In search of the lost tongue: Prospects for mother tongue education in Zambia

Abstract

This paper highlights the major problems associated with the implementation of mother tongue education in Zambia where the majority are inclined to speak urban forms of Zambian languages (or English) and are not competent in the formal tribal/ethnic languages taught in schools. Particularly, urban Zambians appear to have lost their ‘roots’ in language and hence their social identity. This is also suggested by the results of a recent comparative study on language use, ethnicity and attitudes in Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania (Schmied, 1990). The argument is that the formal Zambian languages risk remaining ‘classroom’ and ‘village’ languages unless there is planned intervention to bridge the growing gulf between rural and urban forms of Zambian languages. The intervention can be in the form of re‐standardisation and ‘loading’ of the rural forms, taking advantage of the extensive repertoire of urban forms. The idea is that by narrowing the gap between town and country, Zambian languages will be more palatable to the majority of Zambians, unlike the current situation in which the use of the formal ‘mother tongues’ only serves to alienate the speakers from the mainstream.

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