Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:32:01.896Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The African languages in South African education 2009–2011

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2012

Rosemary Wildsmith
Rosemary Wildsmith*
Affiliation:
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

South African National Language Education policy (South Africa, DoE 2002) enshrines multilingualism (ML) as one of its major goals. The implementation of such a policy is a slow process, however, particularly in the educational domain, where parents, teachers and students favour the dominant, ex-colonial language (English) for both historic and instrumental reasons (Dalvit & de Klerk 2005). However, results of the National Benchmarking Test (NBMT Report 2009) conducted at selected South African universities show that most non-English speaking students in higher education have underdeveloped language and numeracy skills for study at this level, one of the main barriers to access being that of language (Council on Higher Education 2007: 2). Efforts have thus intensified in South African institutions to introduce the home languages of learners into the educational domain, either as learning support alongside the main medium of instruction or as alternative languages of instruction, working towards the development of a bilingual education model. This report documents developments in research in the promotion and use of the African languages in education in South Africa in recent years, particularly since the publication of the previous report (Wildsmith-Cromarty 2009), which discussed various initiatives in the teaching, development and use of the African languages in South African education during the period 2005–2008. This report considers further developments in the use of the African languages for academic purposes in the following areas: the learning and teaching of these languages as additional languages and for professional purposes in selected disciplines for specialist programmes, and their intellectualization, which includes their use as languages of instruction, in the translation of materials and other learning resources, and development of terminology.

Type
Research in Progress
Information
Language Teaching , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 120 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Council on Higher Education. (2007). Higher Education Monitor No.6. A case for improving teaching and learning in South African Higher Education. Pretoria: Council on Higher Education.Google Scholar
Dalvit, L. & de Klerk, V. (2005). Attitudes of Xhosa-speaking students at the University of Fort Hare towards the use of Xhosa as a language of learning and teaching (LOLT). Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 23.1, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalvit, L. (2010). Multilingualism and IT education at Rhodes University: An exploratory study. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. Grahamstown: Rhodes University.Google Scholar
Engelbrecht, C., Shangase, N., Majeke, S. J., Mthembu, S. Z. & Zondi, Z. M. (2010). IsiZulu terminology development in Nursing and Midwifery. Alternation 17.1, 249–272.Google Scholar
Engelbrecht, C. & Wildsmith, R. (2010). Exploring multilingualism in a problem-based learning setting: Implications for classroom and clinical practice in the nursing discipline. Alternation 17.1, 108–137.Google Scholar
Lafon, M. (2011). Classroom observations on the use of languages. A project specific categorization of schools. Paper presented at a Workshop on Paradigms and Practices of teaching and learning in Foundation Phase language classrooms in Gauteng and Limpopo provinces. (11–12 March 2011). Pretoria: HSRC.Google Scholar
Madiba, M. (2010). Fast-tracking concept learning for English as an additional language (EAL) students through corpus-based multilingual glossaries. Alternation 17.1, 225–248.Google Scholar
Maseko, P. (2011). Intellectualization of African languages with particular reference to isiXhosa. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. Grahamstown: Rhodes University.Google Scholar
Mashiya, N. (2010). Mother tongue teaching at the University of KwaZulu-Natal: Opportunities and threats. Alternation 17.1, 92–107.Google Scholar
Mbatha, T. (2009). Ukuqeqeshwa kothisha besiZulu bamabanga akha isisekelo (R-3). Paper presented at a Workshop on the training of African Language Teachers (11–12 March 2009). Pretoria: CentRePoL, IFAS and the Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria.Google Scholar
National Benchmark Tests (2009). Project Progress Report. www.pmg.org.za/files/docs/090819hesa.edit.pdf.Google Scholar
Ndimande-Hlongwa, N., Mazibuko, G. & Gordon, M. (2010). The teaching and learning of isiZulu as a second language for professional purposes at the University of KwaZulu-Natal: A response to professional needs. Alternation 17.1, 138–164.Google Scholar
Pluddemann, P., Nomlomo, V. & Jabe, N. (2010). Using African languages for teacher education. Alternation 17.1, 72–91.Google Scholar
Prinsloo, C. (2011). The project: Aims, design, management and funding. Paper presented at a workshop on paradigms and practices of teaching and learning in Foundation Phase language classrooms in Gauteng and Limpopo provinces (11–12 March 2011). Pretoria: HSRC.Google Scholar
SANTED Phase 2 Multilingualism Project (2008). Annual report. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Google Scholar
South Africa, Department of Education (DoE) (2002). National language policy for higher education. Pretoria.Google Scholar
Webb, V. (2009). Report on a Workshop on the Training of African Language Teachers (11–12 March 2009). Pretoria: CentRePoL, IFAS and the Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria.Google Scholar
Wildsmith, R. (2010). The development of a sustainability model for the integration and use of an African language as a language of learning and teaching in higher education. Alternation. 17.1, 27–48.Google Scholar
Wildsmith-Cromarty, R. (2009). AILA Africa Research Network Launch 2007: Research into the use of the African languages. Language Teaching 42.1, 131–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar