SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

Table 15:
Language Trained To Teach In
District
% Respondents
English Chichewa Chitumbuka
Chitipa 70.6 29.4
Rumphi 37.5 62.5
Karonga 44.4 45.8 1.4
Mzimba 59.7 34.7 2.8
Nkhata Bay 56.0 40.0
Table 15 reveals clearly that instruction at the teacher training colleges has been
overwhelmingly in English and, to a lesser extent, in Chichewa. This is not surprising at
all because hitherto only two languages have been sanctioned for use in colleges; English,
the official language and Chichewa, the national language. What perhaps needs
explanation is the 4.2% of teachers who claim to have been trained in Chitumbuka.
From the low figures one possible explanation is that these teachers must have been
trained before 1968, the years Chitumbuka was proscribed as a subject and as a language
of instructiion in eduction institutions.
Teachers were also requested to indicate whether they can teach Chitumbuka as a subject,
on the one hand, and whether they can use it as a medium of instruction, on the other.
The results are shown in Table 16 below:
Table 16:
Competence In Teaching Chitumbuka As A Subject And As A
Medium Of Instruction
% Respondents
District
Subject
Medium of Instruction
Yes No Yes No
Chitipa 58.8 41.2 70.6 29.4
Karonga 80.6 19.4 81.9 81.1
Rumphi 75.0 25.0 87.5 12.5
Mzimba 81.9 18.1 77.8 22.9
Nkhata Bay 76.0 24.0 72.0 28.0
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