Magister Artium - MA / Early Childhood Development (ECD) prioritizes the foundation for children aged 0-9 years old. This program focuses on the cognitive, physical, emotional, or holistic development of a child for the child to thrive and be a functioning member of society. Recently, this initiative has been prioritized by both the national government and UNICEF (Shapley, 2014; September 2014). In the Cape Town context one finds that large population of children are frequently exposed to extreme poverty and gang violence. They also lack the communication and literacy skills they require; this includes grasping basic ideas related to reading and writing and have little to no community support system.

This study aims to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the circumstances under which adult education, in particular adult basic education, can support and occasionally initiate participatory development, social action and the realisation of citizenship rights. It traces developments in adult basic education in South Africa, and more specifically literacy and language learning, over the years 1981 to 2001, with reference to specific multilingual contexts in the Northern and Western Cape. The thesis is based on four individual studies, documenting an arc from grassroots work to national policy development and back. Study I, written in the early 1990s, critically examines approaches to teaching English to adults in South Africa at the time and proposes a participatory curriculum model for the additional language component of a future adult education policy. Study II is an account of attempts to implement this model and explores the implications of going to scale with such an approach.  Studies III and IV draw on a qualitative study of an educator development programme after the transition to democracy. Study III uses Bourdieu's theory of practice and the concept of reflexivity to illuminate some of  the connections between local discursive practices, self-formation, and broader relations of power. Study IV uses Iedema's (1999) concept of resemiotisation to trace the ways in which individuals re-shaped available representational resources to mobilise collective agency in community-based workshops. The summary provides a framework for these studies by locating and critiquing each within shifts in the political economy of South Africa. It reflects on a history of research and practice, raising questions to do with voice, justice, power, agency, and desire. Overall, this thesis argues for a reconceptualisation of ABET that is more strongly aligned with development goals and promotes engagement with new forms of state/society/economy relations.

In line with the global trend of increased language requirements for naturalization, the Swedish government decided in 2019 to introduce a language test for citizenship. Drawing on Norton Peirce’s (1995) notion of investment and Fraser’s (2000) definition of participatory parity, this study investigates adult second language learners’ attitudes towards the test and analyzes how investment in language learning and perception of possibilities for participatory parity influence their views. Furthermore, the study considers some of the potential consequences of the new policy, for example, for acts of linguistic citizenship (Stroud, 2018). Eighteen SFI-students at level 3C, one of the highest levels at the language course, responded to a questionnaire. Nine respondents favored the test, four opposed it, four were neutral, and one was unsure. Interviews were conducted with six volunteers out of these participants, five out of six were supporters of the language test. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically. While all participants were motivated to learn Swedish, the findings indicate how diverse forms of capital, ideologies, and desired or actual identities in Swedish, that is, the nature of their investment and perceived possibilities for economic and social participation, influenced their attitudes towards the language test. Furthermore, supporters of the test considered that the language requirement would improve possibilities for participatory parity, whereas the opponents emphasized the risk of misrecognition and misrepresentation. The policy redefines Swedish citizenship: by making a test of Swedish language mandatory for prospective citizens, it formally demands that immigrants learn Swedish provided they want to integrate. As the results suggest, however, the participants in this study were engaged in a wide range of acts of linguistic citizenship in Swedish and had similar reported proficiency levels, regardless of their opinions of the Swedish test. The study calls for more research on the effects of language requirements for naturalization to examine to what extent and in what ways a language test for citizenship affects already motivated language learners.

Nigerian Pidgin English is widely spoken in different parts of the country and “has been called the native language of a substantial population of people in the Niger Delta, particularly in the Sapele and Warri areas” (Igboanusi, 2008: 68). According to Balogun (2012: 90), “Nigerian Pidgin English has emerged as the most widely spoken language of inter and intra communication among Nigerians and across diverse ethnic groups that do not share a common language”. The language plays a major role in youth culture and most Nigerians speak the language. There is a general belief by some Nigerians that Nigerian Pidgin English is a colloquial form of English that is mostly spoken by those whose Standard English proficiency has not fully developed (Agheyisi, 1971:30). The government has continued to ignore it “despite the fact that Nigerian Pidgin is in most respects the most logical choice for a national language [and] official attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin remain negative, perpetuating erroneous notions inherited from the colonial period that Nigerian Pidgin is some form of ‘broken English’” (Faraclas 1996: 18). Also, the general attitudes held by Nigerians regarding the language can be described as ambivalent with majority leaning towards the negative attitude more. This project investigated if the Nigerians who find themselves in a different geographical space like Cape Town still hold negative attitudes towards Pidgin English and whether they abstained from speaking the language or speak it freely. The study also sought to establish if those who may have held negative attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin English while in Nigeria now hold a different attitude since being in Cape Town. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods in form of online questionnaires and semi structured interviews involving 38 participants to investigate the uses of and attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin English. The findings revealed that the attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin English do not show significant difference from that held by Nigerians within Nigeria. The participants in this study held negative attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin English in formal domains and positive attitudes towards the language in informal domains. These same attitudes were obtainable among Nigerians living in Nigeria. The data analysis revealed that the Nigerians in this study use the language in their daily activities for different purposes. The hegemonic perspective on Pidgins being an informal language that can serve only informal purposes was also present among some of the Nigerians that formed part of this study. Although some thought that the language can go beyond informal domains, the majority thought otherwise. All the participants use Nigerian Pidgin English mainly to communicate with their friends, family members and other Nigerians they encounter despite living far away from home where other languages exist. Also, the analysis revealed that all the participants considered the language to be an important aspect of their Nigerian identity and togetherness in the diaspora. This indicates a significant difference between those in the diaspora and those in Nigeria, because those in the diaspora appreciate and think there is a greater need for Nigerian Pidgin English outside the country. The data suggested that the reason for this shift in attitude is because speaking the language bridges the gap between home and abroad.

Magister Artium - MA / This project explores the negotiation of shifting racial identities within a transforming post-Apartheid context, in particular, the negotiation of what it means to be ‘coloured’. Twenty-seven years into South Africa’s democracy, the power and influence that race and language hold over many South Africans’ are still prominent within this country. Because race is historically intersected with language and social class, language is used as an instrument of racialization. Therefore, this project seeks to understand how coloured racial and linguistic identities, which are steeped in complexity and ambiguity, are navigated by participants. It will focus, in particular, on how participants engage with Afrikaans and Kaaps to navigate these complexities and signal alignments and ambivalences. Additionally, this research aims to explore the potential of multilingualism to be a dynamic factor in the inclusive transformation of historical positions. Its central aim is to contribute to the notion of Linguistic Citizenship (Stroud, 2001, 2015, 2018, 2021) by capturing how linguistic encounters and interactions can go beyond the defined subjectivities of race and ethnicity, and how people use language to challenge and subvert historical and more contemporary identities. The data draws on focus group discussions with UWC students and the narratives produced within these spaces. It will draw on contemporary scholarship in Sociolinguistics, Discourse and Narrative Analysis and Linguistic Citizenship to explore how participants perform acts of Linguistic Citizenship to showcase their agency and voice as language and narratives become a site where identity juxtapositions are laid bare, and participants and their (racial and linguistic) identities are reimagined.

In line with the global trend of increased language requirements for naturalization, the Swedish government decided in 2019 to introduce a language test for citizenship. Drawing on Norton Peirce’s (1995) notion of investment and Fraser’s (2000) definition of participatory parity, this study investigates adult second language learners’ attitudes towards the test and analyzes how investment in language learning and perception of possibilities for participatory parity influence their views. Furthermore, the study considers some of the potential consequences of the new policy, for example, for acts of linguistic citizenship (Stroud, 2018). Eighteen SFI-students at level 3C, one of the highest levels at the language course, responded to a questionnaire. Nine respondents favored the test, four opposed it, four were neutral, and one was unsure. Interviews were conducted with six volunteers out of these participants, five out of six were supporters of the language test. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically. While all participants were motivated to learn Swedish, the findings indicate how diverse forms of capital, ideologies, and desired or actual identities in Swedish, that is, the nature of their investment and perceived possibilities for economic and social participation, influenced their attitudes towards the language test. Furthermore, supporters of the test considered that the language requirement would improve possibilities for participatory parity, whereas the opponents emphasized the risk of misrecognition and misrepresentation. The policy redefines Swedish citizenship: by making a test of Swedish language mandatory for prospective citizens, it formally demands that immigrants learn Swedish provided they want to integrate. As the results suggest, however, the participants in this study were engaged in a wide range of acts of linguistic citizenship in Swedish and had similar reported proficiency levels, regardless of their opinions of the Swedish test. The study calls for more research on the effects of language requirements for naturalization to examine to what extent and in what ways a language test for citizenship affects already motivated language learners.