ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the oral competence in Nyanja of children from various linguistic groups in Zambia. It is based on a language test which was carried out on 160 primary school children in Lusaka. The test consisted of 100 items, mainly in the form of pictures which the children had to denote by a Nyanja word or expression. Nyanja is spoken in a variety of dialects by several tribes who live in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and even Tanzania. In Zambia, the language of the Cewa who live in the Eastern Province may be regarded as typical or rural Nyanja. There are even schools where more children speak Bemba than Nyanja. It is clear that in such a case the children will probably speak Bemba in the playground and even inside the classroom if the teacher too speaks Bemba as a mother tongue.
