Browsing by Author "Swilla, Imani N."
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Item Borrowing in Chindali(2000) Swilla, Imani N.Item The Dynamics of Language Maintenance among Speakers of Chindali in Mbozi District, Tanzania(2005) Swilla, Imani N.This paper discusses findings of a research on the vitality of Chindali, a language spoken in south-west Tanzania, among speakers who have migrated to a new area, away from its heartland. Research shows that there is language maintenance. Several factors have contributed to the maintenance of the language - the desire for preservation and survival as a distinct group in the new location and pride in the culture, monolingualism, dominance of Chindali as the language of the family and community, the rural nature of the population, low levels of formal education and continued contacts with Bundali. The paper raises the need to conduct more studies on vernacular languages in contact, in order to understand the phenomenon and its impacts.Item Gender Differences in School Performance: Evidence Form the National Form IV Examination Result and Implications for Poverty(1999) Katapa, R. S.; Swilla, Imani N.Item Language Choice, Shift and Maintenance among Ndali Migrants in Mbozi District(2003) Swilla, Imani N.Item Languages of Instruction in Tanzania: Contradictions between Ideology, Policy and Implementation(2009) Swilla, Imani N.Contradictions exist among ideologies, language policy statements, and practice regarding the language of instruction (LoI) in primary education in Tanzania. In 1961, independent Tanzania inherited colonial education, using Swahili and English. When socialism was introduced in 1967, Swahili was declared the only LoI. The government legalized private and English-medium schools in the 1990s but maintained Swahili as the LoI. There is an English syllabus for English-medium schools, while the Primary School Leaving Examination is administered in Swahili and English. However, only the elite can afford Englishmedium education. The majority of children attend Swahili-medium government schools. The government needs to firmly establish that both Swahili and English are LoI of primary education, because English is the LoI of secondary and post-secondary education. The government must enable all children to master both languages in order for them to acquire an education that allows them to compete favourably for employment.Item Linguistics in the Corridor: A Review of Research on the Bantu Languages of South-West Tanzania, North-East Zambia, and North Malawi(2001) Swilla, Imani N.; Walsh, Martin T.Eastern Bantu languages spoken in the 'Corridor' between Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika include Pimbwe, Rungwa, Fipa, Rungu, Mambwe, Wanda, Nyamwanga, Lambya, Malila, Nyiha, Safwa, Nyakyusa, Ndali and Wungu. There is a widely agreed division of Corridor languages into three basic groups: Mwika (western Corridor), Nyika (central Corridor) and Nyakyusa-Ndali (East Corridor). Wungu appears to be an isolate and its classification remains controversial. As an ethnographic and linguistic area, the Corridor straddles the border region of three different countries and includes large parts of southwest Tanzania, northeast Zambia, and the north of Malawi. Several languages are spoken across international borders and found in either all three or two of these countries. Even the better-known languages of the Corridor remain inadequately described. Lack of cooperation among researchers in different countries compounds the problem because sometimes the same variety has different names and researchers in different countries adopt different approaches in studying the same languageItem Names in Chindali(2000) Swilla, Imani N.This paper explores naming practices among speakers of Chindali (a Bantu language), including the act of naming, the selection of names, their significance and uses, as well as the impact of sociocultural changes on naming. The author uses data from an ongoing study gathered in Ileje, Rungwe and Mbozi districts in Tanzania. Members of Chindali-speaking communities bear at least five types of names: childhood names and associated praise names, personal names, clan names and clan praise names. Grandparents play an important role in the choice and bestowal of childhood names. Clan names are prescribed: they are transmitted from generation to generation through sons and signal common descent. Parents select personal names for their children but the latter may select others later in life. Childhood, personal and clan names have meanings, mainly linked to the circumstances of birth, and convey cultural and social values. Contact with other languages - Kinyakyusa, English, Swahili - and the migration of Chindali speakers to Rungwe and Mbozi districts have had impacts on naming practices. Chindali speakers have borrowed foreign names and nativized them and speakers of other languages have modified Chindali names. Clan names and associated praise names generally appear resistant to some of these changes.Item The Noun Class System and Agreement in Chindali(1981) Swilla, Imani N.Item The Relation of Local and Foreign Languages to National Needs in Africa(Taylor & Francis, 1992) Swilla, Imani N.This paper argues that African countries need both local and foreign languages and that the roles of these languages are complementary. Several African countries have designated African languages as national, official languages and as media of instruction, especially at primary‐school level. The languages of the former coloniser have often been maintained as media of instruction in secondary and post‐secondary education, as official languages, and, in several countries, as national languages as well. An African language, like any other can become official and national, and a medium of instruction; the choice is determined by political and socio‐economic factors.Item Signs of Language Shift in Chindali and the Impact of Swahili(Taylor & Francis, 2008) Swilla, Imani N.Research was conducted in 2002 to investigate the vitality of Chindali, a Bantu language, among speakers who migrate from Ileje District to Mbozi District in southwestern Tanzania. Data were collected using a questionnaire, interviews and observation. The study revealed the presence of early signs of language shift from Chindali towards Swahili. Monolingualism was rare, while bilingualism in Chindali and Swahili was widespread; borrowing of Swahili terms and code-switching were common and Swahili was increasingly used for communication within the family and community. Swahili's impact on Chindali can be attributed to its prestige as the national and official language. It is the medium of instruction in primary education, the language of the media and official events. Recommendations to ensure the survival of Chindali include conducting research on and documenting the language, collecting and publishing Chindali oral traditions with translations in Swahili and English, organising cultural events using the language, and conducting sensitisation campaigns to promote it.Item Voluptuous Vacuous Vamps: Stereotyped Representation of Women in Kiswahili Press(2000) Swilla, Imani N.In Tanzania, the press is the second most accessible type of mass media after the radio, a key source of information and entertainment. Short stories in two Tanzanian daily newspapers published in the national language, Kiswahili, were analyzed to investigate how authors represented women. Readers and non-readers of newspapers were also interviewed. The content and linguistic analyses revealed that more than two thirds of the stories depicted women negatively, by using linguistic devices such as derogatory terms, metaphors, diminutive forms, compliments, self-incrimination and the assignment of talk-turns. Derogatory language and content in the stories reflect and perpetuate negative attitudes and beliefs about women in society, are counterproductive, and perpetuate low self-esteem in women. The press should become an agent of social change, towards gender parity and promote a gendersensitive representation of women.