Brian Ramadiro and Kimberley Porteus of the Nelson Mandela Institute for Rural Development and Education analyse the relationship between the university and rural development in an African setting before exploring other pedagogical possibilities to better orient University engagement with the requirements of rural educators. [Full Text Article, pdf]
Languages in Africa
Africa is often said to have a total of 2000 languages.
Though this figure is insofar problematic since many languages are mutually
understandable and pertain to the same language group (often being different
dialects of one language), it remains that this presumed multiplicity of
languages has made national language policy a hotly debated and rarely addressed
matter. Foreign languages such as french and english, languages which have
been imposed by colonial powers as instruments of domination and alienation,
have thus come to fill the void, presenting themselves as neutral, scientific
and modern languages. The vast majority of Africans however live and work
in their mother tongue throughout their life. The pertinent question thus
is: Can African people champion their renaissance through the medium of
foreign languages? The following page addresses this question by exploring
the interrelations of language and society, the language policies of the
colonial powers and of the subsequent independent African governments. It
also presents recent research on multilingual language policies for an African
renaissance.
Full Text Articles
The University and Sustainable Rural Development
Language in education policies and practices among the isiXhosa speaking population of South Africa
Article by Birgit Brock-Utne and Zubedai Desai, to be published in a forthcoming book, about the experiences made during the LOISA and LOITASA projects, a research project on the languages of instruction in Tanzania and South Africa. [Full Text article, pdf]
Community perception of change in a school’s language policy
Daryl Braam examines the langauge attitudes and perceptions of a local primary school community in the Western Cape towards the official national policy of additive bilingualism. [Full Text Article, pdf]
The status of isiXhosa as an additional language in selected Cape Town secondary schools
Thabile Mbatha and Peter Pluddemann report on a study of the status of isiXhosa as an additional language subject (XAL) in the Western Cape. The study set out to investigate the reasons for the apparent decline in the number of learners taking isiXhosa as a third (L3) or as a second language (L2). [Full Text Article, pdf]
Language policy implementation and language vitality in Western Cape primary schools
Peter Pluddemann, Daryl Braam, Peter Broeder, Guus Extra and Michelle October focus on language policy in schools in relation to language vitality indicators such as language repertoire, choice, proficiency, dominance and preference.
[Full Text Article, pdf]
The Rise and Possible Demise of Afrikaans as a Public Language
Hermann Giliomee offers a historical account of how Afrikaans reached the position described by Heinz Kloss, Jean Laponce and Lawrence Schlemmer. It also asks why there is a real risk that it may disappear as a public language over the medium to long term.
[Full Text Article, pdf]
Language rights, ethnic politics: A critique of the Pan South African Language Board
Timothy Perry interrogates the efficacy of PanSALB as a protector of language rights, evaluating in particular the degree to which PanSALB may, or may not, inadvertently lead to ethnic competition or ethnic conflict; and the degree to which its tribulations evince any authoritarian tendencies of the parties in power.
[Full Text Article, pdf]
Medium of Instruction and its Effect on Matriculation
Michelle October stresses the necessity for the empowerment of African language speakers in their mother-tongues, by showing clearly that there is a correlation between first and second language acquisition, as well as between home language, language medium and academic results.
[Full Text Article, pdf]
Multilingualism in South Africa with a focus on KwaZulu-Natal and Metropolitan Durban
Peter Broeder, Guus Extra and Jeanne Maartens examine rhetoric and facts about multilingualism in South Africa, with a focus on KwaZulu-Natal and the metropolitan area of Durban. The publication also examines the outcomes and shortcomings of available census data on language use and gives an overview of the ims, method, and sample of a survey carried out by the Department of Afrikaans and Nederlands at Natal University.
[Full Text Article, pdf]
The Case Against Bilingual and Multilingual Education in South Africa
Kathleen Heugh explores the historical and immediate contexts as well as the context of language in education and policy review and implementation examining various myths, misconceptions and misdiagnoses.
[Full Text Article, pdf]
Multilingual Environments or Survival: The Impact of English on Xhosa-Speaking Students in Cape Town
Rima Vesely describes the impact that English has made in the communities and schools of Xhosa-speaking Grade 10 students in two Cape Town townships, investigating the ramifications of apartheid’s influx control and education policies, as well as current language and education issues. [Full Text Article, pdf]
Pre-School Child Multilingualism and its Educational Implications in the African Context
H. Ekkehard Wolff focuses on individual multilingualism and its implications for institutional language planning in education considering sociolinguistics aspects and psycholinguistic issues of language acquisition and language learning. [Full Text Article, pdf]
Problems and Possibilities in Multilingual Classrooms in the Western Cape
FINAL RESEARCH REPORT compiled by Peter Pluddemann, Xola Mati and Babazile Mahlahela-Thusifor the Joint Education Trust under the auspices of the President’s Education Initiative of the national Department of Education [Full Text Article, pdf]
Literacy in the Early Years: Teaching and Learning in Multilingual Early Childhood Classrooms
Observations and reflection arising out of research done by Carole Bloch in 1995 and 1996. This project aims to help to facilitate effective multilingual teaching and learning in South African classrooms.
[Full Text Article, pdf]
Langue, Education et Editions - L’indispensable interconnexion pour une pédagogie de la paix et du développement
Conférence par le Prince Kum’a Ndumbe III à l’occasion de la conférence “The Implications of Language for Peace and Development” (IMPLAN 2008) en l’honneur du Prof. Birgit Brock-Utne, Oslo Conference, 2-3 May 2008. (more…)
ADEA: Learning, but in whose Language?
The contributions collected in the following publication by ADEA provide a foretaste of ADEA’s thinking, research and advocacy on the crucial issue of the use of African languages in education. [Full Text, pdf]
Dialogforum zum Nachhören: Neville Alexander - Zum Stellenwert afrikanischer Sprachen in Bildung und Forschung
Vortrag von Neville Alexander im Rahmen des AfricAvenir Dialogforums am 21. November 2007 in der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Dr. Alexander erörtert die ungebrochene Prominenz europäischer Sprachen in Bildung und Forschung in Afrika, deren Ursachen und Folgen.
Dialogforum zum Nachhören: Dina Taiwé Kolyang - Sprachpolitik in Afrika
Vortrag von Dina Taiwé Kolyang im Rahmen des AfricAvenir Dialogforums am 19. September 2007 in der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Welcher Zusammenhang besteht zwischen der Unterdrückung bzw. Befreiung eines Volkes und der implementierten Sprachpolitik? Kann eine Afrikanischen Renaissance ohne die Revitalisierung der afrikanischen Sprachen gelingen?
English Unassailable but Unattainable: The Dilemma of Language Policy in South African Education
Article by Dr. Neville Alexander on behalf of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA). Keynote address for the 14th English Language Education Trust (ELET) Annual Conference for Teachers of English, Durban, 1999. [Full Text Article, pdf]
The African Renaissance and the Use of African Languages in Tertiary Education
This work by Dr. Neville Alexander deals with the social, political and economic implications of the intellectualisation of indigenous African languages and suggests a long-term, large-scale and systematic strategy for effecting this core aspect of the revitalisation of Africa. PRAESA Occasional Papers No. 13. [Full Text Article, pdf, 195 Kb]