Promoting the Use of Indigenous Languages on Social Media

Mosibudi Aretha Munyadziwa and Elliot Mthembeni Mncwango
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Mosibudi Aretha Munyadziwa: Limpopo Province, South Africa
Elliot Mthembeni Mncwango: Department of General Linguistics & Modern Languages, University of Zululand, Private Bag X1001 Kwa-Dlangezwa, 3886, South Africa

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2021, vol. 5, issue 5, 310-314

Abstract: This article aimed to analyse the use of indigenous languages on social media in South Africa. The objective was to establish if the use of indigenous languages is promoted on social media. A qualitative approach was used, and a survey was employed for data collection purposes. A sample size of 150 respondents was purposively selected and the respondents were from KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces of South Africa. Five indigenous languages were targeted for the study: isiZulu, siSwati, Sepedi, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga. The findings revealed that people’s interaction on social media has contributed to the promotion of indigenous languages as more and more people use these languages. It was also found that while most of the respondents prefer using the English language on social media, they code-mix or code-switch between English and their indigenous language. Interestingly, this has resulted in new meanings being assigned to some existing words, and some ‘new’ words being created which are a result of the interface between English and indigenous languages. Another finding was that access to websites that support indigenous languages is limited due to irrelevant and insufficient content on these websites.

Date: 2021
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