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<h3 id="gmail-DailyNewsHeadline">The language question in SA</h3>
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Zohra Dawood |
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21 February 2018
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Zohra Dawood says mother tongue learning at an early age is key
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<p><b>LANGUAGE AS ROADMAP - CELEBRATING MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY</b></p>
<p><span class="gmail-posted-on"><span> Feb 21, 2018</span></span><span></span></p>
<p><span>The title of this article draws on a quote from American feminist writer, Rita Mae Brown, who said, “…<em>language is the roadmap of culture. It tells you where its people came from and where they are going</em>”.</span></p>
<p><span>Language rights and questions, like so many issues in South
Africa at the dawn of democracy, were, in the words of former
Constitutional Court Judge, Albie Sachs, “<em>never about function and
convenience. The approach embodied in the Constitution is accordingly
not based on numbers as such but on historical, sociological and
political fact</em>”. Hence the agreement amongst all parties at the
constitutional negotiations to make the following the official languages
of the country: Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda,
Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.</span></p>
<p><span>At first glance, the number of official languages, standing at
11, confounds the imagination. However, the principle of language
equality in South Africa is an imperative in a country that had
historically enforced bilingualism, with English and Afrikaans as the
official languages and African languages being relegated to homeland
territories. Constitutional drafters were mindful of the need for both
delicacy and respect. Hence the proposal not to downgrade the two
official languages but to instead upgrade nine African languages, was
drafted into the final Constitution. </span></p>
<p><span>Again, Judge Albie Sachs sums up the place of language when he writes that, “<em>the
language question is a question of communication, but it is also a
matter of identity on the one hand, and of empowerment and
disempowerment on the other</em>”. This sums up South Africa on the cusp
of the transition to democracy and why language as cultural identity,
required sensitive handling. </span></p>
<p><span>While sections 30 and 31 of the Constitution are clear in
respect of language and cultural rights, a major and continuing fault
line in the discourse about language rights is in that of language
policy in education. The issue continues to evoke strident and often
emotional responses and is often both politicised and racialised, in
respect of the role of the Afrikaans language in schools and
universities as primary medium of instruction. Afrikaans, after isiZulu
and isiXhosa, is the third most spoken language in the country by
“non-white” people and this may well qualify it as an indigenous
language. </span></p>
<p><span>Professor Andrew Foley, Director of the Division of Languages in the Department of English at Wits University writes that, “<em>the
question of mother-tongue education in South Africa remains a vexed
one. On the one hand, it seems reasonable and desirable that learners
should be able to receive education in their mother tongue, if they so
wish. On the other hand, there are some very real difficulties involved
in the implementation of this ideal</em>”, including language development, curriculum development, teacher education and implementation of policy on the ground. </span></p>
<p><span>Despite the difficulties of effective implementation, Professor
Foley, like many other educationalists, linguists and researchers, is
an advocate for mother language education. Overwhelming evidence exists
that teaching younger children in mother tongue is an aid to cognitive
and learning ability, and is key to the development and transfer of
communication skills, knowledge and information within families and
communities. The limitations of not fully understanding the texture,
nuance and content in the language of instruction disable comprehension
and positive education outcomes, as is increasingly evident in South
Africa. </span></p>
<p><span>In a seminal paper on Schooling in and for the New South
Africa, the late Professor Neville Alexander, educationist and language
policy advisor to government, summed up his views. He scathingly wrote,
“…l<em>et me make the point bluntly: the failure to understand and to
address the language issue in the educational system is tantamount to an
act of national suicide by omission. It is my view that people are
dilly-dallying on one of the most important issues, if not the most
important, issue in education. Indeed, if I may transpose a
mispronunciation by a certain teacher at a workshop: instead of being a
stepping stone to effective learning, language policy more often than
not is perceived as a ‘stopping stone’ that prevents such learning</em>”. He adds that, “<em>For
something like 70-80% of the population of South Africa, it is simply
not possible currently to acquire the kind of proficiency in English
that would empower them sufficiently to be able to compete on an
equitable basis in the market for highly skilled and remunerated jobs.
And democracy, we should remind ourselves, means power to the people.
Language is one of the most important means of empowerment of both
individuals and societies, and for that reason the language question is
at the heart of a sound democratic system of education</em>”.</span></p>
<p><span>The UN’s declaration of 21 February as International Mother
Language Day is an opportune time to examine the pedagogical, policy and
practice of the promotion of the language of education in South Africa.
From the words from the UN website, the significance of mother language
promotion is that “<em>Languages, with their complex implications for
identity, communication, social integration, education and development,
are of strategic importance for people and planet. Yet, due to
globalization processes, they are increasingly under threat, or
disappearing altogether. When languages fade, so does the world's rich
tapestry of cultural diversity… To foster sustainable development,
learners must have access to education in their mother tongue and in
other languages. It is through the mastery of the first language or
mother tongue that the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy are
acquired</em>.” In the light of the above, it is opportune that the
2018 theme for International Mother Language is ‘Linguistic Diversity
and Multilingualism Count for Sustainable Development’. </span></p>
<p><span>It is of fundamental importance that the issue of mother
language education, or the lack thereof, is a contributory factor in the
less than optimal education outcomes achieved in the main by students
who are non-mother tongue English speakers. This is of course one factor
in addition to the range of others outlined in Professor Alexander’s
paper cited above, including poverty, rural/urban divide, race and
class, amongst others. The infrastructure to build the system -
including teacher training, the development of academic vocabulary and
curriculum development - has been largely put on the backburner, despite
government’s stated commitment to implementation. </span></p>
<p><span>However, it is not too soon to dust off the policy framework
and give these an impetus if the future of our children remains a key
consideration. The Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme is one such step in
the right direction. Its intention to support bursaries for would-be
teachers of indigenous African languages who come from rural areas, will
prove effective in bolstering the quality and number of people who can
teach in at least one or more of SA’s official languages.</span></p>
<p><span>Expectations are high that new President Cyril Ramaphosa will
not only rejuvenate the criminal justice system, treasury and SOEs,
amongst others, but crucially, as he outlined in his maiden SONA, but
that he will give real effect to a vital sentiment in his speech that, “<em>there
are 57 million of us, each with different histories, languages,
cultures, experiences, views and interests. Yet we are bound by a common
destiny</em>”. His emphasis on building a society defined by decency
and integrity is at its core an acceptance of history, with a view to
building a collective future. </span></p>
<p><span>The promotion of mother language education in South Africa is
vexed and vexing. It is imperative that it does not become a site of
struggle, and that none of the 11 official languages are discriminated
against. This would run counter to the values and provisions of the
Constitution. </span></p>
<p><em><span>Ms Zohra Dawood, Director, Centre for Unity in Diversity.</span></em><span></span></p>
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<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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