Language policy, linguistic hegemony and exclusion in the Zimbabwean print and broadcasting media
This article examines linguistic hegemony and linguistic exclusion in the Zimbabwean print and broadcasting media. The discussion is based on the fact that the media carry language, operate through language and contribute to language promotion and development. Therefore, this article argues that there is need for a sound and working language policy for the print and broadcasting media in Zimbabwe. The language used in information dissemination, public debates and communication can include or exclude some speech communities in the country. However, the language choices in the media in Zimbabwe demonstrate multilayered linguistic hegemonies where English is generally the dominant language, while Shona and Ndebele are hegemonic to the other languages in Zimbabwe. This situation is attributed to the fact that the broadcasting media in Zimbabwe are part of the colonial heritage; that there is a lack of a clear and consistent language policy of the media in Zimbabwe, which is reflective of the absence of a comprehensible national language policy; that the domination of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation leaves no room for meaningful and authentic competing community radio and television stations; that the media in Zimbabwe are business and political organisations; and that the media in Zimbabwe are appendages of the global media system which favour the use of English.
Culture of sensationalism and indigenous language press in Zimbabwe: implications on language development
ABSTRACT Indigenous language media are active spaces for the development, maintenance and renewal of indigenous languages in Africa. Juxtaposing Kwayedza and uMthunywa tabloids, which publish in Shona and Ndebele languages, alongside mainstream English language press, The Herald and The Chronicle, this study interrogates the implications of sensationalism on the structural and functional development of indigenous languages and the indigenous language press in Zimbabwe. This article is framed within the concepts of language development, diglossia and decolonial theory. This is an evaluative and comparative qualitative inquiry of headlines in 30 issues of uMthunywa and Kwayedza. Using interviews, data was gathered from a conveniently and purposively selected sample comprising of journalists, language and media academics, as well as readers and non-readers of Kwayedza and uMthunywa. The study exposes nuances of the marginalisation, folklorisation and corruption of indigenous languages in the press; and the inadvertent validation of English as the language of the media. However, this study ultimately shows that tabloidisation has ensured the survival of indigenous languages and indigenous language press in the context of the hegemony of English and competition from the English language press in Zimbabwe.
Linguistic experts as semantic tour guides
This article examines the phenomenon of linguists testifying as experts on meaning in legal disputes over the interpretation of statutes, contracts, transcripts of tape-recorded conversations, and other important legal texts before courts in the USA. It concludes that there is an important role for linguists in such cases -- the role of the tour guide. It suggests that judges need not be concerned about linguists usurping the traditional roles of the judge and the jury as ultimate interpreters provided that the linguist's testimony is appropriately circumscribed.