EDUCATION IN NORTHERN BAHR EL GHAZAL, SOUTH SUDAN

This is a descriptive study that aims at investigating the influence of education on individuals’ language attitudes through the languages used as media of instruction in schools. These languages tend to be introduced to the family domain by pupils and students. English, as the means of education in South Sudan in general and Northern Bahr el Ghazal (NBeG) in particular, affects the status of Southern Sudanese indigenous languages, thus causing language change. Hence, the positive attitudes towards the English language are due to that English is viewed as being of more socioeconomic value, and a means of gaining better socio-political status and jobs. NBeGS was (until 2015) one of the ten States of South Sudan. It has an area of 33,558 km² and is part of the Bahr el Ghazal region. A sociolinguistic profile on NBeGS and Aweil is provided to lay the ground for understanding how and why English as a means of education could be among the factors of language change.Interviews, focus group discussions and observations were the main tools of data collection. The data was collected from NBeGS; mainly in Aweil Town from late 2009 to the beginning of 2010 and in Wau (January 2010), but also in Juba (December 2010, December 2011, October 2014) and in Khartoum. The other sources of information were the Sudan Fifth Population Census of 2008 and the State Ministry of Education.The information on schools, students, and languages was continuously updated.It is found that, despite the shortcomings in educational services in NBeGS, the English language tends to spread within the family domain by pupils and students, causing language change