SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

Frequency %
Yes 241 67.5
No 112 31.4
Undecided 4 1.1
Those pupils who did not accept the idea of being taught in Chilomwe were then asked to
identify Chilomwe’s alternative. 49 (13.7%) of the respondents cited Chichewa as their
preferred medium of instrcuction. 33 (9.2%) of the pupils mentioned English. 26 (7.3%)
of the pupils chose a combination of English and Chichewa as medium of instruction as
indicated in Table 73.
The pupils were also aked whether or not it was embarrassing to speak Chilomwe. A
small minority 21 (5.9%) of the respondents said Yes; and small majority 86 (24.1%) said
No. A significant majority 250 (70.0%) of the pupils were unable to give an answer to
the question, hence no responses were recorded. This translates into 19.7% of those who
gave responses as having stated that they find it embarrassed to speak the language.
As related question wanted to find out whether the respondents feel embarrassed to
identufy themselves as Lomwes. 7 (2.0%) of the respondetnts said Yes whilst 153
(42.9%) of the respondents said No. 197 (55.2%) of the respondetnts were unable to
provide an answer. Of the 160 respondents who answered the question, only 7 (4.4%)
indicated that they find it embarrasing to identify themselves with the said ethinic group.
Table 73:
Alternative To Chilomwe As Medium Of Instruction
Language Frequency %
Chichewa 49 13.8
English 33 9.2
English and Chichewa 26 7.3
Chichewa and Chitonga 1 0.3
Chiyao 3 0.8
French + Chichewa + 2 0.6
English
Chitumbuka 1 0.3
78