Ethnolinguistic Vitality and Language in Education in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract: A simple donation of textbooks in a national language to schools in the Sankuru Province by the Ministry of Education is surprisingly met with fiery reaction by the native Tetela elite. They decry cultural alienation of their youth, and linguistic imperialism (Phillipson 1992, Tollefson, 1991). Cultural alienation is no longer attributed to colonial languages (French), but even to a neighbouring national language. This paper exploits this incident and the new administrative map of the DRC (division of the Kasai Oriental Province particularly) to show how politics, language and ethnicity are interrelated; how the elite are always at the forefront of the language question, and how language management can work in education in the Congolese context. The study is also a review of the recurrent language question in the DRC, and an illustration of ethnolinguistic vitality at work. Eventually, it pleads for revision of the number of national languages so as to account for ethnolinguistic vitality of some ethnic groups – thought to have been disfavoured by the colonial administration. Keywords : ethnolinguistic vitality, national language, language in education, bilingual programme, language management.