Sudan: Information on whether a southern Sudanese (Juba) Bantu educated in a Christian school could have English as the mother tongue and not know the Bantu language

According to a professor of linguistics, who is, however, not a specialist in Bantu languages, at Carleton University in Ottawa, there have been cases where a person loses the first language after moving out of the original environment of the mother tongue (14 Mar. 1994). The language of the new environment or community will be the person's new mother tongue. The professor explained that the absence of the mother tongue environment had a lot to do with the acquisition of the new mother tongue.

A professor of linguistics, also not a specialist in Bantu languages, at the University of Toronto corroborated the above information (14 Mar. 1994). He added that unless the first mother tongue is "maintained in the home environment," a person can easily lose the original mother tongue. The mother tongue will undoubtedly be the language that is frequently used and "maintained in the home environment." Citing from Language Development by Professor Peter Reich, also of the University of Toronto, he stated that "forgetting the first language, it appears, does not take long."

A specialist on Sudanese politics (but not a linguist) at York University in Toronto states that, depending on the individual's circumstances, it is possible that this person might have forgotten and be unable to use her/his native Bantu language (14 Mar. 1994). The language of the person's new community, whether English or Bantu, could become the mother tongue. Thus, if the individual was educated in English at an early age and was cut away from the community that spoke the Bantu mother tongue, the chances are slim that the person would retain the Bantu language (ibid.).

For instance, in the 1960s there was a massive outflow of southern Sudanese refugees into refugee camps in Kenya and Uganda. The language that became the mother tongue for most of the children in those camps was the dominant language in the new environment. Thus, in a linguistic environment where English was the dominant language, the source said it would not surprise him if English became the new mother tongue. A professor of political science and associate director of the Centre for Islamic and Arabic studies and a specialist on the Sudan at Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania, admitted that she was not a linguist but corroborated the above information (14 Mar. 1994). This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Professor of linguistics, Carleton University, Ottawa. 14 March 1994. Telephone interview.

Professor of political science and associate director of the Centre of Islamic and Arabic Studies, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania. 14 March 1994. Telephone interview.

Professor of linguistics, University of Toronto. 14 March 1994. Telephone interview.

Specialist on Sudanese affairs, York University, Toronto. 14 March 1994. Telephone interview.

Attachment

Reich, Peter. n.d. Language Development. New York: Prentice Hall, pp. 214-216. Copy sent by fax to the DIRB.