A sociopsychological survey of language attitudes in southern Africa: A case study of Mozambique.

A recent study of the language question in Mozambique criticises the fact that not enough practical attention is being given by the ruling party to the promotion of the Indigenous languages in spite of the rhetorical commitment to this. This research-study intends to argue for the need to empower Mozambican (and other Southern African) indigenous languages for more extended functions in national life. It is hoped that it will make a contribution to the understanding of the sociopsychological, sociolinguistic, and sociopolitical dimensions of language attitudes in the Mozambican language context. Therefore, the first Chapter will analyse the socio-historical foundations necessary for an understanding of current language attitudes in Mozambique. It is important to emphasise, at this point, that a more general sociological approach or an approach considering language attitudes will be adopted in preference to an approach with political analysis (such as Phillipson, R.). Considering that the Chapter presents a brief definition of the subject, a review of the literature and suggestions of areas for future research, I propose to divide it in two ; Part I and Part II. The second will attempt to provide a concise account of the present language situation in Mozambique. In the third Chapter, an investigation of language attitudes research in Mozambique will be carried out, together with pointers as to how such research may contribute to language policy-making, language-planning and action. Then, the study will outline the methodologies to be used in language attitudes research and suggest how future research should proceed. It will show the major findings of the research and discuss important areas for future studies. Finally, the Chapter will explore the attitudinal dimensions of language speaker numbers and power variables. Chapter four will discuss different aspects of the difficult issue of language use in education in Mozambique, in particular, and Southern Africa, in general. Chapter five will stress the need to promote the indigenous languages of Mozambique, in particular, and Southern Africa in general. Chapter six will consider the context of language planning in Mozambique and Southern Africa. The Chapter then will explore some traits of a forward-looking language planning policy for multilingual contexts. The concluding Chapter, will highlight the implications of the entire study for multilingual situations, discuss the implications of the findings for the question of language planning and language teaching in Mozambique, and make recommendations that those in this field may find useful. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)