A Sociolinguistics Survey of Language Diversity, Attitude, and Use in Bo District, Southern Sierra Leone.

Authors

  • Dr John Pahoni Stevens Eastern Technical University of Sierra Leone image/svg+xml Author
  • Dr Abu Bakarr Sheriff Institute of Languages and Cultural Studies, Njala University, Sierra Leone Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.68050/JAMS.2026.219

Keywords:

Language Diversity: Language Use: Sierra Leone: Bo District: Language Attitude

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Sierra Leone has English as a heritage of British Colonial rule (1808-1961) that continues to serve as her only official language and language of the elite to-date. The Mende and Krio languages are the dominant languages of the District and have their origin in the slave trade and its abolition. The Mende language is a combination of several African Languages and European Languages. The ultimate purpose of this study is to provide a more recent work on the Sociolinguistic survey of language Diversity, attitude and use in the Bo District, Southern Sierra Leone. The survey suggests that the government, through the Ministry of Education provides learning Institutions with modern indigenous language teaching and Learning facilities to foster a good example of nationalism.

The general methodology involved the application of three major kinds of field research       methodology-survey to select the sample population, interviews and administering of questionnaire. Two hundred (200) questionnaires were equally administered to the five chiefdoms (40 questionnaires each). It is concluded that although Sierra Leone is a language diversified society with no standardized indigenous language, yet the citizens maintain linguistic tolerance. The recommendation is that Government and line Ministries should improve on literacy, modern language teaching and learning materials with regular seminars on language issues.

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References

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6. Sierra Leone Government Distance Education In-service Training Programme Mende Modules: (1-6) Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, FTC, Plan International Sierra Leone.

7. Stevens, J. P., & Sheriff, A. (2025) ESL Oral Proficiency Inapt in Senior Secondary School Learners. Creative Education, 16, 555-570. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2025.164033

8. Stevens J. P., Challay, S., & Thulla, P.F.Y. (2023) Enhancing English oral fluency: a study on Sierra Leone’s senior secondary students. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 4(2), 2841.

9. Stevens J. P., Challay, S., & Thulla, P. F. Y., (2025) Improving oral English fluency in senior secondary school ESL learners of multilingual backgrounds in southern Sierra Leone. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) Volume 12, Issue 4 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162)

10. Stevens J. P., Sheriff A. B., & Sandy Jr., J. S., (2025) The Effect of Communication on the Administration of Tertiary Institutions: An In-depth Analysis. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) Volume 12, Issue 4 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162)

11. Sheriff, A. B., Stevens, J. P., Prof. Challay, S., Prof. Thulla, F. P. Y., (2025) Lexical Transfer from Mɛnde and Kàthemnɛ in English Proficiency: A Comparative Lexico-Semantic Analysis International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) Volume X Issue VII July 2025 www.rsisinternational.org ISSN No. 2454-6194 DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51584/IJRIAS.2025.100700003

12. Whaley, L.J. (2006) ‘Saving Languages – An Introduction to language Revitalization’-Cup

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Published

2026-09-03

How to Cite

A Sociolinguistics Survey of Language Diversity, Attitude, and Use in Bo District, Southern Sierra Leone. (2026). Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Studies (JAMS), 1(2), Page 24-43. https://doi.org/10.68050/JAMS.2026.219

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