M. Tech. Language Practice / This case study investigated the Afrikaans communication of Grade 10 Afrikaans home language pupils from a dual-medium Free State high school. The participants on whom this study focusses were therefore constantly exposed to an alteration between English and Afrikaans, and the researcher believed their communication would be filled with English code-switched words. It was speculated that these pupils would code-switch often due to the fact that the communication in the school constantly moved between Afrikaans and English. The researcher set out to determine (1) in what way and how often the English code-switching used by these pupils affected the spoken meaning of their communication. She also wanted to know (2) which type of English code-switched words were used most frequently and (3) if these words occurred mostly on intra-sentential or extra-sentential level. Another aim of the study was to (4) establish what aspects of these pupils' spoken Afrikaans were affected by English code-switching and how many times they were affected.

South African education authorities demand of teachers a high degree of competency in both official languages. In the Cape Province in particular, teachers are not considered eligible for promotion posts unless they possess the so-called Higher Bilingualism Certificate, signifying their command of both official languages at "First Language" level. In view of the fact that the overwhelming majority of schools nowadays are single-medium institutions; this requirement may strike the objective observer as an anomaly. An attempt was made, therefore, first of all to investigate the historical background to this requirement. The "language question", a problematic feature of South African education since the beginning of the nineteenth.century, was not resolved when legislators chose "bilingualism and language equality" for the Union of South Africa in 1910. The available evidence suggests, however, that bilingualism was actively pursued as an educational ideal at least until the end of the 1940s, and for this reason education authorities placed a high premium on teachers who were "fully bilingual". Nowadays the typical (White) school is a single-medium institution where the second language is rarely if ever heard outside the classroom where it is taught as a subject. The present policy, to demand a high degree of proficiency in both official languages of teachers occupying promotion posts at such a school, may then be described not only as an anomaly, but as an anachronism. A further problem is the fact that the various educational institutions (specifically teachers' colleges and universities) that set examinations leading to the Higher Bilingualism Certificate rarely communicate with one another, and are therefore unable to agree on uniform standards and criteria, or to ensure that such standards are maintained. That this is indeed the case, was confirmed by examination of "Big E" test papers set at three teachers' colleges, two Colleges for Continued Training, and four universities in the Cape Province. In an attempt to establish what assistance and support might be needed by a "second language" user of English in order for him to improve to the point where he resembled a "first language" user of English in his "terminal language behaviour", a comparison (by means of error analysis) of the responses of two groups (an Ll and an L2 group) to the same test paper was undertaken. The available evidence suggests that L2 users may need to be helped to acquire a more extensive vocabulary, but, above all, that they need to improve their ability to handle two crucially important aspects of usage: idiom and grammar. The final chapter attempts to establish pedagogic and linguistic bases for a course intended for "Big E" candidates, and makes recommendations with regard to (i) the content and the form of the course, and (ii) sound examination practice. The concluding thoughts offer the view that such a course could remain useful even in a future South Africa where the emphasis may shift from a demand for teachers who are "fully bilingual" to teachers who have a good command of English.

M.A. / This study seeks to formulate a rationale to overcome the negative perceptions many South Africa ethnic language parents have adopted towards the use of their children's mother tongue as the language of learning and teaching. With a view to considering the role both home and school can play in supporting South Africa's new language-in-education policy, underpinned by additive bilingualism, this study investigates three factors of bilingual education, viz. (1) language planning and policy-making, (2) research into bilingualism and bilingual education, and (3) language attitudes of parents of L2 learners in three distinctly-different Gauteng primary schools...

MA (Tshivenda) / Senthara ya M.E.R.Mathivha ya Nyambo dza Afrika, Vhutsila na Mvelele / Code switching is a factor that is affecting many languages in our communities. There are so many factors that have led people to code switch. People seem to think that it is a good thing to code switch overlooking the impacts of code switching. The aim of this research is to reveal the causes of code switching and its impact on Tshivenḓa language which is regarded as one of the minority languages in Zimbabwe. This study will reveal the causes of code switching Tshivenḓa language in Beitbridge town and the impacts of doing so which include among others language death and language shift. The study will also show how shortage of books, publishing companies, presence of private schools and the uninvolvement of government has contributed to code switching of Tshivenḓa language in Beitbridge town in Zimbabwe. The study will also put forth some recommendations that can be used in order to solve this problem of code switching languages.

MA (Xitsonga) / Ehansi ka Senthara ya M. E. R. Mathivha ya Tindimu ta Afrika, Vutshila ni Ndhlavuko / Xikongomelonkulu xa ndzavisiso lowu i ku lava ku andlala ntirho lowu wu tirhiwaka hi vutivi bya tindziminyingi hi ku kongomisa eka Vatsonga va lembe ro sungula eYunivhesiti ya Vhenda. Xikongomelo xin’wana xa ndzavisiso lowu i ku lava ku kumisisa ndlela leyi mhaka ya vutivi bya tindziminyingi yi vuyerisaka machudeni ha kona loko va ri karhi va ti nghenelerisa eka minhjekanjhekisano ya swa tidyondzo. Theme leri ra tindziminyingi ri tumbulukile khale hi nkarhi wa ku akiwa ka xihondzo ya Babel. Theme leri ri kongomisa eka xiyimo laha munhu a nga ni vuswikoti bya ku tirhisa tindzimi timbirhi kumbe ku tlula. Dyondzo ya tindziminyingi yi tanihi tidyondzo letin’wana hikuva nayona yi va yi simekiwile eka rimba ra dyondzo yoyoleyo. Ndzavisiso lowu wu simekiwile eka Thiyori ya Affordances. Xikongomelo xa ku va hi hlawuriwile thiyori i mhaka ya leswaku eYunivhesiti ya Vhenda ku kumeka vanhu vo hlaya laha swi nyikaka nkarhi eka machudeni ku va va dyondza tindzimi ta van’wana machudeni leswaku va oloveriwa hi swa tidyondzo ta vona. Dyondzo kumbe ndzavisiso lowu wu tirhisa tindlela timbirhi to hlengeleta mahungu, ku nga endlelo ra nkoka ni endlelo ra ntalo laha swi nga ta endliwa eYunivhesiti ya Vhenda. Machudeni lawa ya ta hlawuriwa hi ku tirhisa endlelo ra sampula ya xikongomelo laha ku nga ta hlawuriwa machudeni ya khumetsevu ku suka eka swikolo swo hambanahambana swa le yunivhesiti leyi. Vuxokoxoko byi ta hlengeletiwa hi ku tirhisa maendlelo ya vuxiyaxiya ni maendlelo ya Nongonoko wa swivutiso laha machudeni ya nga ta vutisiwa swi vutiso swo karhi. Hambiloko swi ti komba onge ririmi ra Xinghezi hi rona ririmi ra matimba eka swa tidyondzo kambe tindzimi ta Xintima na tona ta tirhisiwa swinene eka swa tidyondzo ta vona. Vulavisisi byi komba leswaku mhaka ya tindziminyingi yi ni xiave xikulu swinene eka ku pfuna machudeni loko ya ri karhi ya burisana hi mhaka ya swa tidyondzo ta vona. Ndzavisiso lowu wu ni nkoka swinene eka vanhu lava vatsakelaka ku hlaya ni ku hluvukisa tindzimi ta Xintima. / NRF

This study takes place within a school situated on the north eastern side of Soshanguve, a township to the north of the capital city, Pretoria, also called Tshwane. The school draws most of its learners from an area that started as an informal settlement. Certain parts of this settlement are now well structured and it is gradually becoming a formal settlement. The children who form part of this study are those whose parents have migrated from neighbouring provinces such as Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga, as well as from neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Owing to this migration, the community around this school is multilingual. Multilingualism has led to phonic, grammatical, semantic and stylistic language interference. This interference has caused language change, which in turn has led to variations that affect the standard form of Sesotho sa Lebowa, the first language of the school. The school selected for this study has achieved very average matriculation results since its establishment in 1994. Although the school generally achieves a 100% pass rate in the subject Sesotho sa Lebowa, marks are generally low despite the fact that the learners are supposedly first language speakers of Sesotho sa Lebowa. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons for the poor quality of these results. Matriculation results over the past four years attest to the fact that something needs to be done in order to reverse the negative trend of these results. / Linguistics / M.A. (Sociolinguistics)

This study takes place within a school situated on the north eastern side of Soshanguve, a township to the north of the capital city, Pretoria, also called Tshwane. The school draws most of its learners from an area that started as an informal settlement. Certain parts of this settlement are now well structured and it is gradually becoming a formal settlement. The children who form part of this study are those whose parents have migrated from neighbouring provinces such as Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga, as well as from neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Owing to this migration, the community around this school is multilingual. Multilingualism has led to phonic, grammatical, semantic and stylistic language interference. This interference has caused language change, which in turn has led to variations that affect the standard form of Sesotho sa Lebowa, the first language of the school. The school selected for this study has achieved very average matriculation results since its establishment in 1994. Although the school generally achieves a 100% pass rate in the subject Sesotho sa Lebowa, marks are generally low despite the fact that the learners are supposedly first language speakers of Sesotho sa Lebowa. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons for the poor quality of these results. Matriculation results over the past four years attest to the fact that something needs to be done in order to reverse the negative trend of these results. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Sociolinguistics)