SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

age increases. A plausible explanation for this phenomenon seems to be that as age
increases the less the parents/guardians remember about their linguistic problems at
school.
4.7 CONCLUSIONS
The picture that emerges from the findings is that in general, teachers support the mother
tongue instruction policy. Despite acknowledging the lack of teaching/learning materials,
the teachers are nevertheless determined to implement the policy.
The guardians/parents too are in support of mother tongue instruction. Pupils, on the
other hand, have different perceptions from their teachers and guardians: pupils have
rejected the mother tongue policy. The majority of the pupils would like to learn through
English, with Chichewa as the second choice. The high affinity for English is not dificult
to account for given that English is the language for social, economic and political
advancement. The mother tongues, on the other hand, have a very negligible impact on
one’s personal advancement. Pupils also recognise the importance of Chichewa as a
national lingua franca and as a language currently in use in a number of official domains
in the country. Chitumbuka is viewed by pupils as a local language which does not have
the social, political and economic power they require in life. This clash between pupils
on the one hand and parents/guardians and teachers on the other hand, is something that
policy makers must handle with care.
It is also important to mention that Chichewa has firmly established itself as the national
lingua franca for the whole country so much so that one cannot realistically talk of a
Chitumbuka speaking area that has not felt the impact of Chichewa. For example, the
pupils’ second most preferred language of instruction is Chichewa. In the case of
parents/guardians who speak more than one language, the other most spoken language
(apart from Chitumbuka) is Chichewa. The same picture emerges from the pupils. This
is evidence that Chichewa has over the years firmly established itself even in traditional
non­Chichewa speaking areas.
Whilst it is true that Chitumbuka is the most dominant language in the Northern Region,
it is worthwhile to recognise the presence of smaller but prominent languages.
Languages such as Chindali in Chitipa, Nkhonde in Karonga, and Chitonga in Nkhata
Bay pose as powerful rivals to Chitumbuka. Infact, the three districts under review are
not strictly speaking Chitumbuka dominated areas. In the case of Nkhata Bay, there is
aclear rejection of Chitumbuka as the language for various domains: Chichewa has a
strong showing in Nkhata Bay, with Chitonga coming second. In a nutshell, the findings
of the survey indicate that while Mzimba and Rumphi are unquestionable strongholds for
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