Editing Mayotte (section)

==== 2006 survey ====
A survey was conducted by the French [[Minister of National Education (France)|Ministry of National Education]] in 2006 among pupils registered in [[Education in France#Primary education|CM2]] (equivalent to [[fifth grade]] in the US and [[Education in England#Post-16 education|Year 6]] in England and Wales). Questions were asked regarding the languages spoken by the pupils as well as the languages spoken by their parents. According to the survey, the ranking of mother tongues was the following (ranked by number of [[first language]] speakers in the total population; note that percentages add up to more than 100% because some people are natively bilingual):<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ac-mayotte.fr/IMG/pdf/Interv_BARRETEAU_CM2.pdf |title=Premiers résultats d'une enquête sociolinguistique auprès des élèves de CM2 de Mayotte |first=Daniel|last=Barreteau|access-date=2007-05-17 |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614075940/http://www.ac-mayotte.fr/IMG/pdf/Interv_BARRETEAU_CM2.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2007}}</ref>
*Shimaore: 55.1%
*Shindzwani: 22.3%
*Kibushi: 13.6%
*Shingazidja: 7.9%
*French: 1.4%
*Shimwali: 0.8%
*Arabic: 0.4%
*Kiantalaotsi: 0.2%
*Other: 0.4%

When also counting [[second language]] speakers (e.g., someone whose mother tongue is Shimaore but who also speaks French as a second language) then the ranking became:
*Shimaore: 88.3%
*French: 56.9%
*Shindzwani: 35.2%
*Kibushi: 28.8%
*Shingazidja: 13.9%
*Arabic: 10.8%
*Shimwali: 2.6%
*Kiantalaotsi: 0.9%
*Other: 1.2%

With the mandatory schooling of children and the economic development both implemented by the French central state, the French language has progressed significantly on Mayotte in recent years. The survey conducted by the Ministry of National Education showed that while first and second language speakers of French represented 56.9% of the population in general, this figure was only 37.7% for the parents of CM2 pupils, but reached 97.0% for the CM2 pupils themselves (whose age is between 10 and 14 in general).

Nowadays there are instances of families speaking only French to their children in the hope of helping their social advancement. With French schooling and French-language television, many young people turn to French or use many French words when speaking Shimaore and Kibushi, leading some to fear that these native languages of Mayotte could either disappear or become some sort of [[French-based creole languages|French-based creole]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.malango-mayotte.fr/culture/le_shimaore_fout_le_camp.htm|title=Le shimaoré fout le camp|first=Malango|last=Mayotte|date=2 October 2009|access-date=2013-10-10|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218063245/http://www.malango-mayotte.fr/culture/le_shimaore_fout_le_camp.htm|archive-date=18 December 2013}}</ref>