Language Use and Lingo-Cultural Identity among Linguistically Diverse Young People in Sheger Sub-cities Surrounding the Capital City of Ethiopia

Abstract

Addis Ababa/Finfinne, the capital of Ethiopia, is currently among the most booming cities in Africa, using Amharic, the Federal working language of the country, as its lingua franca. Afan Oromo, another language with wider usage in the country, is also native to the indigenous Oromo community residing in the Sheger sub-cities surrounding Addis Ababa/Finfinne (SSSAA/F). This study (a) describes patterns of language use and (b) examines if and how the increasing urbanization of Addis Ababa/Finfinne affects language use and lingo-cultural identity among young people residing in SSSAA/F. A combination of descriptive quantitative and qualitative research design involving questionnaires, surveying of official reports, interviews and observation was employed. Data were collected from 151 adolescents (age: M = 18.22, SD = 1.31, range = 10 years; Male = 74, Female = 74) with diverse lingo-cultural backgrounds and analyzed statistically and thematically. Results showed that there has been an increasing pattern of diversity as well as total shifts toward an Amharic-based lingo-cultural identity due to urbanization. Such a phenomenon is only natural in the absence of a language policy that embraces diversity and averts the dominance of a certain lingo-cultural identity at the expense of others. The results, therefore, have policy and practical implications.