SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

Closely connected to the issue of being in Chisena are two crucial questions namely, (a)
do you find embarrassing to speak Chisena? And (b) do you find it embarraassing to
identify yourself as a Sena? A peoples’ attitudes towards their language is very crucial to
their choice of language(s) for use in schools. A small minority of pupils interviewed 28
(6.8%) indicated that they find it embarrassing to speak Chisena; with 258 respondents
(63.1%) finding it not embarrassing to speak Chisena; and 123 (30.1%) gave no response
because they were not speakers of the language. On the question of whether they find it
embarrassing to identify themselves as Senas, another small minority 15 (3.7%) gave a
YES answer. A significant majority 317 (77.5%) indicated that it was not embarrassing
at all for them to identify themselves as Senas. This positive attitude has contributed to
the pupils’ acceptance of Chisena as a medium of instruction. The pupil’s responses
show that they find local languages as better media of instruction than English. Asked
whether or not they have problems with studying in English, the majority 234 (57.5%)
gave a YES answer; with 168 (41.3%) giving a NO answer (see Table 88). Turning to
Chichewa, a small minority 46 (11.3%) stated that they had no problems with studying in
Chichewa. See Table 89 for the summary. This is strong support for the use of local
languages as a media of instruction.
Table 88:
Problems With Studying In English
Frequency %
Yes 234 57.2
No 168 41.1
Undecided 8 1.7
Table 89:
Problems with Studying in Chichewa
Frequency %
Yes 47 11.5
No 357 87.3
Undecided 5 1.2
6.4.8.1 SUMMARY OF PUPILS’ RESPONSES
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