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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
arts and humanities
Bantu languages in education in South Africa: An overview. Ongekho akekho! - the absentee owner
Language Learning Journal, Volume 38, No. 3, Year 2010
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Description
The main argument of this overview article is that the Bantu languages of South Africa should have a far more significant role in education. We contend that the strong preference for English as medium of instruction among black learners is largely responsible for their inadequate educational performance, particularly since most of these learners do not have the required skills in English. This is particularly the case in rural and township schools and in what we term 'lower exmodel C schools', given the socio-economic realities of the communities in which these schools are located. Were the Bantu languages used for learning and teaching purposes in an effective way, we suggest the educational outcomes of black learners would be significantly better. We accept, of course, that schools, especially secondary schools, cannot immediately implement a policy of using the Bantu languages as media of instruction. Several research and development challenges need to be addressed for this to happen. These include: transforming the socio-political meanings attached to these languages; their further corpus development as well as their status, prestige, acquisition and usage development; the development and implementation of language-in-education policies which address the basic educational and sociolinguistic realities; and the effective distribution of information to school governing bodies about the issues relevant to the selection of a medium of instruction. In our view, South Africa will not become a developed, effectively multilingual and nationally integrated country if linguistic equity and parity of esteem are not established in a meaningful way for all official languages, which includes provision for their use as media of instruction throughout. © 2010 Association for Language Learning.
Authors & Co-Authors
Webb, Vic
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Lafon, Michel
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
France
Langues et Cultures D'afrique Noire Centre National de la Recherche Scientifiq
South Africa, Johannesburg
Institut Français D’afrique du Sud
Pare, Phillip
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Statistics
Citations: 36
Authors: 3
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1080/09571730903208389
ISSN:
09571736
e-ISSN:
17532167
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Study Locations
South Africa