Discourse on Ethiopian languages and literature

BDU: The Department of Ethiopian Languages and Literature at Bahir Dar University commits to teaching and developing the Ethiopian languages.

Among the efforts of the department to realize this noble mission is organizing national conferences in which Ethiopian intellectuals in the field of education, linguistics, literature, folklore and media undertake crucial dialogue.

Scholars in these fields of study put their heads together to address the contemporary challenges on Ethiopian languages and literature to recommend policy ideas to policy formulators and to the government at large.

This year’s conference, held on May 5 &6,2014, has the objective of addressing diverse issues pertaining to language, literature, culture and communications in a way that intellectuals in the area could directly address the challenges the country is facing. Major research findings and recommendations were communicated to the audience on the conference.

Amharic, the current federal official language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), has historically been Ethiopia’s national lingua franca i.e. the language of wider communication. However, given its current status in the life of Ethiopian’s, this language does not seem to be intellectualized to be used for the purpose of science and technology.

Amharic, according to some scholars on the conference, is being misused even in education system. Linguistic code-switching and terminological and structural hybridizations are common challenges observed in the modern day Amharic language.

There are some challenges, in the teaching of Amharic language in primary schools that deserve to be addressed by policy makers on the basis of research findings. In relation to mechanisms of giving feedback while offering advanced writing skills in Amharic, challenges are observed in some universities.

Research papers presented on the conference recommend the improvement of Amharic language delivery methodology both in primary and secondary schools of the country. Trainings on capacity building must be provided to teacher in those levels.

Various papers on the education and preservation different folk traditions in Ethiopia were presented on the conference. Oral traditions, language use and societal philosophy on the concept of love were addressed.

Contemporary changes on the use of Amharic language in relation to sound, affix word, syntax and meaning due to both internal and external pressure are spreading from the elites and residents of towns to socio-economically and geographical marginal areas.

Issues related to the linguistic, conceptual and communicative challenges of terminology in Amharic language basically results from the lack of knowledge of linguistics and skills of translation. There is no conceptual compatibility and correspondence in Amharic terminologies obtained through translation.

Discussion has been made on the establishment of Amharic term bank to facilitate the use of Amharic in science and technology in the process of clear, swift, accurate and trustworthy developmental communication.

A continues capacity building training on the use of Amharic language and Amharic literature to journalists in mass media, both regional and national, has been recommended.

Conferences like this one are very crucial in creating an intellectual discourse platform among Ethiopian to discuss contemporary issues pertaining to the use of Ethiopian languages and literature.