Regional Integration, Globalization, Foreign Language and Conflict

This study looks at the narrative and the behavior or attitudes around the issues of "i Kinyarwanda" and the Kinyarwanda speakers and examines how the challenges -if any- can be overcome. It examines the significant ethnolinguistic development that has taken place in the Eastern DR Congo, specifically in North Kivu Province following a protracted conflict among communities. Using the relational theory and adopting the adversarial, the reflective and the integrative approaches, the study shows the ways i kinyarwanda works as a strategy while it is also a source of frustration and a tool for self-affirmation. The paper cautions that any disintegration based on linguistic identity, though possible, still has a long way to go but will not be a solution. True regional, socioeconomic and political integration remains the needed medicine.