Language Choice in Churches in Indigenous Gã Towns: A Multilingual Balancing Act

De Gruyter Mouton. Available from: Walter de Gruyter, Inc. 121 High Street, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02110. Tel: 857-284-7073; Fax: 857-284-7358; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.degruyter.com

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27

Language Usage; Churches; Indigenous Populations; Indigenous Knowledge; Language Attitudes; Multilingualism; Urban Areas; African Languages; English; Language Minorities; Foreign Countries; Community Attitudes; Monolingualism

10.1515/multi-2021-0063

0167-8507
1613-3684

This paper examines the determinant factors motivating language choice in churches in coastal Accra, an area characterized by a high degree of urbanization and multilingualism. As this region is also ethnically Gã, we survey the attitudes of Gã congregants to the use of other languages in their churches, bearing in mind the pressure faced by Gã from the more dominant vehicular languages, Akan and English. Data was obtained via participant observation, questionnaires and interviews. Using domain analysis, we show that language choice in the church domain is guided by the diametric principles of inclusiveness and church expansion on the one hand, and the conservation of a homogeneous socio-cultural identity on the other. Multilingual churches espouse the former while monolingual churches prize the latter. Gã congregants in churches that make extensive use of Akan and English report feeling satisfied with the language choices in their churches as they see these lingua francas as necessary for reaching out to the wider community. Although in other spheres of life there is irritation among Gã natives about the diminishing role of their language, in the church domain, this is readily tolerated for the greater good of advancing the church's work.

As Provided

2023

EJ1384695