BOTSWANA’S MARGINALISED LANGUAGES: IN WHAT STATE?
Botswana has two official languages, English and Setswana. All other languages spoken throughout the country, which amount to over twenty, have become marginalized. Here, some of these languages, have reached a point of (near) disappearance. These languages include iKalanga, Herero, Mbukushu, Sesobeya, Seyei, Ndebele, Zezuru, Xhosa, Nambza and so forth.
To further exacerbate the disappearance of these marginalised languages, schools throughout the country have largely ommitted the use of these as a medium of instruction, and have developed curriuculum and policy to orient students toward English and Setswana.
Consequently, conceptions of loss of heritage have spread throughout the country, and has had a significant effect on view of national and cultural identity of the people.
Furthermore, the government does not act to contribute to the revitalization of these languages, and has focused resources on only the national and official languages, with no apparent intention (future) to counter the decline of waning language communities.
Rather, the government has delegated the responsiblity for sustaining such languages to the domestic level, yet, while children are gradually socialized into the national and official languages.
English has received the status of official language, while Stswana has received the staus of national language, differentiating the two, but concurrently, affording each of these two languages a particular stable status. The latter, Stswana, as the heritage language,
Approximately 80-90 percent of the country employs the Setswana language as its heritage language, pleas to the government to preserve a multiplicity of languages has been futile. The most devastated language community may well be those of the Sesarwa, Hua, Gciriku, Ani, Shua, Ju’hoa, Gani, !Xóõ, Tsoa and Naro communities, which, have at times fallen to only a few hundred speakers.