SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

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learning materials exist in Chisena, 81.2% of the respondents said none exists whilst 18.2% claimed that the materials exist. The Chisena Bible was the only example cited The respondents were also asked to name the variety which they deemed the most appropriate for teaching purposes. The Chikwawa variety (43.8%) was considered the most appropriate, followed by the Nsanje variety (31.8%) and Marka variety 12.5%. Another 12.5% were undecided. 6.5.3.1 DISCUSSION It should be pointed out from the outset like it was in the Chilomwe survey that the number of respondents in this section is comparatively smaller than that of other categories of respondents. The reason for this is simple. As mentioned earlier on, the survey was undertaken during the school holidays and although a number of schools were visited it was not possible to interview a greater and perhaps more representative number. The findings, however, do not deviate in any significant ways from those of the earlier surveys. The initial observation to be made here is that an ovewhelming majority of teachers (93.8%) speak Chisena which is contrary to what has been observed in the Chilomwe survey. But more importantly, the teachers’ also speak Chichewa and English. This reflects not only their education and professional training but also the bilingual nature of the society they live in. The implication for this is that the importance of Chichewa and of course, English should not be undermined by the introduction of mother tongue instruction. After all there is already a cadre of teachers trained in these languages. Another important factor the responses reveal is the positive attitude teachers have towards Chisena. 87.5% of them indicated that they were not embarrassed to speak Chisena. This is a crucial finding because if a mother tongue has to be introduced as a medium of instruction or a subject, it is imperative that the potential providers of the service have a positive attitude towards the language. Furthermore, it has been observed that 87.5% of the teachers would at least in principle, accept the introduction of Chisena in schools. Success of the mother tongue instruction would partly depend on the acceptance of such a policy by the teachers themselves. The acceptance of Chisena is strengthened further by the 75% of the teachers who indicated a willingness to accept it as amedium of instruction. Finally, it is clear from the responses above that since the teachers were trained in Eglish and Chichewa, if the mother tongue education policy is to succeed, then the teaching and learning materials should be prepared in tandem with the training of teachers. 104
6.5.4 “OTHER” RESPONDENTS’ RESPONSES In addition to interviewing pupils, teachers, parents/guardians, a fourth category of respondents was included. This group included respondents who did not fit in any of the categories named earlier. It was considered important to have an idea of the views and opinions of those respondents who have just left the school system, those who did so some time back and those who had never been part of it at all. A total of 86 respondents were interviewed in the same areas as were teachers but are not old enough to be treated as parents/guardians. On being asked whether they spoke Chisena or not, 82.6% indicated that they did and 17.4 said they did not. There were other languages that the respondents claimed to speak. 41.9% said they spoke Chichewa, 4.7% mentioned English, 2.3% named Chisena, 25.6% mentioned a combination of Chichewa and English, 1.2% said a combination of Portuguese, Chichewa and English and 1.2% mentioned a combination of Chilomwe and Chichewa, and the remainder of the respondents doubted their proficiency in certain languages, hence they cited no language. Asked whether or not they found it embarrassing to speak Chisena, 74.5% said they did not and 10.5% said they were, 15.1% did not respond. A corollary question wanted to know whether or not they were embarrrased to identify themselves as Sena, 84.9% said they were not, 4.7% said they were, and 10.5% did not respond. Another question sought to find out whether they had difficulties studying in English, 25.6% said they did, 17.4% sadi they did not, 1.2% did not respond and 55.8% were undecided. A corollary question was asked about Chichewa, 9.3% said they had difficulties, 32.6% said they did not, and 58.2% did not respond to the question. Respondents were also asked whether they would have like to have been taught in Chisena, 33.7% said they would, 8.1% said they would not, while 58.1% were undecided. 6.5.4.1 DISCUSSION Although the respondents in this category had left the school system or had never been 105
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SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS OF FOUR M
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4.5.1 TEACHER’S RESPONSES 23 4.5.
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A Note from the Director on Socioli
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1 INTRODUCTION The availability of
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instance, a mother tongue literacy
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level of understanding, whether the
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In relation to religions affiliatio
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there is l and w are repalced by d
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the survey that people from outside
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Above form 4 1 3 0.5 Other 3 0.3 Th
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REASONS GIVEN Easy communication Mo
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Chilomwe Chisena Chinkhonde English
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50. It has been observed that those
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Chichewa. This has arisen from the
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the most crucial informants because
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and pressing issues to handle e.g.
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Table 13: District Acceptance Of Ch
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The figures above clearly indicate
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Teachers were also requested to ind
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Rumphi 75.0 25.0 Mzimba 84.7 11.1 N
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Bay Table 24 shows that English is
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preferred language is Chilambia (17
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Rumphi 17.3 Pure Tumbuka 6.7 Henga
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Pure 1.5 Mmbelwa 1.5 Euthini 1.5 Ka
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Chichewa is the most favoured langu
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Respondents were also requested to
Page 53 and 54: Table 43: Whether To Be Taught In C
Page 55 and 56: % Resdpondentys District Chichewa C
Page 57 and 58: N/A 19.5 On the corollary question
Page 59 and 60: Table 53 shows that most pupils pre
Page 61 and 62: TRA = Translation NMT = Not mother
Page 63 and 64: Table 60: Language To Be Used In Ne
Page 65 and 66: Rumphi 41. 4 Mzimba 23. 9 Nkhata Ba
Page 67 and 68: case for Nkhata Bay is that Chitong
Page 69 and 70: Table 68 reveals that there is an i
Page 71 and 72: Chitumbuka, the same cannot be said
Page 73 and 74: (vii) (viii) To establish whether t
Page 75 and 76: the villagers would also ask the re
Page 77 and 78: Chiradzulu 1 0.3 Mozambique 22 6.2
Page 79 and 80: Undecided 1 0.3 The results present
Page 81 and 82: There were 19 cases of respondents
Page 83 and 84: On the question of whether the resp
Page 85 and 86: Chitakhwani 2 6.9 Chikokhola 2 6.9
Page 87 and 88: 5.5.4.1 SUMMARY Although this categ
Page 89 and 90: 6 CHISENA SURVEY 6.1 BACKGROUND TO
Page 91 and 92: ii) proficiency in Chisena and othe
Page 93 and 94: Table 80: Age Groups Age Group Freq
Page 95 and 96: Age Group Frequency % 09 20 4.9 1
Page 97 and 98: Tengani 11 2.7 Nsanje 35 8.6 Phodzo
Page 99 and 100: The majority of the pupils have cle
Page 101 and 102: 6.5.2.3 VARIETIES Asked bout where
Page 103: mentioned the Nsanje variety, anoth
Page 107 and 108: grammars and dictionaries. (iv) The
Page 109: 109
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SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

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