The politics of language and football coaching in Zimbabwe Implications on the development of the sport
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article examines how the language policy of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) influences the selection of the language used in the delivery of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) coaching courses and how this choice impacts football development in Zimbabwe. Linguistic imperialism (Phillipson, 1992) was adopted as the theoretical framework for this study. Using document analysis, the study investigates how ZIFA’s language policy accommodates or excludes people of different languages in football activities. The language policies of FIFA, CAF, and those regional football associations are also analysed to appreciate how they compare with the language policy of ZIFA. Six principles drawn from Phillipson’s (1992) theory of linguistic imperialism were used as tools of analysis in this research. Findings from this study were presented following themes that emanated from language provisions as presented in documents selected as sources of data for the study. The study revealed that the hegemony of European languages has been perpetuated in football matters, with English maintaining traction in ZIFA’s statutes, as the bona fide language of football. Consequently, the participation of some speakers of indigenous languages in football activities such as coaching courses has been curtailed.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
References
Anon. (2017). ‘Chunga wants soccer coaching to be in local languages’. Bulawayo24. p. 7. https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-108784.html
Adegbite, W. (2004). Bilingualism-biculturalism and the utilisation of African languages for the development of African nations. In: Oyeleye L (ed), Language and discourse in society. Ibadan, Nigeria: Hope Publishers. 162–177.
Ansre G. (1979). Four rationalisations for maintaining European languages in education in Africa. African Languages 5(2), 10–19.
Bamgbose, A. (1991). Language and the nation: Language question in Sub-Saharan Africa. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.
Buba, M. (2006). Sustainable development as a language issue. Paper presented at the 1st Annual Conference on Language as a Factor in Promoting Sustainable Development, Niger State College of Education, Minna, 3–6 April 2006.
CAF (Confederation of African Football) Education Officers Handbook. (2010). https://fdocuments.net.
CAF (Confederation of African Football). 2017. Statutes of the Confederation of African Football, (2017). https://images.cafonline.com/image/upload/caf-prd/kziocnaamhhvjcxgrz0l.pdf.
Chikamhi, E. (2019). CAF raise red flag … Unattached schoolteachers dominate group with CAF licenses. www.herald.co.zw
Chingoma, G. (2019, August 20). CAF license: Chunga blocked. The Herald, 20 August: 9. https://www.herald.co.zw/caf-a-licence-chunga-blocked/#:~:text=ZIFA%20have%20blocked%20Moses%20%E2%80%9CBambo,possess%20a%20CAF%20A%20licence
Erastus, F. K. (2013). Examining African languages as tools for national development: The case of Kiswahili. The Journal of Pan African Studies 6, 41–48.
FAZ (Football Association of Zambia Constitution). (2017). www.lusakatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/FINAL-DRAFT-CONSTITUTION-FEB-2017.pdf
FIFA. (2018). Good practice guide on diversity and anti-discrimination.
https://img.fifa.com/image/upload/wg4ub76pezwcnxsaoj98.pdf
FIFA Statutes. (2018). Regulations governing the application of the statutes: Standing orders of the Congress, August 2018 Edition. https://resources.fifa.com/image/upload/the-fifa-statutes-2018.pdf?cloudid=whhncbdzio03cuhmwfxa
Ibrahim, M., & Ahmed, U. (2018). Indigenous languages and the question of development in postcolonial Africa: Focus on Nigeria. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications 8(2), 41–49. http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-1218.php?rp=P847999
Kadenge, M., & Nkomo, D. (2011). The politics of African languages in Zimbabwe. Per Linguam: A Journal of Language Learning. 31(2), 248-263.
Musau, N. (2004). Linguistic human rights in Africa: Challenges and prospects for indigenous languages in Kenya. Language, Culture, and Curriculum 16(2), 155–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908310308666664.
Ndhlovu, F. (2009). The politics of language and nation building in Zimbabwe. Bern: Peter Lang.
Ndlovu, E. (2013). Mother tongue education in official minority languages of Zimbabwe: A language management critique. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of the Free State.
Ndlovu, E. (2020). Milestones, challenges, and prospects in the implementation of the language provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No 20) Act. Journal of African Languages and Literary Studies. 1(3), 157-178 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31920/2633-2116/2020/Vin3a8.
O’Leary, Z. (2014). The essential guide to doing your research project (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Phillipson, R. (2009). Linguistic imperialism. In: Mey JL, Brown K (eds), Concise Encyclopaedia of Pragmatics (2nd ed), Amsterdam: Elsevier Ltd. pp 780-782.
Popoola, M. (2014). The language factor in Nigeria’s national development: A development communication perspective. Journal of Humanities and Social Science. 19(3), 84-91.
Roy-Campbell, Z. M. (2006). The state of African languages and the global language politics: Empowering African languages in the era of globalisation: Selected Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of African Linguistics, ed. Arasanyin OF, Pemberton MA, 1–13. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. 17–26. http://www.lingref.com/cpp/acal/36/paper1401.pdf
RSA (Republic of South Africa). (1996). Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. s. 1 (1) of the Citation of Constitutional Laws, 2005 (Act No. 5 of 2005). http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/za/za107en.pdf.
RSA DAC (Republic of South Africa. Department of Arts and Culture). (2010). Multilingual Soccer Terminology List. http://www.dac.gov.za/sites/default/files/terminology/soccer_terminology_oct-2013.pdf
RZI (Republic of Zimbabwe). (2013). Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20): Act 2013. Harare: Government Printers. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---ilo_aids/documents/legaldocument/wcms_125605.pdf
SAFA (South African Football Association). (2017). SAFA Statutes – Approved by the SAFA Extraordinary Congress, Johannesburg: Sandton Convention Centre, 21 October 2017. https://www.safa.net/safa-statutes/
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. & Phillipson, R. (1994). Linguistic imperialism. In: The encyclopedia of language and linguistics. London: Pergamon Press and Aberdeen University Press. pp 2223–2226.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). (1996). Universal declaration of linguistic rights. (Barcelona Declaration). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000104267
ZIFA (Zimbabwe Football Association). (2017). Statutes of the Zimbabwe Football Association, 2017. https://www.pindula.co.zw/Zimbabwe_Football_Association_Statutes