Thesis (M.A. (Linguistics)) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / This study examines the effectiveness and relevance of Xitsonga at the University of Limpopo, Turfloop Campus. The study argues that as one of the six (6) official languages of Limpopo Province, Xitsonga deserves to be treated with the respect that it deserves. Although Xitsonga enjoys some recognition and support nationally and on campus, the study has discovered that there are problems associated with negative attitudes among Xitsonga speakers as they feel that the use of the English language enables them to be part of a global world. Furthermore, a major stumbling block with regard to the use of Xitsonga at the University of Limpopo Turfloop Campus is that some of its speakers hold a negative attitude towards their language as they prefer the use of English language for academic purposes. This is one reason English is still dominant amongst the student community as it is viewed as the language of the corporate world. However, the study reveals that a large number of respondents now support the idea that Xitsonga should be used in all official communication. Finally, the study recommends the use of Xitsonga in social and educational settings. It also recommends the holding of workshops and cultural activities in order to further promote and revitalise the language and its people, thus widening the circle of its acceptance at the Turfloop Campus of the University of Limpopo and beyond. / the National Research Foundation

This study seeks to support the thesis that African indigenous languages in South Africa should enjoy equal treatment in terms of the South African Constitution. Therefore, it will explore and find ways and means of how the South African government can reach out to rural communities with inadequate English proficiency, in an English-dominated South Africa, by breaking down the existing language barriers and curbing social inequalities. Language rights, like any other human rights, should be protected, as enshrined in the new democratic Constitution of South Africa.

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)

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 / Ph. D. (Psychology)

Bibliography: leaves 253-298 / This study examines the language, identity and intercultural communication dynamics in the Xhosa communities of Cape Town where some immigrant Shona speakers dwell. Language is a complex and nuanced repertoire of culture and the choice of language constitutes part of an individual’s identity construction. Owing to these identity dynamics, the Shona speakers resident among the Xhosa communities find themselves entangled in the politics of belonging and identity that define the Shona-Xhosa immigrant landscape in Cape Town. The Shona speakers engaging in intercultural communication in Xhosa communities are confronted with language and cultural hurdles. Orbe’s Co-cultural Theory among others was central to the unpacking of the intricacies of culture and the Xhosa hegemony. Results show that Shona people speak Xhosa for social acceptance and to secure economic benefits. Nevertheless, this seems not to offer them profound indulgence with the Xhosa culture. Even if they comprehend the culture, their Shona cultural identity hampers their full admission into the Xhosa culture. This lack of cultural acceptance leaves the Shona speakers alienated from both Xhosa and Shona cultures. In that regard, Shona speakers among Xhosa communities in Cape Town live a fluid life in which relentless cultural change is the only constant. This transitory life promotes intercultural concession in the personal layer of self, leading to the emergence of a hybrid multicultural self-concept. The study thus contributes towards scholarship by revealing that the differences in individual linguistic circumstances in the process of intercultural negotiation appear to produce different levels of acquisition of the Xhosa culture and Xhosa by the Shona speakers. This is corroborated by the fact that Shona speakers who could not speak English learnt Xhosa faster than those who could speak English. This study argues that the maintenance of the Shona language by its speakers in Xhosa communities is as much their duty, as it is their right. Ultimately, the study posits that ethnocentrism stifles the intercultural communication process and leads to tiffs in multicultural communities / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Phil. (Languages, Linguistics and Literature)