
This study focuses on the impact of mother tongue education in preventing language shift with reference to Silt’e. The goal of the study is to examine the relationship between social and linguistic factors in considering the causes and effects of language shift in the speech community. It used a mixed method concurrent design, and data were collected using questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussion. The finding showed that using mother tongue in education is not the endpoint in the development of a language. Local language should also be used for official purposes, mass communication and personal communication in oral and written form in all socioeconomic domains.