Socioeconomic Factors That Have Contributed to Makonde Language Maintenance; a Case of Mkoma Village
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The University of Dodoma University of Dodoma Institutional Repository http://repository.udom.ac.tz Social Sciences Master Dissertations 2014 Socioeconomic factors that have contributed to Makonde language maintenance; a case of Mkoma village. Francis, Gloria The University of Dodoma Francis, G. (2014). Socioeconomic factors that have contributed to Makonde language maintenance; a case of Mkoma village (Master's dissertation). The University of Dodoma, Dodoma. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12661/1936 Downloaded from UDOM Institutional Repository at The University of Dodoma, an open access institutional repository. SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS THAT HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO MAKONDE LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE; A CASE OF MKOMA VILLAGE. By Gloria, Francis Dissertation submitted in Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics of the University of Dodoma The University of Dodoma October, 2014 CERTIFICATION The undersigned certifies that he has read and hereby recommends for acceptance by the University of Dodoma dissertation entitled “Socioeconomic factors that have contributed to Makonde Language Maintenance; A case of Mkoma village” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in linguistics of the University of Dodoma. ……………………………………… Professor C.M. Rubagumya (SUPERVISOR) Date…………………………. i DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT I Gloria Francis declare that this dissertation is my own original work and that it has not been presented and will not be presented to any other University for a similar or any other award. Signature ………………………………………. No part of this dissertation may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the author or the University of Dodoma. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Jehovah the Almighty God for all the graces. Many people have contributed much to the success of this dissertation. I wish to acknowledge all of them for their moral, financial and academic contributions. Since it is very difficult to mention all of them by names I would like to express my sincere thanks to the following few personalities: Special thanks should go to my supervisor Prof. Rubagumya C. of St. John‟s University Dodoma for guidance and advice throughout the writing of this dissertation. I am grateful to Mr. Chilyenga, Frederick Nampellah and Mr. Manzuri who have helped me to collect data. Exceptional and valuable thanks should be extended to my family; my late father Francis Nampellah, my mother Veronica Mtela, my siblings: Paulina Nampellah, Devotha Nampellah, Baraka Nampellah. Also my children Joel and Cherlyn for their patience, understanding, moral and spiritual support which were of great help in the accomplishment of my studies. All respondents who participated in this research and the VEO of Mkoma village deserve my sincere thanks as they contributed to the success of my studies in general. These heartfelt thanks should be extended to all those who are not mentioned here for their direct and indirect contributions. To all of them I say “Ahsanteni sana” iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my late father Francis Nampellah who inspired me to study and my beloved mother Veronica Mtela and her grand children Joel, Cherlyn and JuanFrancis. iv ABSTRACT. This study examined the social and economic factors for Makonde language maintenance in Mkoma village in Newala Tanzania. It also examined contexts of languages use and significance of minority languages. The study employed qualitative and quantitative approaches. Forty respondents who are native Makonde speakers living in Mkoma village participated in the research. Fifteen respondents participated in oral interviews and twenty five participated by filling up questionnaires. The major findings revealed that Makonde language is maintained in Mkoma village due to low level of education of its people staying in one place (in the village), emotional attachment to Makonde language and low social and economic mobility of people living in Mkoma. The study recommended that education should be given to people in order for them to know the importance of minority languages. Also government should put emphasis on minority languages documentation to ensure their sustainability. Parents should be encouraged to teach their children their minority languages and government should allow students to learn minority languages at lower level of education. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATION ..................................................................................................... i DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT ................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT. ............................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLE ..................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... x ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Background of the study ........................................................................................ 1 1.3 Statement of the problem. ...................................................................................... 4 1.4 Purpose of the study ............................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research Objectives ............................................................................................... 5 1.5.1 General Objective................................................................................................ 5 1.5.2 Specific Objectives.............................................................................................. 5 1.6 Research Questions: ............................................................................................... 6 1.7 Significance of the study. ....................................................................................... 6 1.8 Scope of the study .................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................... 7 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................... 7 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Literature review .................................................................................................... 7 2.2.1 What is language maintenance? .......................................................................... 7 2.2.2 Domain of use of languages. ............................................................................... 8 2.2.3 Factors for language maintenance. ...................................................................... 9 2.2.3.1 Societal factors. ................................................................................................ 9 2.2.3.2 Economic Factors. .......................................................................................... 15 vi 2.3 Significance of Minority languages. .................................................................... 17 2.4. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................... 17 2.5. Research gap ....................................................................................................... 19 2.6. Summary of the Chapter ..................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................. 21 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 21 3.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 21 3.2. Research design ................................................................................................... 21 3.3. Research Approach ............................................................................................. 21 3.4 Population ............................................................................................................ 22 3.4.1 Sample Size ....................................................................................................... 22 3.4.2 Sampling Technique.......................................................................................... 22 3.5 Data collection instruments .................................................................................. 23 3.5.1 Interviews .........................................................................................................