[lg policy] Linguistic democracy in Lesotho? What about those poor children who do not speak Sesotho as their first language?

[Harold Schiffman]

Linguistic democracy in Lesotho ?What about those poor children who do
not speak Sesotho as their first language?
Posted in Languages on February 2, 2011

As I am tugged comfortably in my bed in a B & B in Stellenbosch and
looking back retrospectively at the movie I watched two evenings ago I
can’t stop marveling at William Wilberforce and his brilliance in
ending one of the worst forms of injustices in this world- the slave
trade. As a result I think of all the injustices, we, today’s
generation still have to end. As a linguist my thoughts are
immediately geared the linguistic situation back home-Lesotho. Most
people usually comment on how politically stable (until recently)
Lesotho is and they often attribute that to (what they think is a
fact) that there is just one language in Lesotho- Well, here is the
real story.

Sociolinguistic profiles of different countries all over the world are
not naturally the way they are; rather they are a result of deliberate
efforts, especially by those with political power and influence. The
efforts involve, whether maliciously or not, influencing the behaviour
of citizens with respect to the general handling and allocation of
language. The sociolinguistic profiles are a consequence of what is
referred to as language planning.

Like most African countries Lesotho does not have a documented, well
articulated and explicit national language policy. The policy is by
default implicitly and casually stated in some education policy
documents and the national constitution. The linguistic situation in
Lesotho is such that there are two official languages – Sesotho and
English. The constitution of Lesotho, section 3, subsection 1,
dictates “The official languages of Lesotho shall be Sesotho and
English and, accordingly, no instrument or transaction shall be
invalid by reason only that, it is expressed or conducted in one of
these languages.” Official means that a language is used as a language
of governance. It is used in administration, education, business, and
legal matters. Sesotho as the language spoken by the majority
population (99%)  is the national language in Lesotho. That is, it is
the language that Lesotho identifies with.

Language supremacy is not alien in Lesotho. Although English and
Sesotho are co-official languages, they do not function in exactly the
same way in Lesotho, at least not in all spheres. English plays a
prominent role in matters of governance. For instance, in different
government ministries official gatherings such as meetings and formal
written correspondence are conducted in English. Sesotho is also used
but in a less formal fashion such as casual talk among officers. The
Sesotho used is often alternated with English even in informal
settings. In the legal sphere, English is also seen to feature mostly
at higher levels, for example, the Supreme Court, while Sesotho is
seen dominating local courts. In the Supreme Court however, Sesotho is
still used although ideally English should be the language at that
level.

Rudiments of a language policy also appear in the education policy of
Lesotho which stipulates that the language of teaching and learning is
Sesotho for the first four years of primary school and English takes
over from higher primary school through secondary, high school and
tertiary levels. In the first four years of primary school, English is
taught as a subject and at higher primary, secondary and high school,
Sesotho is a compulsory subject.

Throughout primary and high school levels, English is a failing
subject and Sesotho is not. Students must pass English in order to be
admitted for all first degrees at the National University of Lesotho
except in the Bachelor of Science where a pass 7 is still considered.
The idea   of admitting a student with a pass in English, in the
science is however still very controversial and a touchy subject.
These science students with pass 7 in English are from time to time
made fun of by other students even lecturers.

At tertiary level, English is a compulsory subject for every student
I every field of study, and no student can proceed to the third year
of study without satisfying the requirements of the first year English
course. Sesotho is not compulsory at this level. English in Lesotho
has enjoyed a high prestige from about the early 1980s, there is a
growing interest in what is referred to as English Medium schools.
These schools use English as a transactional language from pre-
school. A significant number of Basotho children are taken to these
schools because their parents hope that their children will earn the
mastery of the English language and therefore succeed in their studies
generally. English is almost equated with educating itself.

Though English is thought to be very prestigious in Lesotho, Sesotho
is still the most widely used language in many domains especially
domestically. It dominates the mass media, for example, newspapers,
radio broadcasting and television broadcasting. However, there is a
steadily growing interest in the use of English in the mass   media,
for example, more radio stations such as Joy F.M, People’s Choice F.M.
and The Ultimate use mostly English for their broadcasts. Sesotho is
also on the rise in commercial advertising, which is also a recent
phenomenon. English in Lesotho is also used as a lingua-franca for
international relations with other countries. Sesotho is used
predominantly domestically.

Contrary to popular believe and propaganda that there is one language
in Lesotho, in actual fact, there are other languages that are not
recognized by the language planning policy in Lesotho. These languages
have been called different things by different people, all with the
aim of concealing the stigma attached to them. In Kaplan and Baldauf
Jr.’s (1997:20-21) words, These languages, perceived as a sub-set of
vernacular languages, are variously designated as community languages,
minority languages, ethnic languages, heritage languages- all
euphemisms intended to recognize that they are nit the majority
languages, yet they represent populations of citizens.

Minority languages are thus languages spoken by a minority population
in a country and they are occasionally marginalized and made to feel
illegitimate within nations for reasons such as their small number of
speakers and their consideration as uncultured, primitive, or simple
dialects when compared to the dominant languages. The minority
languages in Lesotho include Sephuthi, Sethepu, Xhosa, Ndebele, and
Setlokoa. Another one called Setaung is alleged to have died. The
remaining minority languages in Lesotho are also faced with the threat
of extinction because the language planners in Lesotho do not
recognize them as languages. The media in all respects (print and
radio) in Lesotho does not use any of the minority languages thus
denying their users a very important right of every citizen –
information in current affairs. There is however one Moafrika radio
station which offers a news bulletin in Sethepu but that is not so
effective because the radio station does not have network coverage in
those areas where the majority of people who speak this language are.

What really bothers me and prompted me to write this article is that
children who speak minority languages as their mother tongues are
faced with a challenge of being taught in Sesotho from the first day
at primary school. This is very frustrating to these children as they
have never spoken Sesotho anywhere and many of them refuse to go to
school as a result. The consequence is that their chances of
participating in national politics are already seriously dented as
they will not be educationally empowered. Some of them, especially
those who speak Xhosa, move to South-Africa where their language is
recognized. The people in the regions such as Quthing where these
minority languages are found are very hostile to people who speak
Sesotho. This is observed to be a defense mechanism as even those who
know Sesotho do not want to speak it. It has thus been observed that
these minority language speaking people of Lesotho feel more at home
in South Africa than in Lesotho. Lesotho therefore risks loosing a lot
of People to South Africa. These people would maybe help Lesotho out
of poverty with their intellectual contribution had they been given a
chance. Is there really no hope for this population that speaks
minority languages in Lesotho?

 The crisis of the indigenous languages in Lesotho can be averted with
a little political will and commitment by the government and their
language planning unit if Lesotho is to be truly democratic as it is
often assumed. Language plays a pivotal role in human life. I strongly
believe that ones’ language corresponds to ones’ origin. Origin is
something that one cannot change and it deserves a lot of respect and
recognition. Besides, language is something that people identify with
and as such a basic human right. Why is this ‘right’ so ‘Wrong’ for
the poor children who do not speak Sesotho as their first language?
First, the government of Lesotho owes it to the minority languages’
speaking community to recognize and standardize these languages as a
sign of acknowledging them as human beings and bonafide citizens of
Lesotho. When these languages have been standardized, every Mosotho
should be made to take at least one of these minority languages as an
additional subject at school. This may help eliminate some degree of
ethno linguistic intolerance in Lesotho thereby reducing the
stigmatization and stereotyping of these minority languages.

Children who speak these minority languages should also be taught in
their mother tongues for the first four years of school in a similar
way as those who speak Sesotho as their first language. This will give
them a fair chance of adjusting to another language as a medium of
instruction gradually, while Sesotho is being taught as just another
language and subject. Cummins (1984:89) shows that,

“Optimal first language education provides a rich cognitive
preparation for the acquisition of a second language; and that the
literacy skills already acquired in the first language provide easy
transition to the second language medium education.”

Something must be done by the Wilberforces of today.

http://www.juanantoniotinoco.com/linguistic-democracy-in-lesotho-what-about-those-poor-children-who-do-not-speak-sesotho-as-their-first-language.html

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