South Africa is a democratic country, wherein every individual has the right to belong to any religious community. Churches in the Bible were not given specific names, but the church’s location was used to refer to that church. Mainline churches named their churches using doctrinal convictions, and some used the names of their founders. However, leaders of charismatic churches in South Africa are more creative in naming churches, using names that communicate what the church stands for or a name depicting an expected contribution of the church to the community in which it is based. This article discusses the naming patterns and practices of three church categories as representative examples: the early church (in the Bible), mainline churches, and charismatic churches in South Africa. Using content analysis as a qualitative approach, data were gathered by analysing content from sources such as the Bible, the South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms, and content posted on Facebook and YouTube, while critical discourse analysis and text analysis constituted the analytical framework. The study found that there has been a major shift in the naming practices of churches in the three categories.
South Africa is a democratic country, and as such, it is crucial that every individual’s linguistic rights be protected. Also of paramount importance is that the South African government should revisit the issue of granting official status to some languages to the exclusion of others, such as isiBhaca, and consider the issue of a ‘language variation’. The educational setting has experienced challenges over attitudes towards language varieties. Teachers’ attitudes towards using a nonstandard variety of language or dialect in the education space have implications for effective teaching and learning. Therefore, this paper aims to establish the attitudes held by teachers towards the use of isiBhaca (a nonstandard variety of isiXhosa) in the education space in Umzimkhulu, KwaZulu-Natal. Using the qualitative research method, data were gathered from 22 purposively selected teachers in six schools in Umzimkhulu. Interviews were used to collect data, and the qualitative data were analysed thematically. The study found that teachers view integrating isiBhaca into the classroom as having immense benefits. The results further revealed that teachers felt that isiBhaca should initially be taught in the lower primary school grades (Grades 1–3) and up to the tertiary education level. The findings imply that learners’ academic performance in Umzimkhulu is affected by the use of isiXhosa as a medium of instruction in schools. This is why teachers who were participants in this study believe that isiBhaca is a language of the people of Umzimkhulu, and thus their learners should be given a chance to be taught in isiBhaca.This study contributes to the body of knowledge by demonstrating the attitudes and experiences of teachers in communities where non-standard languages are used in South Africa and how teachers cope in such multilingual classrooms. In the case of isiBhaca, teachers felt that it should be adopted as a language adequate to be used in learners’ education, even though it is a non-official language. Thus, teachers’ attitudes and views should not be ignored when discussing teaching and learning pedagogies.
Umzimkhulu, previously Transkei, is a small KwaZulu-Natal town. AmaBhaca Umzimkhulu residents speak isiBhaca, a dialect of isiXhosa that is mutually intelligible with isiZulu and siSwati. IsiBhaca is not official in South Africa. Most Umzimkhulu residents are amaBhaca, although education, health, religious, and government institutions use isiZulu and isiXhosa. This article investigated Umzimkhulu amaBhaca language maintenance and shift. The possibility of maintaining isiBhaca or shifting to isiZulu or isiXhosa is examined. The article used a mixed-methods approach, and data were acquired from purposively selected participants who have been classified as isiBhaca speakers born and raised in Umzimkhulu. The findings showed that isiBhaca is closer to isiZulu than isiXhosa, despite being designated a dialect of isiXhosa. The 2006 categorization of Umzimkhulu under KZN caused this trend toward isiZulu. This article showed that the amaBhaca are abandoning their language since they must use dominant/standard languages as the official language. Thus, they had to prioritise knowledge of the two over L1 to survive. It was demonstrated that many value isiBhaca and want it promoted. Others prefer dominant languages like isiXhosa or isiZulu and are unconcerned about the extinction of isiBhaca.Contribution: This research shows the importance of the revitalisation and preservation of minority languages and non-standard languages such as isiBhaca. This study is expected to impact sociolinguistics significantly in Southern Africa and other places with diverse languages and dialects.
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