Why did you Choose Runyambo instead of Ruhaya for your Research Project?

Abstract

In this paper, I approach the choice of the language of study for a graduateresearch program. In a way, irrespective of the functionalist and generativewarnings, I articulate the rationale for the choice of mother tongue language asthe language of research by linguists. In the article, I caution that absence ofexisting research outputs is not a sound reason to allow straightforwardresearch permit. Further, I point out that the main motivation of the selectionof a research topic could be the contribution to an ongoing research in whichthe mother tongue of the researcher is staged to offer good evidence in favour orrejection of the existing claims available in the literature. This is the traditionin the scientific inquiry. Furthermore, I argue that comparative works can alsoengage the cluster of the languages to which the mother tongue of theresearcher is affiliated. The motivation for the choice of the cluster should be toexamine genetic affiliation rather than to allow the researcher to attract easydata collection practises. In the end, I open a discussion for more research onendangered languages of Tanzania, which is an open linguistic research arealeft to foreigners to date. However, I argue that an interplay of documentationand theory should be realised.Key words: Research, graduate students, language choice, mother tongue,Tanzania