CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The topic of this study is “Language Endangerment and the survival of
TyapLanguage: Implications for Transitional BilingualEducation”. The choice of the topic is borne out of the desire to investigate the language endangerment phenomenon as it relates to Tyap, a minority language in ZangonKataf Local Government area of Kaduna state and to create awareness on the findings with a view to triggering action by Atyap on the seeming endangerment of the language.
The ancestral home of Tyap native speakers is ZangonKataf Local Government Area of Kaduna state. Tyap is one of the larger minority languages of Southern Kaduna Senatorial Zone coming after Jju which incidentally is intelligible to Tyap native speakers. The 2006 population census puts the population of Atyap at 104,543.
This study has become necessary at this point in time because of growing concerns expressed by Atyap elite, cultural associations and parents that Tyap language might be endangered. Regrettably, these concerns have not been matched with action towards arresting the situation. It is for this reason that the researcher has embarked on the study to establish the veracity of the claims that Tyap might be endangered with a view to proffering solutions if the claims are confirmed to be true.
The concerns of this study are to adduce evidence that Tyap is endangered, if indeed it is, identify the variables in theendangerment of Tyap, determine the variable that has the greatest impact in the endangerment of Tyap and bring out the implications of such endangerment (if any) on transitional bilingual education. The study would then
proffer solutions which if faithfully implemented, would remove the language from the endangerment zone.