Legon Journal of the Humanities, 25
(2014)
P a g e
| 39
these instances, English was not used except among the audience. Finally, Johnson (1975)
discussed the triglossic relationship among Leteh, Twi, and English. He described the
language situation as one characterized by a division of communicative functions among
the three languages, a situation which is the result of a gradual change over a long period.
The author asserted that the functional distribution of languages in Larteh was not
random, and proposed a set of rules which could be used to predict language choice in a
multilingual community such as Larteh. These were repertoire rules, situational rules, and
metaphorical rules.
Changes in the various spheres of life in a community are very likely to affect
language use. Broad areas which are susceptible to change include education, technology
and social interaction. Undoubtedly, conditions which prevailed during the period of
previous research (Brokensha (1966); Johnson (1973, 1975)) have changed; hence
transformations in the patterns of language use in Larteh are to be expected. It is in light
of these changes that this study is undertaken. This paper will therefore investigate factors
that impact language selection in Larteh with respect to these changes. The paper is
organized as follows: after the introductory section, sources of data and collection
methods are discussed in section two. Myers-Scotton’s Markedness Model (1993, 1998)
and its application to the study are dealt with in section three. In section four, a
sociolinguistic background of Larteh is given. In the three sections that follow, patterns
of language choice in the three domains of language usage are discussed. The discussion
is summarized, and conclusions are drawn in section eight.
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