Language Policy in Ethiopia: History and Current Trends

Abstract

Ethiopia, as one of the multilingual and multicultural countries, has faced the critical problem of development and implementation of language use policy that could satisfy the needs of various societies in question and contribute to their socioeconomic and socio-cultural development. The various governments that ruled Ethiopia since the reign of Emperor Tewodros II followed various language use policies that suit their political orientation. The major objective of this paper was to seek answers to the following questions: a. What type of language policy did Ethiopia have in the past? b. What is the language policy of the country today? c. How is Ethiopia implementing its language policy today? The historical survey of language use policy was made based on the secondary data (i.e. written documents) from different sources. The study on the implementation of the current language policy of the country focuses mainly on four regional states, namely Amhara, Oromiya and SNNP regional states and the Addis Ababa City Administration. Interviews were conducted with various bodies that are concerned with developing, implementing and monitoring language use policies, such as the Ethiopian Language Research Center, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the information and education bureaus of three regional states, namely the Amhara, Oromiya and SNNP regional states to get the necessary data. The analysis of the data shows that though there had been a change from having no written policy to a policy that encourages the development and use of all the languages in the country, the implementation showed a little change in the time from the reign of Tewodros II up to the end of the Derg. The language policies of Tewodros II, Minilek II, Hailesellasie I and the Derg regime had been similar on the ground level: they all implemented a one-language language use policy .The language use policy of the current government, however, is quite different in its approach and implementation. The implementation of a multilingual language use policy has served the country both its blessings and consequences.