Language Planning and Policy in the Silt’e Zone

378 Pages·2015·3.784 MB·

by  Tiglu Geza Nisrane

LANGUAGE PLANNING AND POLICY
IN THE SILT’E ZONE

BY
TIGLU GEZA NISRANE

DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
AND THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN APPLIED
LINGUISTICS

ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
JUNE 2015
Addis Ababa University
School of Graduate Studies
DECLARATION
I, Tiglu Geza Nisrane, declare that the dissertation entitled “Language Planning and Policy in the
Silt’e Zone, Ethiopia” is the result of my own effort and has not previously been submitted for a
degree nor has it been submitted as part of requirements for a degree to any other university or
institution other than Addis Ababa University.
I also certify that the dissertation is an original piece of research written by me. Any help and
assistance that I have received in my research was properly acknowledged. In addition, I certify
that all information sources and literature cited are duly acknowledged.

Tiglu Geza (Student ID GSR/0019/02).
JUNE 2015

APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS:

Dr. Ronny Meyer ______________________ ______________
ADVISOR SIGNATURE DATE
Dr. Andreas Wetter _______________________ ________________
EXAMINER SIGNATURE DATE
Dr.Zelealem Leyew _______________________ ________________
EXAMINER SIGNATURE DATE

I I
ABSTRACT
Ethiopia is endowed with various ethno-linguistic groups with their own languages. In the past,
Amharic and foreign languages were given a high prestige. As a result, most people had a low
esteem for other local languages. Recently, however, the constitution and the language-in-
education policy of Ethiopia encourage the use of local languages. But the inquiry is, are the
language planning and policy efforts effective enough to meet the needs of the local language
development goals? This study examined language planning and policy issues in the Silt’e Zone,
Ethiopia. It assessed the perspectives of the Silt’e people towards the language planning and
policy effects on equality and development, challenges in the use of Silt’e in education, ways to
improve functions, status and standardization of Silt’e, and the optimum conditions for the use of
Silt’e along with Amharic and English in various public domains such as in administration, the
mass media and education.
Mixed research methods were used in this study. The participants were drawn from teachers,
students, parents and officers. The quantitative data were obtained through questionnaires from
360 participants in the Silt’e Zone. These data were analyzed by using frequencies and
percentages. The qualitative data encompass 25 interviews and 10 focus group discussions.
Moreover, observation and document analysis were used to obtain additional data. They were
segmented, codified and then analyzed thematically.
The findings revealed that the vast majority of the participants have a positive attitude towards
Silt’e but practically they need to use Amharic in public domains. Although Silt’e is used as
medium of instruction, its use is dilapidated for personal and public communication. It is
associated with limited mobility and job opportunities outside the community. Besides, it is
viewed as a sign of lack in education, especially if a person is a Silt’e monolingual. The main
challenges in the use of Silt’e in education are dialect variation, lack of terminology
development, low quality of language teaching materials, inadequate time allocation and lack of
trained teachers. As the linguistic variations in Silt’e do not limit verbal communication, not
much attention was given for standardization. Consequently, there is no uniform standard variety
of Silt’e to date. In addition, Silt’e has not yet achieved an adequate status to be used in
legislation, administration and in the media. There are also constraints for a wider use of Silt’e
II I
for business and education. The absence of a standard limited the use of Silt’e as official
language. As a result, the Silt’e people do not write in their language. For this, they insist on
shifting to Amharic – the language of wider communication in the country.
The Silt’e language is a cultural resource that should be maintained and promoted in its status
and functions in multiple domains. In the family and in the community, Silt’e should be utilized
deliberately to enhance its function and pass it to the next generation. For this, education in Silt’e
should be expanded and its use should be extended to official spheres such as written
communication within the Silt’e Zone. Besides, in the mass media, Silt’e should be used for its
internal development.
IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe my gratitude to all the people who supported and enlightened me in completing this
dissertation. First, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Ronny Meyer,
whose guidance and constant encouragement enabled me to develop a thorough understanding of
the subject. His broad knowledge, enlightening teaching, and accommodating personality
provided a nurturing environment for my research work. His good faith in me gave me courage
and confidence to overcome all kinds of difficulties and frustrations in pursuit of this study. It is
worth to mention that he is one of the few scholars who understand Gurage languages and their
cultures including Silt’e.
I would like to thank the Graduate School of Addis Ababa University for the financial support
that enabled me to conduct fieldwork. I also thank the Silt’e Zone for additional financial support
and facilitating my visit to different woredas. Very special thanks go to all the people from the
Silt’e Zone, who made me feel very welcome. I appreciate their willingness to share their stories,
complete the questionnaires and participate in the FGD and the interview process. I thank the
Silt’e Zone Culture, Tourism and Government Communication Department for offering me
detailed information and inviting me to present papers on my ongoing research. I also appreciate
their transparency to provide me details on the language issues in the zone. In addition, I am
thankful to Dire Dawa University for granting me a study leave and for its technical support. I
thank my friends and colleagues for sharing their views throughout this project. My gratitude
also goes to Mr. Mohammed Yusuf for his commitment and willingness to facilitate my work. I
also thank Mrs. Rawda Siraj and Mrs. Rabia Alemu for their support.
I thank my father, Ato Geza Nisrane, and my mother, W/ro Askale Sebre, for their support and
love. Special thanks are given to my brothers, Mengistu and Alemayehu Geza, and my sister,
Gete Geza, who helped me throughout my life. Dr. Mengistu, you are unique for supporting and
motivating me to pursue my education! Finally, I thank my dearest wife, Rebeka Shirtawi, and
my adorable three kids, Abenezer, Abigiya and Yedidiya. Your encouragement and love always
keep my heart warm!
V
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ V
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... VI
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... X
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ................................................................................. XII
CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 1
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................... 1
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ........................................................................................... 5
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................... 8
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................ 9
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................ 9
1.6 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY ..................................................................... 10
1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................. 11
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS ....................................................................................... 12
CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................ 14
2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ........................................................................ 14
2.1 HISTORY OF LANGUAGE POLICY IN ETHIOPIA AND ITS CURRENT STATUS ...................... 14
2.2 SILT’E AS AN ETHNO-LINGUISTIC GROUP ........................................................................ 27
2.2.1 Administrative and Socioeconomic Conditions in the Silt’e Zone ......................... 27
2.2.2 History of the Silt’e People ..................................................................................... 29
2.2.3 Silt’e Language and Education ............................................................................... 33
2.3 LANGUAGE PLANNING .................................................................................................... 38
2.3.1 General Remarks ..................................................................................................... 38
2.3.2 Goals of Language Planning ................................................................................... 42
2.3.3 Types of Language Planning .................................................................................. 44
2.3.3.1 Corpus Planning .................................................................................................. 44
V I
2.3.3.1.1 Graphization .................................................................................................... 45
2.3.3.1.2 Standardization ................................................................................................ 45
2.3.3.1.3 Modernization .................................................................................................. 48
2.3.3.2 Status Planning .................................................................................................... 48
2.3.3.3 Acquisition Planning ........................................................................................... 50
2.3.3.4 Prestige Planning ................................................................................................. 52
2.3.4 Orientation of Language Planning .......................................................................... 53
2.3.4.1 Language-as-Problem .......................................................................................... 53
2.3.4.2 Language-as-Right .............................................................................................. 54
2.3.4.3 Language-as-Resource ........................................................................................ 55
2.3.5 Language Planning in Multilingual Contexts ......................................................... 57
2.3.6 Language Attitudes ................................................................................................. 59
2.3.7 Language Planning and Language Shift ................................................................. 60
2.3.8 Relation between Language Policy and Language Planning .................................. 61
2.3.9 Empirical Studies on Language Planning in Africa ................................................ 65
CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 69
3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ............................................................. 69
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 69
3.2 RESEARCH SETTING AND POPULATION SAMPLING .......................................................... 69
3.3 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS................................................................................................ 71
3.4 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES ........................................................................................ 75
3.5 PILOT RESEARCH ............................................................................................................. 76
3.6 ADMINISTRATIVE AND ETHICAL ISSUES .......................................................................... 77
3.7 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF RESEARCH PROCEDURES ............................................... 78
CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 80
4 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS .................................................................... 80
4.1 DATA FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................... 80
4.1.1 General Information about the Respondents ............ Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1.2 Analysis of Responses ............................................................................................ 80
4.2 DATA FROM INTERVIEWS AND FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS ........................................... 99
V II
4.2.1 The Perspectives of Silt’e People towards Language Planning and Policy Effects
on Language Use, Equity and Development ......................................................................... 99
4.2.1.1 Attitudes on Mother Tongue Education .............................................................. 99
4.2.1.2 Language Preferences ....................................................................................... 104
4.2.1.3 The Influence of Amharic and English over Silt’e ........................................... 108
4.2.1.4 Strength and Weakness of the Current Language-in-Education Policy ............ 112
4.2.2 Challenges of Implementing the Language-in-Education Policy in the Silt’e Zone
116
4.2.2.1 Challenges in the Use of Silt’e as Medium of Instruction ................................ 116
4.2.2.2 Dialect Variation in Silt’e ................................................................................. 118
4.2.2.3 Textbook Analysis............................................................................................. 121
4.2.3 Status and Standardization of Silt’e ...................................................................... 124
4.2.3.1 Status of Silt’e ................................................................................................... 124
4.2.3.2 Standardization and Modernization of Silt’e .................................................... 127
4.2.4 Optimum Condition for Using Silt’e along with Amharic and English ............... 130
4.2.4.1 Demands to Use Silt’e as Official Language of the Silt’e Zone ....................... 131
4.2.4.2 Using Silt’e within the Family .......................................................................... 133
4.2.4.3 Using Silt’e in the Community.......................................................................... 135
4.2.4.4 Using Silt’e in the Media .................................................................................. 138
4.2.4.5 Optimal Conditions for Learning Silt’e, Amharic and English ........................ 139
CHAPTER FIVE ...................................................................................................................... 146
5 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................... 146
5.1 PERSPECTIVES OF THE SILT’E PEOPLE TOWARDS LP AND POLICY EFFECTS ON LANGUAGE
USE, EQUITY AND DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................ 146
5.2 CHALLENGES FOR USING SILT’E AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION .................................. 155
5.3 STATUS, STANDARDIZATION AND MODERNIZATION OF SILT’E ..................................... 158
5.4 OPTIMUM CONDITIONS FOR USING SILT’E ALONG WITH AMHARIC AND ENGLISH ......... 160
CHAPTER SIX ......................................................................................................................... 171
6 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ... 171
6.1 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................. 171
VI II
6.2 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................... 174
6.3 RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................................... 177
6.4 IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................ 180
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 182
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................... 207
APPENDIX 1: INTERVIEW AND FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR
TEACHERS, STUDENTS AND EDUCATION EXPERTS ................................................. 207
APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR PARENTS AND OFFICERS ......................... 211
APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS ........................................................ 215
APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS ......................................................... 224
APPENDIX 5: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR OFFICERS .......................................................... 233
APPENDIX 6: QUESTIONNAIRES FOR PARENTS ......................................................... 240
APPENDIX 7: OBSERVATION CHECKLIST .................................................................... 247
APPENDIX 8: TEXTBOOK ANALYSIS CHECKLIST ...................................................... 248
APPENDIX 9: SILT’E SCRIPT .............................................................................................. 249
APPENDIX 10: AMHARIC SCRIPT ..................................................................................... 250
TRANSCRIPTS ........................................................................................................................ 251

IX
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1: Major Ethnic Groups in Ethiopia ................................................................................. 15
Table 2.2: Chronology of Local Languages Use in Ethiopia ........................................................ 16
Table 2.3: Diacritics in the Silt’e Script ........................................................................................ 37
Table 3.1: Data for the Main Study .............................................................................................. 71
Table 4.1: Gender, Age, Qualification and Experience of Respondents ...................................... 81
Table 4.2: General Language Use in the Silt’e Zone .................................................................... 81
Table 4.3: Language Use in the Mass Media ................................................................................ 83
Table 4.4: Language Use in Schools............................................................................................. 85
Table 4.5: Status and Function of Silt’e........................................................................................ 86
Table 4.6: Challenges for Using Silt’e as MOI ............................................................................. 87
Table 4.7: Use of Dialects in Silt’e ............................................................................................... 88
Table 4.8: Status, Standardization and Modernization of Silt’e ................................................... 89
Table 4.9: Attitudes to Silt’e, Amharic and English ..................................................................... 90
Table 4.10: Attitudes to Language Use in Education ................................................................... 91
Table 4.11: Attitudes to the Role of Silt’e for Social Life and Development .............................. 93
Table 4.12: Language Preferences ................................................................................................ 94
Table 4.13: Optimum Conditions to Learn Silt’e, Amharic and English ..................................... 95
Table 4.14: Optimum Conditions to Use Silt’e, Amharic and English in Various Domains ....... 97
Table 4.15: Language Planning and Policy .................................................................................. 98
X