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<h2>Proposals on Language Policy & Practise</h2>
<span id="spnDate" class="">26 November 2013, 07:17</span>
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<p>In the English language, there are two Latin phrases which so
perfectly describe the difference between Policy and Practise 'de facto'
and 'de jure'. <br><br>If something is 'de facto' it means that it is
commonly accepted to be such, although no such law exists to make it so.
English is the de facto language of the United States (they don't
actually have an official language). De jure then means the opposite -
there are laws and policies in place to enforce a certain situation or
propagate an idea.<br><br>I think that in most cases we should obey the
law, and always when the law is rational. In the case of Medium of
Instruction the current law is that, where possible, students have a
right to education in their home language. I think this is detrimental
to our students and we should get rid of this. Fluency in English should
be compulsory to be hired as a teacher at any level and we should throw
away the Afrikaans textbooks. Students should be taught in English even
in a subject like History, so as to strengthen their command of this
language. (Exceptions to the English fluency rule exist, of course, in a
Xhosa or Sotho classroom for instance).<br><br>There are so many reason
that such a policy should be promulgated:-- At the moment the global
lingua franca as English and we should position ourselves to take full
advantage of that fact (maybe hop on the Mandarin bandwagon too)--
English is mostly a neutral language despite it's historical
connotations because it was adopted by the colonized worldwide and (like
rappers would claim about the N-word) has lost its 'colonial' power.--
English is a conglomerate of many languages that has an unparalleled
ability to describe, very precisely, almost every concept in science up
to an undergraduate level (beyond which intuitive Mathematics is most
probably used)<br><br>However, I find that proponents of this position
often throw the baby out with the bath water. They forget about the 'de
facto', everyday side of life. They forget that as Marcell walks through
town, there is a very slim chance that anything he says or does is
going to impact the national economy significantly. And so they often go
to the length of shunning other languages as inferior and cultures as
stupid.<br><br>Concepts of culture and identity are very often stupid,
but sometimes not. That statement isn't objectively or even logically
flawless. It's a really wishy-washy statement that you are expected to
feel and understand. Sometimes, it matters that you know who won Idols
this year. Somehow, your life might be more peaceful if you were to
really read up on the history of who was in South Africa first. Someway
and somehow... the 21st Century has become far too objective and
logical. I don't want us to go back to irrational wars or anything, but
let's not pretend that nothing else matters that can't be proved with
science.<br><br>And for this reason I encourage everybody to learn the
wealth of languages of your community. It doesn't have to be government
law. The government doesn't have to make it compulsory (in fact I'm not
too sure about this First Additional Language being compulsory thing).
However, I do believe that it would be in everybody's best interests to
be able to communicate in a variety of ways. While the most important
thing is to accept people for who they are, despite all the other
things, the most human thing a person can do is try and relate and make
it easier for a person to accept you and befriend/be friendly to you.<br>I
think by carefully observing these two stances in balance - that
English is a superior academic language to any other currently, but that
for the sake of nation building we should speak a wealth of languages
and should WANT TO - we can make ourselves a greater republic.</p><p><a href="http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Proposals-on-Language-Policy-Practise-20131126">http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Proposals-on-Language-Policy-Practise-20131126</a><br>
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