CHAPTER 3: LANGUAGE POLICY IN EDUCATION
3.2 PROVISIONS OF THE LANGUAGE POLICY IN EDUCATION
April 1994 marked a very important turning point in the lives of South Africans in as far as language policy in education is concerned. The Constitutional Assembly drafted and adopted the Constitution of South Africa (1996). The Constitution of South Africa (1996) has a strong and explicit basis of language policy in education.
Thus, language policy in education is one of the many components of the Constitution of South Africa (1996).
Apart from the Constitution of South Africa (1996) that tables the language policy in education, there are other government documents that do the same such as the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Provincial Language Policy (2001). All these documents will receive scrutiny in this study.
3.2.1 The Constitution of South Africa (1996)
The official languages of the Republic of South Africa are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, isiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, and isiZulu.
As has been pronounced by the Constitution of South Africa (1996), Tshivenda is one of the official languages. All official languages are entitled to be used for all official dealings as illustrated below. The above clause stipulates that all official languages have a rightful place to be used in education for learning or to be utilised as the language of learning and teaching.
The key constitutional clause relating to language and education which grants each person the right to use a medium of instruction of his or her choice is highlighted in the Constitution of South Africa (1996:14) as follows: “Everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable”.
The Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 (1996:15) further stipulates that “Everyone has the right to access to any information held by the state”.
This clause gives everyone an opportunity to receive educational information in any of the 11 official languages. This is a positive development as apartheid never treated languages equally. “Indigenous local African languages were to same considerable extent, regarded as „low languages‟ and therefore of inferior status in comparison to these two ex-colonial languages” (Moyo, 2002:150). The Constitution of South Africa (1996) allows the right of all learners to receive education in any of the official languages in public schools. This, in a way, has elevated the status of previously disadvantaged languages.
De Wet, Niemann and Matsela (1999:45) remark that the education policy of the government regards language as a necessary focus point of its strategy of building a non-racial nation in South Africa. Kumwangamalu (1997:239) concurs with this view as he illustrates that the education language policy “is meant to facilitate communication across the barriers of colour, language and region, while simultaneously creating an environment in which respect for languages other than one‟s own would be encouraged” (Kumwangamalu, 1997:239).
The Constitution of South Africa (1996) undoubtedly exposes a policy that can only be viewed as progressive and that has the interest of the majority of the people in the country at heart. Whether these noble intentions find expression in concrete terms is another issue that the study will discuss later in the chapter.
3.2.2 South African Schools Act (1996)
The South African Schools Act 84 (1996) was developed by the Minister of Education in consultation with members of the Council of Education with the objective of giving
guidelines of language policy in public schools. The South African Schools Act (1996) displays the norms and standards for language policy.
First and foremost, the South African Schools Act (1996) enlightens education stakeholders as to who is responsible for determining the language policy in a public school. In addition, the act outlines who is responsible to execute this important duty.
It suggests that in all public schools, it is upon the shoulders of the school governing body to determine the language policy of the school. In constructing the language policy the school governing body should take the language policy as prescribed by The South African Schools Act (1996) and the Constitution of South Africa (1996) into consideration. “No form of racial discrimination may be practised in implementing policies determined under this section” (South African Schools Act, 1996:2b:16).
In public schools, languages may be learnt as a subject and in this regard the South African Schools Act (1996: B-32) states that
All learners shall offer at least one approved language as a subject in Grade 1 and Grade 2.
From Grade 3 (Std 1) onwards, all learners shall offer their language of learning and teaching and at least one additional approved language as subjects.
In schools where there is more than one language of learning and teaching, learners have to choose languages of teaching at the time of admission. In case of learners who are still minors, the parents may do so on behalf of their children (South African Schools Act, 1996: 15).
The language of learning and teaching is a fundamental factor that is indispensable and pivotal as learning can hardly take place without it. The South African Schools Act (1996:B-32) states that “The language(s) of learning and teaching in a public school must be (an) official language (s)”.
Learning becomes meaningful when the learners learn in the language that the learners understand best. The language that learners understand best is the mother tongue. Since there are eleven official languages, learners that belong to the
languages that have been crowned as official languages, have an advantage to use their primary languages as their language of learning and teaching.
3.2.3 Northern Province Provincial Language Policy (2001)
The provisioning of language policy was reviewed in August 1995 and was announced in February 1997 and introduced to schools in 1998. The Northern Province Provincial Language Policy is in line with the provision of language policy of the South African Schools Act (1996). The Northern Province Provincial Policy (2001:07-08) reads as follows:
PHASE GRADE LANGUAGE POLICY COMMENT
FOUNDATION PHASE
R All 3 learning programmes in a language chosen by the School Governing Body [LoLT]
[LoLT] should preferably be a mother tongue/
primary language [L1] or one of the official languages 1 All 3 learning programmes in a
language chosen by the SGB [LoLT]
A second language [L2] as encompassed in the Literacy Learning Programme is optional as an additional programme (one of the official languages)
[LoLT] should preferably be a mother tongue/
primary language [L1] the official languages.or one of the official languages 2 All 3 learning programmes in
[LoLT]
A second language [L2] as encompassed in the Literacy Learning Programme is compulsory as an additional programme (one of the official languages)
3 All 3 learning programmes in [LoLT]
A second language [L2] as encompassed in the Literacy Learning Programme is compulsory as an additional
Learners exit the phase having been exposed to two languages
languages]
INTERMEDIATE PHASE
4 All 5 learning programmes in one of the languages offered in grade R-3, may be [LoLT] or second language [L2] of the Foundation Phase
A second language [L2]
encompassed in the Language Literacy and
communication.Learning Programme [LLC] as started in the Foundation Phase
A third language [L3]
encompassed in the Language Literacy and Communication Learning Programme [LLC] is optional as an additional programme
Allows for a change in [LoLT]
5 All 5 learning programmes in [LoLT]
A second language [L2]
encompassed in the Language Literacy and Communication Learning Programme [LLC] as started in the Foundation Phase A third language [L3] as encompassed in the Language Literacy and Communication Learning Programme [LLC] is compulsory as an additional programme
6 All 5 learning programmes in [LoLT]
A second language [L2]
encompassed in the language Literacy and Communication Learning Programme [LLC] as started in the Foundation Phase A third language [L3] as encompassed in the Language Literacy and Communication Learning Programme [LLC] is compulsory as an additional programme.
Learners exit the phase having been exposed to three languages
SENIOR PHASE 7 8 learning programmes in [LoLT]
as in the Intermediate Phase Continue learning the languages [L2] and [L3] introduced in the Intermediate Phase
A fourth language [L4] as encompassed in the Language Literacy and Communication Learning Programme [LLC] is introduced as an additional/
optional programme
8 8 learning programmes in [LoLT]
as in the Intermediate Phase Continue learning the languages [L2] and [L3] introduced in the Intermediate Phase
Continue learning the
additional/optional programme, language [L4] introduced in grade 7
9 8 learning programmes in [LoLT]
as in the Intermediate Phase Continue learning the languages [L2] and [L3] introduced in the Intermediate Phase
Continue learning the
additional/optional language [L4]
Learning exit the phase having been exposed to 3 or 4 languages
FURTHER EDUCATION AND
TRAINING
10-12 Unit standards to be offered in the language chosen by the learner Unit standards can be offered in any of the 11 official languages.
ABBREVIATION:
LOLT - Language of Learning and Teaching LLC - Language Literacy and Communication
The Northern Province Provincial Language Policy (2001) outlines that in Grade R learners learn three (3) learning programmes, of which one should be the primary language. In Grade 2 a second language may be added. The addition of the second language in this regard is optional. As from Grade 3 onwards a second language may be offered. In Grade 4 a third language may be added. The addition of the third language in this grade is optional. From Grade 7 onwards the fourth language may be added. The addition of such a language is optional.
In government schools where the majority of learners are Tshivenda speaking, Tshivenda is offered as the primary language, English as the 1st additional language, and Afrikaans as the 2nd additional language. Private schools that offer English as the primary language, offer Tshivenda as the 1st additional language and Afrikaans as their 2nd additional language. The ones that are offering Afrikaans as their primary language prefer to offer English as their 1st additional language. There are schools that offer the 3rd additional language such schools take any of the official languages as their 3rd additional language.
In addition, the school and the School Governing Body are at liberty to promote multilingualism (Northern Province Provincial Language Policy, 2001:01). Schools do exercise multilingualism. At the time of the research it was realised that in all the schools where the majority of learners are Tshivenda speaking, the language of learning and teaching was English. In teaching the content subject in the language that both the educator and the learners are not fluent in, explanations of the concepts and content is often done in Tshivenda. This helps learners to fully comprehend concepts which they do not fully understand. Learners also rather do follow-up questions in their primary language, that is, Tshivenda than in English. Even though in some instances the educator is devoted to utilising only the language of learning and teaching he or she is at times compelled to switch to Tshivenda for clarification.
It is of extreme importance to have a glance at language policies in education of other countries. This is the case because no country is an island. What happens in one country is bound in one way or another to have an impact on other countries. A brief analysis of language policies in education of the following countries will be made:
Nigeria, Zambia, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.
Nigeria is one of the most important countries in Africa in terms of politics and the economy. It is thus important to analyse its language policy. There are more than 400 languages spoken in Nigeria. The most important languages spoken (albeit not as the mother tongue) by half of the population are Hausa, Yoruba, and Ibo (Niemann and Van Tonder, 1989:309). Nieman and Van Tonder (1989:309) outline the language policy in education in Nigeria as follows: “In most regions children are instructed in their mother tongue for the first two years, whereas the medium of instruction suddenly changes to English”.
This quotation about language policy in education in Nigeria reflects that the mother tongue is used as the medium of instruction for the first two years. Thereafter English is used as the medium of instruction. The problem lies with the regions which do not have a clear-cut official policy to determine which indigenous languages to utilise.
Thus, even though it is being said that indigenous languages are to be used, some indigenous languages are sidelined and as a result learners are disadvantaged.
Concerning the language policy in Zambia, there are 73 different languages in Zambia. However, Moyo (2002:154) maintains that
Zambia has only recognised and adopted seven local African languages, which it elevated to official status along with English as the leading official language at independence time. We might wish to consider what it has achieved in its post–colonial society by adopting an ex-colonial language, English, two years later, after its independence in 1964. It opted for an English straight education policy where English became the sole medium of instruction from a child‟s first day in school.
Another language policy that is interesting is that of Uganda. Language policy in education in Uganda is complex. Awoniyi (1982:154) outlines the situation as follows:
The language situation in Uganda is rather complex.
Like in Kenya, there are over 30 district languages and dialects spoken in Uganda, however there are
Akarimojong, Luganda, Lugbara, Lwo, Runyankore/Rukiga and Runyoro/Rutooto. The most popular of them all is the Luganda language which can be learnt up to the School Certificate level.
Things changed from 1952 onward where “Swahili was no longer recognised as a mother tongue in Ugandan Schools except in schools for the police and their children.
By 1965, English was introduced as a subject in primary I, and is taught throughout the primary schools” (Awoniyi, 1982:154). In Uganda, all subjects are supposed to be taught through the medium of English in the 6th and 7th year of the primary level.
Language policies of Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia are also worth mentioning. Both Sudan and Somalia have a common ground of utilising English as an official language. In Sudan, however, English is being used as the official language (Awoniyi, 1982:151). Somalia uses English as well as Arabic languages as their official languages. Somalia is “a monolingual country where the L1 is Somali.
Officially Somali is an unwritten language. All written records are kept in either Arabic or English (or Italian which is gradually being supplanted)” (Awoniyi, 1982:151).
Amharic is the official language in Ethiopia where the need any other languages is strongly discouraged. During the first six years of education Amharic is used as a language of learning and teaching. English is used as a language of learning and teaching in the secondary schools as well as at university. All official dealings and official correspondence are conducted in English (Awoniyi, 1982:150-151).
The use of English as an official language is applied in Tanzania as well. Awoniyi (1982:150) indicates that
In 1964, Swahili was declared to be the primary official language of Tanzania, though English still has official status. Swahili is today widely used by the administration, the Trade Unions, the law courts, on the radio and in newspapers. It is used as a medium of education throughout primary school and there is a growing body of modern literature in it.
It is thus clear that, in almost all countries, the mother tongue is used as a language of learning and teaching during the early stage whereas English is used as a language of learning and teaching in the secondary as well as the university level. The study of language policy of other countries exposes the evidence that English is not the only language used in the world. Since languages such as Swahili are used in other countries as a language of learning and teaching.