Thanks for this - you make a couple of good points. I'd like to carry it a step or two further if I may. Before that, I'd like to ask if you or anyone has access to the BBC site (I don't), to post anything relevant or of interest coming out of their "Africa have your say" program. TIA.
1) I think that the subject of the BBC program misses an essential element. While extinction of languages is a crucial concern, it is less often recognized that a process of what I call "language impoverishment" can affect the quality of communication long before one can call a language "endangered." The quoted note about the quality of Yoruba in sw Nigerian cities is but one example. That can be a long process, esp. for languages with a lot of speakers. 2) This kind of language impoverishment is part of a larger tragedy. I've suggested elsewhere (on Multilingual_Literacy, for example) that there may arise situations where young people have no deep knowledge of *any* language: they aren't schooled in their maternal language (or immersed in any informal learning process) so "top off" at a level that permits casual conversation but not much more; and they don't master the language of school, due to several possible reasons. There are always a few who will excel no matter what, but for the mass of students and thus for society as a whole, there would seem to be a real problem that one might describe as "limited" or "impaired" bilingualism (or multilingualism), and all that that might mean for success in life, contribution to humanity, etc. The answer is not to abandon either the maternal or the international language, but to encourage both as many societies do. 3) Another part of the mentality you mention, I think, is what one colleague referred to as many Africans taking their cultures and languages for granted. IOW, that language and culture are and always will be there. But that is not the case in Africa or anywhere else. At some point with language and culture, just as with the natural environment, it's necessary to recognize that the future is not guaranteed and that some proactive management and investment is necessary. Or else you lose things that are invaluable and unrecoverable. 4) It is interesting to compare the situation of indigenous American communities, many of which are now desperate to hold on to their languages. In many cases, their current predicament is in large part the result of explicit policies to eliminate their languages (in the US and Canada, for instance, though these were changed some years ago). In Africa there is/was not to my knowledge a campaign to wipe out African languages (with a couple of possible exceptions), but rather a nexus of attitudes, focus on an external language for "nation building," a passively negative attitude about multilingualism from donors, and a globalizing economy in which English is seen as the "language of the stomach." But the long-term results may end up being the same as if the powers that be mandated the languages' marginalization or elimination. There's much more to say but I'll leave it there... DZO --- In AfricanLanguages@yahoogroups.com, "egbaman1" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > It's all down to colonial mentality is what I'd say. > If African languages die out, do Africans think they'll be more > respected in the world when they can only speak English, French, > Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, > Hindi, Arabic etc ? > They'll be in for a big and unpleasant surprise in future! > > > ciao > --- In AfricanLanguages@yahoogroups.com, "Don Osborn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > I was looking for something "official" on the web re Year of > African > > Languages (nothing so far) but found that the blog of "Okuwori" > > (Sokari Ekine) at http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/ had this > > same BBC item (Dec. 31) and a comment from a reader that might be > of > > interest: > > > > When I was in Naija.. I looked for some Yoruba literature books, > as I > > haven't read a book written in Yoruba for a very long time. > > I was told by the book store owner that, the demand for both yoruba > > and Igbo is diminishing. > > I can definitely attest to the fact that the Yoruba spoken in > Lagos is > > not real Yoruba, it's broken down and a simpler version. > > > > I finally found 2 books in the whole of Abuja (written in Yoruba). > > > > I'm still reading one of them and have been since I got back. It's > a > > learning journey a re-education on a beautiful language, which I > fear > > is dying out. > > > > Our terminology is changing, you have kids in Nigeria in Yoruba > towns > > who cannot speak the language. and the same goes for Igbo Language. > > > > thankfully the Hausa language is not fading out like that. > > > > > > --- In AfricanLanguages@yahoogroups.com, "Don Osborn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > > > FYI, a chance to make a comment about the importance of Africa's > > > maternal languages. (Fwd from Africa_Net)... DZO > > > > > > > > > For the BBC World "Africa Have Your Say" radio programme on 4 > > January 2006 > > > > > > 2006: Year of African Languages > > > > > > Comments may be made via the web at this address > > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4536450.stm > > > ... Yahoo! 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