[lg policy] Botswana: My language, my pride

Tue Feb 22 16:07:27 UTC 2011

My language, my pride

Gothataone Moeng
Staff Writer

The chairperson of the multicultural coalition group Reteng, has urged
government to come up with a language policy as a practical measure of
their commitment to recognise and preserve all indigenous languages.
Speaking in a telephone interview ahead of the commemoration of
National Languages Day, Dr Ndana Ndana said that a language policy
that recognises all languages would be an important starting point for
the preservation of languages.

Ndana said that government's argument that the lack of human resources
is impeding the teaching and using of some indigenous languages in
schools (other than Setswana) can be resolved.  Ndana believes that
speakers of each respective language could be used to teach, as a
starting point, while government works on creating an enabling
environment through a language policy.

Even though the multicultural coalition group that Ndana chairs has
been calling on government to allow other indigenous languages to be
taught in schools with little progress, Ndana said that he is
optimistic that this will eventually happen. He cited the conversion
of the month of July to Heritage Month, as a sign that government is
moving in the right direction.

"During Heritage Month, different cultural groups showcase their
culture, they sing songs in their own languages, and this sensitises
people about those languages," Ndana said.

The question of preservation of indigenous languages, other than
Setswana, has been a sticky one in this country, one that moves side
by side with the question of cultural rights and recognition of
marginalised tribes. The fight for these tribes' cultural recognition
has been seen, according to founding member of Reteng and Deputy
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Botswana Professor Lydia
Nyathi-Saleshando, as threatening to national unity.

In her paper, From a Phone Call to the High Court: Wayeyi Visibility
and the Kamanakao Association's Campaign for Linguistic and Cultural
Rights in Botswana, published in 2002, Nyathi-Saleshando wrote, "If a
member of a minority takes pride in his or her own tribal identity,
the very identification is often taken to threaten national identity
and foster tribalism."

In the same paper, published in the Journal of Southern African
Studies, Nyathi-Saleshando writes that there has been state-supported
resistance to efforts to develop the Wayeyi language, citing the case
of Pitoro Seidisa, a Moyeyi, who had started working on developing the
Wayeyi orthography as early as 1962, but was later arrested on the
instructions of a Motawana sub-chief.

Since then the Wayeyi formed the Kamanakao Association, while tribes
like the Bakalaka and the Batswapong formed their own groups to work
towards the preservation of their cultures and languages.  In 2002,
the individual groups came together to, as Ndana said, "speak with one
voice." Ndana said that both the individual groups and Reteng as a
collective have achieved some successes.

The Kamanakao Association has published, among others, Groundwork in
Shiyeyi Grammar, with a Shiyeyi-English Glossary, Shiyeyi Hymns and
Manqee iSheyeyi (Shiyeyi stories), while Society for The Preservation
of Ikalanga Language (SPIL) has published a section of the Bible in
Ikalanga, as well as some texts under the Mukani Action Campaign.  As
a collective, Ndana said that Reteng has developed orthographies of
languages such as Sesubiya and Setswapong. He said that they have also
been able to translate the Vision 2016 pillars into Senaro, Seyeyi,
Seherero and Sesubiya.

"Those efforts have had the impact of exciting interest in these
languages from people who speak them," Ndana said.   Ndana said that
although the commemoration of National Languages Day is a good effort,
it should have been started a long time ago.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) first announced National Languages Day in 1999 as
International Mother Language Day, a day to be observed worldwide in
promotion of the awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and
multilingualism.

In Botswana, the commemoration of the day will this year be held in
Maun, under the theme, My Language, My Pride, and is expected to
promote and revive the use of local languages, which have been
declining in recent years.

Reteng chairperson, Dr Ndana commended the annual changing of venues
for the commemoration of the day, which has previously been held in
Molepolole and Hukuntsi.

"The speakers of the various languages spoken in the Ngami area will
feel like they are part of the country.  It is one of the signs that
ultimately the people will have the way and the means of getting what
they want," Ndana said about this year's commemoration.

A statement from the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture says the aim
of the commemoration of National Languages Day is to sensitise the
public on the importance of using and documenting their languages as a
way of safeguarding them for continuity.

"It is through language that people are able to express and showcase
their diverse cultural heritage. Languages are individual and national
identities and a factor of social integration both nationally and
internationally," the statement said.

Meanwhile, director of the Department of Arts and Culture, Dineo Phuti
told The Monitor that although there is currently no National
Languages Policy, this does not mean that the government has totally
neglected issues of language development.

"It should be noted that there are positive under-currents in action
to look at the feasibility towards the development of a Languages
Policy as discussed at the inaugural Pitso ya Ngwao in July 2010,"
Phuti said.

Phuti said the government, through the Ministry of Youth, Sports and
Culture, helps in funding all ethnic and cultural groups to preserve
and develop their cultures and languages.   She said the MYSC
continues to fund several cultural festivals including Kamanakao
Cultural Festival, Domboshaba Festival and Bakgatla Ba Kgafela
Heritage Month.

In closing, Reteng chairperson, Ndana encouraged people to come to the
commemoration, to enjoy and get the opportunity to learn a new
language.  "Language is empowerment," he said, "the more languages you
can speak, the richer you are and the better resourced to survive in
unfamiliar environments."

http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=6&aid=1116&dir=2011/February/Monday21

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