Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the language policy and implementation outside and inside the classroom in a multilingual and multicultural international school. Specifically, it aims at giving an insight into how linguistic and cultural diversity is managed at Windhoek International School (WIS). It takes a specific interest in the kinds of language policy that determine which languages are used in education in a context where both teachers and learners are L1 speakers of a considerable number of different languages. The participants in this study are multilingual learners and teachers of WIS. The study uses data from the school records, a questionnaire, interviews and observation. The analysis of the data is descriptive, interpretive and explanatory. The findings of the study are that the language policy at WIS is articulated in such a manner that it encourages monolingual norms although the school’s community is multilingual. English is the MoI, used in official communication across the school and also as a language of communication with the school’s stakeholders. Other European languages, namely- French, German and Portuguese are officially taught as modern foreign languages. Significantly, none of the local Namibian languages are taught in the school. However, the school does not bar its learners and teachers from using their LotE especially outside of the classroom. The study also shows that the language ecology at WIS demonstrates a situation of polyglossia where English is on top of the language hierarchy. From the findings, it is suggested that since WIS recognises the multilingual and multicultural composition of its learners and teachers, its whole school policy should be looked at again to reflect current thinking in language-in-education policy. The policy should place emphasis on dynamic bilingualism by supporting and encouraging the teaching and learning of LotE, including local indigenous languages, as a means of scaffolding and as a means of bridging knowledge development in the school. However, for purposes of examination, the school should place emphasis on the extensive use of English to enable its learners to meet the requirements of external examiners. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie bestudeer die taalbeleid en implementering daarvan binne en buite klaskamerverband, by ‘n veeltalige en multikulturele internasionale skool. Spesifiek, is die doel om insae te gee in hoe talige en kulturele diversiteit by Windhoek Internasionale Skool (WIS) hanteer word. Dit stel belang in die verskillende soorte taalbeleid wat bepaal watter tale in onderrig en leer gebruik word in ‘n konteks waar sowel die onderwysers as die leerders eerstetaalsprekers is van ‘n aansienlike aantal verskillende tale. Die deelnemers in hierdie studie is veeltalige leerders en onderwysers aan die WIS. Die studie gebruik data wat bekom is uit skoolrekords, vraelyste, onderhoude en deur waarneming. Die analise van die data word gedoen in die vorm van beskrywing, interpretasie en verduideliking. Die bevindinge van die studie hou in dat die taalbeleid aan die WIS so geartikuleer is dat dit eentalige norme ondersteun, alhoewel die gemeenskap wat deur die skool bedien word, veeltalig is. Engels is die medium van onderrig (MvO/MoI) aan die skool, word in amptelike kommunikasie binne die skool gebruik, en is ook die kommunikasietaal by alle belanghebbendes van die skool (ouers, borge, ens.). Ander Europese tale, naamlik Frans, Duits en Portugees, word as moderne vreemde tale binne die skool se leerplan aangebied. Heel opvallend, word geeneen van die plaaslike Namibiese tale in die skool aangebied nie. Ten spyte van hierdie taalreëlings word leerders en onderwysers van die skool nie beperk in die gebruik van ander tale as Engels (LotEs) nie, veral buite die klaskamers. Die studie toon aan dat die taalomgewing by WIS tekenend is van ‘n sg. poliglossiese gemeenskap waar Engels in die taalhiërargie bo-aan te staan kom. Die bevindinge suggereer dat die WIS, in die lig van hulle erkenning van die veeltalige en multikulturele samestelling van die leerders en onderwysers, sy skoolbeleid in die geheel behoort te heroorweeg, sodat dit belyn word met die mees resente denke oor taal-in-onderrig-beleid. Die beleid behoort op dinamiese tweetaligheid klem te lê deur die onderrig en leer van ander tale as Engels (LotEs), ook plaaslike inheemse tale, aan te moedig en te ondersteun. Dit moet so gedoen word dat dit as “steierwerk”kan dien in die oorbrugging wat nodig is vir leer deur medium van ‘n tweede of vreemde taal. Daarbenewens word aanbeveel dat die skool vir eksamineringsdoeleindes aandag skenk aan die uitgebreide gebruik van Engels, sodat leerders in staat is om aan die vereistes wat eksterne eksaminatore stel, te beantwoord.

This thesis aims to connect the fields of multilingualism and internationalisation by studying language strategies of SMEs located in Belgium. Thereby the access to foreign networks in relation to internationalisation theories and the role of language capabilities and multilingualism is examined. This combination of different academic fields in international business and linguistics has previously not been studied satisfyingly and this research thus furthermore provides theoretical and managerial implications in this matter. Hence, this study addresses the briefly presented knowledge gap by answering the research question: What effect does the multilingualism in Belgium have on an SME’s internationalisation? The two following sub-research questions have been raised additionally to ensure the ability to answer the main research question: 1. What is the impact of the multilingualism in Belgium on an SME’s liability of foreignness when going international? 2. How does a language strategy support an SME’s internationalisation process and create a multilingual capability? Empirical data is collected both qualitatively by interviewing three Belgian SMEs and quantitatively by analysing secondary data of 30 Belgian company websites and their vacancy job postings, to provide answers to these questions. The findings are analysed by applying a conceptual framework, which was created by the authors. The study’s findings summarise the presence of multiple individual language capabilities and highlight the lack and importance of institutionalising these in the SME. This step is vital to successfully access foreign networks and overcome liability of foreignness. Moreover, firm capabilities in relation to the SME’s industry are significant for the accurate implementation of a language strategy. Besides, the results show a crucial role of English in international business.

This thesis approaches two perennial and interrelated problems in the historiography of China - the question of the openness or self-isolation of (Ming) Chinese society, as well as the nature and extent of the Mongol legacy in the (early) Ming - from a new angle. In spite of a growing body of scholarship on political, military, and institutional aspects of the transition from 'foreign' Mongol Yuan (1271-1368) to 'native' Ming (1368-1644) rule, there is one aspect that has received little attention so far: language, or rather languages in the plural, and translation between them. By bringing the various multilingual dimensions of the early Ming to the foreground of analysis and studying them against the backdrop of the Mongol legacy, this thesis covers new ground. While recognising that not all activities with which it is concerned would have been seen as connected by early Ming actors, this thesis argues that they do collectively constitute a realm of action with a common purpose, which we can comprehend as 'language policy.' This perspective is significant, because Yuan continuities on macro levels (administrative, institutional, political) can only be truly grasped through a systematic investigation of micro levels, such as language. To achieve these aims, the thesis blends concepts and methods from history, sinological philology, and Linguistic Landscape Studies (LLS). My argument is threefold. First, the Mongol heritage was not just perceptible in institutions and newly absorbed territory but also on the level of language. Second, the early Ming, far from being 'fiercely anti-Mongol' (as one authority recently put it), consciously attempted to imitate and surpass the Yuan, and multilingualism - for both communicative and emblematic reasons - played an important part in this endeavour. Third, and most importantly, the year 1368 marked neither a 'revolutionary' rupture nor a 'business as usual' continuation of Mongol legacies. Rather, the new dynasty attempted to strike a difficult balance, in which language and translation policies were instrumental in harmonising the needs for both continuity with and a break from the past. The Ming continued Yuan traditions such as the production of multilingual steles and edicts to symbolise and enforce their universal imperial claim, while Chinese was (not de jure, but de facto) reinstituted as the major imperial language, as opposed to one imperial language among many, as in Mongol times. The very notion of universal empire, continued from Yuan to Ming, would beat odds with monolingualism, and consequently, the Ming could not have been monolingual, even if they had so desired. While the distinction between 'multilingual foreign' dynasties (Yuan, Qing) and 'monolingual Chinese' ones (Ming) is not outright wrong, it does need considerable refinement, in order to understand the Ming's place in the larger Yuan-Ming-Qing transition. 'Translation of empire' has a double meaning in this thesis. First, it is meant literally in the sense of language mediation: textual legacies of the Yuan were translated from languages such as Mongolian or Persian into Chinese, while the new empire translated its claim to power into other languages. Second, it is a metaphor alluding to the political concept of translatio imperii, known from Western Eurasian history and comparable to the Chinese 'dynastic cycle' narrative: fundamentally the idea of cultural mobility, with knowledge and power moving from empire to empire. How did the Yuan-Ming transition work as a translatio imperii in both senses of the word and what can we conclude from it regarding the nature of the early Ming?

The aim of this study was to investigate how pedagogues in preschool can support children with Finnish as mother tongue in their language development in Finnish. Previous studies in the field of language development stresses the importance of the child's capability to understand and to make itself understood. Through the perspective of translanguaging, code switching is a natural part of a bilingual person's language, although the language is constantly adapted to the linguistic situation. In qualitative interviews, pedagogues in a Finnish preschool in Sweden described their perception of how code switching affect the language development, how the language development is affected when code switching is not selectable, and how contextual attitudes affect the tendency for code switching. The result showed that code switching increases the possibilities to express oneself, that a well-developed bilingualism has importance for the identity, and that social norms implies consequences to the individual's language practice.

This study investigates the possibilities of incorporating African languages in skills development and training in South Africa as part of functional multilingualism. This investigation is done in relation to the Skills Development Act (Act No.97 of 1998) promulgated by the South African government, through parliament in order to address skills shortage among workers in South Africa the majority of whom are black whose education and training needs can be more effectively addressed through mother-tongue instruction than through English or Afrikaans. A literature review of global trends in skills-development initiatives and strategies indicates that the use of indigenous languages in skills development ensures success in skills transference and also enhances language development and language promotion. Empirical research was done in the mining and minerals industry at Beatrix Gold Mine, Free State. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

This study aims to gain a broader view, within the frame of a comparative international perspective, of the relationship and dilemmas between the theoretical visions of the curriculum and their applicability in practice by mother tongue teachers within the current organizational structures and given resources. The research uses a qualitative and comparative method and semi-structured interviews of ten mother tongue teachers, five Chinese Mandarin and five Spanish, teaching Compulsory School level 7 to 9 in Sweden. The interviews and dialogues with the teachers make it possible to see phenomenon from many different perspectives and build knowledge after the interpretation and exploration of their testimonies and experiences. The study is comparative and one can see that there are more similarities than differences among the interviewed Spanish and Chinese mother tongue teachers. Both groups defined MTE (Mothet Tongue Education) as essential in the lives of children and youths and mention aspects such as intellectual development, identity, and interculturalism linked to the labour market. Also the feeling of a sense of community with other cultures in the world would empower the students with a capacity for social relationships, tolerance, and understanding of different peoples. Thereafter I investigate if the mother tongue teachers find it difficult to interpret and implement the formulations of the SNAE (Swedish National Agency for Education) curriculum and the policies that govern their specific role in the school system. It also implies identifying some of the external, contextual factors that can affect the effective application of the curriculum. Concerning the curricular aspects, the conclusion is that many of the visions described in the texts are not compatible with the situation of mother tongue teaching or to the reality of the students. Organizational factors, incomprehension and lack of platform-based research affect negatively the ambitions of effective and equitable MTE in Sweden. In addition, these teachers are also preoccupied with the future of MTE in Sweden. The political discourse would appear to be driving Europe towards right-wing political ideas in which MTE would not be a priority.

This thesis explores EMI students’ perspective on the role of the English language, multilingualism and language proficiency focusing on EMI students at five different schools in the UAE and Sweden. In order to explore the students’ perspectives a survey was conducted using a questionnaire that was distributed via e-mails. Overall the results demonstrate that a clear majority of the 94 informants have a positive attitude towards attending EMI schools and multilingualism. 20 different languages are reported as first language or languages used in different contexts. Even so, English is undoubtedly the language most of the students declare as their strongest language- Also, English proficiency is regarded to be significant for future undertakings such as university studies and employment locally and internationally.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Linguistics, Language and Communication) / This study is an exploration of the different trajectories of a selected number of African migrants into and around South Africa, focusing on the effects of these different trajectories on their language use patterns and linguistic identities. Informed by the interpretive paradigm, the study was done in order to show the effects of space, migration, trauma and ethno-linguistic tensions such as xenophobia on people's language use. Ultimately, the study is an analysis of a number of migrants' language biographies. South Africa is a multilingual and multicultural country with eleven official languages and many migrant languages, resulting from the flow of people from other countries, especially from highly multilingual and multicultural African countries, to this major economic hub on the continent. New trends in globalization witnessed across the globe and socio-political and economic instabilities witnessed in some countries, have prompted some of these migrants to move to South Africa, they see as more economically and politically stable than their home countries. Among those who have migrated to Cape Town South Africa are Cameroonian migrants whose living conditions will never be the same again. The study was conducted because there is a need for a better understanding of the strategies multilingual people employ to negotiate language and cultural differences in a globalized world, often under very trying conditions (as is the case in South Africa). The study critically explores the language biographies, the full repertoire of communicative resources of selected Cameroonian migrants in Cape Town as well as making visible their polylingual repertoires and associated attitudes and beliefs in the research domain. The theoretical framework for this study is shaped by theories of late modernity with reference to traditional sociolinguistics, globalization and migration. A multi-dimensional analytical approach is employed in this study, incorporating Discourse Analysis (DA), Narrative Analysis (NA), Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Thematic Analysis (TA) and Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) that incorporates the Multimodal Biographic Approach.

Magister Artium - MA / This thesis is the result of an ethnographic study of the multilingual literacy practices of a group of families in their particular spaces within the urban context of the community of Manenberg, with the specific view of investigating the links between spatial and urban capital and the literacy practices to be encountered amongst these families. The following questions form the core of the study: 1. What are the parental ethnotheories about literacy and schooling? 2. Are there family literacy practices that may enhance preschool children’s ability to make meaning within the school system? The results of the thesis show a range of beliefs resulting in parents adopting a range of strategies in terms of language choice and literacy socialisation of their children. The thesis also shows that the vast majority of parents view acquisition of English as important, that there is a definite concern about access to libraries and about safe places for children to engage in extramural activity. Parental ethnotheories have a direct bearing on how the preschool child is oriented towards literacy. This includes implications for what languages the preschool child is exposed to, what medium of instruction parents prefer for their children (which is often not the language of highest competence of the child), whether or not various supposedly accessible resources for the promotion of children’s literacy are tapped into, and whether or not parents become actively involved in the literacy acquisition of their children. However, these findings need to be seen in the larger context of the research participants’ perceptions and discourses about space, multilingualism, and literacy. Some unexpected findings are shown as a result of listening to people’s voices on the ground. The respondents’ ethnotheories of multilingualism, space, and literacy produce narratives of local patriotism, pride in Cape Afrikaans, and of emplacement rather than displacement. Urban planning structures, whether envisaged under apartheid or by successive regimes in the post apartheid era, are shown to have become less rigid, fluid, and porous. The local moral economy works to legitimise poverty, so that living in a shack is not stigmatised, and gang members are seen to be full members of the local community, ignoring normative structures that would treat such agents in a punitive manner beyond the borders of Manenberg. Residents, though mostly impoverished and lacking in high levels of education, are shown to remain marginalised through a lack of material resources, with many in need of a strategic orientation to resources, including those which would enable them to orient their children to literacy in such a way as to enable them to make a successful transition to the school system. / South Africa

Les élèves éprouvent des difficultés dans l’utilisation de leurs acquis linguistiques pour l’apprentissage des mathématiques et cela se ressent sur leur motivation et leurs performances scolaires. Issu d’un environnement plurilingue, l’enfant burkinabè arrive à l’école avec son lot de connaissances, de représentations, somme de ses expériences. Fort de ce «déjà-là», il ne doit pas être une «tête à remplir», mais plutôt à «nourrir» et à soutenir pour qu’il construise lui-même ses connaissances. Ce qui implique pour l’élève d’être placé au centre des processus d’apprentissage. Tout apprentissage comporte des difficultés et nous avons opté pour étudier celles que rencontrent les apprenants en mathématiques pour in fine proposer des pistes de solutions pour l’enseignement/apprentissage des mathématiques en dioula et en français dans les écoles bilingues. Malgré des références aux théories des situations didactiques, notre thèse ne porte pas exclusivement sur la didactique des mathématiques. L’objectif est avant tout d’ordre linguistique car la description du corpus insiste sur l’analyse des échanges verbaux pendant des séquences de mathématiques dans des classes bilingues. En effet, notre travail a eu comme support des séquences de classe filmées et transcrites selon le logiciel CLAN dans l’école bilingue de Lafiabougou «B», au Burkina Faso.Au regard de l’analyse des séquences de classe, il se dégage la nécessité pour l’enseignant de se forger une représentation du fonctionnement de l’oral et de l’écrit en L1 d’une part et l’oral et l’écrit en L2, d’autre part, en accordant de l’importance à l’oral et à l’écrit. Il doit établir des ponts entre L1 et L2 aux différents niveaux d’organisation de la séquence de mathématiques et l’une des conditions est que l’enseignant mène son activité de sorte que l’élève, face aux savoirs, construise des métaconnaissances, aussi doit-il songer à établir un rapport entre transferts d’apprentissage et métacognition. L’apprentissage d’une langue nécessite une somme d’habiletés linguistiques ; aussi, est-il important de discerner les niveaux de compétences linguistiques et de se pencher sur leurs impacts sur les apprentissages. Ce qui demande de la part des acteurs des comportements métalinguistiques axés sur la comparaison L1-L2. Une des difficultés rencontrées par l’élève se situe dans le comportement langagier des enseignants, précisément leur propension à ne pas reformuler ou faire reformuler (Noyau, 2010). Sur la base de ces analyses, nous finissons par un ensemble de préconisations sur les reformulations didactiques entre L1 et L2 pour la formation des enseignants des écoles bilingues. / Students have difficulties in using their language skills for learning mathematics and this has consequences on their motivation and academic performance. From his/her multilingual environment, the Burkinabe child comes to school with a lot of knowledge, representations, and the sum of his/her life experiences. With this " already there ", the child should not be a "head to fill," but rather a learner to "feed" and support, in order for him/her to build his/her own knowledge. This implies the need for the student to be placed at the center of the learning process. Every learning situation involves difficulties, and we opted for studying those faced by learners in mathematics, in order to finally propose possible solutions for teaching / learning mathematics in Jula and French in bilingual schools. Despite references to the theories of didactic situations, our research doesn’t relate exclusively to the teaching of mathematics. The objective is primarily linguistic, as our description of the corpus emphasizes the analysis of verbal exchanges during sequences of mathematics in bilingual classes.Our corpus included filming repeatedly a bilingual school (Lafiabougou "B" in Burkina Faso), and transcribing sequences according to the CLAN software.Given the analysis of class sequences, we conclude pointing at the need for teachers to form representations of how the oral and written L1 one hand, and oral and written L2, work. They should build bridges between L1 and L2 at different levels of organization of the sequence of mathematics. In addition, it is crucial that the teacher conducts its teaching so that the student faces knowledge and builds meta-knowledge, which means establishing relationships between learning transfer and metacognition. Learning a language requires a bulk of language skills. It is important too to distinguish the levels of development of language skills, and to consider their impact on learning. This requires to focus on metalinguistic behavior and comparing L1 and L2. The students also face difficulties related to the language behavior of teachers, particularly their tendency to repeat literally, not to restate or rephrase (Noyau, 2010). We suggest in our conclusions to focus on didactic reformulations between L1 and L2 in training teachers.