[lg policy] Zambia: Language, a Vital Tool for Communication

[Harold Schiffman]

Zambia: Language, a Vital Tool for Communication

Miriam Zimba

16 May 2011

Language is a cross-cutting tool that can impact greatly on
socio-economic development of the region.
It remains the single most important tool for the dissemination of
information which is critical to the development of any society.
University of Zambia (UNZA) senior lecturer for language and
linguistics Nkolola Wakumelo, defines language as any form of
communication used by people to send messages or get messages across
to each other.

Unfortunately, most organisations or sectors of the economy operate
without any deliberate written policy document that outlines the
appropriate or preferred language use. It is for this reason that
scholars and academicians in the department of language and
linguistics at UNZA are calling for a national language policy and a
language board or commission who should regulate the use of language
at national level.

"There is need for a national language policy document that will act
as a guide on the use of language in the Zambian society.

For example countries like South Africa have a language policy
enshrined in its constitution," Dr Wakumelo clarifies.

She explains that in Tanzania, there is a specific language commission
that is charged with the responsibility of updating the local language
dictionary, to ensure a standardised system is in use in the various
sectors of the economy.

"Just to emphasise the importance of having a national language policy
and commission or board, imagine how it would make easier the job of
court interpreters who find it hard to interpret court jargons such as
nolle prosequi into local vernacular languages," she says.

A national body that will be charged with the responsibility of
regulating language use could consist of academicians,
educationalists, scientists, the media and officials form the
department of culture under the Ministry of Community Development and
Social Services.

Dr Wakumelo also emphasises the need for the Government to consider
sponsoring a national language survey with the view of establishing
the various language needs in the country.

"We tried to put across the suggestion of integrating some
questionnaires on language during the 2010 census exercise, but we
didnot receive a favourable response from the Central Statistical
Office(CSO).

The process was so bureaucratic that the suggestion fell out,"she regrets.

Another important step in the formulation of a national language
policy is the need to document local languages. It is sad to note the
rapid rate at which some vernacular languages used by the minority of
the Zambian population are threatened with extinction.

There are languages such as Nyengo, Totela, Bwile, Chokwe,
Luchazi,Mashi, Mbowa, Mbukushu, Nkoya, Simaa, Subiya and many others,
which have no record of documented grammar.

The Ngoni language in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique also, risks
becoming extinct, due to lack ofdocumented preservation of the
language.

At independence in 1964, the Zambian Government adopted English as the
official language for use in education, the media, legislature and in
all its administration work.

The adoption of English as the national official language is enshrined
in Article (5) of the current Zambian Constitution. English was seen
as a neutral language that would be acceptable to all the divergent
linguistic and ethnic groups in the country as a means to foster
national unity.

However, in addition to English as the official language, the
Government also recognises seven official local languages namely
Bemba, Chinyanja, Kaonde, Lunda, Luvale, Tonga and Lozi, as regional
languages to be taught alongside English in the Zambian school
curriculum.

One of the major factors that contributed to the Zambian Government
adopting English as an official language was the fear of
ethno-linguistic rivalry in an event that one local language was
selected over another.

However, the lack of development and use of local languages cannot
been tirely blamed on the Government alone.

One of the major contributors to the stagnation of local languages is
the attitude of the people themselves, especially the elite, most of
whom have shown lack of confidence and interest in local languages. In
today's Zambian society, it is uncommon to find children born during
the post-independence era failing to speak their mother tongue.

To compound this further, local Zambian languages are not considered
as efficient instruments of education, technology or economic
advancement.

Most efforts to write in Zambian languages have been through private
institutions and organisations working with private individuals.

In addition some efforts have been made by the Curriculum Development
Centre of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with private
organisations and individuals to write materials in other languages
for possible use in the education system.

For policies promoting the use of Zambian languages to succeed, the
Government needs to invest heavily in the education sector.

The state has to ensure that it trains enough personnel which should
be well remunerated while teaching materials should be produced.

The Linguistic Association of SADC Universities (LASU), an initiative
of the Zambian, Malawian and Mozambican Governments, was formed in1994
as a result of the recognition that while SADC countries were
flourishing with civil society organisations (CSOs), and
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) actively engaged in advocating
socio-economic rights, there were no known organisations advocating
for the promotion of language.

LASU aims at fostering, promoting, strengthening and maintaining high
standards of linguistic education and research through appropriate and
effective language use.

One of the main objectives of the association is to encourage and
assist governments in the SADC region and other relevant bodies to
formulate sound language policies for their respective countries and
for the region.

This objective is particularly important because language remains the
most important tool for communication as well as dissemination of
information and activating the citizenry in regions to participate
fully in developmental initiatives.

During the 11th LASU bi-annual conference held in Lusaka, Education
Minister Dora Siliya reiterated the Zambian Government's commitment to
the promotion, protection and preservation of language.

The conference which was held under the theme 'Linguistic Theory and
Language Documentation: Innovations, Successes and Challenges' was
described by Ms Siliya as being timely as it drew the participation of
academicians and scholars from the region.

Ms Siliya said that depending on other ideological orientation,
language policies formulated and pursued by governments can either
beempowering or disempowering to the citizenry.

Such policies effectively dis-empowered the majority of citizens from
actively participating in the Governance and development activities of
their nations thereby holding back the attainment of sustainable
socio-economic development.

However, it is timely, in fact long overdue, because most local
languages have remained undocumented and, therefore, not available as
avenues for either information dissemination or teaching and learning.

The theme is timeless because once the progress of documentation
commences, it is dynamic.

There is need to continue bringing on board new vocabulary items and
expressions.

"The challenge which I would like to present to this conference is
inform of a question 'how can this conference facilitate the
formulation and implementation, in SADC countries, of language
policies which will enhance the documentation of community languages
so that they can be used as instruments of mass communication, mass
education, science and socio-economic development?" Ms Siliya
questions.

The generally held belief is that African languages cannot be used as
instruments for scientific and socio-economic development is wrong.

But there are numerous examples of world economies that have developed
without necessarily promoting the use of English, but rather through
the use of their indigenous languages.

Examples of these are economic giants such as China, and Japan, whose
rates of development are immeasurable.

It is imperative that Third World countries emulate these countries by
realising that even local languages can be used as a tool to foster
the much needed development.

"As Africans, we need to learn from major world economies like Japan
and China that have developed in the media of their own languages," Ms
Siliya stresses.

However, with the realisation by the Government on the importance that
language preservation plays in the development of the country, and
political will, not all hope is lost from turning the situation around
to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to preserve, promote,
protect and maintain local languages in Zambia.

http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201105161183.html

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