Embracing Linguistic and Cultural Diversities to Promote Mother Languages: A Case of Kigiryama Languge

Author: Elizabeth Jumwa Munyaya (Pwani University)
Speaker: Elizabeth Jumwa Munyaya
Topic: Language Revitalization
The GLOCAL AFALA 2023 Colloquium

Abstract

Globalization and modernity have brought about changes in culture. These changes in culture, in turn, reflect on the changes in language use and result in changes in linguistic landscapes. One of the effects of globalization is maximal intercultural contact where one is forced to make use of other languages other than their mother language to communicate with others for better understanding. Further still, in the face of globalization, the use of mother languages has been affected to an extent that these languages are no longer being used by the youth in their everyday communication while the elders decry the decreasing use of these languages in their various domains of use. For instance, in the Giryama language landscape when there was minimal intercultural contact, a person could operate with just one language, however, currently due to globalization, the patterns or domains of use of Kigiryama have changed drastically. In an attempt to revitalize the use of mother languages, this paper seeks to address the following objectives; firstly, to identify and explain the linguistic patterns for the Kigiryama language. Secondly, to describe the changes in the linguistic landscape of Kigiryama, and thirdly, to explore the implications of these changes on the use of mother languages. The paper seeks to answer the following questions, one, What are the linguistic patterns or domains of use for the Kigiryama language?, secondly, What are the changes in the linguistic landscape of Kigiryama? and finally, What are the implications of these changes on the use of mother language? This discussion will be guided by the Communication Accommodation theory developed by Howard Giles. The data for this paper is the language use patterns in the different linguistic landscapes which would be collected using focus group discussion and guided interviews. Data analysis would be based on the objectives. This paper posits that there is an urgent need for linguists to address the challenges and concerns brought about by linguistic diversity in an attempt to revitalize the use of Mother Languages.

Keywords: Cultural diversities, Linguistic diversity, Mother language challenges and Prospects