Reconceptualising multilingualism on African radio: a multilingual accommodation theory

Abstract

ABSTRACT Media organisations in radio broadcasting are gradually fine-tuning to accommodate multilingual socio-cultural identities. Africa presents unique challenges of lingual diversity which some of the media, particularly public radio have struggled to accommodate. This article advocates for multilingual accommodation on radio to foster more liberating and inclusive ways for multilingual speakers. It is a conceptual paper informed by the Afrikology perspective which we find more useful in tackling African issues from a more realistic perspective. Using radio as a medium of ethnic lingualism, we argue that Africans should tackle their own multilingualism issues. We chose radio because it is the most used medium of communication in Africa, reflective of grassroots social identities. We cite cases of multilingualism in Southern Africa to propose what we refer to as multilingual accommodation in radio broadcasting. The article argues that majority languages in Africa are not monolingualism but family languages of numerous dialects reflecting the co-existence of diverse ethnolinguistics in the pre-colonial era. We define multilingualism as abilities of co-existence in African contexts and the reflection of this co-existence in radio broadcasting. By multilingual accommodation, we suggest sustenance of multilingual programmes by radio hosts, guests and participants in both minoritised and majorised indigenous languages.