Reading Literacy in a Multilingual Community: The Case of Bible Users in Kisangani

The main objective of this paper was to investigate the use of languages in a multilingual community, and more particularly with regard to the Reading of the Bible. The topic has been of interest because most sermons are delivered in local languages and the Christians who have been subjects of investigation in this research are naturally speakers of local those languages. The research has revealed that these Christians mostly use the Bible written in French. This is inconsistent with their language habits. The investigation also endeavors to find out the reasons for this inconsistency in language use in churches and the Holy Bible. A sampling of 100 followers and 30 pastors aged between 18 to 45 years was the target in churches located in Kisangani. The rationale behind this selection is the fact that the youth are believed to be not interested in local languages and language policy in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not militate for the reinforcement of local/national languages. The results have shown that though church sermons are delivered in majority in local languages, and believers are native speakers of these languages, French use is predominant with regard to the Bible reading. Surprisingly, English has also been found to be among the languages used as far as the reading of the Bible is concerned. Language attitude and language policy play a key role in the decline of local languages in relation to the Bible use.