Table 3. Weighted scores for community support
Number of interviewees
Average score Weight Weighted
average
Aliyyu Amba 4
30.25 0.308
9.317
Kemise 4
38.75 0.308
11.935
Shewa Robit 2
39.50 0.153
6.0435
Awash Sebat 3
41.33 0.231
9.54723
Total 13
36.84 1.00
36.84
The scores for community support show some sort of personal commitment to contribute to the development of the language, and in terms of scores they are fairly good but not excellent. It seems that
results here do not agree with the results from the sociolinguistic interviews, which indicate very strong support for language development. This apparent contradiction happened because people were
wondering whether it is really possible to develop Argobba, as observed by the way that some interviewees phrased their responses. Because of this, it can be said that the two results do not contradict
each other. The scores correspond to what was said during sociolinguistic interviews with respect to developing Argobba; interviewees would like the language to be developed but may find it difficult to
imagine how this could be done.
4 Sentence Repetition Test SRT
4.1 Procedures
Some Argobba communities are found in an area of Ethiopia where Oromo is the major language of wider communication. Bilingualism testing was therefore conducted to determine the level of Oromo
proficiency. This would also complement any evidence of language shift from Argobba to the Oromo language.
The Oromo SRT was developed and administered as described by Radloff 1991. Test subjects listened to fifteen Oromo sentences of increasing difficulty and tried to mimic each one in turn. Each
sentence was scored on a three-point scale according to how many errors were committed in the repetition. The points for each individual sentence were added to get the total score, which is an
indicator of Oromo proficiency.
4.2 Data sources
The SRT methodology involved testing a sample of the residents of a community where Oromo is used as a language of wider communication. Age and sex were judged to be the only variables impacting Oromo
bilingualism in this study. In T’allaha, where the SRT testing was conducted, hardly any of the residents have a formal education. Therefore, Oromo proficiency is only achieved by social interaction with
Oromo speakers.
The research team tested only nine men in T’allaha, since a limited time was spent in that community. Two of the men were in the 15–24 age category, two were 25–34 and five were 35+.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to test any women. Stratified judgment quota sampling was attempted, using the community’s social networks to find test subjects as described by Radloff 1991.
Because of the lack of time, a full sample was not obtained.
4.3 Analysis techniques
