Pan South African Languages Board

[Leigh Oakes]

Hi Jon,

This just came through and will certainly be of interest to you.

Haven't had a chance to read your work yet but hope to soon. If you've 
managed to write any more in the meantime, you could just email it to me.

Best,
Leigh
----
Dr Leigh Oakes
School of Modern Languages
Queen Mary, University of London
London E1 4NS
United Kingdom

Email: l.oakes at qmul.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 3128
Fax: +44 (0)20 8980 5400
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harold F. Schiffman" <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
To: "Language Policy-List" <lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Sent: 22 November 2006 13:17
Subject: Pan South African Languages Board


> Pan South African Languages Board
>
> Self-assessment: none
> Our assessment: 5/10
>
> The steward and protector of multilingualism, the Pan South African
> Languages Board (Pansalb) is less effective than it used to be. In 2003,
> Pansalb worked with the department of arts and culture to draw up the
> South African Languages Bill and develop national policy. Pansalb started
> a campaign to raise awareness of the individuals right to be served in the
> language of his or her choice at government institutions, but it has
> subsequently fizzled out.
>
> Despite efforts such as the lexicography units -- which have, among other
> things, translated specialist knowledge books into various languages and
> are publishing dictionaries in nine indigenous languages multilingualism
> is only marginally more visible in the public service, public discourse
> and the mass media. Internal structural and capacity problems have also
> hampered the boards efficiency. One look at the organisations website,
> which is currently malfunctioning, reveals that Pansalb has way too many
> focus areas -- language in education, lexicography and terminology
> development, research and development, translation and interpreting,
> linguistic human rights and mediation -- many of which could be outsourced
> to organisations with the capacity to carry them out. The unanimous view
> of members of the various language bodies is that the R39million that
> Pansalb has been allocated for the 2006/07 financial year is simply spread
> too thin for the board to institute meaningful change. Recruitment and the
> retention of skilled staff has also been a problem.
>
> Language experts abound in the country but the board does not reflect
> this. Stakeholders, while acknowledging the board to be bloated and
> increasingly bureaucratic, concede that it operates within a difficult
> environment, where role players such as business and the media are often
> unwilling to interact. This leaves the language policy, which basically
> states that students have a right to choose their language of instruction.
> This is idealistic at best as English still maintains a hegemony over
> interaction in the job market.
>
> Through more vigorous interaction with other sectors, a system can be
> created to foster a greater demand for indigenous African languages in the
> fields of medicine, social work, teaching and the military as the jobs
> entail communicating with people who speak African languages. -- Kwanele
> Sosibo
>
> http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=290663&area=/insight/insight__national/
>
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