the third objective, the social factors contributing to language maintenance/shift in the Kiwilwana speech community
This section looked at the third objective, the social factors contributing to language maintenance/shift in the Kiwilwana speech community. Section 4.4 established that Kiwilwana is maintained but endangered due to the prolonged social contact with the dominant neighboring languages. The section sought to identify the social factors supporting the maintenance of the Kiwilwana.
4.5.1 Demographic support
As indicated in section 4.2 on the domains of language in the Kiwilwana speech community, the researcher identified demographic support as one of the social factors contributing to the maintenance of Kiwilwana. As Umali (2016) cited, marriage is one of the demographic factors that influence language maintenance/shift. In an exploration of Kiwilwana use in the cultural domain, as shown in section 4.1.2, the researcher identified marriage ceremonies as one of the cultural activities that made Wailwana socially and culturally interact with the neighboring communities. The marriage ceremony was also indicated as one of the intergenerational customs. The respondents also indicated that they were likely to intermarry with the neighboring speech community, such as Pokomo. During the ceremonies, Wailwana preferred to use Kiwilwana and Kiswahili to communicate. The Wailwana women married to Pokomo men were found to shift to Kiswahili even in the home domains to enable them to communicate to entertain most of the visitors who came to their home. The Pokomo men also influenced their Wailwana wives to shift to Kiswahili hence the low maintenance of Kiwilwana in the cultural domain. The use of Kiswahili in the home domain during the cultural activities, therefore, threatened Kiwilwana. As cited by Fishman (1991), the vitality of a language is determined by whether it is being transmitted from one generation to the next. It is therefore considered unsafe because most, but not all, Wailwana families speak Kiwilwana as their first language, but it is restricted to social domains such as the home domain. Some children use the Kiwilwana in all domains while all children use it in limited domains, and therefore the degree of endangerment is ‘unsafe’ (grade 4). Some children use the language in all domains; all children in limited domains use it. The results based on UNESCO’s endangerment methodological guideline indicate that Kiwilwana is threatened.
4.5.2 Institutional support
Institutional support is another social factor that was found to contribute to Kiwilwana maintenance. Institutional support is the degree with which a given speech community’s language is represented in social institutions. According to Sachdev (1995), the more the representation of an ethnolinguistic group’s language in the social institutions, the more the maintenance of the language. A speech community with better institutional support is likely to dominate other ethnolinguistic groups with significantly low institutional support.
Mass media is one of the fundamental institutions that promote language use (Giles et al., 1977). In section 4.3, subsection 4.3.1, however, 100% of the respondents indicated that they do not have a local FM station broadcasting in the region. When Waiwana wants to listen to the radio in the speech community, they often tune to Amani FM station, a community radio station whose language of broadcast is Kiswahili. The geographical location of the area makes internet usage and written media as less than ideal information channel. The research notes that the lack of a local FM station in the Kiwilwana speech community is a contributing factor to endangering language maintenance. This is in line with Appel and Muysken (1987), who confirms that broadcasting in the minority speech community is a recipe for boosting maintenance of a minority language. Moreover, Chikaipa and Kishindo (2019) also noted that local radios are vital in leveraging the maintenance and preservation of a minority language.
The study sought to establish the influence of religion as a social institution on language maintenance/shift. To address this task, the researcher relied on secondary data from archives and print media. The following document was found; Jesus Messiah Comic Book and Islamic teaching materials written in Arabic, such as the Quran. The absence of religious materials written in Kiwilwana is an indication that they are playing an insignificant role in the maintenance of Kiwilwana. According to Wamalwa and Oluoch (2013), language not only has a communicative function but may also act as a means of intergenerational transmission.
Further, they assert that a language is likely to die if the religious teachings, customs, and other inherited words are not preserved in the speech community language and are no longer transmitted amongst the natives. This is further reinforced by Pandharipande, David & Ebsworth (2019) (1968), who correlate religion to the expression of cultural formations and ingredients. Hence, if not transmitted in the native language, it is likely to influence language maintenance.
In section 4.1 subsection 4.1.3, the researcher further established that Islam was the primary religion because 48% of the respondents indicated that Arabic was the most appropriate language since most of the recitations were done in Arabic but no local translations in Kiwilwana. While in the religious domain, language policy may have limited influence, the results show that Kiswahili was the second preferred language at 21% than even Kiwilwana (subsection 4.1.3). Because most religious activities were done in the Arabic language other than Kiwilwana, religion as a societal institution contributed to the endangerment of Kiwilwana. This finding correlates with UNESCO’s (2003) finding that language endangerment may be as a result of external forces such as religious subjugation. The use of an external language in the religious domain erodes cultural identity and otherization prompted by religion (Holliday, 2018). The cultural identity of a minority speech community, as cited by Holliday (2018), is influenced by preserved religious beliefs and values, which are fundamental in the intercultural communication within the speech community.
The researcher sought to find out any documented evidence on Kiwilwana use in the education domain. To address this aspect, the researcher used documentary analysis from the Ministry of education website to use Kiwilwana as a language of instruction in the pre-school or lower primary in Kenya. This implies that Wailwana children learn Kiwilwana at pre-school and then shift to Kiswahili at lower primary. Hence, the need for Wailwana to be accorded necessary schooling support to preserve their language. The use of Kiswahili as a national language after the promulgation of the new constitution in Kenya implies that most of the minority languages face a threat of endangerment. This leaves Kiwilwana to be used mainly for intra-ethnic communication purposes in some domain areas. The school systems in Kenya disadvantages the indigenous minority languages because they are not learned beyond class three (Obiero, 2008; Obiero & Matu, 2017). According to Batibo (2005), Kenya faces the risk of losing Kiwilwana, which is identified to be among the endangered languages in Kenya.
Based on the preceding discussion, it is evident that Kiwilwana has limited control over societal institutions, hence endangering language maintenance. As argued by Fishman 1964, there is a strong relationship between a language’s societal, institutional support, and maintenance. Limited societal, institutional control indicated that the language is maintained but highly endangered.
4.5.3 Status factors and prestige of a language
Aswegen (2008) cites economic, social, and sociohistorical statuses as well as prestige and culture as status factors impacting the use of a language in the speech community. He further cites that if speech community members have a stigmatized history of low educational and economic status, they are likely to shift to the more dominant language of their neighboring speech community. This argument is reiterated by Appel and Muysken (1987) that noted that the shifting from a less to a more perceived prestigious language is attributed to the belief that it will leverage them to better opportunities and social mobility. In section 4.4, the researcher found out that 88% of the young respondents did not find Kiwilwana attractive as the language of choice when listening to secular and gospel music. Further, 12% of the respondents indicated that they hated the language and would prefer to listen to music in the Kiswahili language. This is a clear indication that respondents viewed Kiswahili as a privileged dialect, as supported by Fishman (1977), who asserted that children of the minority who receive instructions using a perceived prestigious language would develop loyalty to the language.
The researcher also established that Kiwilwana is threatened in the business, workplace, religious and cultural domains implying that the language is threatened. Further, it was established in section 4.2 that as the domain becomes more public, the Kiwilwana use in communication becomes more unpopular, making the speakers bilingual. The findings were supported by Hale et al. (1992), who asserted that for individuals to acquire government positions, they needed to present themselves as part of the national majority through the language of use. The importance of presenting themselves as members of the national majority is to position themselves for social mobility and economic opportunities. The choice of language is critical in helping individuals communicate and have better access to vital services. Wailwana, therefore, view their Kiwilwana as low status and less privileged language and while viewing the language used in more public domains such as Kiswahili as a privileged dialect.
Summary and conclusion
This chapter assessed language endangerment and maintenance in the Kiwilwana speech community in Tana River County. The findings as presented in the proceeding sections of this chapter were based on primary and secondary data collected from a diverse sample of respondents including primary school children and their parents, chairperson of the school boards, religious leaders, business community and chief administrators from the selected wards in Tana River County. The data gathered shows that Kiwilwana is maintained in only two out of the five domains assessed. The home domain represented the highest promotion of the Kiwilwana language maintenance at 77%, followed by the religious domain at 71%. In a contact situation, Wailwana is more likely to maintain the Kiwilwana in the home and religious domains but a shift in the cultural, workplace, and religious domains.
Data gathered on the trend of the maintenance of Kiwilwana indicated a negative gradient showing that the language maintenance decreases in other domains outside the home. The researcher further established that the language is maintained at 56% in the home domain by both the young and old speakers in the speech community.
Data gathered also identified the following social factors contributing to Kiwilwana endangerment: demographic support, institutional support such as mass media, religion, language, and the use of Kiwilwana as instruction in pre-school; and status of the language.
Based on the above situation, the respondents cited the need for policy decisions to incorporate Kiwilwana as a language of instruction in pre-school and recognizing it in the education system. The respondents cited the education system as a fundamental factor in revitalizing Kiwilwana and leveraging its maintenance status. The respondents also indicated the need for the political system to leverage representation of Wailwana in the management of the wards and the County government as a socioeconomic motivation towards maintaining their language attitudes.
