Vocabulary

One of the arguments I heard most frequently by the proponents of the English medium at university level was that the vocabulary of the Kiswahili language is not sufficiently developed to be a language of scholarship and instruction at higher levels of education. Many of the people I interviewed were concerned about the scientific terminology, which they are more familiar with in English.

In the interview I conducted with the economics lecturer John K. Mdume, he stated that:

When it comes to the Kiswahili language itself, I do not think it has sufficient vocabulary. Making up new concepts that nobody feels familiar with will cause more problems than it will help the situation. In my opinion, some of the new words introduced by people working to promote the Kiswahili language are ridiculous and difficult to remember.

He expressed that it could be an option to “Kiswahilify” words and concepts that have

become normal to say in English, which in his view at least, is a better option than making up completely new words that nobody knows. He talks for example of the words like “computer” and “calculator”, which have been used for many years.

Tony Majembe who is a lecturer of English and literature shared Mdume’s concerns about the Kiswahili language lacking the necessary vocabulary needed for it to be an efficient medium of instruction. “What shall we do with all the scientific terms then?” Majembe asked. He also agreed that Kiswahilifying some of the scientific terms could be an option, as he thought borrowing words is quite normal for any language. However, like Mdume, he certainly did not appreciate all the new words introduced by the Kiswahili department. In his opinion they go to far when they insist that people should use some African alternative that does not feel

familiar to anyone. He is worried that if the change in language of instruction were made, they would not be using borrowed scientific terms, but new ones, that feel “made up” to him.

Furthermore, Majembe asserted that English is not the language of instruction only to enable people to learn the language; it is also the language of instruction because most subject content is imported. He expressed concern that if they were to translate all the materials they might transliterate something and loose the meaning. Majembe said that this could cause more problems and confusion.

In a response to this argument, Brock-Utne (who participated in a different group interview, we conducted together in which this particular topic was discussed ) argued that the Kiswahili department, which is the only department that teaches in Kiswahili, tackled these problems successfully. They developed the necessary terminology gradually. First they used borrowed words, but eventually the new words were coined, and students as well as teachers became familiar with them.

In the earlier mentioned article in The Citizen (2005), Professor K.K. Kahigi of the Institute of Kiswahili Research responded to questions on using Kiswahili as the medium for teaching at higher learning institutions. According to Kahigi there is a consensus amongst scholars that the major issue when debating whether to use Kiswahili as the medium of teaching after primary school is whether or not the language is ready. He points out that:

Negative attitudes towards Kiswahili aren’t new at all as far as negative attitudes towards languages are concerned. In the beginning, English was in a similar position vis-à-vis Latin. The Latin establishment (in England) similarly resisted introducing English as a medium of learning during the Chaucer stage. They said Latin had plenty of words for technical terms while English had too little, or too few (The Citizen, 3rd of October, 2005:12).

In an interview I conducted, Martha Qorro expressed her view on the Kiswahili language’s adequacy for scientific discourse. In her opinion, Kiswahili can borrow words from other languages just like English and many other languages have done and still do. Moreover, she points out that the Kiswahili vocabulary will expand if the language were used in higher education to express scientific concepts that are currently presented in English.

In a publication Martha Qorro (2004) further argues that there is no reason to reject the Kiswahili language because the Kiswahili specialists use difficult terminology. In her view specialists for different fields ought to suggest vocabulary in their area of specialization. Instead of leaving the whole job to the Kiswahili experts alone, she proposes that each and every specialist in Tanzania or East Africa could contribute in finding appropriate vocabulary for their respective disciplines. Subsequently, their specialist knowledge in Kiswahili can disseminate to the general population who do not understand English. When people get used to this vocabulary it will no longer sound unfamiliar (Qorro, 2004).

To Professor Rubagumya these alleged problems with vocabulary, and scientific terminology are not valid arguments to keep the English medium. In line with Martha Qorro he underlines that a language can only grow if it is being used. In our conversation, Rubagumya drew attention to the fact that this is the exact same argument that was used when English was still the language of instruction in primary school. However, once the decision was made, people started working on the vocabulary and today it is not a problem. Finally, Rubagumya

underlined that one can not wait for the language to develop to reach an academic level; the language will only develop if it is decided that the language is to be used for this purpose.

According to Mr. Ishengoma, who is a Kiswahili teacher at St. Thomas More Machrina High School the Tanzanian language policy is the main problem, not the Kiswahili language. He told me that as he perceives the situation, it is the liberal market that demands English and sees this as the major driving force behind the continued use of the English medium in the Tanzanian school system. In his view, the Kiswahili language is not insufficient in itself. He thinks that the vocabulary is already in place, but people might just need some time to get used to it. Ishengoma pointed out that researchers already publish their findings in Kiswahili, and that there are many newspapers available in Kiswahili. He also mentioned that computer software is now gradually being developed in Kiswahili.

By the entrance of the campus area at the University of Dar es Salaam there two newspaper stands, one selling Newspaper in Kiswahili, while the other sell international magazines and newspapers in English. I walked past the stands almost every day during my stay, and I noticed that the traffic of people around the newspaper stand where Kiswahili papers were sold was much busier. Brock-Utne and I talked with Mr. Lincoln who sells newspapers at one of these stands. We asked him which newspapers he sells more of, the Kiswahili ones or the

English ones. Mr. Lincoln told us that he definitely sells more of the newspapers written in Kiswahili, and that it is mainly foreigners and some professors who buy the English ones.