Suomen kieli on yksi Ruotsin vähemmistökielistä. Lain mukaan kaikki lapset, joilla on suomenkielinen tausta ja perustavat taidot suomen kielessä, ovat oikeutettuja suomenkielen opetukseen. Tämä opinnäytetyö on pieni muotoinen kvalitatiivinen kartoitus Ruotsin peruskoulun suomen kielen opetuksesta. Teoria perustuu Ruotsin lakiin ja Ruotsin suomen kielen opetushistoriaan. Empiirinen osuus koostuu suomen kielen opettajien ja suomea opiskelevien oppilaiden haastatteluista sekä ruotsinsuomalaisen vapaakoulun rehtorin ja suomalaistaustaisen vanhemman kanssa käymistäni keskusteluista. Olen myös kysynyt usealta kunnalta suomen kielen opetuksen järjestelyistä ja sen toteuttamisesta. Työn tavoitteena on kartoittaa suomen kielen opetuksen tämänhetkinen tilanne Ruotsin peruskoulussa. Eräs tutkimustulokseni osoittaa, että kunta ei tiedota tarpeeksi suomen kielen opetuksesta. Olen saanut myös selville, että pätevistä suomen kielenopettajista on pulaa Ruotsissa. Lisäksi olen todennut, että suomen kielen oppituntien pituus ei joissakin kunnissa yllä edes yhteen tuntiin. Kiertävien suomen opettajien työolot ovat stressaavia ja työpäivät koostuvat lähes pelkästään opetustunneista. Kaikesta tästä olen tehnyt johtopäätöksen: suomen kielen opetuksen tilaa on parannettava laadukkailla opetustunneilla ja pätevillä opettajilla, joilla on hyväksyttävät työolot. Lisäksi opetuksen määrää täytyisi lisätä. / Finska är ett av Sveriges nationella minoritetsspråk. Enligt svensk lag har barn som har finsk bakgrund och grundläggande kunskaper i finska språket rätt till att få undervisning i finska. I detta examensarbete presenterar jag en kort kvalitativ kartläggning av undervisningen i finska i den svenska grundskolan. Teoridelen bygger på förordningstexter och andra styrdokument samt litteratur om den historiska bakgrunden till dagens finskundervising i Sverige. Den empiriska informationen består av intervjuer av finska lärare och elever som läser finska samt diskussioner med en rektor i en sverigefinsk friskola och en förälder till ett barn som har ansökt om finskundervisning. Jag har även frågat flera kommuner om deras sätt att organisera och genomföra finskundervisning. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att kartlägga finska språkets situation i dagens svenska grundskola. Ett av mina resultat är att kommunen inte informerar tillräckligt om finskundervisningen. Jag har också fått reda på att det råder brist på behöriga finska lärare i Sverige. Jag har även kommit fram till att finska lektioner i vissa kommuner är kortare än en timma. Ambulerande lärarna har stressiga arbetsförhållanden och arbetsdagarna består nästan endast av undervisningstillfällen. Med hjälp av allt detta har jag kommit fram till följande slutsats: man måste förbättra villkoren för finskundervisningen med hjälp av högkvalitativ undervisning och behöriga lärare, som arbetar under acceptabla arbetsförhållanden. Dessutom bör undervisningstiden utökas. / Finnish is one of the Swedish minority languages. According to Swedish law children who have a Finnish background and basic knowledge of the Finnish language have a right to Finnish education. In this Degree Project I present a short qualitative survey of the field of teaching of Finnish in Swedish primary schools. The theoretical frame work is based on Swedish law and the literature on the history of Finnish teaching in Sweden. The empirical data consist of interviews with Finnish teachers and their pupils and some discussions with a principal of the Sweden Finnish independent school and a parent for a child who had applied for Finnish education. In addition, several municipalities were surveyed about their plans forteaching Finnish. The purpose of this study is to document the situation of the Finnish language in Swedish primary schools today. One of my findings is that municipalities do not provide adequate information about teaching in Finnish. A further finding is that there is a shortage of competent Finnish teachers in Sweden. I have also established that in some Swedish states schools the Finnish lessons are not even an hour long. The travelling teachers have stressful circumstances at work and workdays consist almost only of lessons. From this my conclusion is that we have to improve conditions for Finnish language teaching with high qualitative teaching and with competent teachers who have acceptable working conditions. Furthermore teaching time should be increased.

Cette thèse analyse les représentations sociolinguistiques de l’irlandais et de son apprentissage chez des élèves dans l’enseignement secondaire à Galway, en République d’Irlande. Le rôle de l’école est central pour la transmission de cette langue minoritaire menacée par l’anglais ; la prise en compte des représentations sociolinguistiques partagées par les jeunes Irlandais est tout indiquée pour comprendre dans quelle mesure l’apprentissage obligatoire peut jouer son rôle et permettre la survie de la langue. La première partie place la situation sociolinguistique irlandaise en perspective diachronique et se poursuit par l’exposition de la théorie des représentations ainsi que de la méthodologie utilisée. L’enquête par questionnaire, réalisée dans quatre établissements auprès de 356 élèves âgés de 12 à 18 ans, est l’objet de la deuxième partie ; elle tente d’identifier les représentations en présence et d’évaluer leur influence potentielle sur les attitudes, la motivation et les pratiques langagières futures des apprenants. En complément de cette enquête principale sont présentées en troisième partie deux enquêtes de type ethnographique qui explorent les relations entre les représentations des élèves et les discours des manuels scolaires, mais aussi entre représentations et certains discours médiatiques (télévisuel et cinématographique). La conclusion est l’occasion de faire, à partir des résultats obtenus, dessuggestions de politique linguistique éducative dans le but d’améliorer les représentations, donc les chances de survie, de l’irlandais. / This thesis analyses the sociolinguistic representations of the Irish language and its learning among secondary school students in Galway, in the Republic of Ireland. The role given to schooling is central for the transmission of this minority language, threatened by English ; thus, it seems particularly appropriate to take into account the sociolinguistic representations shared by the Irish youth in order to understand to which degree compulsory learning can play its role and help the Irish language to survive. The first chapter puts the Irish sociolinguistic situation into a diachronic perspective andgoes on to present the theory of representations as well as the methodology. The questionnaire survey, which took place in four secondary schools and involved 356 students aged 12 to 18 years, is the object of the second chapter ; it tries to identify the representations and to evaluate their potential influence on the attitudes, motivation and future linguistic behaviour of the learners. To complete this main survey, two ethnographic studies are presented in the third chapter : they explore the links between the representations expressed by the studentsand schoolbook discourses, as well as between representations and media discourses (TV andcinema). The conclusion will give the opportunity, on the basis of our results, to makesuggestions concerning educational language policies and aiming to improve therepresentations, and consequently the chances of survival of Irish.

No description available.

This dissertation interrogates the representation of SiSwati programming (a minority language) on SABC 1 It critically analyses the statutory provisions in place for language parity and utilises hegemony as the theoretical framework for understanding the concept of language parity in the South African broadcasting landscape. To the researcher’s knowledge, there is limited information pertaining to this particular research topic however, most of the previous literature refers to all eleven official languages and not SiSwati specifically. Hegemony, a strand of critical theory as developed by Antonio Gramsci, will serve as the theoretical base of this study. This study falls within the framework of qualitative research. An extensive literature study of various sources and a content analysis of the relevant legislative documents form the basis of the research. SABC TV is positioned in a highly competitive, multi-channel market environment with powerful social, political and economic forces to contend with, this makes it difficult for SABC TV to fulfil its mandate of treating all eleven official languages equitably, hence languages such as SiSwati are underrepresented on national television. This study is seminal and relevant insofar as it offers a much needed insight into the plight of a marginalised language by the country’s public broadcaster. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

No description available.

This dissertation interrogates the representation of SiSwati programming (a minority language) on SABC 1 It critically analyses the statutory provisions in place for language parity and utilises hegemony as the theoretical framework for understanding the concept of language parity in the South African broadcasting landscape. To the researcher’s knowledge, there is limited information pertaining to this particular research topic however, most of the previous literature refers to all eleven official languages and not SiSwati specifically. Hegemony, a strand of critical theory as developed by Antonio Gramsci, will serve as the theoretical base of this study. This study falls within the framework of qualitative research. An extensive literature study of various sources and a content analysis of the relevant legislative documents form the basis of the research. SABC TV is positioned in a highly competitive, multi-channel market environment with powerful social, political and economic forces to contend with, this makes it difficult for SABC TV to fulfil its mandate of treating all eleven official languages equitably, hence languages such as SiSwati are underrepresented on national television. This study is seminal and relevant insofar as it offers a much needed insight into the plight of a marginalised language by the country’s public broadcaster. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The study interrogates the marginalisation of the Tonga language in the school curriculum of Zimbabwe. It explores the causes of marginalisation and what can be done by the Zimbabwean government to promote the Tonga language in the school curriculum at all levels in the education domain in Zimbabwe. In the study, the researcher uses a mixed method approach where qualitative and quantitative research techniques are used to corroborate data from different data gathering sources. The postmodernist theory is used in this research because of its encouragement of pluralism in society so as to enhance social cohesion. This is so because all languages are equal and they share the same functions and characteristics. There is no superior or inferior language in the eyes of the postmodernists. Participants for this study were drawn from district officials, selected primary and secondary school educators, primary and secondary school heads, all from Binga district of Zimbabwe and three university Tonga language lecturers, all purposefully selected. Focus group discussions, interviews, questionnaires, documents analysis and observations were used to collect data for this study. The data collected was then analysed using qualitative and quantitative analysis for triangulation purposes. The research established that the marginalisation of the Tonga language in Zimbabwe is caused by both exogenous and endogenous factors. The major factor is Zimbabwe‘s lack of a clear language policy exacerbated by attitudes of the different stakeholders which has also facilitated and enhanced the peripherisation of the Tonga language in Zimbabwe. The government of Zimbabwe has a tendency of declaring policies and not implementing them. Consequently, the government reacts to language problems as they arise. The study also reveals the importance of the Tonga language in the school curriculum in Zimbabwe. It also establishes that, for the Tonga language to be promoted there is need for the expeditious training of educators by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development. There is need for the government of Zimbabwe to strengthen their language policy so that the status of Tonga is enhanced and uplifted. A strong language policy will compel different stakeholders to stick to their mandate thereby improving the place of the Tonga language in the school curriculum at all levels of the curriculum in Zimbabwe. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The purpose of this study was to determine the English language skills of minority language children (experimental group) in a early total French Immersion program by comparing them with those of English-speaking children in French Immersion (English control group), and with those of minority language children in a regular English program (minority control group). Ten grade one children comprised each of the three groups of children. Listening comprehension of English was assessed using two standardized tests of English comprehension (the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Token Test for Children). English speaking skills were assessed using the Clark-Madison Test of Oral Language (a standardized test) and a ten to fifteen minute language sample. English metalinguistic skills were assessed with a phoneme deletion task used by Rosner & Simon (1971) and with two tasks used by Pratt, Tunmer & Bowey (1984): a morpheme correction task and a word order correction task. Questionnaires were used to assess attitudes towards the minority language and culture and to determine the children's home and language background. It was hypothesized that the English language skills of the experimental group would be at least as good as those of the English control group and the minority control group. The results supported the hypotheses. The experimental group did as well as the English control group on all of the measures of English comprehension and production tested. The minority control group scored lower than the English control group on all measures of English comprehension and production. They scored lower than the experimental group on the comprehension of complex commands and on the Clark-Madison Test of Oral Language. The three groups scored similarly on all of the metalinguistic tasks except on the morpheme correction task, where the minority control group scored lower than the English control group. Results support the suitability of early total French Immersion for minority language children who have their first language and culture valued and maintained. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate

Racial tensions in UK escalating to violent conflicts from early 50ʼs on, led to series of changes in British legislation. Migration was systematically restricted, and regulations of entry were becoming much more severe. Discrimination of Caribbean and Asian immigrants in labor market, housing and education was extensive. Every attempt to address racial discrimination on the level of legislation was inefficient and hardly enforceable. Case study presented is situated in this social-political context. It is focused on second generation of afro-Caribbean minority in 70ʼs and its reaction to expulsion from British society, denying British identity and its fight against oppression through music and especially through language used itself. Jamaican Creole and in British, most notably in London surroundings, on Creole based system of adaptations called London Jamaican became significant feature of ethnic identification of afro-Caribbean (black) adolescents. This feature was used in conversations almost always through phenomenon of code-switching, where Creole features used were linked to attempt to define the speaker against dominant white society and oppressive system. Using of the features was often purposeful, because second generation of migrants was fully competent in using standard British English....

The study investigated language policy and planning in relation to minority languages and specifically Tshwao, a Khoisan language, in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the study was to establish its impact on the current sociolinguistic status of Tshwao. The ultimate goal was to suggest guidelines for the implementation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe (Amendment No. 20) Act, 2013 which officially recognised sixteen languages including ‘Koisan’ and to make recommendations for future language planning for endangered languages in general. The study is qualitative in nature. It used interviews, document analysis, observation and focus groups to gather data. Critical Discourse Analysis and Ethnolinguistic Vitality were the main theories which guided the study. The study showed that even though Tshwao is the Khoisan language that is popular, there are several other varieties such as Jitshwa, Xaise, Cirecire and Ganade and they are all endangered with very low demographic, status and institutional support. The Khoisan people have shifted to Ndebele and Kalanga, languages which are spoken by their neighbours. Both linguistic and extra-linguistic factors were shown in the study to have affected the maintenance of Khoisan languages. Numerical domination of the Khoisan by the Bantu people, subjugation by Mzilikazi during his conquests as well as selective development of languages by missionaries led to assimilation and language marginalisation. The implementation of discriminatory land, wildlife and language polices by the colonial government also resulted in relocations, language contact situations and dispersed settlements, all of which affected language maintenance. In the post-independence era, political instability, official and unofficial language policies were shown as having perpetuated the plight of Khoisan languages, including Tshwao. The constitution emerged as a milestone towards upholding minority languages. Its effectiveness is however compromised by inaccuracies and ambiguities in the manner in which provisions are crafted. The study concludes that Khoisan language endangerment spans from history. Formal and informal language policies contributed to the current state of endangerment. It further concludes that if effective revitalisation is to be done in line with implementing the constitution, all the factors which contributed to endangerment have to be taken into account. The study also suggests a separate guideline for the promotion of minority languages in general and displaced and endangered languages like Tshwao in particular. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Phil. (Linguistics)