1. Week 6 Writing Activity Shayla Ahmad
A Presentation of Sinfree Makoni’s A Critical Analysis of the Historical and Contemporary Status of Minority Languages in Zimbabwe
Week 6 Writing Activity
Shayla Ahmad

2. The Minority Language Context in Zimbabwe
Language Context: English and its relationship with Shona and Ndebele
Promotion of ethnic minority languages and marginalization of other minor languages
Analysis of historical literature and economic and political issues in relation to the languages in Zimbabwe

3. ZIPLA and the Two Education Acts
ZIPLA (Zimbabwe Indigenous Languages Promotion Association)
Education Act 1987
English, Shona and Ndebele official languages
Three languages will be taught but not on an equal-time-allocation basis
Promotes bilingualism: English taught along with Shona and Ndebele; English will start from fourth grade
Excludes minority languages
Education Act 2006
The concept of indigenous languages broadened to include minority languages
Three official languages will be taught on an equal time basis
Promotes Multilingualism: students should be proficient in all three languages
Sign languages for the deaf and hard of hearing and ‘priority medium of instruction’

4. Excluded Languages: Northwestern Zimbabwe
Widely used languages: CiNyanja, Nambya, Tonga (including the three official languages)
Coal mining town Hwange:
majority CiNyanja and Nambya speakers
Official languages taught in school
CiNyanja includes speakers of Zambia, Malawians, Ngoni or Kunda
Dominant language in some localities but not used officially in education and does not have minority status
Speakers are not considered citizens of Zimbabwe

5. Indigenous Language: The case of Shangani
Shangani categorized as Indigenous language by the Education Act 2006
Shangani speakers consider their language to be a ‘community language’
Taught up to the fourth grade
Shangani has a secondary status to Shona and Ndebele
Cross national varieties of Shangani: Migrant labour in Mozambique and South Africa
Challenges of standardizing Shangani
Competing orthographies

6. Minority Language: The Case of Kalanga
Speakers from southwestern parts of Zimbabwe and northern parts of Botswana
The speakers are multilingual
Speakers in Zimbabwe speak Kalanga, Shona, Ndebele and English
Speakers in Botswana speak Kalanga, Tswana, and English
The Kalanga speakers claim to be citizens of Botswana
Recognition of Kalanga is a political demand
Kalanga later classified as a minority language

7. Alternative Citizenship: The case of Xhosa Speaking Community
Fengu, speakers of Xhosa:
Refugee Europeans during colonial era and domestic workers and wagon drivers from South Africa
Strong connection to Xhosa in South Africa
Consider language-in –education needs met by South Africa
Consider themselves as foreigners in Zimbabwe and want to relocate in South Africa
Their Xhosa is considerably different than those in South Africa

8. Challenges of Language Planning and Teaching Materials for Minority Languages and Recommendations
Commercial publishers reluctant to publish in minority languages for economic reasons
Translations from available materials undermine the minority languages
Choosing one variety of the language over the other can cause problems
Recommendations:
Local communities should take responsibility to promote, develop materials, compile dictionaries, and writing grammars
Academic Institution collaboration with local communities
Involvement of external agencies

9. Chinese Language in Zimbabwe
Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language
China’s economic role in Africa
Attractive resources by the Chinese Language Council International to develop Chinese language
A great demand in the business community to learn Chinese
Other sectors: hotels, flight attendants, Chinese traditional medicine

10. Conclusion and Future Research
Language planning in Zimbabwe is greatly influenced by various ethnic groups and their interaction with dominant language groups
Despite gaining status of indigenous language there is a power hierarchy in the functions of the indigenous and dominant languages
A new challenge in language planning in Zimbabwe is the Zimbabwean diaspora and technology