Language use in urban school domain in Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne, Ethiopia

Abstract

 Finfinne/Addis Ababa was a booming metropolitan city using Amharic which was the Federal
working language ofEthiopia while Afan Oromo was native to the indigenous Oromo community
residing in the surroundings of the national capital. The patterns of language used by the
indigenous/hosting community could be easily converted to the metropolitan language usage in
selected chief domains of language used by inescapable fundamental urbanization forces and its
related factors when an urban area and its hosting community were linguistically and culturally
divergent. This article was intended to (a) describe how the language of the metropolitan city
impacts actual patterns of language usage ofthe indigenous community in the school domain of
Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne (OSZSF) and (b) examine its preposition language
policy practices and consequences in the conurbation. In this work, Afan Oromo, Amharic, and
other mother-tongue speakers were the main first targeted linguistic groups. A combination of
descriptive quantitative and qualitative research designs, including questionnaires, official
reports, and a review of secondary sources, were used to achieve the intended purpose. Data
were gathered from (151) adolescents from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds
(age: M = (18.22), SD = (1.31), range (10) years; Male = (74); Female = (74)). The
quantitative analysis used descriptive (and inferential) statistics, while the qualitative data were
analyzed thematically. The key findings indicated that Amharic and English were preferred in
private kindergarten and primary schools; although Afan Oromo was the officially designated
medium of instruction in the study area. Consequently, Amharic and English were preferred over
Afan Oromo for the reasons of (a) better quality of education delivered in private schools than
state schools and (b) favoring their respective mother tongues. Moreover, the two divergent
linguistic groups of Afan Oromo and Amharic mother tongues were significantly varied and
AJSI Vol. 8, Issue 1 May, 2023
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controversial in the patterns of language use-choice practices in private and state schools which
could pave the way for the development of potential dualism positions. Finally, to maintain the
language of indigenous youth in the urban area, policy options should be used to build trust and
enhance the standard of education in state schools in the study area and beyond among the
divergent linguistic groups.