This is an opportunity for Deaf people to finally be properly educated in a language they understand.
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Articles on South African languages
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Reading fluency and expanding vocabulary are the bridge from decoding to comprehension. Weaknesses in any of these building blocks will limit a child’s ability to read for meaning.
Missionaries and African translators working on local versions of the Bible divided South Africa’s ethnic groups by language.
There’s a new wave of indigenous language podcasts that could attract big new audiences.
Bilingual education is possible for all South Africa’s children.
English has failed often as the main language of court in proceedings - this impacts testimony and must be addressed.
A realignment is needed as the current systems have lost the competence to midwife a new nation out of the formative experiences of the last 25 years.
Police officers are also not, and are not expected to be, sworn translators or interpreters. This has serious implications for justice.
Research has shown that African immigrants in South Africa refrain from speaking their own languages and try to speak local languages to blend in.
A much more flexible and open teaching and language policy would help teachers and pupils to enable a meaningful learning environment in a multilingual and diverse classroom setting.
It’s not far-fetched to suspect that the common understanding of the idea of “mother tongues” in South Africa is coloured by outside influences.
Software tools for South Africa’s Nguni languages may assist with redress and effective communication.
South Africa must be seen as a country for speakers of all its official languages rather than an English-only elite.
Top contributors
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Professor of African Language Studies, University of the Western Cape
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Postdoctoral research fellow (Forensic Linguistics/ Language and Law), University of the Western Cape
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Senior Lecturer, Applied Language and Literacy Studies, University of Cape Town
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Professor in Language Education, member bua-lit collective, University of Cape Town
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Dean: Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of the Western Cape
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Associate professor in Computer Science, University of Cape Town
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PhD Student School of Languages and Literatures, University of Cape Town
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NRF SARChI Chair Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, School of African Languages, Rhodes University
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Part-time lecturer, University of Johannesburg
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Senior researcher at Research on Socio-Economic Policy, Stellenbosch University
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Fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Stellenbosch University
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Deputy Director, University of Fort Hare
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Associate Professor of History, Virginia Military Institute
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Professor at Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town
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Professor and Founder of the Wits Centre for Deaf Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
