no abstract available / Linguistics / M.A. (Sociolinguistics)

This study explores approaches and strategies to implement in multicultural English-medium secondary schools for the management and education of black pupils with limited proficiency in English. It attempts to identify means of enhancing and accelerating the mastery by such pupils of English at a level sufficient to support their cognitive-academic needs. An account is given of those elements of the South African education system that have contributed to the disadvantagement that such children bring to the multic,llttu'al classroom. Relevant theories of bilingual education create a theoretical context for the qualitative research that follows, in which the experiences are recorded of educators at three schools where the needs of limited-English-proficient (LEI') pupils have been addressed. Data gathering was by means of focus-group interviews. Based Oll this research, guidelines are offered to help multicultural schools design policies and implement programmes to accommodate the needs of LEP pupils. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Comparative Education)

The new higher education system of South Africa is in the process of transformation. Part of the transformation process involves raising the use and status of indigenous languages to become essential part of the country‟s higher education system. The constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) laid a foundation responding to the imperative regarding the use and status of indigenous languages. The Ministry of Education (Higher Education) pays special attention to fitting their education policies to the constitution by incorporating subsection 27(2) of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act 101 of 1997) that states “subject to the policy determined by the Minister, the council, with the concurrence of the senate, must determine the institutional language policy of a public higher education institution and must publish and make it available on request”. The Language Policy for Higher Education was published by the Ministry of Education in November 2002. Lastly, the Ministry of Education appointed a Ministerial Committee “to advise on the development of African (indigenous) languages as mediums of instruction in higher education.” This committee published its report in 2005. This study investigates the fit between government language policies and institutional language policies. The focus is on indigenous languages in the South African higher education system. The main purpose is to argue for the design of an integrated institutional language policy framework in a holistic way. The study population consisted of the 23 universities and the indigenous language academic staff. A case study and survey were used. All twenty-three indigenous language units from the 23 universities‟ departments were used in the survey section of this research. A random sample of respondents was used, all the respondents were indigenous language academic personnel. Questionnaires were sent to each one who agreed to participate. This questionnaire was the main research instrument for collecting data. The research showed that there is no fit between government language policies and institutional language policies. It is recommended that improvements in fit between government language policies and institutional language policies be embarked upon across the 23 universities‟ staff members and stakeholders (students). / African Languages / Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages))

Summaries in English and Afrikaans / This study concerns the teaching and learning of Afrikaans as a foreign language in colleges of education in the Northern Province. An empirical survey was conducted at Makhado and Shingwedzi Colleges of Education where teachers are trained for the Primary Teachers' Diploma. This study seeks to identify issues which perpetrate negative attitudes to the subject of Afrikaans, as is manifested by low student enrolment, or its absence. Apart from the fact that South Africa is proclaimed by the Constitution of the country to be both multilingual and multicultural, non-Afrikaans student teachers seem to ignore the advantages of including Afrikaans as one of the units of their linguistic flexibility. The study thus identifies the knowledge, skills and attitudes which teachers and student teachers should acquire in this foreign language during their training in order to be successful practitioners in the field. The study endeavours to inform its learners that the language should be regarded as a tool of communication, not one of politics. This knowledge is necessary as African learners tend to associate the subject Afrikaans with the apartheid era of government. Chapter two deals with theoreticar considerations which underpin the teaching of the subject of Afrikaans. The role of language policy and its planning was identified as the basis of negative attitudes towards the language. Chapter three deals with instructional issues pertaining to the teaching of the subject of Afrikaans as a foreign language. These issues include the How? and Why? of factors to be considered in the teaching of the subject with the aim of enhancing the teachers' understanding of the subject. Research is conducted on problematical areas. Chapter four concentrates on the empirical research. The research endevours to identify issues in the teaching of the subject The thesis concludes that there is a need to revisit the aims of learning the Afrikaans language and a need to concentrate on cultivating a culture of learning in the subject of Afrikaans. This can be accomplished by enriching the language through acquiring various teaching skills and addressing various needs of learners. / Hierdie studie handel oor die onderrig en leer van Afrikaans as vreemde taal in onderwyskolleges in die Noordelike Provinsie. h Empiriese studie is gedoen by die Makhado Onderwyskollege en die Shingwedzi Onderwyskollege waar onderwysers vir die Primere Onderwysdiploma opgelei word. In hierdie navorsing word getrag om die faktore wat aanleiding gee tot die lae inskrywingsyfer vir Afrikaans as vak te identifiseer. Afgesien van die feit dat die Grondwet van SuidAfrika voorsiening maak vir veeltaligheid en multikulturaliteit, ignoreer nieAfrikaanssprekende studente die voordele wat daaraan verbonde is om Afrikaans as vak by hulle studiepakket in te sluit. Die kennis; vaardighede en houdings wat onderwysers en onderwysstudente moet verwerf om Afrikaans as vreemde taal suksesvol te kan onderrig, word hier ge'identifiseer. Poging word aangewend om aan te toon dat Afrikaans as werktuig vir kommunikasie aangewend moet word en nie as h politieke werktuig nie. Hierdie kennis is noodsaaklik, aangesien leerders die taal en dus ook die vak Afrikaans, meestal assosieer met die voormalige apartheidsregering. Hoofstuk twee handel oor die teoretiese aspekte wat die grondslag van die onderrig van die vak Afrikaans vorm. Die rol wat die taalbeleid tans speel en ook in die verlede gespeel het, word ge"identifiseer as basis vir die negatiewe ingesteldhede teenoor die taal. , Hoofstuk drie handel oor onderrigaangeleenthede betreffende die vak Afrikaans as h vreemde taal. Hierdie sake sluit in die Hoe? en Waarom? van faktore wat in ag geneem word by die onderrig van die vak wanneer beoog word om die onderwyser se insig betreffende die vak te verbeter. Navorsing is gedoen oor areas wat problematies blyk te gewees het. In hoofstuk vier word die empiriese navorsing weergegee. Hierdie navorsing trag om sekere aangeleenthede betreffende die onderrig van die vak oop te dek. Die tesis volstaan daarmee dat daar 'n nood is om die doelstellings met die onderrig van Afrikaans weer eens te beskou en dat dit ook nodig is om daarop te konsentreer om die onderrig van Afrikaans op aile vlakke te bevorder. Dit kan bereik word deur die verryking van die taal deur middel van die aanleer van verskillende onderrigvaardighede en deur die behoeftes van die leerders aan te spreek. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

This thesis addresses the problem of the lack of a systematic approach to the modernisation of the indigenous languages of South Africa, with particular reference to Venda. Thus, a systematic approach is proposed in this study for the development of modem terminology in Venda. This approach is based on the canonical model for language planning. In this model, terminology development should follow the following four steps: (1) analysis of the terminological needs of the situation, (2) preparation of a plan and strategies for research, (3) implementation of terminology in practice by means of suitable policies, and lastly, (4) evaluation and constant updating of terminology. Within the canonical model for language planning, different models or frameworks are proposed. First is the theoretical model, which follows the pragmatic approach rather than a purist approach and takes into consideration other extralinguistic factors such as the nature of the special subject field, the needs of the target users and the socio-cultural context. The pragmatic approach is divided into two phases, namely the borrowing phase and the indigenisation phase. In the borrowing phase the borrowed terms are incorporated into the language with immediate effect and these terms may be replaced by indigenous terms in the indigenisation phase where less specialised communication is used. In the indigenisation phase, different language internal term formation strategies were identified, namely semantic shift, derivation, compounding, paraphrasing, initialisms, acronyms, clipping and new word manufacture. It was established that the use of these term formation strategies in Venda requires linguistic expertise, technical expertise and cultural expertise. Accordingly, a sociolinguistic approach is recommended rather than a purely linguistic approach. Lastly, a model of practical terminology work and a model for cooperation and coordination are proposed for terminology work in this language. With regard to the former, various steps that should be followed in terminology work are outlined. In the latter model various language agencies, such as government departments, parastatals and non-governmental organisations that may be involved in the modernisation of this language are identified. A framework in which these agencies could cooperate and coordinate their terminology work is proposed. / Linguistics / D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

The new South Africa is encouraging multilingualism. The Department of Education has given a mandate to promote African languages. The Department of Higher Education came up with higher education language policy in 2002. All the higher education institutions have to choose indigenous languages to promote. Tshwane University of Technology has decided to promote Setswana and siSwati as their primary and secondary languages, respectively, to be used within the university. This study is about assessing the implementation of the Tshwane University of Technology’s language Policy. The researcher uses mixed methods to conduct the research. A survey and observation were used as tools to collect data. The researcher observed the implementation of the language policy at Tshwane University of Technology (Soshanguve Campus). The researcher also reviewed the language policies for Higher education and the Tshwane University of Technology’s language policy. The signage, marketing tools, billboards, directions and university documents were observed. This research was based on promoting the indigenous languages. From the data collected, Setswana is not used to convey the message within the university; therefore the indigenous languages are not yet implemented or promoted / African Languages / M. A. (Afrcan Languages)

Text in English / There is an abundance of multilingual education (MLE) studies internationally and locally. Studies show that MLE is a global issue. South Africa is a unique country since it has assigned eleven languages official status at the national level. The multilingual nature of this country calls for the implementation of MLE. This study seeks to argue that if mother tongue, the language of wider communication as well as other languages are important, the transition should be geared towards MLE rather than to second language (L2). The question is how the transitioning to MLE is embraced in South Africa. This study is an attempt to examine the transitioning to MLE in South Africa schools with reference to Limpopo Province. The study mainly explored the Language-in-education policy (LiEP) implementation and practices in the selected schools as well as examining schools’ compliance with the pedagogical motivations and theories dealing with transition to multilingual education. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to corroborate the data obtained by using one method to reduce the limitations of another method. In quantitative research, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from principals, parents, teachers and learners. In the qualitative research methodology, observations and document analysis methods of collecting data were employed. Purposive sampling was the major sampling method to ensure that relevant data was collected. Qualitative data was analysed thematically. LiEP and the National Language Policy Framework (NLPF) formed the major analytical framework for this study. Cummins’ theories (1978), bi/multilingual education models as well as the Language management theory form the theoretical framework that guided this study. The theories emphasise the link between mother tongue and the development of L2. The findings of this study show the misunderstandings of the LiEP, the implementation of early transitional bilingual education as well as the lack of confidence in the ability of African languages to provide quality education. The study generally suggests that language policies should be dealt with differently due to the contexts which they address. This study concludes by suggesting a working model that is suitable for the unique linguistic situations of schools. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

Even though language formed part of the post-apartheid agenda which was set out to redress the ills of the pre-democratic South Africa, there are still concerns that the status of indigenous languages has not been elevated. Using decolonial work of Steve Biko, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Frantz Fanon as theoretical lens, I aimed at exploring perceptions of key informants on post-apartheid language policies, young South Africans and parents /guardians toward indigenous languages. In-depth and narrative interviews were used to collect data from language policy key informants and young South Africans who started schooling after 1994 and focus group discussions with parents/guardians were held. Thematic, narrative and discourse analyses were used to analyse the data. Indigenous languages were perceived by participants as having an inferior status compared to languages of oppression and that was attributed to inferiority complex, lack of will from government to promote these languages and absent voice of indigenous language speakers in the fight for the status of indigenous languages. South Africa’s language diversity was also perceived as a challenge believed to contribute toward the difficulty of properly implementing post-apartheid language policies. The study results suggest a need for a stronger civil society which would assist in the dismantling of categorising languages as superior and inferior. Furthermore, the results point to a need for a more humanising approach which treats indigenous languages with respect. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

The elections of the democratic government in South Africa in 1994 led to the formulation of the new Language-in-education policy (LiEP), which was adopted by government in July 1997. This study evaluated the implementation of this policy in selected secondary schools of the Limpopo Province. In making this evaluation the study wanted to answer the question: How should schools implement the new LiEP in Limpopo Province? The major findings of the study are that the new LiEP remains largely ignored and unimplemented in Limpopo Province. The status quo remains unchanged in most schools and English and Afrikaans continue to be the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in all schools investigated. The study therefore argues that there is a serious discrepancy between policy and practice. The study concludes by making recommendation to address the problems identified and to provide guidelines on how the policy may be implemented in Limpopo Province, such as the gradual phasing in of African languages as LoLTs. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Specialisation in Sociolinguistics)

no abstract available / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Sociolinguistics)