A Study of the Attitudes of Minianka towards the Use of Mamara Language in Bamako

Abstract

Mali is populated by several ethnic groups that often speak different languages. Speakers of those languages generally have attitudes towards either their own languages or the languages of others. The attitudes that may be positive or negative usually affect policy design in that understanding them can help shape the language policy and planning of a government. In Mali, it is often assumed that the Minianka ethnic group tends to give up their own Mamara mother tongue in favor of the dominant Bamanankan language. This paper addresses the issue of the attitudes of Minianka towards Mamara. Three research instruments were used to collect the data. The interview was used for triangulation purposes to collect attitude data from Minianka; the matched-guise test was used with Minianka to collect data about possible hidden attitudes of Minianka towards Mamara; and the questionnaire was used with non-Minianka participants to get data about how they feel about Minianka and Mamara. The findings show that the ethnic group has some rather negative attitudes towards Mamara, and that these attitudes are the result of some stereotypes linked to their culture.