In January 2002, the government of Zimbabwe officially declared six official minority languages, namely, Kalanga, Nambya, Shangani, Sotho, Tonga and Venda as languages of instruction and subjects in primary schools in the areas where they are spoken as mother tongues. The government had planned for these languages to be introduced to a grade per year until they could be taught at grade 7 level by 2005 (Secretaryâs Circular Number 1 of 2002). Three of these languages (Venda, Tonga and Kalanga) under the auspices of the Venda, Tonga and Kalanga Association (VETOKA) were pioneers in advocating and lobbying for the introduction of marginalised local languages in education in the early 1980s. However, Kalanga and Venda have remained behind, despite having been the pioneers of this initiative. Long after 2005, only Tonga emerged as the first language to be examined in grade 7 in 2011. In current studies in language planning, policy and management, there have been strong suggestions that bottom-up approaches may be more successful than top-down approaches. Bottom-up approaches are said to be the most promising in terms of community commitment and sustainability (Alexander, 1992; Baldauf, 1994; 2005; 2008; Kaplan and Baldauf, 1997; Webb, 2002; 2009; 2010; Mwaniki, 2004; 2010b; Benson, 2005; Trudell, 2006; Lewis and Trudell, 2008; Liddicoat and Baldauf, 2008; Baldauf, Li & Zhao, 2008; Hatoss, 2008). The delay in the implementation of the 2002 policy development and success story of Tonga raises the questions: âWhy this delay? Why was Tonga first?â This study therefore examines the possible causes for the delay in the implementation of the 2002 policy development and the conditions and factors that led to the success story of Tonga. It is expected that an understanding of these causes could help explain the delay in the implementation of the other three languages and similar initiatives elsewhere. It is also hoped that this study will enhance our understanding of the dynamics of bottom-up approaches to language planning. In evaluating and examining the implementation of the 2002 policy development and conditions and factors that led to the success story of Tonga, I adopted the Language Management Approach (LMA) proposed by Mwaniki (2004). The LMA is used alongside Kaplan & Baldaufâs (1997; 2003) seven areas of policy development for language-in-education policy implementation; the ethnolinguistic vitality model advanced by Giles, Bourhis & Taylor (1977) as well as Webbâs (2010) factors and conditions that determine the success and failure of bottom-up and top-down policies. These three frameworks interrelate and overlap with one another, and also with some of the language management variables, methodologies and strategies. It emerged that the delay in the implementation of the 2002 policy development was due to the failure to secure and deploy the language management variables, methodologies and strategies at an optimal level. The failure to timeously develop the seven areas of policy development for language-in-education policy implementation also accounts for the delay. On the one hand, the Tonga group owes its success to the deployment of some of the language management variables, methodologies and strategies and the development of some of the seven areas of policy development for language-in-education policy implementation. The ethnolinguistic vitality of the three language groups in question and the conditions and factors that determine the success or failure of bottom-up and top-down policies also contributed to the delay in the implementation of the 2002 policy development. The success story of Tonga is as a result of the Tonga groupâs ethnolinguistic vitality and some of the conditions and factors that determine the success and failure of bottom-up and top-down policies.

The Constitutional Assembly accepted a new democratic constitution for the Republic of South Africa on 8 May 1996. The Constitution makes provision for a fair amount of clauses regarding language issues. Among other it makes provision for eleven official languages that reflect the multicultural nature of our society. The National Government presents their position on language in education in the 1996 South African Bill of Rights. It seems clear that the Department of Education emphasises the development of multilingualism within the framework of additive bilingual education. Schools are strongly recommended to offer at least two languages of instruction as from Grade 1, one of which should be the home language of the learner. Aside from these positive goals, the opposite seems to happen in practice. Even more complaints arise, especially from the ranks of minority languages (Afrikaans and African languages) that their languages are marginalised as languages of instruction. A positive development is that more voices are heard in support of language teaching, especially in communities that have traditionally been seen as being in favour of English teaching. This re-evaluation of the role of mother tongue teaching could be contributed to certain language activist initiatives since 1994. This study investigates the role of language activism in the movement back to mother tongue education in South Africa after the establishment of a democratic language dispensation in the country. The perception is investigated that communities are apathetic towards language rights issues in education brought about by political and other pressure groups that want to retain the status quo regarding the promotion of English as medium of instruction at the expense of minority languages. This is done by determining: (a) how widespread the phenomenon of language activism in South Africa occurs, (b) the forms (if any) of language activism among the different language communities, (c) whether there is indeed a re-evaluation of mother tongue teaching and (d) what role (if any) language activism plays in the restoration of mother tongue education. Chapter 2 provides an outline of the theoretical background of the study. It provides an overview of the literature on language activism as phenomenon (and its role within the field of language planning) and how it manifests in mother tongue struggles around the world, especially with regard to education. Various definitions of language planning as an inclusive process, and not only as a top-down action, are investigated. The role that communities play in influencing language policy is investigated on the basis of various definitions in the literature regarding language rights activism. Employing the tools of language activism, as developed by Martel and later Lubbe and Du Plessis are investigated. At the end of the chapter the conclusion is reached that interaction between governments and community organisations plays a vital role in preserving and developing the cultural and linguistic heritage of any community. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the qualitative research design and methodology used in the study. For the purposes of this study a literature, documents and empirical study was done which involved analysing the press clippings. This provides an outline of the methods followed to obtain information from the literature (both nationally and internationally), relevant documents and media records selected for the purpose of the study. It also outlines the strategies followed in order to ensure the validity and reliability. The study is done on the basis of the typology of the instruments of language activism introduced by Martel (1999) and further developed by Lubbe et al. (2004) and Du Plessis (2006). The typology distinguishes between the main instruments of language activism used by language activists and presents an appreciation of which tools would be more successful. The analysis was done on the basis of the definitions of language activism and the social movement theory as discussed in Chapter 2. Chapter 4 provides an historical background to language planning and language policy development in South Africa. The chapter highlights the main moments within the political context of language policy development. An attempt is made to present the role of language activism in South Africa by studying the relevant literature. Studies on language activism and mother tongue education as well as official documents on language in education are used. The period 1652 (the beginning of the Colonial period) until 1994 (the democratisation period) is covered. In Chapter 5 the findings regarding the media analysis for the period 1994 to 2005 are discussed. This is followed by a critical analysis and interpretation of the findings in order to determine the role language activism played in the re-evaluation of mother tongue education in South Africa. The conclusion is reached that language activism did take place within the South African community. Also that the two main traditions of language activism still figure, but there are signs from both sides of the spectrum that there is a willingness to cooperate inclusively to a greater democratic education system. In the last chapter a summary is presented of the findings in the various chapters. A synthesis of the findings is presented with regard to the problem statements outlined in Chapter 3. Conclusions are made based on the findings and recommendations are then made regarding further investigations into problem areas and possible solutions.

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Communication Science, University of Zululand, 2005. / In this thesis the researcher examines language policy and language practice in large organisations, with specific reference to departmental practice at the eThekwini Municipality. The eThekwini Municipality is one of South Africa's largest municipalities that are tasked with the provision of (and ensuring universal access to) essential services that are affordable to local communities, for example, water, electricity and sanitation. The eThekwini municipality was chosen on the basis of its commitment to equity and the development of its employees' potential through training and development programmes. The study, is conducted within the parameters of the new Constitution's multilingual language policy of South Africa, the Skills Development Act of 1998 and the Employment Equity Act of 1998. In Section 6: C, the Constitution states that the state must take practical measures to elevate the status of the indigenous languages and in Section 9: 3, the state may not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of language and colour. The study argues that in order to ensure equity, all South African languages must be used for the promotion of multilmgualism and the advancement of African languages, which were previously ignored by the apartheid government. The broad issues that the study examined include language policy and practice, languages used in organisations and the dominance of English in organisational communication.

INTRODUCTION Although the controversy surrounding the medium of education for deaf individuals rages on, language professionals including educators are now realising that literacy is the single most important factor in determining the successful education of the deaf child. The medium of education selected, should thus ultimately foster literacy skills. Supporters of oralism (referring to the principal that Deaf people should learn to commnicate by speech and lipreading without the use of Sign Language) claim that with recent technological advances eg cochlear implants, the ability of even the profoundly deaf child to obtain spoken language fluency, has never been better. Oralists maintain that because the majority of the population is comprised of hearing individuals, educators are morally obliged to enforce the teaching of society�s dominant language as first priority as it is only by acquiring spoken language that the deaf child will be able to fully integrate himself in society (Gregory, Hartley, 1991). In contrast, supporters of a signed language as a medium of education argue that signed language is the best language model that is within the biological grasp of the deaf child � it is easily and naturally acquired (Lane, Hoffmeister & Bahan 1996). When used as a medium of education a signed language can impart new knowledge to the learner as well as knowledge about other languages. With first language proficiency in signed language the acquisition of second language skills i.e. literacy skills is facilitated. Deaf high school graduates (if they graduate at all) have literacy skills equivalent to roughly a third or fourth grade level. (Holcomb, Peyton & Kreeft 1992). This frightning statistic holds true for the deaf population of South Africa. Poor literacy skills resulted in the Deaf being trapped in a vicious circle of powerlessness, dependence and marginality, consequently depriving them of their dignity and rightful place in society (Carver, 1990). Recent researchers are of the opinion that the Deaf share similar language backgrounds and literacy challenges to other minority groups and that poor literacy skills can possibly be attributed to linguistic, cultural and educational factors. Hence the importance of determining the best language medium for the deaf child to receive his education. Deaf literacy is an attainable goal. What now needs to be determined is whether a signed language or a spoken language as a medium of pre-school education is the catalyst for initiating and facilitating literacy skills, which will ultimately enable the Deaf to reclaim their power, independence, dignity and rightful place in society, thus enabling them to actively contribute towards the economic and social growth of the country.

SUMMARY The primary purpose of this research was to determine what role mother-tongue teaching plays in the relationship between intelligence and academic performance. At present, English enjoys both national and international status, and as a result of this, this language is sometimes the only language in which the majority of South Africans want their children educated. Parents believe that their children need to have a command of English in order to be able to cope with international demands that they may be faced with in the future and that skill in the English language will offer their children access to training, work opportunities and economic freedom. The teaching language in our schools is a matter of great concern as well as a source of conflict between different language groups. Internationally it is accepted that mother-tongue teaching is the most effective form of teaching. The Constitution also stipulates that every person is entitled to receive teaching in the language of his choice, where this is practicable. Researchers recommend that a learner should use his mother tongue as medium of education from the commencement of the school career and that this should continue for as long as it is practically possible. Mother-tongue teaching would then at least be present during the commencement phase of the school career. In the light of all of the above, the purpose of this study was to determine whether learners who are taught in their mother tongue perform better academically than those who receive teaching in their second language. Intelligence is a factor that could have an effect upon the latter. During this study the emphasis was therefore mainly placed on the relationship between academic performance and intelligence. Academic performance is usually expressed as a percentage and in the school it is expected that learners with a high intelligence also attain high achievements. Although there are several factors that play a role in academic performance, intellectual ability is the single most important contributing factor in academic performance. Language, however, plays an important role in the intellectual development of the child. The literature indicates a close relationship between language and thoughts. Language and intelligence are inter-dependent. A learner�s verbal ability is mainly developed by his verbal assimilation, because concepts are taught to the learner through his verbal comprehension. Therefore, the better his verbal comprehension, the better he will conceptualise and the better he will use his abilities. If a learner experiences language problems, this will have a direct influence on his abilities. With regard to this latter statement, the assumption can be made that if a learner experiences problems in the second language it will negatively influence his abilities and more specifically his academic performance. The research group for this study consisted of 138 Grade 2 learners (from schools in Bloemfontein). All of the Grade 2 learners from these two schools were involved, but for various reasons not everyone took part in the research project. The selection of the schools was done on the grounds of the teaching language used and the distribution of non-mother-tongue speakers in these schools. The intelligence of the learners was determined by means of the Group Test for seven to eight-year-olds. Their academic performance was determined by the latest results in Literacy and Numeracy and the average percentage of these two subjects was used as an indication of the average academic performance of the learners. The results indicated that mother-tongue teaching was certainly a moderator in the relationship between intelligence and academic performance of the Grade 2 learners in the study. The learners who received mother-tongue teaching tended to perform better academically than those who did not receive mother-tongue teaching. These results were confirmed by the literature and indicate that learners succeed up to 6% better when taught in their mother tongue. The results of the study show that parents should be careful if they wish to have their children taught in a second language in the commencement phase of education. Key words: Mother-tongue teaching, second language teaching, commencement phase of education, intelligence, academic performance.

A number of narratives in the Hebrew Bible deal with seemingly inappropriate behaviors such as drunkenness and prostitution. These stories include, Noah's drunkenness after the flood in Genesis 9:18-29, Lot's drinking of wine with his two daughters in Genesis 19:31- 38 and the narrative of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38:1-30. The unseemly aspects of these stories are the more puzzling because the major protagonists are often characters who are portrayed as models of righteous behavior. Noah, for example, is the only character in the Bible who is referred to as a righteous ( צ××ק ) man (Genesis 6:9 and Genesis 7:1). Yet, after he leaves the ark after the flood, his first action is to plant a vineyard and to get drunk. The biblical narrative does not dwell on Noah's inappropriate behavior. Similarly, in Genesis 19:31-38, the Bible describes the actions of Lot and his two daughters after the destruction of Sodom. The two daughters make their father drunk and commit incest with him so that they can conceive children. In this narrative, the act of drunkenness is compounded by the sin of incest. Yet this provocative biblical narrative is elliptical in style giving no judgment of their behavior. The story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38:1-30 is also a puzzling moral narrative. Tamar intentionally deceives her father-in law by impersonating a prostitute and Judah engages a woman who he considers to be a prostitute. Moreover, he and his daughter-in-law commit what appears to be incest. This seemingly inappropriate behavior on the part of royal ancestors creates an intolerable tension within the narrative that calls upon the reader for meaningful resolution. These provocative and perplexing biblical narratives invite and even demand interpretation. This study explores how ancient interpreters provided new meanings to these ancient texts. Despite their varied cultural and historical backgrounds, this study details how these interpreters shared common perceptions about the underlying hermeneutic principles of biblical interpretation. These include the ideas that the Bible is a cryptic document, that scripture is fundamentally a relevant text and that the Bible is harmonious and divinely inspired. While the narrative features, themes and canonical contexts of these three biblical stories guided early Jewish interpreters to some natural conclusions, this study shows how these interpreters also made hermeneutic decisions at critical junctures in the biblical narrative and sometimes reconfigured the story's plot and characters to correspond with their understanding of its central message. Their elaborations and clarifications therefore restricted and channeled the meaning of the biblical narrative in distinctive directions. The study focuses on the literary and rhetorical strategies and received exegetical traditions that influenced the interpreters' understandings of the narrative. The striking differences between the treatments also stem from the very active nature of the interpreters' engagement with the biblical narrative, which included reshaping the narrative into forms capable of expressing the values and ideals of different types of ancient Judaism. The study also explores how ancient interpreters and particularly the authors of early midrashic literature, established standards of rabbinic morality by reshaping and developing the early biblical narrative. Their interpretations of the biblical narrative may in fact offer an assessment of what the early Rabbis considered moral behavior. While drunkenness is clearly denounced by the Rabbis, we find much more nuanced postures about the evils of prostitution. The introduction of exegetical motifs such as the Messiah and Godly intervention in their interpretations ensured that these somewhat puzzling narratives were interjected with values and religious ideals with which their readers could identify, thereby enabling scripture to retain its normative and vital function within these living religious communities.

The study investigates the reasons for the non- implementation of multilingual policies and plans with special reference to South Africaâs language policy and planning implementation scenario. The study identifies four categories of explanations for the non-implementation of multilingual policies and plans in South Africa, namely political; economic; sociolinguistic; and theoretic explanations. Of particular interest is the adequacy of these explanations in explaining the non- implementation of multilingual policies and plans in South Africa. Chapter 1 introduces the study, discounts political, economic and sociolinguistic explanations as inadequate in explaining the non- implementation of multilingual policies and plans in South Africa and establishes the theoretic category as the core category to explain the non- implementation of multilingual policies and plans in South Africa. The chapter provides a preliminary review of language planning literature that explores the inadequacy of language planning theory in providing approaches that can be used to facilitate multilingual policy and planning implementation as well as statement of the research problem and questions, the aim and objectives of the study, overview of research methodology and outline of the thesis. Chapter 2 provides the background to the study. The chapter discusses the macro framework for language policy and language planning in South Africa as provided by the Constitution. The chapter elaborates on South Africaâs constitutional language developments as from the early 1990s and the socio-political and historical contexts that led to the evolution of the 1993 Interim Constitution and the 1996 Constitution. The chapter elaborates on the theoretical, ideological and discourse foundations of both the 1993 Interim Constitution and the 1996 Constitution and points out that the multilingual dispensation envisioned by the 1996 Constitution is in tandem with the project of transformative constitutionalism and advanced cultural politics espoused by the Constitution. The chapter concludes by pointing out that the obligations imposed by the Constitution with respect to language in South Africa must be fulfilled. Its attendant upon language planning actors in South Africa to formulate approaches that can be used to facilitate multilingual policy and planning implementation based on plausible theoretical premises. Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology. The research method used in the study is Grounded Theory Method. The chapter elaborates on the appropriateness of Grounded Theory Method as a method for the development of approaches from qualitative data and how the method was applied to the three elements of the study, namely, literature review; the development of an alternative approach to multilingual policy and planning implementation; and the case study. Chapter 4 reviews literature on language planning theory and models using Eastman (1983) framework. The review establishes the weaknesses of language planning theory and models. These weaknesses account for the inadequacy of language planning theory and models to provide approaches that can be used for multilingual policy and planning implementation. The chapter concludes by discussing how the inadequacies of language planning theory and models have contributed to the non- implementation of South Africaâs multilingual policy and plan. Chapter 5 develops an alternative approach to multilingual policy and planning implementation. The study names the approach âThe Language Management Approachâ. The approach specifies the theoretical basis for the new approach; the purpose; impediments; the variables; and the methodologies and strategies for multilingual policy and planning implementation. Chapter 6 presents a case study which was used to develop some aspects of the new approach as well as test the new approach. The case study demonstrates that the new approach facilitates multilingual policy and planning implementation. Chapter 7 outlines the conclusions and recommendations. The study contributes towards the resolution of the theoretic and practical dilemmas facing multilingual policy and planning implementation in South Africa and elsewhere.

After contextualising the challenges of deaf education in the twenty-first century in the global context, this study focused on sign language in the environment of bilingual-bicultural education for the deaf in South Africa. Each of the five essays pinpointed particular challenges and as a result the study ventures to use empirical research to demonstrate conclusively that the issue of sign language in a bilingual-bicultural education for the deaf in South Africa, as is the case elsewhere, is a complex matter in which a motley intersection of dynamics is to be taken into consideration. Fundamentally, the study indicates that sign languages in many polities in general, and in South Africa in particular, despite positive constitutional, legislative and policy developments, are subject to a particular challenges coined as âdouble linguistic imperialismâ: sign languages are not only marginalised by the former colonial languages that have been adopted as official languages in many states in the developing world; they are also marginalised by the dominant indigenous languages in these societies. Language policy in general and educational policy and concomitant systems in particular are some of the mechanisms that can be deployed to redress this state of affairs. In addressing the issue of sign languages acquisition and deaf education, the discussion establishes that the deaf child, in order to fully integrate into a predominantly hearing world, is faced with a particular challenge of adapting to an education system that provides for bilingual education. In such circumstances, sign language should ideally feature as first language, or mother tongue, as well as language of instruction. However, for purposes of reading and writing, the deaf child should also be exposed to a second, spoken language. This approach, the thesis argues, should lend emphasis on the so-called âcritical periodâ in the childâs development. This relatively obvious solution to the challenges that bedevil deaf education poses a particular challenge, given the ill-informed preconceptions of parents and society at large regarding the Deaf, Deaf culture and sign language, as well as its status as a natural language, and thus whether it is found âappropriateâ as alternative medium of instruction. The study thus also challenges one of the fundamental issues in educational linguistics, namely language attitudes with particular reference to parentsâ and teachersâ attitudes towards sign language as a medium of instruction for deaf learners. Empirical research conducted and published here for the first time reveals that parentsâ attitudes towards sign language as medium of instruction are as a rule at variance with particular situations, conditions and circumstances prevalent at any given time. However, the parents surveyed tend to agree that signed language should be used in instructing the Deaf child at school. They further agree that signed language holds the key to a deaf learner achieving higher levels of education. Overall, from an attitudinal perspective, parents of deaf learners would prefer signed languages to be the languages of instruction for their children. By contrast, educators seemed to find themselves unable to distinguish between the use of SASL and alternatives in the classroom, calling all methods of communication âSASLâ. The abundance of experience the teachers have plus the fact that they believe they have acquired SASL without any structured training is detrimental to the learners not only as it is detrimental to their communicative abilities in the classroom, but also as it devalues the need for formal training in SASL in the minds of the teachers, and this is transferred to their learners. The conclusion is that teachers are in dire need of formal training in order to appreciate the true complexity of signed language and by extension therefore realise the current limitations in the education of the learners. Despite current attitudes it was found that most of the teachers (60,5%) indicated a desire and intention to study further and such study should inter alia include the study of SASL. With regard to policy, the study establishes that Deaf education is a victim of the same fate that has been visited upon MTE in the developing world. There is an apparent non-recognition of the primacy of sign language as the mother tongue of the Deaf and therefore the failure to use sign language in education. This is a glaring failure which the principles, policies and legislation on Deaf education have certainly not remedied. Further, it can be posited that some of the failures in Deaf education are attributable to the same principles, policies and legislation that have guided Deaf education over time, Policies setting out the requirement that the Deaf are taught through the medium of signed language have certainly not been heeded nor implemented on the continent of Africa. The last paper in the study also establishes that sign languages, caught between negative societal perceptions, lethargic educational policies and an outdated pedagogy, suffer from a paucity of the development of instructional/learning materials. It is therefore important to recognise that there is need for materials development for sign languages so that they can become entrenched in the curriculum as taught subjects and in educational policy and practice as a media of instruction for Deaf learners. Admittedly, a lot of work remains to be done in the area of Deaf education. The issues addressed in the various papers in this study could serve as pointers to the critical issues that need redress if there is to be any hope of entrenching sign language in bilingual-bicultural education of the deaf, not only in South Africa, but elsewhere.

In this dissertation, the notion of plagiarism is examined in the context of academic writing. The development of the notion of plagiarism is first of all put in historical perspective, because the problems revolving around the notion emerged with the first etymological reference to it as plagiarius (âkidnapperâ). One of the factors that complicate plagiarism is that it is confused with copyright in the wake of copyright legislation. Other extrinsic and complicating factors include unreliable statistics on plagiarism, the phenomenon of intertextuality as opposed to plagiarism, the Internet, varying cultural views on plagiarism and the influence of second language issues. Although the existence of plagiarism in academic writing is undisputable, its nature and management vary. Approaches to plagiarism in academic writing are as complex as the phenomenon of plagiarism itself. The approaches to plagiarism discussed here represent the general trends over the past decade. The sequence of discussion corresponds with the development of the approaches to plagiarism during the given period: first the ethical, then the policing, followed by the intentional, the developmental and learning, the textual, and the contextual approaches. With this complex situation in mind, definitions of plagiarism in 13 institutional policy documents are discussed in terms of six elements: the corpus, appropriation, source, reference, intention and scope. The vision and mission, values, academic and/or integrity issues and prescribed approach of each university are accounted for in the respective policies. This study prioritises the educational approach. Acts of plagiarism are often committed through lack of writing skills, especially in the case of inexperienced students that are still apprentices in the craft of academic writing. Basic writing techniques and transformational writing strategies are demonstrated with reference to Van Dijkâs (1971) transformation theory. The transformation types addition, deletion, repetition, structuring and argumentation are illustrated by means of examples. There is no simple solution to the complex dilemma of plagiarism. This dissertation indicates that an implementation plan for the prevention of plagiarism in academic writing comprises three aspects: a transparent policy, the didactic use of detection mechanisms, and the specific teaching of academic writing skills. The emphasis on the educational approach and proactive writing instruction entails that the focus in combating plagiarism is on education. Plagiarism as an unacceptable form of academic writing can be remedied by the teaching of acceptable writing techniques and strategies.

This study investigates the intercultural discourse between the Igbo and the Sesotho people residing in Bloemfontein. The study is motivated by the way in which the Igbo in Bloemfontein switch from one language into another, which is based on who their addressee is. The study assesses the backgrounds of the two countries (Nigeria and South Africa) where these ethnic groups emerged, including their languages. The backgrounds help in the assessment of the attitudes, feelings and opinions of the two groups under study in the way they relate with one another when they are in intercultural communication. Related literature was reviewed on different aspects of intercultural discourse and intercultural communication (Chapter 3), with focus on: different views on discourse/discourse analysis; discourse, racism and discrimination; differences in maleâs and femaleâs speeches. The review also covers language, migration and loyalty; language contact; intercultural discourse/communication; conversation analysis, as well as conversational features: turn-taking, interruption/overlapping, and code-switching/code-mixing. The review describes the field of discourse analysis and situates the current study within this field of research. The study further explored language stereotypes and xenophobic sentiments which help in identifying the power of dominant group over minority groups and foreigners, as well as the power of press in dissemination of information in the society. Given the complexity of the research, the study employed different research instruments: questionnaire, interviews and audio-recordings of natural interactions in different contexts (shop, hospital, church, home and among friends) in collecting data. The data were analysed using qualitative and quantitative (tables and bar graphs) research methods. Intercultural interaction/communication/discourse between the Igbo and the Sesotho shows that the attitudes and feelings of the two groups are positive, as they are comfortable, not afraid, confident, not nervous and relaxed when interacting with each other. The study reveals that the two groups often (81% Igbo and 92% Sesotho) switch from one language to another during intercultural communication. However, the kind of switch the study records is word/phrase switches, mostly the words/phrases of the dominant language (Sesotho). The reasons for their switches vary: to emphasis a word or an expression, to be more polite in greeting and appreciation, to show respect, as well as to identity with the addressee. The study records four sentences switching which only occurred among the children at home context. However, the results from the study show that during the intercultural communication between the Igbo and the Sesotho, turn-taking, interruptions and discourse dominance are determined by some factors, such as; age, educational background, gender, the relationships between the interactants, and the context of the interaction. The freedom with which women speak during interaction is also assessed. The study reveals that although women speak freely, they do not speak more freely than their male counterparts, in mixed-gender interactions. In addition, the results reveal that there are no restrictions on the speech of Igbo women. However, Sesotho shows some restrictions on the language of their married women, âhlomphaâ (a language of respect), where a married women are bound by tradition not to pronounce any word relating to the name of her in-laws. The study establishes that there are derogatory words to refer to both women and men in both groups. For example, in Igbo ânwoke/nwaay-agaâ and in Sesotho ânyopaâ are used to refer to barren woman with no counterparts for men. The study in addition investigates the words used to refer to foreigners and whether such words provide evidence for xenophobic sentiments in South Africa. The study identifies both positive and negative words used by the Igbo and the Sesotho to refer to foreigners. According to the majority of the respondents (79.5%), such words do not contribute to xenophobic sentiments in South Africa generally or Bloemfontein specifically.