Language Policy in Ethiopia

The foregoing rulers of Ethiopia perceived or wanted Ethiopia to be a unitary state with people of the same culture, religion, ethnicity, language and history. After the inclusion of the remaining north ,south, east and west peoples, nations and nationalities of the country: a super plan of Atse Theodros achieved by Aste Menelik and crystallized by Aste Hailesellasie, implicitly or explicitly a monoistic(monolinuistic/ monocultural) policy had been exercised until(1991) the arrival of EPRDF who formed a federal government of nine regions and two city administrations.

The former regimes covertly or overtly promoted linguistic hegemony at the expense of around 80 minority languages. This was done under the pretext to establishing and fostering national unity which required only one language- Amharic which even did not value the inclusion of other varities spoken in different parts of the speech community. Promoting Amharic entailed education, court and mass media campaigns to increase citizens exposure and demand for the language. In non-Amharic speaking areas, the propaganda that minority languages were inherently low quality aided efforts to promote Amharic. Other languages were allegedly considered inadequate for the rigorous communicative demands of modern life, especially modern science and technology.

Monolinistic and monoculturalistic policies have only contributed to destabilization and civil conflict to the aspired nation-state. Ethiopia, therefore, preferred to enact a constitution which has rooted itself on multicultural and multilinguistic foundation as a political resolution cognizant of identity questions among other social and political discontents. Then representatives of nations, nationalities, and peoples of Ethiopia passed Proclamation of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on 8th of December 1994. Article 5 of the constitution enlightens the position of languages in Ethiopia. According to this article:

1. All Ethiopian languages shall enjoy equal state recognition. 2. Amharic shall be the working language of the Federal Government. 3. Members of the Federation may by law determine their respective working languages.
In line with the constitution, Ministry of Education publicized education and training policy of the country in April, 1994.

Language issue was at the heart of the education policy which resolved the linguistic pluralism -the very reason that contributed to the downfall of the Derge regime. Point 3.5 of the article describes the language and education policy which recognizes the pedagogic advantages of the child in learning in mother tongue and the rights of nationalities to promote their languages teaching their children in their own languages mainly in primary schools. The article also gives nations and nationalities the option to

educate their children in selected languages based on national and countrywide distribution (Education and Training Policy, 1994).

Language Policy and its Challenges in Oromia

Oromia Regional State established its education bureau in 1995. Soon it forged its regional language and education policy. Afan Oromo has since been given the status of language of medium of instruction in primary schools and as a subject in high schools. In urban areas of Oromia because of the large population of non-Oromo peoples, there is a policy that schools, especially in urban centers teach in other languages than Afan Oromo; i.e.,Amharic(Smith,2004 ).

According to the Education and Training Policy, students can choose and learn at least one nationality language and one foreign language for cultural and international relations. So in both Amharic and Afan Oromo medium primary schools, students are given additional local language classes starting from grade 5 on the basis of which Amharic medium students in the urban areas start learning Afan Oromo from grade 5 as a subject. The challenge I am trying to describe revolves around this concept.

In bigger urban places, students from both Oromo or other ethnic background do not seem to opt to learn the language. Because it is a language policy of the region, they are given it as a subject classes of which they do not properly attend. They leave classroom when it is the Afan Oromo period. This could be related to the prestige the language had in the eyes of the monoligualist and monoculturalist elites misinformation and the role of covert media impact. Esman(2011) evaluates such a challenge saying that the status of language is a critical issue in ethnically diverse states. Language policy is said to be one method by which governments attempt to manage ethnic conflicts like in Ethiopia. While these policies are constrained by societal pressures, they tend to be instrumental to elite preferences for assimilationist or pluralistic strategies for achieving political community needed. The challenge aforementioned seems to be assimilationist aspiration pressure from some hidden sites. The high prestige Amharic had been endowed and the bad status labeled to other languages of the country seem to still be influencing the psychology of multilinguistic perspectives in the socioeconomic

spheres of people of the empire. Bourdieu (1991) believes that when a dominant or prestigious language is ideologically linked to a group or type of people, it is often misrecognised as being symbolically linked to speakers social, political, intellectual or moral character which could be wrongly assigned symbolic value. In urban areas of Oromia, Amharic has already received this symbolic value that has hampered a natural growth of Afan Oromo in the education system of Amharic medium in the region. Its position as a working language of the federal government, its media monopoly and the investment privilege history helped its strong hegemonic institution establishment which in turn enforces different ethnic groups to down look upon their own languages in favour of others culture and language. Nevertheless, as language is not a mere means of communication but an identity signifier those innocents who try to own something that naturally does not belong to them may be repentant on their wake. Lamb(1985) describes Jean-Bedel Bokassas, president of the Central African Republic, dissatisfaction with all he did as a French with the French. He had been a sergeant in French Army in Indochina war being seemed to him as if given high value but yet after decades his proverbs imply that he was not happy about his deeds and his being. Children and parents in the urban areas of the region knowingly or misinformedly are anyway becoming the scapegoats of the linguistic hegemonic elites. Hegemony is about domination as well as about integration. It is about the process of a dominant group exerting power over society as a whole , but it is also about making alliances , and achieving consent from subordinated groups(Fairclough, 1995). The counter effect of the students, who are growing in the region without the necessary cultural and language flavor, will suffer lack of feeling of belongingness, sociopolitical conflict and job opportunities which need knowledge of the culture and language competence.

Challenges with Afan Oromo Medium Students

Students from Afan Oromo medium start learning Amharic as a subject starting from grade five. Amhaic as a lingua franca of the country is believed to serve them anywhere they may live or work in the country; however, their Amharic competence does not seem to serve the purpose. Traders from the rural areas of Oromia are seen embarrassed making transactional communication in their business coming to Marcato, the center of trade route of almost all goods and construction materials. In the same way, students who join universities are observed facing problem of getting services as their Amharic is not to the level where they could express intentions. This will obviously negatively affect their academic performances as well as their participation in other social and political participation in the whole country. Therefore, some remedial actions need to be taken. Causes of the incapabilities of the students also need some study. The reasons could be material preparation of Amharic as a subject in the different grades, time allotted to it, grade level to begin at, teachers training issues, sociopolitical issues such as attitude and the like. Language policy is designed for various reasons and among the reasons is for promotion and maintenance of a language or languages. In the language and education policy, point 3.5.8. mentions

that there would be necessary steps to strengthen language teaching at all levels. The central government however does not seem to give critical attention in minority languages maintenance.

Opportunities in Oromia as a result of the new language policy

Language polices are concerned with determining the status of languages that implies whether languages should be used as national language, language of wider communication, official language, working language , language of instruction and the like. The language policy Oromia Regional State has made substantial benefit to the cultural , social , psychological , economic and political questions of the people. The grade 5 Afan Oromo education policy to urban non-Oromo speaking communities who may be Oromos by ethnicity has created relatively better understanding between the young generation. It is a great achievement for people of the region for to build self-esteem.

Sources
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Alidou, Hassana. 1997. Education Language Policy and Bilingual Education: The Impact of French Language Policy in Primary Education in Niger. PhD. Thesis. University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Number: 9737030. Bergmann, Herbert et al. 2002. Les Langues Nationales a lcole Primaire. Evaluation de lcole Experimentale. Edition Albasa s/c MEB-GTZ/2PEB. Niamey: Ministre de lducation de Base. UNESCO. 2003. Education in a Multilingual World. Paris: UNESCO
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