Language Use in the Home Domain in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis: a Sociolinguistic Study

Abstract

Ghana is a multilingual country with English as its official language. The use of English in Ghanaian homes is backed by anecdotal evidence, but very little is known about the extent to which this happens, and its overall effect on Ghanaian languages. This thesis, therefore, set out to investigate the use of language in the home domain, using Charles Ferguson’s (1959) formulation of diglossia as a basis. It adopted the mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) research design, using the cross-sectional survey and descriptive analysis to generalize the research results and draw conclusion on language choice in the home. Data were gathered using the survey questionnaire, an unstructured interview guide and observation. Two hundred and twenty-nine individuals provided responses to the questionnaire and three households were observed for two weeks, during which members were interviewed informally. The study revealed that indigenous languages such as Fante, Twi, Ewe, Frafra, Ga and Hausa as well as the English language are used in the Ghanaian home, with the local languages being more frequently used than the English language. It was also found that the nature of the addressee as well as forms of communication determined code choice in the Ghanaian home. The present study serves as a basis for further research on language use in other domains in Ghana.