The research undertaken for this PhD investigates the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) and its role in the context of language policy implementation. This study was inspired by two separate factors. First, the PanSALB was heavily criticised, especially in recent years, despite its central and important role in the implementation of the South African language policy. Second, a look at the language planning theory indicated a lack of theoretical focus on the roles of language boards or language agencies, despite their frequent use in language policy efforts, a lack also recently lamented by Spolsky (2011) and Edwards (2012). The research undertaken for and reported on in this thesis has aimed toward two goals. First, to provide insight into the functioning and potential problems a language agency, such as the PanSALB, can face. Second, to allow a closer look at the implementation stage of the language planning process, a stage which has not yet been the focus of direct study, despite a lot of theoretical work on the processes which lead to language policies. Previous research on the PanSALB and the language policy in South Africa focused on the sociolinguistic issues, such as conflicting language ideologies among the population. This study approaches the PanSALB from an organisational and administrative point of view, as some of the recent criticism indicated that these aspects of the Board's work were problematic. A case study of the PanSALB was undertaken, and semi-‐structured interviews conducted with board members and managers. The findings indicate that financial, collaborative, and legislative issues hinder the Board's functioning. The latter is also the cause for some of the conflicts and tension within the Board and between the Board and its stakeholders, since ambiguous stipulations make the status and reporting structures of the Board unclear. The findings indicate that financial, collaborative, and legislative issues hinder the Board's functioning. The latter is also the cause for some of the conflicts and tension within the Board and between the Board and its stakeholders, since ambiguous stipulations make the status and reporting structures of the Board unclear. These findings highlight the importance of the implementation stage of language policy and planning, since even a well-‐ planned language policy may fail if the body or bodies tasked with its implementation are dysfunctional.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:600084 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Schmit, Nathalie |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=203788 |
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