Language Attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa 9781800418141

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Language Attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Multilingual Matters Attitudes and Language COLIN BAKER Called unto Liberty COLIN H. WILLIAMS Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism COLIN BAKER Immigrant Languages in Europe GUUS EXTRA and LUDO VERHOEVEN (eds) Language Diversity Surveys as Agents of Change JOE NICHOLAS Language in Education in Africa CASMIR M. RUBAGUMYA (ed.) Linguistic and Communicative Competence CHRISTINA BRATT-PAULSTON Linguistic Minorities, Society and Territory COLIN H. WILLIAMS (ed.) Multilingualism and Nation Building GERDA MANSOUR Soclollngulstlc Perspectives on Bilingual Education CHRISTINA BRATT PAULSTON The Step-Tongue: Children's English in Singapore ANTHEA FRÄSER GUPTA System in Black Language DAVID SUTCLIFFE with JOHN FIGUEROA Teaching and Researching Language in African Classrooms CASMIR RUBAGUMYA (ed.)

Please contact us for the latest book Information: Multilingual Matters Ltd, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon, Avon BS21 7SJ England

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS 103 Series Editor: Derrick Sharp

Language Attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa A Sociolinguistic Overview Efurosibina Adegbija

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD Clevedon • Philadelphia • Adelaide

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Adegbija, Efurosibina E., 1952Language Attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Sociolinguistic Overview/ Efurosibina Adegbija (Multilingual Matters: 103) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Sociolinguistics-Africa, Sub-Saharan. 2. Multilingualism-Africa, Sub-Saharan. I. Title. II. Series: Multilingual Matters (Series): 103. P40.45.A357A34 1994 306.4'4'0967-dc20 94-5114 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 9 7 8 - 1 - 8 5 3 5 9 - 2 3 9 - 3

Multilingual Matters Ltd UK: Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon, Avon BS21 7SJ. USA: 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007, USA. Australia: P.O. Box 6025,83 Gilles Street, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia. Copyright © 1994 Efurosibina Adegbija. 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. Typeset by Editorial Enterprises, Torquay.

Contents Acknowledgements

viii

Introduction

1

1

The Language Scenario in Sub-Saharan African Countries . . . . Introduction Characteristics of the language scenario Dense multilingualism The official dominance of ex-colonial languages The official neglect of indigenous languages The unsevered colonial umbilical cord Socio-politically interwoven language related problems . Pan-African, cross-border vehicular languages Conclusion

2

The Sociohistorical Foundations of Language Attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa Introduction The sociohistorical basis of language attitudes The imposition of European languages Colonial and post-colonial language and education policies Legal and constitutional provisions The introduction of western-type media The idiosyncratic sociohistorical ecology of languages . . The early attempts at language standardisation The irresistible pressures for social vertical mobility . . . Conclusion

3

14 14 15 15 17 20 22 23 24 27 29 29 30 30 31 36 39 42 44 45 47

Language Attitudes Research in Sub-Saharan Africa 49 Introduction 49 The aims of language attitudes research in sub-Saharan Africa . 50 The research methodologies used in language attitudes research in sub- Saharan Africa 53

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LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA The major results of language attitudes research in sub-Saharan Africa Bottom-line language attitude determinants in African multilingual and multicultural contexts Sociohistorical forces The linguistic and social politics of complex and dense multilingualism The irresistible quest and pressures for social mobility . . The functional dynamo inherent in languages The pressure to survive The big dilemmas of the application of language attitudes research in sub-Saharan Africa Important areas for future African language attitudes research . . Attitudes towards language types Attitudes towards the nativisation of implanted language . . . Attitudes towards indigenous vehicular languages . . . . Changing language attitudes Conclusion

57 68 68 70 70 71 72 73 .75 75 76 76 77 78

Small Languages, Big Languages: Attitudinal Dimensions of Language Speaker Power and Numbers in Sub-Saharan Africa . . 82 Introduction 82 Why speaker number counts 84 Smallness of speaker numbers: Kills national voice and attention 86 Big languages: The voice of large numbers 91 Conclusion 94 Attitudinal Perspectives of Language Use in Education Introduction Educational attitudes: The present state Self-image about language and language choice Attitudinal misconceptions Conclusion Some Implications of Language Attitudes Research in Sub-Saharan Africa Introduction Further research implications Changing language attitudes An asset and resource perspective to diversity of languages and cultures in policy making

96 96 96 100 104 110 112 112 112 112 113

CONTENTS

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Communicative functions, values and attitudes formation . . 114 Attitudes and the viability of mother tongue education . . . . 114 Prioritisation, small languages, resources and management prudence 115 Conclusion 116 Appendix: Questionnaire on Language Attitudes

119

Bibliography

122

Acknowledgements Some of the ideas that form the basis of this study were first presented at the Research Colloquium on 'Attitudes to Language and Culture' at the University of Duisburg, Germany, in February 1992. I am grateful to participants at this colloquium, especially Professors René Dirven and Dr Martin Piitz (University of Duisburg) as well as Professor Vic Webb (University of Pretoria, South Africa) for their criticisms, comments and very helpful suggestions. Professor Ayo Bamgbose of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, also made very useful suggestions on the initial paper presented at the Colloquium. So also did Mr Peter Garrett of the University of Wales, Bangor, who has shown very keen interest in the progress of the work and has been kind enough to regularly send me very helpful suggestions and materials till the work was completed. I should like to express my deep gratitude to them. I am also grateful to two anonymous reviewers of Multilingual Matters whose very useful comments have resulted in the improvement of several portions of the manuscript. The book was written during my sabbatical leave at the University of Duisburg. I am therefore grateful to this University, especially my host, Rene Dirven and his staff, for the hospitality and support with facilities that made the successful conclusion of the work possible. I am also grateful to the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, for granting me a sabbatical leave. Very specially, I should like to thank the Alexander von Humboldt Research Foundation, Germany, for moral and financial support throughout my stay in Germany as a beneficiary of its Research Fellowship Award. My wife, Dr Mosiforeba Victoria Adegbija, besides providing encouragement in the work and assisting in whatever way she could during her short visit to Germany, also took care of our four children: Osese, Titiosi, Tosiron and Osidinfenyan during my long absence from home. Her love, support and encouragement have been constant sources of renewal and strength in all my endeavours. I also thank the children for all the different kinds of assistance that they gave and congratulate them as well on their patience and tolerance of my long absence from home. Above all else, I am grateful to God, the owner of my breath, who makes all things possible. viii

Introduction For the purposes of this study, sub-Saharan Africa consists of 45 countries. Alphabetically, the countries are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 An alphabetical list of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Central Africa; Chad; Congo; Djibuti; Equatorial Guinea; Ethiopia; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea Bissau; Ivory Coast; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Rwanda; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Somalia; Sudan; Swaziland; Tanzania; Togo; Uganda; West Sahara; Zaire; Zambia; Zimbabwe.

The following map of Africa shows the location of each of the countries. Only five countries in Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are not included in our categorisation. Well over 1,700 languages are used in sub-Saharan Africa and very little institutional attention is given to most of these. Accurate language census statistics in most of the countries is, as yet, not available. In fact, Nigeria alone has between 450 and 500 languages (see Adegbija, 1992a, for a very tentative list of these). 1

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LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

A map showing sub-Saharan African countries A quick examination of the functions of languages/bilingualism/multilingualism in modern Africa would help to clarify the views expressed in subsequent chapters in this book with regard to indigenous languages and colonial languages. We could begin this by indicating that many local languages will most likely continue to be used in informal, interpersonal day to day interactions. While not much legislation could affect language functions in such domains, encouragement of the use of local languages in them could nevertheless be consciously done. However, a few aspects of public life and domains of language functionality should be considered as deserving special planning and management attention in modern Africa. In order to be positive, attitudes to indigenous languages in the domains need to be specially planned and managed. These are: (1) Nationism or official functions: this concerns nation building or the languages used in official day to day administration for ensuring the smooth

INTRODUCTION

3

functioning of the social and economic systems of a nation. Kellman (1971) observes that such a language must guarantee to different groups access to the system and equal opportunities to participate in it. In most African countries at the moment, European languages alone are used in such official functions. Consequently, many of the indigenous people are ignorant of the day to day happenings in government circles and are unable to participate effectively in national life. (2) National language functions: national languages are needed in modern Africa to foster unity and to express national pride and independence. Given the colonial background of most sub-Saharan African countries, such languages constitute a symbol around which national pride could be mobilised' (cf. Cooper, 1988:99). Kiswahili, in Tanzania in particular, and also in many other countries in East Africa presently functions in such a capacity. In many other countries, owing to inadequate language policies, European languages have usurped such a role. In Nigeria, for instance, one cannot point at a national language. Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo are being groomed for such a role but have not been given commensurate institutional support to make them function effectively in performing the role of a national language. Consequently, English, the colonial language, is very much in evidence in this function. But it is not effectively performing such a role because of its colonial origins and because it is spoken only by a minority élite group. (3) Intercultural or interethnic communication: in multilingual contexts, intercultural communication in markets, social gatherings, places of worship, etc. tends to be enhanced when the different cultural groups have languages that serve in day to day social interactions. Such languages, sometimes referred to as link languages, vehicular languages, lingua francas, or languages of wider communication, often overlap in functions with official languages. In most African contexts, regional and local level lingua francas, different from the national, are often desirable in order to promote effective communication. Indigenous languages function effectively in such roles, especially at the regional and local levels, but their functions are often not officially credited or recognised. Because an effective language policy has not been formulated in many African contexts for the fulfilling of the function of interethnic communication, European languages tend to strongly compete with indigenous languages in filling the vacuum. Because they are spoken only by a minority élite, they cannot perform this role well. (4) International communication: languages of international cooperation and communication are imperative because of contemporary international interdependency in several domains of life. In the areas of science and technology, tourism, world politics and diplomacy, economic interaction, the mass media and transportation, no single nation can claim independence from other nations. On a world wide scale, the English language, by virtue of the

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LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

history surrounding its development in Britain, America and the Third World, has developed into the international language par excellence, and it appears to be fulfilling this role rather well even in African contexts. This has contributed immensely to the enhancement of its status in Africa and in the world in general. But African indigenous languages such as Hausa, Swahili and Afrikaans also need to be groomed for performing international functions. Indeed, these three languages already perform somewhat international functions in West Africa, East Africa and South Africa respectively. (5) Languages of education: according to Adegbija (1992a: 232) the domain of education is 'the most crucial area in which language policy is needed, the most problematic, the most multi-faceted, the most economically involving, sometimes the most politically charged and explosive, and the most pregnant with life-long consequences and implications'. Decisions on languages of education are therefore very consequential in that they affect every other area of language functionality (see Chapter Five for a detailed discussion of this). It is with regard to this function that most language policies in Africa have goofed by largely assigning this function to ex-colonial languages at levels beyond the primary. Attitudes towards languages are crucially influenced by the education functions they perform. This is because education affects the individual's upward mobility, future progress and ability to participate in many aspects of national life. The quality of education also affects a society's awareness, progress, general well-being and productivity. In most African countries, as indicated earlier, indigenous languages are designated to function only at the lower levels or during the first few years of primary education. As a result, African languages have been stigmatised in the educational domain as being incapable of functioning beyond this low level. Lack of use over the years has also meant lack of growth, lack of development and lack of challenges. Attitudes towards African languages in education consequently tend to be generally negative. European languages in Africa have naturally tended to fill the vacuum created by the inadequate use of African languages. Attitudes towards them in this domain therefore tend to be highly positive. But this has been at the cost of leaving a majority of Africans educationally impoverished, functionally illiterate and participatorily demobilised. This study springs from the ideological viewpoint that all languages in a multilingual context, whether major or minor, exoglossic or endoglossic, should be seen as resources that need to be effectively harnessed for the total national good and that language policies need to respect, support and encourage the mutual harmonious co-existence of all languages, no matter their origins and the political or economic power or numerical strength of their speakers. Generally, the view is espoused that European languages in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly

INTRODUCTION

5

spoken and used by the political and economic élite, have, in comparison with the indigenous languages, been given far more power and institutional functions and attention than they deserve. This has accordingly positively affected attitudes towards them, particularly in official domains. Conversely, indigenous African languages, except, sometimes, the major ones, generally lack power, particularly in official circumstances. This has created problems in many areas including administration, national mass mobilisation, education and the démocratisation of knowledge. Consequently, they have been denied the kind of growth and development that comes from use and their capabilities are generally lowly rated both by policy planners and the African masses. Thus, attitudes towards them, especially in official domains, tend to be generally negative when compared to âttitudes towards European or ex-colonial languages. The perspective adopted in the study, therefore, is that African indigenous languages demand more developmental attention, more prestige and honour and are capable of carrying more functional load than they are currently trusted to carry. An approximate idea of the language situation in sub-Saharan Africa is given in Table 2, which, obviously, underestimates the number of languages in some of the countries. Given the geographical vastness and complex linguistic diversity and density of the area under investigation, an overview of the type intended in this study must, of necessity, be based on a selection. The criteria used here are similar to those in Ansre's (1971) study, namely, availability of source material, the special characteristics of particular countries used in illustration and the desire to be as representative as possible. However, Nigeria will feature prominently as an illustration for two reasons. First it is the country of the author's origin and therefore more knowledge and information on it is readily accessible. Second and more importantly, Nigeria is a sociolinguistic giant in sub-Saharan Africa. Alexandre (1971: 658) gives it as an example of 'extreme' linguistic heterogeneity. In spite of basic differences between countries, issues and problems related to language attitudes in Nigeria should most likely be fairly effective in giving a general overview of similar issues in many sub-Saharan African countries. Generally, many aspects of human behaviour are determined and coloured by the attitudes that underpin them. Behaviour, particular action or inaction, in turn, have the potential to create new attitudes and modify or eliminate old ones. Precisely because of the pervasiveness of language in most forms of human interaction, language attitudes, particularly, have the potential to influence virtually all aspects of such interaction. Partly by virtue of a colonial past, sub-Saharan Africa, the principal focus of this study, (like Asia, Latin America and Papua New Guinea), is notable for the numerical density and variety in types of languages involved in normal and

LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

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