published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

This project sets out to outline the problems that are encountered by teachers in most black schools in South Africa, with regard to the language of instruction. In an attempt to cope with these problems teachers exercise their discretion, which often leads to them making policy. The language policy in education gives the learners a right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice. The current situation in South Africa does not allow for the exercise of such a right. Black schools in rural areas, therefore, continue to choose English as the medium of instruction, although in actual practice Zulu becomes the main language that is used to get the lesson across the learners. Such a practice has both negative and positive effects on learners who attend these schools. To understand what actually happens in black schools with regard to policy implementation, I conducted interviews in two rural primary and one secondary schools near Pietermaritzburg. Information was elicited from teachers of Grade 1 to 10, members of the schools' governing bodies, as well as learners. It became evident from my study that the choice of mother tongue instruction will not be made in the near future despite the difficulties that are faced by the schools in teaching in the medium of English. The reasons for such a kind of situation are that the blacks have negative attitudes towards their languages, and the status of these languages lag far beyond that of English In brief, English is still the important language in education, government, economy and administration. There is no way the good language policy of 1996 will take root if nothing is done to change the present course of events. The black schools will continue to battle with teaching in English and in the process produce learners of poor quality. The study recommends that the government should undertake campaigns to improve and develop African languages such that they become the languages of instruction in schools and tertiary education institutions. The stakeholders in education could also cooperate in ensuring that the chosen medium of instruction is adhered to. This would minimise the problems that lead to partial or non implementation of the policy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, 2003.

This article presents and discusses the results of a survey of a sample of Xhosa-speaking students at the University of Fort Hare regarding their attitudes towards the possible introduction of Xhosa as a medium of instruction at this institution. The research takes into account, among other things, the students' attitudes towards English and Xhosa and their opinions and beliefs about the introduction of dual-mediumship and its possible consequences. The survey was conducted with questionnaires and interviews and the results were first analysed as a whole, and then split into different categories according to gender, year of study, subject studied etc. This analysis indicates that while English is recognised as the dominant language in South Africa and, more specifically, in the domain of education, some categories of respondents acknowledge the usefulness of Xhosa as an additional medium of instruction. This survey clearly shows that it would make little sense to present Xhosa-speaking students at Fort Hare with a rigid choice between the existing English-medium and a dual-medium (English and Xhosa) policy and that more nuanced options would need to be offered. For example, respondents seem to consider the use of Xhosa as a medium of instruction more appropriate in the first years of study, for selected subjects and in some domains within the academic context rather than others. This study can be fruitfully compared with similar research carried out at other South African institutions. Moreover, the results of the present research can be used to inform future decisions regarding language policy at the University of Fort Hare.

This study explores the implementation of multilingualism at Rhodes University (RU), by examining the teaching and learning practices of lecturers, demonstrators and students within the Cell Biology module, offered by the Biological Sciences and Botany departments at RU. This examination is in line with RU’s Language Policy (2005/2014), which recognises multilingualism and the development of isiXhosa as an academic/scientific language. The study and the choice for the location of the study within RU was motivated by what seemed to be a pattern of under achievement of LOTE speaking students studying Cell Biology. This pattern necessitated a further inquiry into the language aspect of the teaching and learning of Cell Biology. The goals of this research were to investigate spaces where LOTE students use their home languages and the motivations behind their usage of those languages. Due to the varying proficiencies of LOTE students in their mother tongue, this study sought to investigate the language capabilities of LOTE students in their home languages. The perceptions of the main role players in the Cell Biology module were sought, in order to get an idea of what students, lecturers and demonstrators thought about multilingualism in teaching and learning practices in the Cell Biology module. This study has discovered that there is a disparity in achievement between LOTE and English speaking students, with English students outperforming LOTE students consistently in the period investigated. On the language capabilities of LOTE students in their mother tongue, it was discovered that they have enough linguistic capital for a mother tongue intervention to succeed. There were mixed views about the use of LOTE in HE, but students were mostly in favour of the use of LOTE. A number of recommendations are made as to how multilingualism can be implemented in Cell Biology. In this study I argue that there is a need to use the mother tongue of LOTE students in order to support learning, the mother tongue intervention is supported by scholars such as Paxton (2007, 2009; Madiba 2011, 2012, 2014). The use of the mother tongue to support learning should be a short-term measure while the process of the development of African languages is underway, because languages develop as they are used, and form follows function (Madiba 2008). Ultimately, African languages should be developed and use as academic languages in HE not only in order to fulfil the legislative imperatives such as the Constitution and the Language Policy Higher Education but also to increase access and success among LOTE students.

Pupils in the Republic of South Africa in the T.B.V.C. States (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei) are expected to commence study in all school subjects, except the first language (Xhosa, Tswana, Venda etc.) and the third language (Afrikaans), through the medium of English at the Std 3 level. English thus is the official medium of instruction for the greater part of the pupil's school experience. All examinations in all subjects (except those mentioned above) are set and answered through the medium of English. School textbooks from Std 3 upwards, in all subjects, are written in English. It is fairly safe to assert, therefore, that English should be the language life of the Higher Primary and Secondary School classroom. In 1953 a UNESCO report of proceedings of a conference held in 1951 maintained that the best medium for teaching a pupil was that of the mother-tongue. The report pleaded for mother-tongue instruction to be extended to as late a stage as possible in a pupil's school life (UNESCO 1953). While such a plea may be grounded on sound psychological and pedagogical reasoning, it is often ignored because of the realities existing within the educational system. The R.S.A. and the T.B.V.C. states are a case in point for as I have already mentioned, examinations, textbooks, and for that matter tertiary education at the post-matriculation level, all employ English as instructional medium. Pragmatism carries the day and the black pupil is compelled to use English. Other factors applicable to the South African context are the existence of many different ethnic groups, each with its own language, and the fact that a shortage of qualified and experienced teachers in many subjects and different levels within the schools has meant that often teachers whose first language is English are involved in teaching pupils from these various language groups

Thesis (M. Tech.) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2007 / The purpose of the study is to show, as so aptly put by Bamgbose (1996:111) that, given the ‘inheritance situation’ and the colonial legacy that continue to dominate education policies and practices in Africa, language policies are essentially characterised by the following features: avoidance, vagueness, arbitrariness, fluctuation, and declaration without implementation. The South African government has declared eleven languages as official to replace the former apartheid legislation which privileged English and Afrikaans as the sole languages of the country. The post apartheid eleven official language policy has been described by Bamgbose (1996 111) as, ‘the new enlightened South African language policy on languages,’ ‘a very progressive policy’ and ‘Africa’s best ticket’. The major concern raised was whether the language policy could be implemented. An attempt will be made to undertake a critical review of language planning under a democratic dispensation.

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / This study examines data from communication-theoretic refusal in isiZulu, relating to pragmatic theorists’ argument that every human interaction to a large extent carries with it an element of threatening one or both participants’ face. The speech act of refusal has been identified as one of the most effective speech acts to be employed for this phenomenon in this study. Every speech act is influenced by contextual, cultural and many other background factors associated to age, gender and rank, to mention a few, which contribute towards the composition of speech act. The issues relating to the theory of politeness prompted this study in the extent to which politeness plays a role in refusals in educational contexts of Zulu speaking students. The study has evaluated Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theory of politeness as a universal phenomenon against the findings of my data, in that the universality advanced by these theorists does not quite fit with this study. The variable percentages in this data, especially in refusals, indicate that politeness does not always exist in terms of positive and negative face in the participants’ mind but other considerations related to the goal of the speech act are the main source of the speech act. In this study, refusal in the Zulu context has demonstrated that politeness has been employed as a strategy for encoding distance between speaker and solicitor.