Abstract
This chapter explores language attitudes and practices in Uganda. Uganda is a multilingual country with over 41 indigenous languages. Despite this number, all the official languages are foreign, i.e. English and Swahili. The chapter gives a linguistic description of the country, paints a picture of the use of English and Swahili as the official languages in the country and examines the attitudes towards English and Swahili vis à vis local languages. Overall, the chapter shows a general preference for English even though the practical realities in the country demand and reveal otherwise. With these attitudes, we argue, local languages are looked down upon and this results in undeniable negative effects on the development of Uganda’s indigenous languages at all levels, nationally, in education and locally in communities. A way forward for this challenge is presented.
The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49611-5_20
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Ssentanda, M.E., Nakayiza, J. (2017). “Without English There Is No Future”: The Case of Language Attitudes and Ideologies in Uganda. In: Ebongue, A., Hurst, E. (eds) Sociolinguistics in African Contexts. Multilingual Education, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49611-5_7
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