Revitalisation of the Tonga Language in Zimbabwe: The Motivational Factors

Abstract

This article investigates the motivation behind the Tonga people’s initiation of the language revitalisation process. It is based on research conducted in the Binga District, which was the epicentre of the Tonga language revitalisation project in the Zambezi Valley. The participants in the study were purposively sampled from various stakeholders in the project, inter alia, traditional chiefs, officials from the education sector, former and serving employees of NGOs, members of the Tonga Language and Culture Committee (TOLACCO) and Chairpersons of the Zimbabwe Indigenous Languages Promotion Association (ZILPA). The article identifies a number of socio-cultural and religious factors that motivated and propelled the Tonga people to embark on a project of language revitalisation. Within the theoretical framework of Human Needs Theory, the article critically analyses how these factors motivated the Tonga community to embark upon their language revitalisation initiative.

Keywords:

• language revitalisation
• Tonga
• endangered languages
• Human Needs Theory
• language shift
• language loss
• language maintenance
• language death
• Zimbabwe