5.2.2 Perception by others
Out of the twenty church leaders interviewed, eleven did not have any Tongwe in their churches. There were no Tongwe among church leaders in the area. When asked if there were Tongwe who do not
understand Swahili when it was used in church, two church leaders responded affirmatively. When asked who they were, they said “older people” and “mostly women.” Three interviewees did not respond to the
question. All the teachers interviewed said that, in general, when the Tongwe children enter school, they
speak Swahili question T2.1. In Kalya and Kashagulu the teachers reported that the students from all language groups learn Swahili with the same degree of ease question T2.3. From the other villages, two
teachers said the Tongwe students learn Swahili faster than students from other ethnic groups, one teacher said they learn it more slowly and one teacher said they learn Swahili with the same degree of
ease. Teachers from all villages believe that the Swahili used in the village is at a high level question T2.7a. In Kalya the teacher reported that Swahili has overwhelmed the use of local languages in the
village. The teacher in Chakulu said the villagers know Swahili “pretty well,” but that “it is not the proper Swahili” and that “they make mistakes.” When the teachers of Kalya and Kashagulu were asked
about their impressions of the Swahili use among the Tongwe, they suggested that children use Swahili more than adults, and that they often use Tongwe at home but also know Swahili well question T2.7b.
Teachers in other villages said some know Swahili well and some mix it with Tongwe. Many indicated common use of Swahili in households with parents originating from different ethnic groups.
Data gathered indicates that interviewed teachers and church leaders believe that the Tongwe speak Swahili quite well, though the answers given by many point out that it may not always be standard
Swahili, and that it may be mixed with the vernacular.
5.3 Reported speech varieties
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