Language as a ‘resource’ in South Africa: The economic life of language in a globalising society

Wright, Laurence

doi:10.1080/10131750285310031

Cited by 35 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Obanya (1999) observes that there is a relatively high reluctance among black Africans to study their own languages, and we have already noted that this has been identified as a specific worry in South Africa. This reluctance can perhaps be understood if we consider that language is a powerful resource (Wright, 2002) and that people quite likely know whether or not a language is a tool for social promotion, whether or not it signals empowerment (Rabenoro, 1999). They know which language(s) they need to be competent in -namely, those that are used by the major media, and people of high status -and this awareness translates to opinions, right or wrong, about what will be needed for their children to succeed.…”

Section: Language Proficiency Of South African Tertiary Students and mentioning

confidence: 98%

Enablers and barriers to multilingualism in South African university classrooms

Thamaga-Chitja

Mbatha

2012

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies

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Despite a robust national language policy, multilingual learning has yet to make headway in South African universities. In addressing the gap between the language of instruction and the languages South African university students are competent in, this article begins with a brief review of current national and institutional policy positions and recent multilingual learning theoretical discussions at university. Lines of thinking that emerge include: significance of academic literacy and how it underpins university studies; and separatist solutions where academic literacy is taught in dedicated modules. However the uncertain academic status of African language studies and negative attitudes to its speakers may compromise the potential of multilingual initiatives in universities. To solicit student impressions on the actuality and potential of multilingualism in universities, a focus group discussion was conducted with 15 students in the School of Agricultural Sciences and Agribusiness at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Students concurred that trying to process information in a language they were not competent in limited their understanding of lectures. Attempts to cope using mother tongue in study groups was limited by lack of terminology and conceptual equivalents, however, being taught in mother tongue was unacceptable to students because their aim was to acquire better English at university. In addition, foreign students expressed anxiety that multilingualism might disadvantage them.The study concludes that multilingualism could assist students in developing academic literacy and academic discourse but students seem blind to this advantage.

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Section: Language Proficiency Of South African Tertiary Students and mentioning

confidence: 98%

Enablers and barriers to multilingualism in South African university classrooms

Thamaga-Chitja

Mbatha

2012

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies

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“…Within the South African school system subject English occupies an uneasy space. Historically and ideologically associated with imperial British colonial rule, English yet holds considerable contemporary value for many South Africans as a local and globalised lingua franca offering access to economic capital and advancement (Wright, 2002). Drawing content from a wide set of disciplinary sources, varying temporally and locationally in their influence, the goals and content base of English-as-Subject can vary greatly (Clark, 2005).…”

Section: The Context Of Subject English Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using legimation code theory to track pedagogic practice in a South African English home language poetry lesson

Jackson¹

2015

Journal of Education

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This paper utilises two dimensions of Legitimation Code Theory, Specialisation and Semantics, to describe and analyse aspects of the poetry pedagogy of a South African home language subject English teacher. The Specialisation analysis illuminates how, while the lesson is oriented towards social relations in its focus on cultivating learners’ literary gaze, the teacher’s pedagogy exhibits varying emphases on epistemic relations and social relations in different phases of the lesson. These concepts facilitate more precise description of the pedagogy, which assists in clarifying and explicating the nature of the pedagogy of a teacher working with a cultural heritage orientation to literary instruction. Analysis within the Semantic dimension enables the tracking of pulses of shifts in abstraction and particularity through the lesson. This highlights the ways in which the teacher moves between more and less abstract and concrete forms of knowledge, which implicitly models ideational networks required for higher levels of close textual analysis.

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“…Equally dubious is the capacity of such a strategy to realise the desired political end, given the multitude of other variables which must be thrown into the equation. Nevertheless, it has to be acknowledged that while there can be fruitful debate over where and to what extent African languages can with propriety be classified as a resource, if by this we mean an economic resource (see Wright 2003), there is no doubt whatever that they can be exploited as a political resource -South Africa's experience under apartheid confirms this. This particular issue is something of which language commentators need to be aware, because in the process of operationalising the political strategy, the value of African languages and dialects as a cultural resource may well be travestied or side-lined.…”

Section: Instrumentality: a Metonym For A Civilisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The power of English in the central economy is the major force driving the South African linguistic ecology towards a form of diglossic mutualism, in which at national level English is used for higher-order operational functions, and African languages assume important complementary roles (Wright 2003). 1 Afrikaans is being edged into a supplementary niche.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Static analysis can be useful in explaining short-term behaviours (which of course may accrete as longer-term trends), but it is obviously risky to rely on such projections. For instance, Wright (2003) analyses economic aspects of the flight from African languages in terms of marginal utility theory, but the account addresses presently prevailing sociolinguistic conditions. 6.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Language and value

Wright¹

2004

LPLP

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Language policy debate is often obscured by two factors: failure to acknowledge different time-frames attending contrasting positions, and failure to recognise that ordinary people are motivated by their perceived best interests in the present. This article argues that the key to more general public acceptance of linguistic ecological diversity in South Africa is to shift the emphasis from policy development to practical language cultivation issues. Provide the requisite cultivation support, and acceptance of a revitalised future for African languages becomes more assured. It should also be understood that the modernisation of African languages in South Africa has a political dimension concerning which South African language commentators are strangely silent. This political thrust may not be entirely congruent with the concerns of those whose brief for African languages is primarily cultural or ecologicalif, indeed, they are even aware of it. Finally, it needs to be recognised that language development under conditions of controlled influence, as in the civil service or schooling, is potentially achievable (with whatever difficulty), but that this must be complemented by authentic contemporary intellectual work published in African languages if the linguistic dimension of the African Renaissance is to take off.

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Language as a ‘resource’ in South Africa: The economic life of language in a globalising society

Cited by 35 publications

References 7 publications

Enablers and barriers to multilingualism in South African university classrooms

Enablers and barriers to multilingualism in South African university classrooms

Using legimation code theory to track pedagogic practice in a South African English home language poetry lesson

Language and value

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