Stellenbosch

As I am tugged comfortably in my bed in a B & B in Stellenbosch and looking back retrospectively at the movie I watched two evenings ago I canâ??t stop marveling at William Wilberforce and his brilliance in ending one of the worst forms of injustices in this world- the slave trade. As a result I think of all the injustices, we, todayâ??s generation still have to end. As a linguist my thoughts are immediately geared the linguistic situation back home-Lesotho. Most people usually comment on how politically stable (until recently) Lesotho is and they often attribute that to (what they think is a fact) that there is just one language in Lesotho- Well, here is the real story.

 

Sociolinguistic profiles of different countries all over the world are not naturally the way they are; rather they are a result of deliberate efforts, especially by those with political power and influence. The efforts involve, whether maliciously or not, influencing the behaviour of citizens with respect to the general handling and allocation of language. The sociolinguistic profiles are a consequence of what is referred to as language planning.

 

Like most African countries Lesotho does not have a documented, well articulated and explicit national language policy. The policy is by default implicitly and casually stated in some education policy documents and the national constitution. The linguistic situation in Lesotho is such that there are two official languages â?? Sesotho and English. The constitution of Lesotho, section 3, subsection 1, dictates â??The official languages of Lesotho shall be Sesotho and English and, accordingly, no instrument or transaction shall be invalid by reason only that, it is expressed or conducted in one of these languages.â? Official means that a language is used as a language of governance. It is used in administration, education, business, and legal matters. Sesotho as the language spoken by the majority population (99%)  is the national language in Lesotho. That is, it is the language that Lesotho identifies with.

 

Language supremacy is not alien in Lesotho. Although English and Sesotho are co-official languages, they do not function in exactly the same way in Lesotho, at least not in all spheres. English plays a prominent role in matters of governance. For instance, in different government ministries official gatherings such as meetings and formal written correspondence are conducted in English. Sesotho is also used but in a less formal fashion such as casual talk among officers. The Sesotho used is often alternated with English even in informal settings. In the legal sphere, English is also seen to feature mostly at higher levels, for example, the Supreme Court, while Sesotho is seen dominating local courts. In the Supreme Court however, Sesotho is still used although ideally English should be the language at that level.

 

Rudiments of a language policy also appear in the education policy of Lesotho which stipulates that the language of teaching and learning is Sesotho for the first four years of primary school and English takes over from higher primary school through secondary, high school and tertiary levels. In the first four years of primary school, English is taught as a subject and at higher primary, secondary and high school, Sesotho is a compulsory subject.

 

Throughout primary and high school levels, English is a failing subject and Sesotho is not. Students must pass English in order to be admitted for all first degrees at the National University of Lesotho except in the Bachelor of Science where a pass 7 is still considered. The idea   of admitting a student with a pass in English, in the science is however still very controversial and a touchy subject. These science students with pass 7 in English are from time to time made fun of by other students even lecturers.

 

At tertiary level, English is a compulsory subject for every student   I every field of study, and no student can proceed to the third year of study without satisfying the requirements of the first year English course. Sesotho is not compulsory at this level. English in Lesotho has enjoyed a high prestige from about the early 1980s, there is a growing interest in what is referred to as English Medium schools. These schools use English as a transactional language from pre- school. A significant number of Basotho children are taken to these schools because their parents hope that their children will earn the mastery of the English language and therefore succeed in their studies generally. English is almost equated with educating itself.

 

Though English is thought to be very prestigious in Lesotho, Sesotho is still the most widely used language in many domains especially domestically. It dominates the mass media, for example, newspapers, radio broadcasting and television broadcasting. However, there is a steadily growing interest in the use of English in the mass   media, for example, more radio stations such as Joy F.M, Peopleâ??s Choice F.M. and The Ultimate use mostly English for their broadcasts. Sesotho is also on the rise in commercial advertising, which is also a recent phenomenon. English in Lesotho is also used as a lingua-franca for international relations with other countries. Sesotho is used predominantly domestically.

 

Contrary to popular believe and propaganda that there is one language in Lesotho, in actual fact, there are other languages that are not recognized by the language planning policy in Lesotho. These languages have been called different things by different people, all with the aim of concealing the stigma attached to them. In Kaplan and Baldauf Jr.â??s (1997:20-21) words,

 

These languages, perceived as a sub-set of vernacular languages, are variously designated as community languages, minority languages, ethnic languages, heritage languages- all euphemisms intended to recognize that they are nit the majority languages, yet they represent populations of citizens.

 

Minority languages are thus languages spoken by a minority population in a country and they are occasionally marginalized and made to feel illegitimate within nations for reasons such as their small number of speakers and their consideration as uncultured, primitive, or simple dialects when compared to the dominant languages. The minority languages in Lesotho include Sephuthi, Sethepu, Xhosa, Ndebele, and Setlokoa. Another one called Setaung is alleged to have died. The remaining minority languages in Lesotho are also faced with the threat of extinction because the language planners in Lesotho do not recognize them as languages. The media in all respects (print and radio) in Lesotho does not use any of the minority languages thus denying their users a very important right of every citizen â?? information in current affairs. There is however one Moafrika radio station which offers a news bulletin in Sethepu but that is not so effective because the radio station does not have network coverage in those areas where the majority of people who speak this language are.

 

What really bothers me and prompted me to write this article is that children who speak minority languages as their mother tongues are faced with a challenge of being taught in Sesotho from the first day at primary school. This is very frustrating to these children as they have never spoken Sesotho anywhere and many of them refuse to go to school as a result. The consequence is that their chances of participating in national politics are already seriously dented as they will not be educationally empowered. Some of them, especially those who speak Xhosa, move to South-Africa where their language is recognized. The people in the regions such as Quthing where these minority languages are found are very hostile to people who speak Sesotho. This is observed to be a defense mechanism as even those who know Sesotho do not want to speak it. It has thus been observed that these minority language speaking people of Lesotho feel more at home in South Africa than in Lesotho. Lesotho therefore risks loosing a lot of People to South Africa. These people would maybe help Lesotho out of poverty with their intellectual contribution had they been given a chance. Is there really no hope for this population that speaks minority languages in Lesotho?

 

 The crisis of the indigenous languages in Lesotho can be averted with a little political will and commitment by the government and their language planning unit if Lesotho is to be truly democratic as it is often assumed. Language plays a pivotal role in human life. I strongly believe that onesâ?? language corresponds to onesâ?? origin. Origin is something that one cannot change and it deserves a lot of respect and recognition. Besides, language is something that people identify with and as such a basic human right. Why is this â??rightâ?? so â??Wrongâ?? for the poor children who do not speak Sesotho as their first language? First, the government of Lesotho owes it to the minority languagesâ?? speaking community to recognize and standardize these languages as a sign of acknowledging them as human beings and bonafide citizens of Lesotho. When these languages have been standardized, every Mosotho should be made to take at least one of these minority languages as an additional subject at school. This may help eliminate some degree of ethno linguistic intolerance in Lesotho thereby reducing the stigmatization and stereotyping of these minority languages.

 

Children who speak these minority languages should also be taught in their mother tongues for the first four years of school in a similar way as those who speak Sesotho as their first language. This will give them a fair chance of adjusting to another language as a medium of instruction gradually, while Sesotho is being taught as just another language and subject. Cummins (1984:89) shows that,

 

â??Optimal first language education provides a rich cognitive preparation for the acquisition of a second language; and that the literacy skills already acquired in the first language provide easy transition to the second language medium education.â?

 

Something must be done by the Wilberforces of today.

 

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