The University of Dodoma University of Dodoma Institutional Repository http://repository.udom.ac.tz Humanities Doctoral Theses 2015 The state of Tanzania's community languages in the age of globalization: Focus on children's acquisition of mother tongue Muguba, Solomon E The University of Dodoma Muguba, S. E. (2015). The state of Tanzania's community languages in the age of globalization: Focus on children's acquisition of mother tongue (Doctoral thesis). The University of Dodoma, Dodoma. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12661/1689 Downloaded from UDOM Institutional Repository at The University of Dodoma, an open access institutional repository. THE STATE OF TANZANIA‟S COMMUNITY LANGUAGES IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION: FOCUS ON CHILDREN‟S ACQUISITION OF MOTHER TONGUE By Solomon Emmanuel Muguba A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics of the University of Dodoma The University of Dodoma October, 2015 CERTIFICATION The undersigned certify that they have read and hereby recommend for acceptance by the University of Dodoma a thesis entitled “The State of Tanzania’s Community Languages in the Age of Globalisation: Focus on Children’s Acquisition of Mother Tongue” in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Dodoma. ............................................................... Prof. Casmir M. Rubagumya SUPERVISOR ........................................................... Dr. Lyabwene Mtahabwa SUPERVISOR DATE................................................ i DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT I Solomon E. Muguba declare that this thesis 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 degree award. Signature................................... No part of this thesis 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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I convey sincere gratitude to all people who in one way or the other contributed to the accomplishment of this work. In a distinctive manner, I wish to humbly recognize and thank my supervisors Prof. Casmir M. Rubagumya and Dr. Lyabwene Mtahabwa for their profound professional and productive guidance without which the preparation and production of this work would have been impossible. I am delighted to acknowledge their skilful assistance which was accompanied by great tolerance. I am deeply indebted to my employer, the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA) for giving me permission to go out for data collection. My employer could also tolerate my requests to respond to my supervisors‟ calls to attend guidance and instructional sessions at the University of Dodoma. I would also like to register my heartfelt appreciation to my research participants from the two communities (the Zaramo community in Kisarawe District, Coast Region and the Maasai community in Longido District, Arusha Region) in which this study was conducted. Others were from the Ministry of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Education and Vocational training. I thank them for their willingness to provide me with useful data without which I could not be able to write this thesis. Again, how should I convey sincere appreciation to my dear wife Huruma Yusufu Mmari. She stood firmly and managed to take care wisely the fulfilment of the iii family‟s development plans successfully in my absence. I also admire the immense tolerance by my beloved sons Joshua and Elisante as they missed my care during the course! In a general term, I really feel deeply indepted to my family to the extent that their encouragement and prayers have absolutely no substitute. Of all, I solely take on my shoulders the entire responsibility for any weaknesses that may be associated with this work. iv DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my father Emmanuel R. Muguba and to my mother Doroth M. M. Musatura for their enduring love, care, and self-sacrifice in bringing me up to be an acceptable individual. v ABSTRACT The significance of language in the overall civilization and maintenance of social existence of humankind has made some scholars in human development regard language as a universal cultural tool. In particular, the place of, and strategies for, preservation of ethnic community languages in the context of globalisation has recently become an area of serious concern across the world. The purpose of this study was to examine the state of children‟s acquisition of mother tongue in relatively closed and open communities in Tanzania in the age of globalisation. The specific objectives were to: (1). investigate how the interface between globalisation and the current cultural policy affects mother tongue acquisition in relatively closed and open communities in Tanzania; (2) establish the uses of ethnic community languages in the current age of globalisation in Tanzania; (3) establish the major facilitative and or inhibitive factors towards children‟s acquisition of mother tongue in relatively closed and open communities in the contexts of globalisation; (4) determine the theoretical perspectives that best explain the state of ethnic community languages acquisition in the relatively closed and open communities in the context of globalisation. Two communities in different locations based on their degree of openness were involved in the study, where a multiple case design and a qualitative research approach were deployed. The research and interpretation processes were guided by the socio-cultural theory of learning and the sceptic theory of globalisation. Using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and documentary review, the data were collected from a purposively selected sample of 155 informants (parents = vi 68), children = 60), local government leaders = 13), traditional leaders = 9) and policy-makers = 5). It was found that Tanzania‟s cultural policy had good statement provisions which have been either partially or not implemented on the ground and it skipped important issues that would have made it effective. The two communities in this study were governed by two different social orientations in interacting with newcomers. The relatively open community practised social inclusion tendency while the relatively closed community practised social exclusion tendency, and these tendencies had effects on children‟s acquisition of mother tongue. It was further revealed that, traditional religions played a significant role in (MTA) and maintenance. The study concludes that there is a direct relationship between community‟s socio- cultural context and language acquisition and maintenance. The policy was a key factor in creating the current attitudes and beliefs on a particular language. It is recommended that communities revitalize their cultural and social formations that were used to tie them up together so that in the course they would maintain their specific ethnic community language. Policy is informed in its reforms to create good attitudes in ECLs users by assigning them some formal uses. This would strengthen or create good belief in their language. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATION ........................................................................................................ i DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT ........................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................. v ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... xv LIST OF APPENDINCES ........................................................................................ xvi LIST OF ACRONYMS ........................................................................................... xvii CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION ................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Background to the Problem .................................................................................... 1 1.3 Statement of the Problem ....................................................................................... 5 1.4 Objectives of the Study .......................................................................................... 6 1.4.1 General Objective................................................................................................ 6 1.4.2 Specific Objectives.............................................................................................. 6 1.4.3 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 7 1.5 Scope and Delimitation of the Study ..................................................................... 7 1.6 Significance of the Study ......................................................................................