SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

6.5.2.3 VARIETIES
Asked bout where they thought the best Chisena is spoken, the respondents gave a
number of places, the majority of them located in Nsanje district such as Ndamera,
Bangula, Chididi, Sorgin, Mbenje, Tengani and Marka. This is an indication that Nsanje
district rather than Chikwawa is regarded as the best Chisena. See Table 92 for a
summary of the responses.
Table 92:
Where Best Chisena Is Spoken
Place Frequency %
Tengani 21 7.3
Marka 50 17.3
Ngabu 7 2.4
Nsanje 148 51.2
Mbenje 6 2.1
Tulusidwa 1 0.3
Chikwawa 2 0.7
Sorgin 6 2.1
Chididi 11 3.8
Bangula 7 2.4
Ndamera 6 2.1
Undecided 24 8.3
On the question whether the respondents find it embarrassing to speak Chisena, a small
minority 11 (3.8%) said YES whilst a big majority 236 (81.7%) said NO. 42 respondents
(14.5%) were undecided since they were not speakers of the language.
A related question required respondents to indicate whether or not they felt embarrassed
to identify themselves as Senas. Only 4 respondents (1.4%) siad they felt embarrassed to
identify themselves as Senas whilst a significant majority 252 (87.2%) indicated that it
was not an embarrassment for them to identify themselves as Senas. 33 (11.4%) of the
respondents did not answer the question. In general, one can say that the majority of the
respondents have a positive attitude towards their mother tongue and ethnic group.
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