On Cross-Border Languages and Cross-Border Collaboration between Malawi and Mozambique

Abstract: One glaring consequence of colonial history is the placement of people speaking one language into different countries. Mozambique is no exception in this regard. With reference to one of its neighbours, Malawi, the two countries have languages such as Chichewa (also known as Chinyanja), Chilomwe, Chisena, and Chiyao cutting across their borders. The two countries, however, differ in terms of the statuses and degrees of corpus-planning treatment given to the cross-border languages. For example, the two countries use different orthographies for their cross-border languages. Another profound difference is that the language known as Chichewa in Malawi is called Chinyanja in Mozambique and other Southern African countries. This paper observes that it is not uncommon for neighbouring countries to set up cooperation agreements to handle the effective management of cross-border resources such as water and wild life. As an analogy, this paper argues that cross-border languages are resources that also deserve cross-border cooperation or collaboration in their management and development. It is in this spirit that the 1997 Harare Intergovernmental Conference on Language Policies in Africa (UNESCO 2002) urged African countries to cooperate in the management and development of cross-border languages. The current paper observes that this cooperation is largely lacking between Malawi and Mozambique. There is, therefore, the need to increase the level of cooperation between the two countries. Attempts are made in this paper to account for the current state of affairs. In addition, the paper outlines some of the benefits that can be gained from cross-border cooperation. The current state of the cooperation on cross-border languages is then subjected to a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. The paper ends with the way forward. It has to be acknowledged at the very beginning that this paper is written from a Malawian sociolinguist’s point of view.