planning exercise that sought unsuccessfully to develop a standard variety for each of the Nguni and Sotho languages, because they saw in it a threat, real or potential, to their cultures and languages. Therefore, there is no reason why similar efforts would not succeed if the activists sought to bring about shifts in the values of their languages. Bringing about such shifts does not entail saying farewell to English and Afrikaans. Rather, it means staving off the current trend towards language shift from the indigenous languages to English, especially in urban black communities, and creating conditions in which English and Afrikaans and the previously marginalised indigenous languages can function alongside each other in all walks of life. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Vic Webb for his insightful comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this monograph and for pointing me to key references on ‘Language and Religion’.

268

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Prof. Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu, Howard University, Department of English, 248 Locke Hall, 2441 6th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA ([email protected]). Notes 1. This idea that each racial group must have its own territory continues to be voiced in today’s South Africa by the Freedom Front, an Afrikaner political party which seeks self-determination; that is, a separate region or homeland, volkstaat, for the Afrikaners. 2. I am using the term ‘Africans’ to refer specifically to black South Africans. In South Africa, politicians sometimes use this term to refer to all so-called ‘non-whites’ including Indians, Coloureds, and Blacks. 3. These conferences include The 15th Southern African Applied Linguistics Association (SAALA) conference on Constitutionally Enshrined Multilingualism: Challenges and Responses (Stellenbosch, South Africa, 1995), The Workshop on Post-colonial Language Problems and Language Planning: Assessing the Past Half Century (Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1996); The Panel on Sociopragmatic and Sociolinguistic Approaches to Multilingualism, 6th International Pragmatics Conference (Reims, France, 1998); Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (Washington, DC, 2000), and The University of Natal’s 17th Conference on Language Development and Language Use (Durban, South Africa, 2000). Also, in writing this monograph I have used as a guide the 22 questions provided by the series editors, Robert Kaplan and Richard B. Baldauf, Jr, and the monographs on the languageplanning situation in the neighbouring countries of Malawi (Kayambazinthu, 1998) and Mozambique (Lopes, 1998). 4. As in the new Constitution of South Africa, in this monograph I have used a prefix in the spelling of the names of the indigenous languages, e.g. isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, siSwati, Xitsonga, Tshivenda, etc. The prefix serves to distinguish between a language (e.g. isiZulu, siSwati, Tshivenda) and its speakers (e.g. Zulus, Swatis, Vendas). Note, however, that the names of the indigenous languages are also commonly spelt without a prefix, e.g. Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Swati, Tsonga, etc. 5. A descendant of Dutch settlers in South Africa was known during the 19th century as a Boer, which means farmer. By the early 20th century such people were calling themselves Afrikaners, which means people of Africa. Their language is Afrikaans, a locally evolved form of Dutch (Attwell, 1986: ix) 6. The war was triggered by a combination of factors, among them the discovery of the gold in the Witwatersrand in 1886, which precipitated a collision between the Boers and Uitlanders, that is, the new immigrants, mainly British; the denial by the Boers of the political rights to the Uitlanders; and the desire of Britain to federate South Africa and bring the whole country under the control of the British Empire. 7. The stipulation of Dutch, and not Afrikaans, in the constitution, or Act of the Union as it was called, provoked conflict among the parties to the Union. In 1925, Article 137 of the Act of the Union, by which English and Dutch were given equal status as official languages of the Union, was amended to state explicitly that reference to Dutch also included Afrikaans (Maartens, 1998: 29) 8. For an in-depth discussion of the development of Afrikaans, see Ponelis (1993), van Rensburg and Jordan (1995), and Webb et al. (1992). 9. These organisations include the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, the Natal Tamil Vedic Society, the Andhra Maha Sabha of South Africa, the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of South Africa, the Kathiawad Hindu Seva Samj, the Surat Hindoo Association and the Shree Sanathan Sabha of Natal. 10. For the Muslim community, some such organisations include the Islamic Propagation Centre, the Juma Musjid Madressa Trust, the Darul Uloom Trust and the Orient Islamic Educational Institute. 11. The other organisations involved in promoting Indian languages are: Hindi Sikha Sangh (teaches Hindi reading and writing skills); Gujarati Khathiawad Association

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

269

(teaches Gujarati language and culture in Gujarati patasalas (schools)); Natal Tamil Federation, a sister organisation to the Tamil Vedic Society of South Africa, (teaches Tamil through dances, songs, and through the study of Thevaram (i.e. Hindu religious texts written in Tamil)); and the Institution for Indian Languages, a new organisation established in 1995 by some concerned academics at the University of Durban-Westville to fight for the rights of Indian languages in South Africa. 12. A distinguishing grammatical feature of the south-eastern languages, including the nine official indigenous languages of South Africa, is that locatives and diminutives are formed by noun suffixes, while most other Bantu languages employ prefixes (Schuring, 1990: 25). Two of the nine official indigenous languages, namely Sesotho and siSwati, also serve as official languages in the neighbouring kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland, respectively. 13. Some of these languages, particularly Zulu, are taught at a number of overseas universities, e.g. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Yale University, University of California at Los Angeles. 14. The idea that South Africa should aim for a single non-racial education system was recommended in 1981 by a Human Science Research Council Committee appointed by the apartheid Government to conduct an in-depth investigation into the crisis triggered by the 1976 Soweto uprisings. The committee’s report, named the De Lange Report (after its chair, Professor Pieter de Lange), recommended, inter alia, that: there should be only one education department responsible for the provision of education in South Africa at the first or national level; that education management at the second level should be organised on a regional basis; that the greatest possible degree of autonomy should be given to the institution that is closest to the parents and the teachers, viz. the school; and that parents and teachers should have a major share in decision-making at this level. (Engelbrecht, 1992: 510) 15. Although school segregation has ended, former white schools have gate-keeping mechanisms, such as lengthy waiting lists and high fees to ensure that the status quo remains or is, at best, slightly changed by accepting only very small numbers of black students. For instance, in a study of schooled literacy at a Durban pre-school, Adendorff and Nel (1998: 211) found that discrimination in South Africa now takes a different and less easily discernible form. Restrictive mechanisms limit the possibility of access to elite discourse practices to numbers sufficiently small not to threaten the status quo, demonstrating the way in which the status quo is upheld, even after the official mechanisms, such as separate education for Blacks and Whites, have been dismantled. 16. Andrew Gonzalez (1990: 322) uses the term ‘miseducation’ to describe the attitudes of Filipino students towards the use of English instead of their native tongue, Filipino, as the medium of instruction. The students consider the use of English in the Philippine educational system as a continuation of cultural and linguistic imperialism by the United States. Unlike in the Philippines, in South Africa, because of the legacy of the Bantu Education system, it is the use of the indigenous languages in education rather than English that the pupils and parents consider as ‘miseducation’. 17. Until recently, three levels were distinguished, the Higher, Standard and Lower Grade. 18. The description draws mostly on the following sources: South Africa Year Book, 1998, 1999; Europa World Year Book, 1999; Africa South of the Sahara, 1999. 19. Everyday M-Net broadcasts to the general public, known as open-time viewers, for two hours 5–7 p.m.) free of charge. 20. Ethnolinguistic rivalries are not unique to South Africa. As Laitin and Mensah (1991) point out, the promotion of any indigenous language for official use often yields opposition, not only from those doing technical work, but also from leading politicians of the ‘non-chosen’ languages. This is illustrated in the following statement by Chief Anthony Anahoro of Nigeria, an Edo speaker, in which he opposes the choice of Hausa as the official language of the state: as one who comes from a minority tribe, I deplore the continuing evidence in this

270

Language Planning and Policy in Africa country that people wish to impose their customs, their languages, and even their way of life upon the smaller tribes .... My people have a language, and that language was handed down through a thousand years of tradition and custom. When the Benin Empire exchanged ambassadors with Portugal, many of the new Nigerian languages of today did not exist. (Laitin, 1992: 96)

21. In 1997 the Department of Education qualified the phrase under consideration to read: It is reasonably practicable to provide education in a particular language of learning and teaching if at least 40 in grades 1 to 6 or 35 in grades 7 to 12 learners in a particular grade request it in a particular school. However, at the same time it added the following, also non-committal and open-ended clause, to the policy: The provincial education department must explore ways and means of sharing scarce human resources. It must also explore ways and means of providing alternate language maintenance programmes in schools and or school districts which cannot be provided with and or offer additional languages of teaching in the home language(s) of learners. (Government Gazette, 17 July 1997) 22. The term mother-tongue is being used here in the sense of UNESCO ([1953] 1995), as already described under Language Spread. It is worth noting that the mother-tongue ‘need not be the language which a person’s parents use; nor need it be the language one first learns to speak, since special circumstances may cause one to abandon this language more or less completely at an early age’ (UNESCO, [1953] 1995). 23. In accordance with this proposal, the other official languages, including Afrikaans, are currently being used as the languages of record on a rotating basis each month (The Sunday Times, 31 May 1998). 24. In the apartheid era, the term ‘Model C schools’ was used to refer to ‘whites-only’ schools, especially white English-medium schools. 25. Incidentally, current language practices in regard to English can be traced back to the language policy proposal made by the ANC, now the ruling party, in 1993. The first clause of that proposal reads as follows: No language must be constitutionally designated as an official language. However, one language may be designated through legislation as the language for government record purposes at the national, regional, and local levels of government. At the national level, this language will probably be English. Compare this proposal with the one made a year earlier by the English Academy of Southern Africa: Although it is desirable that all eleven languages normally recognized as the main languages spoken in South Africa should have equal status, the only practicable solution is to make one language the language of wider communication. The other languages should all have official status at various levels of public life, in various circumstances, and possibly on a geographical basis, to be laid down in broad terms in the Constitution and spelled out in more detail in corresponding legislature. (English Academy of Southern Africa, 1992: 3) Note that the English Academy does not name the language it says should be made the language of wider communication. But it is obvious that the language in question is and must be English. 26. The language research group of the National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) (1992: 4–16) offers an in-depth discussion of various policies for the medium of instruction, their advantages and disadvantages, and the necessary conditions for them to succeed. 27. In an article aptly entitled ‘When mother tongue education is not preferred’, Gupta (1997: 506) makes a similar remark about resistance to mother-tongue education in Tamil by the urban middle-class Tamil parents of Malaysia. In particular, and citing Schiffman (1996), Gupta points out that the parents ‘declared that they would not put

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

271

their children in Tamil schools in Malaysia because Tamil schools are a dead-end professionally and socially’. 28. According to press reports, one language community, the Tshivenda-speaking community, appears to have taken the threat of English to its language to heart. In an effort to roll back what the community terms ‘cultural imperialism’ associated with English – one that breeds ‘cultural genocide’ – a group of Tshivenda-speaking people have started a movement to establish a school in Johannesburg which would teach Tshivenda and Venda culture to Venda children (The Star, 25 September 2000). It is not surprising that the Tshivenda-speaking people are the first to undertake such an initiative. They are the smallest among the indigenous language communities in South Africa and so, in terms of language and culture loss, they feel more vulnerable than any of the other indigenous language communities. 29. Vic Webb (personal communication, 2001) says that the term ‘Afrikaner’ is defined more narrowly by many, viz. as (1) support of self-determination/apartheid /separatism (politically), (2) white (racially), (3) membership of the Dutch Reformed Church (religion), (4) a sense of a glorious past (historically) and (5) particular values, attitudes, and norms (culturally). 30. There is no denying that apartheid is certainly the root of many evils in South Africa. It is worth noting, however, that language planning situations in the rest of Africa, which did not have apartheid, are so similar to that in South Africa that other factors, such as colonialism, slavery, and Christianisation must also have had their impact on the language situation in South Africa.

References Adendorff, R. (1995) Fanagalo in South Africa. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 176–92). Cape Town: David Philip. Adendorff, R. and Nel, T. (1998) Literacy and middle-class privilege in post-apartheid South Africa: Evidence from planning time sessions at Church Pre-school. In N.M. Kamwangamalu (ed.) Aspects of Multilingualism in Post-apartheid South Africa: A Special Issue of Multilingua 17 (2–3), 197–226. Berlin: Mouton. African National Congress (1992) ANC Policy Guidelines for a Democratic South Africa. Johannesburg, South Africa: ANC. Africa South of the Sahara (1999) (28th edn). London: Europa Publications. Akinnaso, F.N. (1993) Policy and experiment in mother tongue literacy in Nigeria. International Review of Education 39, 255–85. Alexander, N. (1989) Language Policy and National Unity in South Africa/Azania. Cape Town: Buchu Books. Alexander, N. (1997) Language policy and planning in the new South Africa. African Sociological Review 1, 82–98. Appel, R. and Muysken, P. (1987) Language Contact and Bilingualism. London: Edward Arnold. Archer, M.S. (1984) Social Origins of Educational Systems. London: Sage. Ashley, M.J. (1974) African education and society in the nineteenth-century Eastern Cape. In C. Saunders and R. Derricourt (eds) Beyond the Cape Frontier: Studies in the History of the Transkei and the Ciskei (pp. 199–212). London: Longman. Ashley, M.J. (1980) Universes in collision: Xhosa, Missionaries and education in nineteenth-century South Africa. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 32, 28–38. Ashley, M.J. (1982) Features of modernity: Missionaries and education in South Africa, 1850–1900. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 38, 49–58. Attwell, M. (1986) South Africa: Background to the Crisis. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. Bamgbose, A. (1991) Language and the Nation: The Language Question in Sub-Saharan Africa. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press. Barkhuizen, G. and de Klerk, V. (2000) Language contact and ethnolinguistic identity in an Eastern Cape army camp. In N.M. Kamwangamalu (ed.) Aspects of Multilingualism in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Special Issue of Multilingua 17 (2–3), 95–118. Berlin: Mouton.

272

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Barkhuizen, G. and Gough, D. (1996) Language curriculum development in South Africa: What place for English? TESOL Quarterly 30, 453–71. Beck, R.B. (1989) Bibles and beads: Missionaries as traders in Southern Africa in the early nineteenth century. Journal of African History 30, 211–25. Bhola, H.S. (1992) Literacy in Southern Africa. In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 12: Literacy (pp. 243–59). New York: Cambridge University Press. Bock, Z. (1996) Uswe’s development-driven ABET curriculum. Southern African Journal of Applied Language Studies (SAJALS) 4 (2), 32–49. Bowerman, S.A. (2000) Linguistic imperialism in South Africa: The unassailable position of English. MA dissertation, University of Cape Town. Branford, W. (1996) English in South African society: A preliminary overview. In V. de Klerk (ed.) English Around the World: Focus on South Africa (pp. 35–51). Amsterdam: Benjamins. Breutz, P.L. (1989) A History of the Batswana. Margate, Natal: P.L. Breutz. Brown, D. (1995) The rise and fall of Fanakalo: Language and literacy policies of the South African Gold mines. In V. Webb (ed.) Language in South Africa: An Input into Language Planning for a Post-Apartheid South Africa (pp. 309–27). Pretoria: The LiCCA Research and Development Program. Bryan, M.A. (1959) The Bantu Languages of Africa. New York: Oxford University Press. Calteaux, K. (1996) Standard and Non-Standard African Language Varieties in the Urban Areas of South Africa: Main Report for the STANON Research Program. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council Publishers. Carstens, A. (1997) Issues in the planning of a multilingual explanatory dictionary of chemistry for South African students. Lexikos 7, 1–24. Chidester, D. (1992) Religions of South Africa. London/New York: Routledge. Chidester, D. (1996) Savage Systems: Colonialism and Comparative Literature in Southern Africa. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press. Cluver, A.D. de V. (1992) Language planning models for a post-Apartheid South Africa. Language Problems and Language Planning 16, 104–33. Cluver, A.D. de V. (1996) Language development. In Language Plan Task Group (LANGTAG) (1996) Toward a National Language Plan for South Africa: Final Report of the Language Plan Task Group. Pretoria: DACST. Clyne, M. (1997) Multilingualism. In F. Coulmas (ed.) The Handbook of Sociolinguistics (pp. 301–14). Oxford: Blackwell. Cobbing, J. (1988) The Mfecane as Alibi: Thoughts on Dithakong and Molompo. Journal of African History 29, 487–519. Cochrane, J.R. (1987) Servants of Power: The Role of English-speaking Churches in South Africa, 1903–30. Johannesburg: Ravan Press. Cole, D.T. (1953) Fanagalo and the Bantu languages in South Africa. African Studies 12, 1–9. Combrink, J. (1978) Afrikaans: Its origin and development. In L.W. Lanham and K.P. Prinsloo (eds) Language and Communication Studies in South Africa (pp. 69–95). Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) Pretoria: Government Printer. Cooper, R.L. (1989) Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cope, R.L. (ed.)(1977) The Journal of the Rev. T.L. Hodgson. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. Davenport, T.R.H. (1991) South Africa – A Modern History (4th edn). London: Macmillan. de Gruchy, J. (1995) Settler Christianity. In M. Prozesky and J. de Gruchy (eds) Living Faiths in South Africa (pp. 28–44). New York & London: St Martin’s Press & Hurst and Company. de Klerk, V. (ed.) (1996) English Around the World: Focus on South Africa. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: Benjamins. de Klerk, V. (2000a) To be Xhosa or not to be Xhosa . . . That is the question. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 21, 198–215. de Klerk, V. (2000b) Language shift in Grahamstown: A case study of selected Xhosa-speakers. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 146, 87–110.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

273

de Klerk, V. and Barkhuizen, G. (1998) Language attitudes in the South African National Defense Force: Views from 6SAI. In N.M. Kamwangamalu (ed.) Aspects of Multilingualism in Post-apartheid South Africa: A Special Issue of Multilingua 17 (2–3), 155–79. Berlin: Mouton. Demos, V. (1988) Ethnic mother tongue maintenance among Greek Orthodox Americans. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 69, 59–71. Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (1996) Towards a National Language Plan for South Africa: Final Report of the Language Plan Task Group (LANGTAG). Pretoria: Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (1996) White Paper on Science and Technology. Government Gazette vol. 378, no. 17675. 20 December 1996. Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (1998) Programme Selected Activities. Pretoria: Department of Arts, Culture, Science, and Technology. Department of Education (1994) South Africa’s New Language Policy: The Facts. Pretoria: Department of Education. Department of Education (1994a) White Paper on Reconstruction and Development in the School System. Government Gazette Vol. 351, no. 15974, 23 September 1994. Department of Education (1997) Language in Education Policy. (South African Schools Act no. 84, 1996) Government Gazette no. 18546, 19 December. Department of Education (1998b) National Education Policy Act no. 27 of 1996. Government Gazette no. 19640, 23 December. Department of Education (1999) National policy on the conduct of the senior certificate examinations. Government Gazette no. 20280, 9 July. Djité, P.G. (1990) The place of African languages in the revival of the Francophone movement. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 86, 87–102. Doke, C.M. and Cole, D.T. (1961) Contributions to the History of Bantu Linguistics. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. du Plessis, J. ([1911] 1965) A History of Christian Missions in South Africa. London: Longman. Eastman, C.M. (1990) Language planning in post-apartheid South Africa. TESOL Quarterly 24, 9–22. Eggington, W. and Baldauf, R.B., Jr. (1990) Towards evaluating the Aboriginal bilingual education program in the Northern Territory. In R.B. Baldauf, Jr and A. Luke (eds) Language Planning and Education in Australasia and the South Pacific (pp. 89–105). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Ellis, C.S. (1987) Literacy Statistics in the RSA, 1980. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. Engelbrecht, S.W.H. (1992) The De Lange Report revisited ten years down the road. In R. McGregor and A. McGregor (eds) Education Alternatives (pp. 495–513). Cape Town: Juta & Co. English Academy of Southern Africa (1992) A draft language-policy proposal. Language Projects Review 7 (1), 3. Europa World Year Book (1999) London: Europa Publications. Fasold, R. (1984) The Sociolinguistics of Society. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Ferguson, C.A. (1992) Foreword to the First Edition. In B.B. Kachru (ed.) The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures (2nd edn) (pp. xiii-xvii). Delhi: Oxford University Press. Fishman, J.A. (1971) The sociology of language. In J.A. Fishman (ed.) Advances in the Sociology of Language (Vol. 1) (pp. 217–404). The Hague: Mouton. Fishman, J.A. (1972) Language maintenance and shift as a field of inquiry (revisited). In A.S. Dil (ed.) Language in Sociocultural Change: Essays by J.A. Fishman, Selected and Introducted by A.S. Dil. (pp. 76–134). Stanford: Stanford University Press. Fishman, J.A. (1987) Conference comments: Reflections on the current status of language planning. In L. Laforge (ed.) Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Language Planning (pp. 405–28). Quebec: Presses de l’Université de Laval. Fishman, J.A. (1989) Language and Ethnicity in Minority Sociolinguistic Perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

274

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Fishman, J.A. (1991) Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Fivaz, D. (1981) Southern Bantu typology – a renewed phase of enquiry. South African Journal of African Languages Supplement, 2–11. French, E. (1988) Adult literacy work in South Africa: A history to be made. Africa Insight 18 (1). Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. Geertz, C. (1973) The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books. Giliomee, H. (1989) The beginning of Afrikaner ethnic consciousness, 1850–1915. In L. Vail (ed.) The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa (pp. 21–54). London: James Curry. Godman, A. and Veltman, R. (1990) Language development and the translation of scientific texts. Babel 36 (4), 193–212. Gonzalez, A. (1990) Evaluating bilingual education in the Philippines: Towards a multidimensional model of evaluation in language planning. In R.R. Baldauf, Jr and A. Luke (eds) Language Planning and Education in Australasia and the South Pacific (pp. 319–34). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Grin, F. (1994) The economics of language: Match or mismatch? International Political Science Review 15, 25–43. Grin, F. (1995) The economics of foreign language competence: A research project of the Swiss National Science Foundation. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 16, 227–31. Grobler, J. (1988) A Decisive Clash? Pretoria: Arcadia. Grobler, E., Prinsloo, K.P. and van der Merwe, I.I. (1990) Language Atlas of South Africa: Language and Literacy Patterns. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. Gultig, J., Lubisi, C., Parker, B. and Wedekind, V. (eds) (1998) Understanding Outcomes-based Education: Teaching and Assessment in South Africa. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Gunning, E. (1997) Engels voer botoon in provinsies, skuif ander tale uit [English dominates in provinces, edges out other languages]. Rapport (6 April). Gupta, A. (1997) When mother tongue education is not preferred. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 18, 496–506. Gupta, A.F. and Siew Pui Yeok (1995) Language shift in a Singapore family. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 16, 301–14. Guthrie, M. (1948) The Classification of the Bantu Languages. London: Oxford University Press. Guthrie, M. (1971) Comparative Bantu: An Introduction to the Comparative Linguistics and Prehistory of the Bantu Languages. Farnborough, England: Gregg International Publishers. Hartshorne, K.B. (1987) Language policy in African education in SA 1919–1985, with particular reference to the medium of instruction. In D. Young (ed.) Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice in English Second Language Teaching. Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman. Hartshorne, K. (1995) Language policy in African education: A background to the future. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 306–18). Cape Town: David Philip. Headlam, C. (1931) Selections from The Milner Papers. London: Cassell. Heller, M. (1995) Language choice, social institutions, and symbolic domination. Language in Society 24, 373–405. Herbert, P. and Robinson, C. (1999) Another language, another literacy? Evidence from Africa. Written Language and Literacy 2 (2), 247–66. Herbert, R.K. (1993) Foundations in Southern African Linguistics. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. Heugh, K. (1995a) The multilingual school: Modified dual medium. Mimeo. Heugh, K. (1995b) Disabling and enabling: Implications of language policy trends in South Africa. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 329–50). Cape Town: David Philip. Heugh, K. (1996) Why is the water so muddied? A response to Strauss’s ‘The economics of language’. The Economics of Language: Language Planning Report 5 (2), 38–46.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

275

Hexham, I. (1981) The Irony of Apartheid: The Struggle for National Independence of Afrikaner Calvinism Against British Imperialism. New York: Edwin Mellen Press. Hillerich, R.L. (1976) Toward an assessable definition of literacy. English Journal 65 (2), 50–55. Hinchliff, P. (1963) The Anglican Church in South Africa. London: Darton, Longman & Todd. Hofmeyr, J. and Buckland, P. (1992) Education system change in South Africa. In R. McGregor and A. McGregor (eds) Education Alternatives (pp. 15–59). Cape Town: Juta. Hofmeyr, J.W. and Cross, K.E. (1986) History of the Church in Southern Africa. Volume 1: A Select Bibliography of Published Material to 1980. Pretoria: Union of South Africa. Holman, L. (2001) Outcomes-based education is a success. Daily News, (7 March), 8. HSRC. (1985) Religion, Intergroup Relations and Social Change in South Africa. Pretoria. Interim Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1995) Pretoria: Government Printer. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (1995) English in language planning in the new South Africa. The Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference of the Southern African Applied Linguistics Association (SAALA) 15: 85–107. University of Stellenbosch. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (1996) Multilingualism and education policy in post-apartheid South Africa. Paper presented at the ‘Workshop on post-colonial language problems and language planning: Assessing the past half century’. The 5th conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI). Utrecht, Holland, 18–24 August. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (1997a) The colonial legacy and language planning in sub-Saharan Africa. Applied Linguistics 18, 69–85. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (1997b) Multilingualism and education policy in post-apartheid South Africa. Language Problems & Language Planning 21, 234–53. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (ed.) (1998a) Aspects of Multilingualism in post-apartheid South Africa: A Special Issue of Multilingua 17 (2–3). Berlin: Mouton. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (1998b) A new language policy, old language practices: Status planning for African languages in a multilingual South Africa. The 6th International Pragmatics Association Conference, Reims, France, 19–24 July. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2000a) A new language policy, old language practices: Status planning for African languages in a multilingual South Africa. South African Journal of African Languages 20 (1), 50–60. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2000b) Language policy and mother tongue education: The case for a market-oriented approach. Paper presented at the Georgetown University Roundtable on Languages and Linguistics (GURT). Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 4–6 May. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2001a) When 2+9 = 1: English and the politics of language planning in a multilingual society, South Africa. The 3rd conference on Major Varieties of English (MAVEN). Freiburg, Germany, 6–9 June. Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2001b) A linguistic renaissance for an African renaissance: Language policy and planning. In E. Maloka and E. le Roux (eds) Africa in the New Millennium (pp. 131–43). Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA). Kaplan, R.B. (1992) Summary comments (on literacy). In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 12: Literacy (pp. 285–91). New York: Cambridge University Press. Kaplan, R.B. and Baldauf, R.B., Jr. (1997) Language Planning: From Practice to Theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Kayambazinthu, E. (1998) The language planning situation in Malawi. In R.B. Kaplan and R.B. Baldauf, Jr (eds) Language Planning in Malawi, Mozambique and the Philippines (pp. 15–85). (Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 19, 369–439.) Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Khumalo, J. (1984) A new term for ‘Bantu’ in linguistic studies. South African Journal of African Languages, Supplement 1, 111–20. Kritzinger, D. (1995) The religious field. In V.N. Webb (ed.) Language in South Africa: An input to language planning for a post-apartheid South Africa (pp. 265–71). The (provisional) LICCA (SA) Research Report (unpublished), University of Pretoria.

276

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Kritzinger, J.J. (1993) The religious scene in present-day South Africa. In J. Killian (ed.) Religious Freedom in South Africa (pp. 2–4). Pretoria: UNISA. Laitin, D. (1992) Language Repertoire and State Construction in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Laitin, D. and Mensah, E. (1991) Language choice among Ghanaians. Language Problems and Language Planning 15, 139–61. Landau, S.P. (1995) The Realm of the Word: Language, Gender, and Christianity in a Southern African Kingdom. Portsmouth, NH, Cape Town and London: Heinemann, David Philip & James Curry. Landon, J. (2000) Language policy development in primary education in Scotland. Paper presented at the ELET conference, Durban, 27–28 September. Language Plan Task Group (LANGTAG) (1996) Toward a National Language Plan for South Africa: Final Report of the Language Plan Task Group. Pretoria: DACST. Lanham, L.W. (1978) An outline history of the languages of Southern Africa. In LW. Lanham and K.P. Prinsloo (eds) Language and Communication Studies in South Africa: Current Issues and Directions in Research and Inquiry (pp. 13–28). Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Lanham, L.W. (1996) A history of English in South Africa. In V. de Klerk (ed.) English Around the World: Focus on South Africa (pp. 19–34). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Lass, R. (1995) South African English. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 68–88). Cape Town: David Philip. Lee, W.L. (1982) The language shift of Chinese-Americans. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 38, 109–24. Lopes, A.J. (1997) Language Policy: Principles and Problems. Maputo: Livraria Universitaria, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Lopes, A.J. (1998) The language situation in Mozambique. In R.B. Kaplan and R.B. Baldauf, Jr (eds) Language Planning in Malawi, Mozambique and the Philippines (pp. 86–132) (Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 19, 440–86.) Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Luckett, K. (1992) National Additive Bilingualism (Report from the Medium of Instruction sub-group to the Language Policy Research Group). Pretoria: National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI). Lye, W.F. and Murray, C. (1980) Transformations on the Highveld: The Tswana and Southern Sotho. Cape Town and London: David Philip. Lynn, T. (1995) The language situation in Lesotho today. In V. Webb (ed.) Language in South Africa: An Input into Language Planning for a Post-apartheid South Africa (pp. 43–60). Pretoria: LiCCA Research and Development Program. Maartens, J. (1998) Multilingualism and language policy in South Africa. In G. Extra and J. Maartens (eds) Multilingualism in a Multicultural Context: Case Studies on South Africa and Western Europe (pp. 15–36). Tilburg: Tilburg University Press. Macdonald, C.A. ([1987] 1990) Crossing the Threshold into Standard Three: Main Report of the Threshold Project. Pretoria: Human Science Research Council (HSRC). Macdonald, C.A. and Burroughs, E. (1991) Eager to Talk and Learn and Think: Bilingual Primary Education in South Africa. Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman. Mafu, S.T.A. (1999) The myth of English language vs. knowledge in some former British colonies: The case of Tanzania. The 2nd International Conference on Major Varieties of English. Lincoln, United Kingdom, 9–11 September. Maharaj, S.R. (1974) An Investigation into the Status of the Vernacular Languages among Indians in Natal. Durban: University of Durban-Westville. Majeke, N. (1952) The Role of the Missionaries in Conquest. Johannesburg: Society of Young Africa. Makhudu, K.D.P. (1995) An introduction to Flaaitaal. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 298–305). Cape Town: David Phillip. Makoni, S. (1997) Linguistic imperialism: Old wine in new bottles. SAALA Newsletter (June), 13–15.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

277

Malherbe, E.G. (1925) Education in South Africa (1652–1922). Cape Town: Juta. Malherbe, E.G. (1977) Education in South Africa II: 1923–75. Cape Town: Juta. Masemola, T. and Khan, F. (2000) English onslaught: Indigenous languages under threat. Daily News, 6 December. Master, P. (1998) Positive and negative aspects of the dominance of English. TESOL Quarterly 32, 716–27. McCormick, K. (1989) English and Afrikaans in District Six: A sociolinguistic study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Cape Town. McLean, D. (1999) Neocolonizing the mind? Emergent trends in language policy for South African education. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 136, 7–26. Mesthrie, R. (1992) Fanagalo in colonial Natal. In R.K. Herbert (ed.) Language and Society: The Theory and Practice of Sociolinguistics (pp. 305–24). Johannesburg: Witwatersrand. Mesthrie, R. (1995a) Historical sketch: Indian languages in South Africa. In V. Webb (ed.) Language in South Africa: An Input into Language Planning for a Post-apartheid South Africa (pp. 141–2). Pretoria: LiCCA Research and Development Program. Mesthrie, R. (ed.) (1995b) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics. Cape Town: David Philip. Mesthrie, R. (1996) Language contact, transmission, shift: South African Indian English. In V. de Klerk (ed.) English Around the World: Focus on South Africa (pp. 79–98). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Mfenyana, B. (1977) Isi-kh unsha nesitsotsi: The sociolinguistics of school and town sintu in South Africa (1945–1975). Unpublished MA thesis, Boston University, USA. Moodie, D.T. (1975) The Rise of Afrikanerdom: Power, Apartheid, and the Africaner Civil Religion. Berkeley: University of California Press. Msimang, C.T. (1993) The future status and functions of Zulu in the new South Africa. In P.H. Swanepoel and H.J. Pieterse (eds) Perspectives on Language Planning for South Africa (pp. 29–41). Pretoria: Unisa. Murray, S. and van der Mescht, H. (1996) Preparing student teachers to teach English first and second language – problems and challenges. In V. de Klerk (ed.) English Around the World: Focus on South Africa (pp. 251–67). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Musker, P. (1993) Child illiteracy in farm schools. In P.H. Swanepoel and H.J. Pieterse (eds) Perspectives on Language Planning for South Africa (pp. 18–25). Pretoria: Unisa. National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) (1992) Language policies for medium of instruction: An informal document for discussion by parents, teachers and principals. English Language Teaching Information Center (ELTIC) Reporter 16 (2&3), 4–16. Nomvete, S. (1994) From oppression to opportunity: Multilingual policies for schools. ELTIC Reporter 18 (1–2), 11–17. Ntshangase, D. (1993) The social history of Iscamtho. MA thesis, University of the Witwatersrand. Ntshangase, D. (1995) Indaba yami i-straight: Language and language practices in Soweto. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 291–7). Cape Town: David Philip. Nyamende, A. (1994) Regional variation in Xhosa. In R.P. Botha, M.A. Kemp, C. le Roux and W. Winckler (eds) Linguistics for the Language Professions 2, (SPIL PLUS 26) (pp. 202–17). Stellenbosch: Department of General Linguistics, University of Stellenbosch. Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (2000) The language situation in Botswana. Current Issues in Language Planning 1 (2), 243–300. Omer-Cooper, J.D. (1999) South Africa: Recent history. In Africa South of the Sahara (28th edn) (pp. 974–84). Europa Publications. Oosthuizen, G.C. (1987) The Birth of Christian Zionism in South Africa. KwaDlangezwa: University of Zululand. Oosthuizen, G.C. (1989) Black Zionism. The Condenser. Tongaat, Natal: Tongaat-Hulett. Oosthuizen, G.C., Edwards, S.D., Wessels, W.H. and Hexham, I. (eds) (1989) Afro-Christian Religion and Healing in Southern Africa (pp. 5–8). Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. Ownby, C.P. (1981) Early Nguni history: Linguistic suggestions. South African Journal of African Languages, Supplement, 60–81.

278

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Pakir, A. (1998) Connecting with English in the context of internationalization. TESOL Quarterly 33 (1), 103–14. Pandor, N. (1995) Constitutional multilingualism: Problems, possibilities, practicalities. Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference of the Southern African Applied Linguistics Association (SAALA) (pp. 57–74). University of Stellenbosch. Paulston, C.B. (1987) Catalan and Occitan: Comparative test cases for a theory of language maintenance and shift. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 63, 31–62. Pauwels, A. (1988) Introduction: The future of ethnic languages in Australia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 72, 5–14. Peirce, B.N. (1992) English, difference and democracy in South Africa. Extracted from TESOL Matters June/July 1992 and reprinted in SAALA Communique 4 (2), 6. Petersen, K.H. (ed.) (1987) Religion, Development and African Identity. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies. Phillipson, R. (1988) Linguicism: Structures and ideologies in linguistic imperialism. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas and J. Cummins (eds) Minority Education: From Shame to Struggle. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Phillipson, R. (1992) Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Phillipson, R. and Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1996) English only worldwide or language ecology? TESOL Quarterly 30, 429–54. Pienaar, S.W. (ed.) (1964) Glo in U Volk: D.F. Malan as Redenaar, 1908–1954. Cape Town: Tafelberg. Ponelis, F. (1993) The Development of Afrikaans. (Duisberger Arbeiten zur Sprach-und Kulturwissenschaft.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Potenza, E. (2001) Looking forward to curriculum reform. ReadRight, a supplement to Sunday Times (5 August), 4. Poulos, G. (1990) A Linguistic Analysis of Venda. Pretoria: Via Afrika. Prabhakaran, V. (1998) Multilingualism and language shift in South Africa: The case of Telugu, an Indian language. In N.M. Kamwangamalu (ed.) Aspects of Multilingualism in Post-apartheid South Africa: A Special Issue of Multilingua 17 (2–3), 297–319). Prah, K. (1995) African Languages for the Mass Education of Africans. Bonn: Education, Science and Documentation Center. Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA) (1999a) Summative Report (1996–1998). Cape Town: University of Cape Town. Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA) (1999b) Information brochure. Cape Town: University of Cape Town. Prozesky, M. (1995a) Introduction. In M. Prozesky and J. de Gruchy (eds) Living Faiths in South Africa (pp. 1–14). New York and London: St Martin’s Press and Hurst and Company. Prozesky, M. (1995b) Important events in the history of South Africa’s religions. In M. Prozesky and J. de Gruchy (eds) Living Faiths in South Africa (pp. 229–36). New York and London: St Martin’s Press and Hurst and Company. Prozesky, M. and de Gruchy, J. (eds) (1995) Living Faiths in South Africa. New York and London: St Martin’s Press and Hurst and Company. Rautenbach, W. (1992) The crucial role of technical and vocational education in the restructuring of education in South Africa. In R. McGregor and A. McGregor (eds) McGregor’s Education Alternatives (pp. 357–75). Cape Town: Juta. Reagan, T.G. (1995) Language planning and language policy in South Africa: A perspective on the future. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 319–28). Cape Town: David Philip. Reitz, F.W. (1900) A Century of Wrong. London: Review of Reviews. Republic of South Africa (1985) Population Census 1980. Social Characteristics. Report no. 02–80–12. Pretoria: Government Printer. Research and Education in South Africa (RESA) (1988) The Struggle Against Apartheid Education: Towards People’s Education in South Africa. RESA paper no. 3. Colchester: University of Essex. Roberge, P.T. (1995) The formation of Afrikaans. In R. Mesthrie (ed.) Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics (pp. 51–67). Cape Town: David Philip.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

279

Romaine, S. (1994) Language in Society: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. Romaine, S. (1995) Bilingualism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Roodt, D. (2000) The information age is leading to cultural and linguistic apartheid. Star (23 September), 3. Rose, B. and Turner, R. (1975) Documents in South African Education. Johannesburg: A.D. Donker. Sadie, J.L. (1993) A Projection of the South African Population 1991–2011. Pretoria: Unisa. Samuels, J. (1995) Multilingualism in the emerging educational dispensation. Proceedings of the Southern Africa Applied Linguistics Association 15, 75–84. University of Stellenbosch. Schapera, J. (1937) The Bantu-speaking Tribes of South Africa. London: Routledge. Schapera, I. and Comaroff, J.L. [1953] (1991) The Tswana (revised edn). London: Keagan Paul International in association with the International African Institute. Schiffman, H. (1992) ‘Resisting arrest’ in status planning: Structural and covert impediments to status change. Language and Communication 12 (1), 1–15. Schmied, J. (1991) English in Africa. London: Longman. Schuring, G.K. (1990) Home language: African languages. In E. Grobler, K.P. Prinsloo and I.J. van der Merwe (eds) Language Atlas of South Africa: Language and Literacy Patterns (pp. 25–32). Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. Schuring, G.K. and van der Merwe, I.J. (1990). Conclusion. In E. Grobler, K.P. Prinsloo and I.J. van der Merwe (eds) Language Atlas of South Africa: Language and Literacy Patterns (pp. 73–74). Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. Scotton, C.M. (1990) Elite closure as boundary maintenance. In B. Weinstein (ed.) Language Policy and Political Development (pp. 25–52). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Shingler, J. (1973) Education and political order in South Africa, 1902–1961. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Silverstein, R.O. (1968) A note on the term ‘Bantu’ as first used by W.H.I. Bleek. African Studies 2, 211–12. Skinner, J. (1998) The Stepmother Tongue: An Introduction to New Anglophone Fiction. London and New York: Macmillan and St. Martin’s Press. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1988) Multilingualism and education of minority children. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas and J. Cummins (eds) Minority Education: From Shame to Struggle. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000) Linguistic Genocide in Education or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Slabbert, S. (1994) What is the mother tongue of the Sowetan teenager? And is this the same as home language(s)? BUA (formerly Language Projects Review) 9 (1), 4–7. South Africa Year Book (1998) Pretoria: Bureau for Information, Department of Foreign Affairs. South Africa Year Book (1999) Pretoria: Bureau for Information, Department of Foreign Affairs. Spady, W. (1995) Outcomes-based Education: Critical Issues. American Association of School Administration. USA: Breakthrough Systems. Sridhar, K.K. (1988) Language maintenance and language shift among Asian-Indians: Kannadigas in the New York area. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 69, 73–87. Strassburger, E. (1974) Ecumenism in South Africa, 1936–1960. Johannesburg: South African Council of Churches. Street, B.V. (1984) Literacy in Theory and Practice. Cambridge: University Press. Street, B.V. (1995) Social Literacies: Critical Approaches to Literacy in Development, Ethnography and Education. London: Longman. Sundermeier, T. (ed.) (1975) Church and Nationalism in South Africa. Johannesburg: Ravan Press. Sundkler, B.G. (1961) Bantu Prophets in South Africa (2nd edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

280

Language Planning and Policy in Africa

Sylva, Penny et al. (eds.) (1996) A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The People of South Africa Population Census 1996 (1998) Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. Thompson, L. (1985) The Political Mythology of Apartheid. New Haven: Yale University Press. Tollefson, J.W. (1991) Planning Language, Planning Inequality. New York: Longman. UNESCO ([1953] 1995) The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education. Paris: UNESCO. van den Berghe, P. (1990) Review essay: Language and politics in South Africa. South Africa Sociological Review 3, 1. van der Horst, C. and Macdonald, R. (1997) Outcomes-based education. Sunday Times (22 June). van der Kemp, J.T. (1804) An account of the religion, customs, population, government, language, history, and natural productions of Caffraria. Transactions of the [London] Missionary Society 1, 432–41. London: Bye and Law. van der Merwe, I.J. and van Niekerk, L.O. (1994) Language in South Africa: Distribution and Change. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch Press. van Rensburg, C. (1999) Afrikaans and apartheid (translated from the Afrikaans by K. McCormick). International Journal of the Sociology of Language 136, 77–96. van Rensburg, C. and Jordaan, A. (1995) The growth of Afrikaans in South Africa. In V. Webb (ed.) Language in South Africa, An Input into Language Planning for a Post-apartheid South Africa. The LICCA (SA) Report. (pp. 107–32). Pretoria: University of Pretoria. van Zyl Slabbert, F., Malan, C., Marais, H., Oliver, K. and Riordan, R. (1994) Youth in the New South Africa: Towards Policy Formation. Pretoria: HSRC Publishers. Verhoef, M. (1998) In pursuit of multilingualism in South Africa. In N.M. Kamwangamalu (ed.) Aspects of Multilingualism in Post-apartheid South Africa: A Special Issue of Multilingua 17 (2–3), 181–96. Villa-Vicencio, C. (1988) Trapped in Apartheid. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. Virasamy, C. (1997) An investigation into teacher-elicited Zulu-mother tongue use by Zulu-speaking pupils in an English-only classroom. MA thesis, Department of Linguistics, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa. Wald, B. (1987) Swahili and the Bantu languages. In B. Comrie (ed.) The Major Languages of South Asia, the Middle East and Africa (pp. 285–308). London: Routledge. Walker, A.G.H. (1984) Applied sociology of language: Vernacular languages and education. In P. Trudgill (ed.) Applied Sociolinguistics (pp. 159–202). London: Academic Press. Walters, P. (1996) Issues in English teaching in black primary schools. In V. de Klerk (ed.) English Around the World: Focus on South Africa (pp. 211–30). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Warwick, P. (ed.) (1980) The South African War: The Anglo-Boer War, 1899–1902. London: Longman. Watermeyer, S. (1996) Afrikaans English. In V. de Klerk (ed.) English Around the World: Focus on South Africa (pp. 99–124). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Webb, V. (1993/1994) Language policy and planning in South Africa. In W. Grabe et al. (eds) Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 14: Language Policy and Planning (pp. 254–73) New York: Cambridge University Press. Webb, V., Dirven, R. and Kock, E. (1992) Afrikaans: Feite en interpretasies [Afrikaans: Facts and interpretations]. In V. Webb (ed.) Afrikaans na Apartheid [Afrikaans after Apartheid] (pp. 25–68). Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik. Webb, V. and Kriel, M. (2000) Afrikaans and Afrikaner nationalism. In N.M. Kamwangamalu (ed.) Language and Ethnicity in the New South Africa. A Special Issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language 144 (pp. 19–51). Berlin: Mouton. Webb, V. and Sure, K. (eds) (2000) African Voices: An Introduction to the Languages and Linguistics of Africa. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Wiley, T. (1996) Language planning and policy. In S.L. McKay and N.H. Hornberger (eds) Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching (pp. 103–47). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The Language Planning Situation in South Africa

281

Williams, C.H. (1994) Called Unto Liberty! On Language and Nationalism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Woolard, K.A. (1988) Code switching and comedy in Catalonia. In M. Heller (ed.) Code Switching: Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives (pp. 53–76). The Hague: Mouton. (Also in International Pragmatic Association Papers on Pragmatics 1, 106–22 (1987)). Young, D. (1988) English for what for whom and when? Language Projects Review 3 (2), 8. Zulu, A. (1972) The Dilemma of the Black South Africa. Cape Town: University of Cape Town.

Biographical Notes on Contributors Armando Jorge Lopes took his doctorate at the University of Wales, and is currently Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, where he has served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Pedagogic Affairs. He has also served as Editor-in-Chief (1990–1995) of the Linguistics Association for SADC Universities. He has undertaken a number of consultancy assignments for the Commonwealth and the Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa. He has published two books and some two dozen articles in refereed journals and as chapters in books. His research interests include discourse analysis, contrastive rhetoric, and language planning and language policy. Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu is currently Associate Professor of English and Linguistics at Howard University in Washington, DC. He has taught linguistics at the National University of Singapore, the University of Swaziland, and the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa, where he was Professor and Director of the Linguistics Program. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has also received a Fulbright award. His research interests include multilingualism, code-switching, language policy and planning, language and identity, New Englishes, and African Linguistics. He has published widely in these areas. He is the author of the recent monograph The Language Planning Situation in South Africa (2001, Multilingual Matters), and has guest-edited special issues on this and related topics for The International Journal of the Sociology of Language (Vol. 144, 2000), Multilingua (Vol. 17, 2–3, 1998), and World Englishes (Vol. 21, 1, 2002), and Language Problems and Language Planning (in preparation). Dr Edrinnie Kayambazinthu holds a PhD from LaTrobe University, Australia and is a Senior Lecturer in the English Department at Chancellor College, University of Malawi. She has published a number of articles in the field of sociolinguistics and language planning in Malawi. Her major work on the language situation in Malawi first appeared in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development in 1998. Her other publications such as ‘Sociolinguistic Theories: Some Implications from Malawian Data, Codeswitching and Codemixing’ have appeared in the Journal of Humanities and one on ‘Patterns of Language Use in Malawi in the Journal of Contemporary African Studies. Professor Lydia Nyati Ramahobo obtained her PhD in Applied Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1991. She served as head of the Department of Primary Education at the University of Botswana from 1996 to 1999. She is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Education, a position she has held since 2000. Professor Ramahobo was Coordinator for the Educational Research Network in Eastern and Southern Africa from 1992 to 1995. Her major publications include the book titled The National Language: A Problem or Resource (Pula Press), The Girl Child in Botswana (UNICEF) and a recent extended journal article titled ‘From a Phone Call to the High Court: Wayeyi Visibility and the Kamanakao Association’s Campaign for Linguistic and Cultural Rights in Botswana’ in the Journal of Southern African Studies 28 (4). Her areas of interest are language in education, language and ethnicity, educational research and female education. 282 Some Common Issues