Mother tongue being cut out
Image by: Daniel Born
Failure to teach in indigenous languages is detrimental to future generations.
With the 2011 census showing a decline in six of the 11 official languages, linguists are warning that failure to teach in home languages will lead to continued failures at schools and universities.
With a decline in the use of Zulu, Sepedi, Sotho, Tswana and Swati, the head of the Wits University language school, Nhlanhla Thwala said: "Teaching pupils in their mother tongue is imperative to ensuring success at schools and tertiary institutions."
While most indigenous languages showed a decrease in popularity, English, Afrikaans and Ndebele recorded increases, with 9.6%, 13.5% and 2.1% of the population speaking these languages respectively.
Zulu and Xhosa remained the most popular languages, with 22.7% (11.5million people) and 16% (8million people) of the population speaking them respectively. The number of whites and Indians speaking Zulu increased.
Although decreasing in popularity in the Northern Cape and Western Cape, Afrikaans is the third-most-popular language.
English language speakers increased to 4.9million from 3.7million in 2001.
Thwala said South Africa's "tragedy" was that even though so many indigenous languages were spoken, children were not taught in them.
"We are essentially ignoring well-known facts - if you want to learn you must do so in your mother tongue. If we do not, South Africa will continue to experience high failure rates in schools and universities," he said.
Languages reflected the power dynamics of a country, Thwala said.
"People speak a language for a reason. Increases and decreases show which languages people find useful, regardless of whether they are their first language."
While the increases were not surprising, the changes were, Thwala said.
"The popularity of Zulu and Xhosa are understandable, with Zulu South Africa's de facto second language. People hear Zulu more than other languages, therefore there is a greater expectation to speak it."
Research showed Zulu, the most widely recognised of the Nguni languages, was by far the most requested by people wanting to learn a language, he said.
While the increase in Afrikaans was surprising, once a language gained an advantage - be it through the amount of school materials or available teachers - it was difficult to undermine.
"Social engineering to either promote or undermine languages does not work.
"This is evident from fanakalo, which, while not official continues to be spoken, especially on mines."
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Mother tongue being cut out
For Commenters Consideration | Please stick to the subject matterCOMMENTS [15]
Mike123
Posted 206 days agodatraveller
Remember many kids enter school with no English so why should they be at a disadvantaged from day one? Learning in your mother tongue is always better even if you work in English - I have many colleagues who only ever started speaking English when they got to work but because they studied in Afrikaans, their mother tongue, it was a lot easier for them to concentrate in lectures etc. If someone is qualified and struggles with English who cares? I learnt Spanish in 6 months because I had to but I would not have been able to acquire a Chartered Accountants degree in Spanish have I have done so in English – this does not make this knowledge null and void when I start speaking Spanish.
Mike123
LindaMpungose
the_hun
If European kids could be educated successfully in English why is it a problem for black kids?
Ozgood
Posted 206 days agoThe predominance of the English language is a result of British colonialism in the 19th century and American (US) technological progress in the 20th century.
There are many indigenous languages throughout the world which are dying
buddi
m1si2zi3nzo4
Posted 206 days agoModern forms of socialization exert a demand for ‘acceptability’ to others, As their language dominates life, everyone begins to see themselves through their eyes, and “mother tongues”, leading to denial, or concealment of their own real wishes, to present themselves in a favorable light. As Hume put it; ‘man’s being, and man’s appearance” become two completely different matters. Thus the few powerful individuals keep the weak multitudes in perpetual slavery, as they use language to collude in their own corruption.
Interestingly, the ‘mother tongue’ is essentially the comfort zone of the powerful, to which they urge a resort to in face of the “growing world-wide inter-connectedness of structure, culture and energy which effectively means that societies are no longer systems in an environment of other systems, but as sub-systems of a larger, more inclusive world society.
RSA.MommaCyndi
Posted 206 days agoFanagalo was designed for SAFETY reasons. Its pretty damn important when you are down a mine to be able to understand when someone says 'run - snafu incident imminent'. It was never about 'social engineering'.
Teaching in mother tongue is the best option for any child. In a country where we have 11 official languages (one of which has no written form) and about 88 variations when dialect is taken into account - it isn't practical. We'd need 10 schools in each and every school district and the gods only know how badly the DoE would stuff that book order up.
If we look at KZN where the vast majority are home language isiZulu, it isn't as much of a logistical nightmare BUT when we look at Gauteng, it becomes completely impossible.
MarelizeKeyter
Posted 206 days agoThe biggest problem is the radical development in technology. Language doesn't develop that fast. So new concepts have to be taught while there is no words to describe the concept with. This goes especially for maths, but also newer sciences.
Teaching must be done in mother tongue, university studies or any other further study can be done in a second language and experience shows that students who have done school in mother tongue does better in later studies than students who did school in second or third language. This goes for Afrikaans kids too.
m1si2zi3nzo4
In a functioning society, with a relatively convergent understanding of life, it helps to communicate in unraveling the vastly unknown world. Such societies share a common past, and understanding thereof. This country does not only deny its history, but it is engaged in an internecine struggle against even its own indigenous tribes. It is forged out of a aggregation of disparate, individual tribes, who cannot agree on any single thing, let alone share their learning experiences. These individual tribes owe allegiance to their tiny blotches of their past, and want to impose these vague cultures onto the rest.
danny.archer3
Posted 206 days agoLindaMpungose
Wiseguy
Posted 206 days agoJust a thought....;-).
Tokolosh
Posted 205 days ago