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The Case of Safwa Language The University of Dodoma University of Dodoma Institutional Repository http://repository.udom.ac.tz Humanities Master Dissertations 2018 Assesment of the ethnic language endangerment in Tanzania: The case of Safwa language Sijawe, Savery The University of Dodoma Sijawe, S. (2018). Assesment of the ethnic language endangerment in Tanzania: The case of Safwa language. (Master's dissertation). The University of Dodoma, Dodoma. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12661/882 Downloaded from UDOM Institutional Repository at The University of Dodoma, an open access institutional repository. ASSESMENT OF ETHNIC LANGUAGE ENDANGERMENT IN TANZANIA: THE CASE OF SAFWA LANGUAGE SAVERY SIWAJE MASTER OF ARTS IN LINGUISTICS THE UNIVERSITY OF DODOMA OCTOBER, 2018 ASSESMENT OF ETHNIC LANGUAGE ENDANGERMENT IN TANZANIA: THE CASE OF SAFWA LANGUAGE BY SAVERY SIWAJE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LINGUISTICS THE UNIVERSITY OF DODOMA OCTOBER, 2018 DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT I, Savery Siwaje, declare that this dissertation is my own original work and that it has not been presented to any other University for a similar or any other degree 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. If transformed for publication in any other format shall be acknowledged that, this work has been submitted for degree award at the University of Dodoma”. i CERTIFICATION The undersigned certifies that he has read hereby recommends for acceptance by the University of Dodoma dissertation entitled: “Assessment of Ethnic Language Endangerment in Tanzania: The case of Safwa Language” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics of the University of Dodoma. Dr. Adronis Selestino Signature:………………………………………Date:…………………………….... (SUPERVISOR) ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, if there is one and only being worthy of my millions thanks is the almighty GOD for every single good thing he does to me, I have gone all this far because of him and he never abandons me, his love to me is absolutely beyond measure. Secondly, I owe so much thanks to Dr. Adronis Selestino from the Department of foreign language and literature of the University of Dodoma for his support, patience and valuable advice as the supervisor of my Dissertation. He was always there for me whenever I needed his help and guide. May God bless him abundantly? I „am also grateful to all Lecturers of the University of Dodoma especially from the department of foreign language and literature for their invaluable support throughout my studies. They have altogether taught, modeled and mentored me wonderfully. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Safwa speakers in Mbeya for their wonderful cooperation they gave to me during the period of data collection. They have performed a tremendous job to help this study reach this point. Finally, I will be quite unfair if I don‟t give a special mention to my friends, classmates and family for their invaluable support to me throughout my study. iii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my beloved brother Joseph Siwaje Mwandabale iv ABSTRACT The disaster of language endangerment is understood by many to be among the most significant concerns confronting humankind today, presenting ethical and logical issues of tremendous extents. A risked language is that in danger of phasing out, or one anticipated stopping to be the methods for human correspondence for a particular society or social gathering. At the point when speakers of a language move to other languages and surrender their own, incredible learning of their way of life is lost. An expansive number of the world's languages are jeopardized, and it is in this feeling humankind faces an disaster. The study at hand focused on assessing the status of endangerment of Safwa language mainly spoken in Mbeya region. This study employed questionnaires, interviews as well as participatory observation for collecting data. It has been found that the attitude of Safwa speakers towards their language is negative; this has led to poor intergenerational language transmission and highly reduced the domains of use of the language. The study revealed that the language is not used in any new domain and media. According to UNESCO this situation is sufficient to label that Kisafwa is one of the endangered languages in Tanzania. Conversely Kiswahili, which is the dominant language in the region is taking advantages of negative attitude of the Safwa people towards their own language to expand its dominance and consequently becoming a more prestigious language ever. Kiswahili is the killer of many ethnic community languages in Tanzania. v TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION .................................................................................................................... i COPYRIGHT .......................................................................................................................... i CERTIFICATION ................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENT ........................................................................................................ vi LIST OF BAR GRAPHS ....................................................................................................... x LIST OF PIE CHARTS ........................................................................................................ xi LIST OF AREA GRAPHS .................................................................................................. xii LIST OF ABBRIVATIONS ............................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION TO THE STUDY ......................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background Information to the Study ............................................................................. 1 1.3 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................. 4 1.4 Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 5 1.7 The Scope of the Study .................................................................................................... 6 1.8 Definition of Key Terms .................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................... 8 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 8 2.2.1 The Concept of language Endangerment ...................................................................... 8 2.2.2 Causes of Language Endangerment .............................................................................. 9 2.2.3 Indicators of an Endangered Language ...................................................................... 10 2.2.4 Contribution of Attitude of Speakers to an Endangered Language ............................ 12 2.2.5 Intergenerational Language Transmission .................................................................. 14 2.2.6 Domain of the Use of Language ................................................................................. 15 2.2.7 Response to New Domains and Media ....................................................................... 16 2.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................. 16 vi 2.3.1 LVE Theoretical Framework Developed by UNESCO .............................................. 17 2.3.2 Ethnolinguistic Vitality Approach Developed by Fishman ........................................ 27 2.4 Research Gap ................................................................................................................. 30 2.5 Chapter Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 31 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................. 32 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................
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