Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study explores the integration of minority indigenous languages in political participation on social media in Lesotho. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with minority language speakers. Findings reveal that there is no language diversity on social media platforms because only Sesotho and English are dominant, thus leaving out the other minority languages such as siPhuthi, isiZulu and isiXhosa. This suggests that minority language speakers do not participate in political matters that affect them. The study argues for the integration of minority languages in all social media platforms so that information can be accessible in all languages spoken in Lesotho.

Keywords

Knowledge gap minority languages political communication political participation social media

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ahmad

Khan

(2011) Significance of language policy awareness in English language teaching. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15(3): 1897–1900.

Alexander

(2024) The Languages of South Africa. South Africa Gateway. Available at: https://southafrica-info.com/arts-culture/11-languages-south-africa/ (accessed 10 January 2025).

Amenyeawu

(2021) Social media and political campaign communication in Ghana. MSc Dissertation, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. Available at: https://commons.clarku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=sps_masters_papers (accessed 7 January 2025).

Bossetta

(2018) The digital architectures of social media: comparing political campaigning on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat in the 2016 U.S. election. Sage Journals 95(21): 471–496.

Braun

Clarke

(2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): 77–101.

Bruce

Edwin

Adeoye

(2024) Language in the Digital Age: Innovations and Challenges. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/387516913 (accessed 10 January 2025).

Bryman

(2008) Social Research Methods. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Canagarajah

Sender

(2019) The everyday politics of translingualism as a resistant practice. International Journal of Multilingualism 16(2): 127–144.

Creswell

(2017) Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage.

10.

Cunliffe

Morris

Prys

(2013) Young bilinguals’ language behaviour in social networking sites: The use of Welsh on Facebook. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 18(3): 339–361.

11.

Darvin

(2016) Language and identity in the digital age. In: Preece

(eds) The Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity. Abingdon: Routledge.

12.

Destaw

(2020) The role of community radio for integrated and sustainable development in Ethiopia: a critical review on the holistic approach: 1–20. DOI:10.31124/advance.12993014.

13.

Dlodlo

(2024) A losing battle? Interrogating the importance of ‘minority’ languages in expressing symbols of national identity in Zimbabwe. African Identities: 1–16.

14.

Duarte

(2017) Connected activism: indigenous uses of social media for shaping political change. Australasian Journal of Information Systems 21: 1–12.

15.

Eveland

Hively

(2009) Political discussion frequency, network size, and “heterogeneity” of discussion as predictors of political knowledge and participation. Journal of Communication 59(2): 205–224.

16.

Frith

Gleeson

(2004) Clothing and embodiment: men managing body image and appearance. Psychology of Men & Masculinity 5(1): 40–48.

17.

Huang

(2022) We are Indigenous people, not primitive people: the role of popular music in Indigenous language revitalization in Taiwan. Current Issues in Language Planning 24(4): 440–459.

18.

Kangira

(2016) Challenges of the implementation of language policies in southern Africa: what is the way forward? Inkanyiso, Journal Human & Social Sciences 8(2): 156–161.

19.

Kaschula

Kretzer

(2019) The politics of language education in Africa. In: Cheeseman

Rita

Khadiagala

, et al. (eds) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics.

20.

Khawaja

(2021) Consequences and remedies of Indigenous language loss in Canada. Societies 11(3): 89.

21.

Klinger

Daniel

Bruce

, et al. (2024) Platforms, Power, and Politics: An Introduction to Political Communication in the Digital Age. Cambridge; Hoboken: Polity Press.

22.

Lackaff

Moner

(2016) Local languages, global networks: Mobile design for minority language users. In: Proceedings of the 34th annual international conference on the design of communication (SIGDOC’16), Silver Spring, Maryland, USA, 23–24 September 2016, pp. 1–10. Palgrave Macmillan.

23.

Lilleker

Tenscher

Václav

(2015) Towards hypermedia campaigning? Perceptions of new media’s importance for campaigning by party strategists in comparative perspective. Information, Communication & Society 18(7): 747–765.

24.

Malatji

Lesame

(2019) The use of South African languages by youth on social media: the case of Limpopo Province. Communicare 38(1): 1–305.

25.

Mathe

(2024) Analysing discourse-stylistics on peripheral journalism platforms: a context of Indigenous language news outlets on Facebook. African Journalism Studies 45(2): 94–114.

26.

Mathe

(2024) Localising the social media algorithm: access, literacy, and uses. Communication 50(2):1–16.

27.

Mathe

Motsaathebe

(2023) African multilingual public sphere: a critical analysis of minority Indigenous language(s) representation on breeze FM talk radio in Zimbabwe. African Identities 23: 284–300.

28.

Matsobane

L M

Kealeboga

(2025) Beyond officialised languages in South Africa: a case of Thobela FM. In: Mathe

Motsaathebe

(eds) Reconceptualising Multilingualism on African Radio: Language and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan.

29.

Mętrak

(2018) The dilemmas of a gardener: discussing the arguments against language revitalisation. Adeptus 11: 1–14.

30.

Minhas

Salawu

(2024) Preserving and promoting Indigenous languages: social media analysis of Punjabi and Setswana languages. Journal of Asian and African Studies 1–18.

31.

Mpofu

Mutasa

D E

(2014) Language policy, lin-guistic hegemony and exclusion in the Zimbabwean print and broadcasting media. South African Journal of African Languages 34(2): 225–233.

32.

Ndhlovu

(2007) Everyday forms of language-based marginalization: focus on Zimbabwe. In Loughnane

Williams

Verhoeven

(eds) Inbetween Wor(l)ds: Transformation and Translation. Melbourne: School of Languages, University of Melbourne, pp.119–134.

33.

Ngcobo

Makumane

M A

Masala

(2024) The linguistic reconstruction of post-colonial South Africa and Lesotho: English dominance dilemma. Journal of Social Sciences 6(4): 90–101.

34.

Nkhi

Letsie

Mncina

, et al. (2025) Unlocking multilingualism on radio in Lesotho. In: Mathe

Motsaathebe

(eds) Reconceptualising Multilingualism on African Radio: Language and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan.

35.

Nkhi

Shange

(2024) The impact of pedagogical translanguaging in enhancing communicative competence of university students: a case of three selected universities in Lesotho. International Journal of Language Studies 18: 29–52.

36.

Nyati-Saleshando

Mokotedi

(2022) Multilingualism in Botswana: the case of Muzi primary school. Academy Publication 12(1): 7.

37.

Olusegun

(2024) Evaluating the potential of a unified Hausa-Igbo-Yoruba language to ease language related social and political conflicts in Nigeria. Journal of Universal Language 5(2): 51–92.

38.

Owojecho

(2020) Implementation challenges of national language policy in Nigeria: the roles of the indigenous languages minority languages. International Journal of Language and Literary Studies 2(1): 270–279.

39.

Raja

(2013) UN expert warns of decline in minority languages. Third World Network Berhad. Available at: https://www.twn.my/twnf/2013/3940.htm (accessed 10 January 2025).

40.

Raymond

(2019) Multiracial South Africa. In: Nationhood, Migration and Global Politics: An introduction. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press, pp. 174–196. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.12013603

41.

Rivron

(2012) The use of Facebook by the Eton of Cameroon. In: Vannini

le Crosni

(eds) Net-Lang: Towards the Multilingual Cyberspace. France: C&F Caen, pp. 161–169.

42.

Rowe

(2012) A longitudinal investigation of the role of quantity and quality of child directed speech in vocabulary development. Child Development 83: 1762–1774.

43.

Sallabank

Marquis

(2018) We don’t say it like that”: language ownership and (de)legitimising the new speaker. In: Hornsby

Smith-Christmas

(eds) New Speakers of Minority Languages: Linguistic Ideologies and Practices. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 67–90. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57558-6_4

44.

Shah

Kometsi

Brezinger

(2022) Language activists and linguists in persuit of the siPhuthi cause. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 42: 93–10.

45.

Shepherd

Delgado

Sherwood

(2018) The impact of indigenous cultural identity and cultural engagement on violent offending. BMC Public Health 18: 50.

46.

Soria

(2017) What is digital language diversity and why should we care? Linguapax Review 4(1): 13–28.

47.

Tichenor

George

Clarice

(1970) Mass media flow and differential growth in knowledge. Public Opinion Quarterly 34: 159–170.

48.

Welcher

(2012) Social media promote the use of endangered languages. The Rosetta Blog. Available at: http://rosettaproject.org/blog/02012/mar/8/social_media_endangered_languages/ (accessed 4 January 2018).

Social Media and the Integration of Minority Indigenous Languages in Political Participation: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References