LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN THE MALOZI COMMUNITY OF CAPRIVI Josephine Ntelamo Sitwala Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the subject SOCIOLINGUISTICS at the University of South Africa Supervisor: Prof L.A. Barnes February 2010 ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. vi Abstract ............................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction: Statement of the problem ...................................................................... 1 1.2 Aim of the study .......................................................................................................... 1 1.3 The research questions ................................................................................................ 2 1.4 The hypothesis of the study ......................................................................................... 2 1.5 Significance of the study ............................................................................................. 3 1.6 Motivation for the study .............................................................................................. 3 1.7 The Malozi and their language .................................................................................... 4 1.7.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 4 1.7.2 The origin of the Malozi and their language ................................................... 5 1.7.3 The hegemony of Silozi in Caprivi, schools and radio ................................... 7 1.7.4 Who are the Malozi, then? .............................................................................. 8 1.8 The brief history of Caprivi ........................................................................................ 9 1.9 Overview of the current Language policy of Namibia .............................................. 12 1.10 Structure of the dissertation ....................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: Literature review .......................................................................................... 16 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Definitions of language maintenance ........................................................................ 16 2.3 Factors influencing language maintenance ............................................................... 18 2.3.1 Education ....................................................................................................... 18 2.3.1.1 Bilingual education .......................................................................... 20 2.3.1.2 Initial mother tongue instruction ...................................................... 23 2.3.2 Religion .......................................................................................................... 25 2.3.3 Media .......................................................................................................... 27 iii 2.3.3.1 Publications ...................................................................................... 28 2.3.3.2 Broadcasting ..................................................................................... 28 2.3.4 Family .......................................................................................................... 13 2.3.5 Ethnical cultural organizations ....................................................................... 31 2.3.6 Residential area .............................................................................................. 33 2.3.6.1 Residential isolation ......................................................................... 33 2.3.6.2 Language islands .............................................................................. 33 2.3.6.3 Length of residence .......................................................................... 34 2.3.6.4 Urban vs rural areas ......................................................................... 35 2.3.7 Gender .......................................................................................................... 35 2.3.8 Social structure .............................................................................................. 36 2.4 The importance of maintaining a minority language ................................................. 36 2.5 Overview of literature on language maintenance....................................................... 38 2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 39 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................... 42 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 42 3.2 Research approach and sources used ......................................................................... 42 3.3 Research design ..... ..... .............................................................................................. 44 3.4 Data collection instruments ....................................................................................... 45 3.4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 45 3.4.2 Interviews ....................................................................................................... 46 3.4.3 The questionnaire ........................................................................................... 46 3.6 Research ethics .......................................................................................................... 47 3.7 Data collection issues, problems and limitations ...................................................... 47 3.8 Overview of the methodology ................................................................................. 47 3.9 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 48 iv Chapter 4: The results ...................................................................................................... 49 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 49 4.2 Results from Section B .............................................................................................. 49 4.3.1 Education ........................................................................................................ 49 4.3.2 Cultural Activities .......................................................................................... 54 4.3.3 Media .......................................................................................................... 57 4.3.4 Religion .......................................................................................................... 58 4.3.5 Contact situations ........................................................................................... 61 4.3.6 Attitudes ......................................................................................................... 65 4.3.7 Language Loyalty ........................................................................................... 67 4.4 Discussion of Results ................................................................................................. 70 4.4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 70 4.4.2 Education ........................................................................................................ 70 4.4.3 The Media ...................................................................................................... 74 4.4.3.1 Broadcasting ..................................................................................... 74 4.4.3.2 Publications ...................................................................................... 76 4.4.4 Religion ......................................................................................................... 76 4.4.5 Contact situation ............................................................................................. 79 4.4.5.1 Contact with friends ........................................................................... 79 4.4.5.2 Contact with family members ............................................................ 80 4.4.5.3 Language used to speak to neighbours............................................. 84 4.4.5.4 Language used at work place, school and college ........................... 84 4.4.6 Attitudes and language loyalty ....................................................................... 84 4.4.7 Cultural festivals..............................................................................................89 4.5 Review of the result findings ..................................................................................... 90 4.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 92 Chapter 5: Summary, Recommendations and conclusions