Multilingualism in South Africa: The challenge to below

Webb, Vic

doi:10.1080/10228190903188591

Cited by 23 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The gap between language policy and practice in South Africa is well known (Heugh 2000;Alexander 2003;Mesthrie 2006;Paxton 2009;Webb 2009;Parmegiani 2012). Contrary to what the constitution proscribes, official languages are far from enjoying 'parity of esteem' and equal treatment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The (dis)ownership of English: language and identity construction among Zulu students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

Parmegiani

2014

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The (dis)ownership of English: language and identity construction among Zulu students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

Parmegiani

2014

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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“…Just as Afrikaans experienced corpus planning to develop the vocabulary of academia, all African mother tongues can be sufficiently developed to represent 'languages of philosophical and scientific discourse' (Mutasa 2002, 242). Both Kamwangamalu (2009) and Webb (2009) argue for the necessity of elevating the status of indigenous languages through active participation of members of those speech communities in policy work, rather than solely through the typical top-down approaches that reify traditional power arrangements. Through the processes of language ownership, language diffusion and language empowerment among the people, the indigenous languages can gain true prestige and full implementation in all domains of South African life (Nyamende 2008).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

‘When I hear Afrikaans in the classroom and never my language, I get rebellious’: linguistic apartheid in South African higher education

Greenfield

2010

Language and Education

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Language policies in South African education have historically been inextricably woven within the fabric of larger sociopolitical realities and have supported the interests of those in power. With the dismantling of the apartheid regime and subsequent Constitutional statements addressing the importance of promoting the status and use of indigenous languages, progressive linguists and educators envisioned the possibilities of ushering in a new era of linguistic equality. However, especially at the tertiary level, educational practice continues to privilege the colonial languages, at the particular expense of Black South African students. In contrast with previous research that highlights more supportive sentiments among Black students regarding this hegemonic condition, this study incorporates 'deep interviewing' to identify the presence of more covert negative attitudes that have profound implications for educational performance. Implications for further scholarly work as well as plausible strategies for reform are considered.

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“…The hopes expressed for the development of African languages as languages of high status as result of the implementation of an additive national multilingual language policy in South Africa, for example by scholars like Phillipson (1996: 162, 163, 165), are now openly lamented as lost opportunities by South African language policy scholars (Du Plessis 2000;Beukes 2009;Webb 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Afrikaans in contact with English: endangered language or case of exceptional bilingualism?

Rooy¹

2013

International Journal of the Sociology of Language

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At present, discussions about potential language shift from African languages or Afrikaans to English are widespread in South Africa. This article focuses on the position of Afrikaans. Researchers interested in the position of Afrikaans today hold different views and there are some methodological prob lems with current studies. The main aim of this article is to problematize claims of language shift among Afrikaans speakers by analyzing relevant data from a larger scale survey of the language repertoires of an identified Afrikaans popula tion (n = 244) in the Vaal Triangle region. The research method involved the adap tation of language history or experience questionnaires designed by bilingualism researchers to describe the language repertoires of a large population of multi lingual students. The main findings of the study are that: (a) AfrikaansEnglish bilingualism (and biliteracy) is prominent among the Afrikaans participants in the study; (b) the position of English as an important language in the bilingual repertoires of the participants is confirmed; and (c) Afrikaans seems firmly set as the language that contributes most to the identity of these participants. A pattern of stable bilingualism and biliteracy emerges. The value of adding larger scale quantitative studies to complement smaller, qualitative studies in discussions of language shift and maintenance is confirmed by this study. The impact of the omission of AfrikaansEnglish bilingualism in the debate about Afrikaans is discussed.

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Multilingualism in South Africa: The challenge to below

Cited by 23 publications

References 8 publications

The (dis)ownership of English: language and identity construction among Zulu students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

The (dis)ownership of English: language and identity construction among Zulu students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

‘When I hear Afrikaans in the classroom and never my language, I get rebellious’: linguistic apartheid in South African higher education

Afrikaans in contact with English: endangered language or case of exceptional bilingualism?

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