Bantu languages in education in South Africa: an overview. Ongekho akekho ! – the absentee owner

Vic Webb · Michel Lafon · Phillip Pare

35 citations0/0 files storedLanguage Learning Journal

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Multilingual Education and Policy Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies Second Language Learning and Teaching

Abstract

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 ex-model 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.

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References

2000Language, Power and Pedagogy 2000Language, Power And Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire 1998International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement 2000Between languages and discourses: Language practices in primary multilingual mathematics classrooms in South Africa 2002Language in South Africa: The role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development 2012Dialects, Englishes, Creoles, and Education 2002Language in South Africa 2015Multilingual Education in South Africa

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