Proposed Act to promote, preserve and develop languages

Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
EXPERTS in linguistics have lauded Government for adopting the principles of the Languages Bill which seeks to safeguard the country’s 16 official languages in fulfilment of Section 6 of the Constitution, saying if passed into law, it will promote multilingualism.

Cabinet on Tuesday adopted Principles for the Languages Bill, which were presented by Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry.

The principles of the proposed Languages Bill underpin the need for the promotion of multilingualism, respect of language rights and linguistic preference as fundamental to the process of nationalism, development of augmentative and alternative communication systems for people with impediments that inhibit communication.

It also recognises and promotes languages as cultural wealth. The Bill also seeks to see the establishment and maintenance of institutional structures, such as the National Languages Board, the National Languages Fund, and the Languages Database.

In interview yesterday, linguistics hailed the Bill, saying it rubberstamps Government’s commitment to preserving cultural identity of all citizens and promoting linguistic diversity.

Linguistic expert Dr Omphile Marupi said language carries culture and vice-versa hence their promotion goes a long way in promoting development and unity in the country.

“This proposed Act is long overdue because if you look at First World countries people tend to be silent when we talk of these national languages and they don’t want to refer beyond Africa.

“They then want to concentrate on Africa and it is an issue which is perceived to be on political, tribal or religious lines, but go to countries such as Australia or the Canary Islands, you find that there are actually boards that are responsible for the promotion, revilisation, and development and revival of these languages,” he said.

“These boards are there to promote equal treatment of language in relation to major languages. I feel that language carries culture and vice-versa and as such these two can’t be separated. Their promotion goes a long way in promoting development and unity.”

Dr Marupi said the Bill came at the right time and should be embraced with the highest level of seriousness without being politicised, tribalised or regionalised.

“The Bill is something that is not going to be limited to language only but it is actually going beyond that and from the cultural perspective, it is also going to promote our culture and identity as a people and in the process also promote other sectors such as tourism and our indigenous knowledges,” he said.

“When we are talking of promoting these languages, people should understand that we are not looking at the so-called minority languages, but even languages such as Shona and Ndebele, which are spoken by a majority are also included in terms of promoting them. We are looking at the promotion of these languages in the learning institutions and literature because less and less of people writing in these languages are emerging nowadays.”

Another linguist, Mr Samuel Mulaudzi said Government has a responsibility to ensure that all 16 official languages are nor just official on paper, but should also be promoted and preserved

“This is a good move as it promotes multilingualism. If the Bill is passed into law, it is an assurance that all our national languages won’t die.

“Looking at the issue of education, we want to see Government coming up with deliberate policies that work towards the growth of these languages,” he said.

“We are now talking of 16 official languages and talking as one of the speakers of these official languages, I am really impressed with the Bill, which will be crafted into law.”

Mr Mulaudzi said since Zimbabwe is already promoting multilingual country, they are therefore looking forward to the Bill being passed into law

“Looking at the issue of tertiary education, Government is now compelled to add material for training because how do you train people in a language without both human and material resources?

“We are looking forward to having more writers being tasked to write in local languages,” he said.

“All structures should also be multilingual in nature and even when it comes to the National Languages Board, there is need to look into the issue of multilingualism so that it looks national in nature.

In a post Cabinet briefing on Tuesday, Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the proposed Act will promote, preserve and develop languages of Zimbabweans.

“The Minister Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Honourable Dr Kirsty Coventry, presented the principles for the Languages Bill, which were adopted by Cabinet. The Bill will safeguard the country’s 16 officially recognised languages, in fulfilment of Section 6 of the Constitution,” she said.

She said Government recognises that language is a powerful vehicle of a people’s culture and identity hence the proposed Act will promote, preserve and develop the languages of Zimbabweans.

“Given the diversity of languages in the country, the Act will ensure their use in order to avoid marginalisation of any languages or community from loss of identity and culture,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

Minister Mutsvangwa said the Bill also seeks to promote equitable allocation of resources for the development of officially recognised languages.

Since the adoption of the 2013 Constitution, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, iSiNdebele, Shangani, Xhosa, sign language, SeSotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Shona. — @mashnets