Bari language is facing many challenges because the six Bari speaking communities do not have the courage to speak the vernacular in public.
A member of Greater Bari Language Development Association, David Lukan, told CRN that there is a gap between the young and the elders regarding the language.He said Bari educated young people think that speaking Bari in public makes them look illiterate or uncivilized.
The Bari language activist encouraged people to start writing in Bari and speak it at home and in public.
Mr Lukan stressed that people need to speak Bari and attend Sunday services in Bari.
He said speaking the vernacular is not tribalism, but a cultural identification among the six Bari speaking tribes.
Mr Lukan cautioned that without the development of local languages South Sudan cannot grow well.
He said called on the people to start working hard to develop all South Sudanese languages.
Greater Bari Language Development Association conducted a week-long workshop on phonology and grammatical structures of Bari Language in relation to other languages.