Introduction to topic of multilingualism and language choice in Sub-Saharan Africa

1. Multilingualism and Language Choice in
Sub-Saharan Africa
Manuela Noske
October 15, 2015
Microsoft Corporation

2. Facts
• Africa is 2nd largest continent in size & population
• Over a billion people - fastest growing population
rate in the world
• 5 of the 10 fastest growing economies are in Sub-
Saharan Africa:
1. Ethiopia
2. DR Congo
3. Côte d’Ivoire
4. Mozambique
5. Tanzania
• Home to a third of the world‘s languages
Source: Business Insider

3. Fun Facts
• Ethiopia inaugurated the electrified Addis Ababa
Light Rail Transit (AA-LRT) in September 2015
• First light railway on African continent with two lines
and a total length of 34 km

4. Fun Facts
• Nigeria has fastest growing rate of new champagne
consumption in the world - second only to France
• Champagne consumption projected to reach 1.1
million liters by 2017

5. Fun Facts
• Nigeria has its own fashion catwalk (“Lagos
Fashion & Design Week”)

6. Africa: The Last Untapped Markets
• Increase in disposable income has companies
investigate new business opportunities
• Understanding African customer needs &
preferences is key to successful product strategy
• Language is an integral part of that strategy
• Can companies be successful relying only on European
languages?
• Or should they localize products & services to gain
brand recognition and adoption?
• If localization is advised, in what languages?

7. Goals of Presentation
• Gain clearer understanding of language situation in
Africa and practice of multilingualism
• Understand factors that motivate language choice
and their implications for localization planning
• Develop deeper appreciation of challenges of
translating and localizing products, services &
content for markets in Sub-Saharan Africa

8. Africa: A Linguistic Kaleidoscope
• High number and diversity of languages & dialects
• Great fluidity in linguistic practices
• Ongoing linguistic adaptations to shifting social &
cultural norms

9. The Colonial Language Legacy
• After independence, African language policies
largely favored European languages
• Were considered better suited for purpose of nation-
building
• Did not favor specific ethnic groups
• Used by educated, ruling elite
• Low confidence & low status of African languages

10. The Colonial Language Legacy
• European languages typically used as language of
instruction in schools
• Up to 90% of Africans assumed to not be fully
competent in any of the European languages
• Persistent competence gaps between
• Genders
• Urban & rural population

11. Official Languages
• African languages are increasingly
taking on role of official languages
Source: Wikipedia

12. Language Families in Africa
Source: Wikipedia

13. How Many Languages in Africa?
• No definitive answers
• Depends on criteria used to identify what a
language is
• Structural approach bases classification on discrete
linguistic features (grammar & lexicon)
• Sociolinguistic approach bases classification on social,
cultural and/or political factors
• Emphasis can be on differences or commonalities

14. How Many Languages in Africa?
Two contrasting views:
1. Ethnologue (18th edition):
 2,138 languages
2. CASAS (Center for Advanced Studies of African
Society):
 12 to 15 “core” languages (spoken by 75% to 85% of all
Africans)

15. Criteria for Language Identification (ISO 639-3)

16. Criteria for Language Identification
• Language variants can be
• Considered same language for linguistic reasons, and yet
• Identified as different languages for ethnic or political
reasons
• A language is a dialect with an army and a navy
- Max Weinreich

17. Language Use and Multilingualism
• Multilingualism refers to
• Language situation in a nation or society
• Competence of an individual
• Multilingual individual speaks
 L1 as native language
 L2, L3, etc. as second languages to varying degrees
• Multilingualism is a continuum
Full Competence Limited Competence

18. Language Use and Multilingualism
• In multinational states, individuals are typically
multilingual
• Multilingual individuals choose which language to use
depending on sociolinguistic context
 Who are they communicating with?
 What are they trying to accomplish?
• Often use “code-switching”, i.e., mix two or more
languages in single conversation or utterance
• Increase in mobility leads to increase in multilingualism

19. Language Use and Multilingualism
Sociolinguistic
Context
Online
Urban Context
Secondary
Schools
Local Region
Home
L1
Ekegusii
L2
Luo
L3
Swahili
L4
English

20. Language Use and Multilingualism
• Multilingual practices contribute to language change
creating a new superdiversity in urban centers

21. Language Use and Trade Languages
• In multinational states, trade or vehicular
languages (aka lingua franca) can emerge
• Used as second languages for communication
between diverse groups that don’t share a common
language
• Are predominantly spoken
• Have millions of speakers as L2 or L3
• Important trade languages:
• Swahili, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Fulani, Kanuri, Bambara,
Jula, Mandinka, Lingala, Kikongo, Sanko

22. Language Use: Swahili as Trade Language
• L1: 5 - 15 million speakers
• L2: Up to 150 million speakers as lingua franca
• Modern standard based on Kiunguja dialect
Source: NUGL Online Version June 4, 2009

23. Language Use: Swahili as Trade Language
Sociolinguistic Context High Low
Sermon x
Instructions to servants x
Parliament speech x
Chat with urban friends x
Negotiating taxi fare x
State of diglossia:
• Standard used in media (radio, TV, newsprint) & official
communications (High status)
• L2 variant(s) used for informal communications (Low status)
• High and low variants differ in grammar and lexicon

24. Summary
• High number & diversity of languages, often
without clearly developed linguistic standards
• Lack of clear language identification and lack of
standards pose challenges for localization industry
• Language use is fluid, with speakers choosing
different languages depending on sociolinguistic
context
• Existence of high and low variants of same
language need to be addressed

25. Recommendations
• Allow for language choice
• Contribute to harmonization & standardization efforts
• Investigate effective ways of adapting localized
resources for closely related languages
• Incorporate agile linguistic change management
processes to cope with rapidly developing languages
• Advance understanding of local language use by
• Sharing linguistic feedback on localized products and
observations of user behavior
• Share localized resources to help drive development
of MT solutions

26. Language is a Bridge