Doctoral Dissertation Research: Contesting Beauties: Multilingualism, Language Shift, and Linguistic Ideology in Tanzania

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Salikoko Mufwene, Ms. Sabrina Billings will conduct sociolinguistic research for her doctoral dissertation on language use and linguistic ideologies in Tanzania. English, Swahili, and about 120 ethnic languages are used there, with each language being linked to an array of ideas about national or regional identity, ethnic or political affiliation, as well as modernity, globalization, and tradition. The choice of any one of them can be interpreted ideologically and can arouse controversy. This project seeks to articulate the multivalent ideologies associated with language choices and how these ideologies shape societal multilingualism and inform changes in a community's linguistic repertoire. Billings will study negotiations about language use during beauty pageants. Despite their recent popularity, there is no agreed upon language in which to conduct these events. These pageants are thus ideologically charged performances and hence excellent sites for research on language ideology. Billings will study language use among contestants, judges, and hosts in 10 regional beauty pageants and the Tanzanian national pageant. With video recordings, she will document language choices, codeswitching, and participants' commentaries about language. Following the pageants, she will interview participants and audience members to assess their reactions to language use during the pageant proceedings. Questionnaires regarding the subjects' linguistic backgrounds will also be filled out. This project will contribute to better understanding of societal multilingualism and the mechanisms that account for language endangerment and loss, as well as language use in Tanzania. The project will document language use in a country where relatively little ethnographic research has been undertaken, providing insights into regional variation in Swahili, the ways that Tanzania's many languages fit together socially, and the role of women's speech in this structure. The project's results will enhance understanding of the causes driving linguistic change and the disappearance of many indigenous languages throughout the world. Finally, by reframing the issues surrounding language death in a way that emphasizes local speakers' own ideas and decisions, this project will offer a baseline for developing and evaluating educational and language policies in Tanzania, with potential application to other strongly multilingual societies.