University students’ context-dependent conscious attitudes towards the official South African languages

Abstract

This paper considers the results of an empirical investigation of overt language attitudes held by students attending North-West University, South Africa. Attitudes elicited from 325 students with mainly Setswana, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English as home languages are analysed comparatively. The study explores the relationship between language preferences in an educational environment and language preferences in other domains of students' daily lives. The study thus indicates how different languages fulfil different roles in a multilingual university environment. The results presented are compared with findings reported in earlier attitudinal investigations from the Eastern Cape. In addition, a comparative analysis of attitudes by Afrikaans speakers is conducted considering students attending classes at two different campuses of the North-West University. At the traditional Afrikaans university campus, Potchefstroom, students show a higher regard for Afrikaans than students who attend classes at the Vaal Triangle. These findings are used in a discussion of context dependency of overt language preferences. Hilton 124 Notes 1 At campuses Potchefstroom and Mafikeng, the majority of the Bantu speaking student population is Setswana. However, at the Vaal Triangle, the majority speak Sesotho. The questionnaire was therefore distributed in a different version at the Vaal Triangle where 'Setswana' was replaced by 'Sesotho' as an option. Hilton 132

Testing the impact of known variables on the attitudes held by Setswana L1-speaking university students towards their L1

“…The findings of this survey could be compared with those from previous studies, such as those of (earliest to most recent publication of findings): Aziakpono (2007); Dalvit (2004); Dyers (1999) and Hilton (2010) because in addition to exploring new phenomena -such as the cultural identity of a people, the Batswana, as well as the promotion and propagation of a BSAL, Setswana -it also explored the previously explored phenomenon of 'attitudes within the education space', which the mentioned researchers explored. This survey's respondents were aged 18-35 years, that is, they were born in the years 1978 to 1995, and nearly 90% of them were aged 25 years and younger (i.e.…”

“…By focusing exclusively on Setswana (a language concentrated 6 in the following three provinces of South Africa: North West, Gauteng and Northern Cape), this survey aimed at increasing the number of Black South African languages (BSALs) 7 surveyed, as far as language attitudes studies were concerned. It is important to acknowledge that Bekker (2002) and Hilton (2010) conducted research among Setswana L1-speaking university students, albeit not exclusively or comprehensively. Bekker's survey was conducted at the University of South Africa and included L1 speakers of Sotho-Tswana languages (viz.…”

Literary translation, symbolic development and inclusion in South Africa

“…Möller (2014:62) indicates that apartheid's malevolent promotion of the African languages and the legacy of Bantu education may have caused a negative association with African language literature in some areas, although views of the African http://www.literator.org.za Open Access languages simply as non-literary, vernacular languages are probably more common hindrances. Neville Alexander (2005:2) has referred to the perception amongst African language speakers of their own languages as incapable of becoming languages of power in the dominant domains of society as Static Maintenance Syndrome, a phenomenon he identifies as a disabling attitude (see also Chauke 2020;Hilton 2010).…”