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utafll.uta.edu>A while back I posted a query about information on language planning in South Africa. I received a number of responses, including several from our fellow linguists who are themselves _in situ_. I am particularly indebted to Prof. Wannie Carstens of Potchefstroomse Universiteit who generously sent a packet of materials regarding the issue. Included in the packet was a true gem of a document entitled "South Africa's New Language Policy: The Facts." Copies can be secured by writing: Director-General Dept of National Education Private Bag X122 Pretoria, 0001 I'd encourage any interested parties to write for one; doing so may let the Director-General know that we, too, are interested in the topic. (I suppose I suggest this at the risk of angering the D-G, who may not be ready for an onslaught of international inquiries.) I also received info on a few books: PRINSLOO, Karel, Yvo PEETERS, Joseph TURI & Christo van RENSBURG (eds.), 199?, _Language, Law and Equality_ SWANPOEL, P H, and H J PIETERSE (eds.), Perspectives on Language Planning for South Africa_ / _Perspektiewe op Taalbeplanning vi Suid-Afrika_ These are available from the UNISA Press, PO Box 392, Pretoria, 0001. Other pieces of info from specific linguist subscribers follows. ENJOY. --David Silva ************************************************************************ To the best of my knowledge language policy has not yet been finalized, although consensus seems to be that English will be the *lingua franca* and that indigenous languages and Afrikaans will be regional official languages. Two influential bodies working in the area are the National Language Project and the National Education Policy Initiative. As far as language education policy is concerned two important papers are: Heugh K (1990) Language Policy and Education. Language Projects Review 5,3 Luckett K (1992) National Additive Bilingualism: towards a new language policy for South African schools. Paper delivered at the English Language Education Trust Conference ========================================================================== Probably due to the bias created by the infamous policy of `separate develop- ment', there seems to be very little information about the possible link between the Soweto riots and language policies. However, you may want to read an article by N. Peirce (1989), published in TESOL QUARTERLY, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 401-420, under the title "Toward a Pedagogy of Possibility in the Teaching of English Internationally: People's English in South Africa." The author mentions the riots (pp. 409ff) and tries to put them in perspective. When the article appeared, she was working toward a PhD at OISE, Ontario, in Canada. OISE might be able to put you in touch with her should you wish to communicate with her. Or has she returned to South Africa? Prior to undertaking her doctoral work, she had taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, in the heat of the `language battle'. Another source, `old' though it may appear, you could consult is a volume published by Oxford University Press in Cape Town, South Africa (1978), under the title LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES IN SOUTH AFRICA. CURRENT ISSUES AND DIRECTIONS IN RESEARCH AND INQUIRY (eds. L.W. Lanhman & K.P. Prinsloo). Prinsloo, one of the editors, was then Head of the Division of Socio- linguistics of the Human Sciences Research Council, the major funding body for linguistic research and inquiry in South Africa. At the end of his contribu- tion (pp. 53-66), under the title "Institutions presently conducting Research and Inquiry in the field of Language in South Africa", he lists major insti- tutions then involved in language-related research in South Africa. The address you might consider using to get in touch is: The Head, Division for Sociolinguistics, Human Sciences Research Council, Private Bag X41, Pretoria 0001, S. Africa. (E-mail facilities & addresses then were a rarity, if not non-existent). I am giving you all this information to enable you to get a copy of either Prinsloo's article (and the addresses of institutions you can contact) through inter-library loan (if your institution happens not to have the volume in stock) or to try to contact him or anyone else. You may perhaps find more useful for your needs a fairly recent article by Vic Webb (1993/4), entitled "Language Policy and Planning in South Africa", published in ANNUAL REVIEW OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, vol. 14, 1993/1994, pp. 254-273. There is quite a good deal you could utilize for your teaching. In addition, the author gives an annotated bibliography and an unannotated one. ========================================================================== My Bibliography on language planning contains 120 pages of sources. My article in Language problems and language planning 16, 2 (1992): 105-136 will give you some idea of the more recent history of language planning in South Africa. The bibliography of that article will help you further. Young 1987 is good and contains an article on the Soweto uprising but difficult to get hold of. I'm now off to a conference on language planning and will be able to send more info on June 1. There is still some uncertainty about the causes of the Soweto uprising of 1986 - language impositions seems to have been one of the important causes. The (white) minister of education imposed Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in certain subjects in black schools in which English was the main medium of instruction. In urban black schools Afrikaans was already a language that was not well known thus placing teachers and pupils before an impossible task. The new constitution of the Republic of South Africa contains several clauses on language: article 3. (1) identifies eleven official languages, but article 3. (2) specifies that "rights relating to language and the status of languages existing at the commencement of this Constitution shall not be diminished." This is obviously aimed at protecting the position of Afrikaans but also of the black languages (who were all official languages in the so-called homelands) under the apartheid system. Article 3. (10)(a) provides for the "establishment of an independent Pan South African Language board to promote respect respect ... and to further the development of the official South African languages." The conference that I'm going to tomorrow is on this language board. Language planning has alwways been a big issue here. I'll come back to you after the conference. I would be very interested in the syllabus of your course. We do a bit of language planning in the under-graduate as well in the post-graduate courses. You can reach me on the address of prof. Hendrikse at the beginning of this letter. August D. de V. Cluver Department of Linguistics University of South Africa. ========================================================================== Here are a few sources on South Africa: Alexander, N. 1989 Language policy and national unity in South Africa/Azania. Cape Town: Buchu Books. Alexander, N. 1990 Critical choices for South Africa/Azania. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Alexander's main contribution is that we should attempt to unify the major Bantu languages in the country: thus Zulu and Xhosa could be unified into Standard Nguni while Southern and Northern Sotho could be unified into Standard Sotho. He does not go into the sort of detail that one would like to see, namely how different phonological systems would be unified. He also ignores the major problems facing such an enterprise: - language attitudes (the Zulus and the Xhosas belong to two different political parties and the rivalry between these parties has been a major cause for the frightening levels of violence in the country) - it seems unlikely that members of these groups will support a unified language); - the advanced stage of language development in the country. All the affected languages have been fully standardised, have grammar books, dictionaries, school books, newspapers and a fast developing literature. Angogo, R. 1978 "Language and politics in South Africa." In: Studies in African linguistics 9, 2: 211-221. An example of uninformed politically inspired misrepresentation of the situation. She was severely reprimanded by: Stoops, Y. 1979 "The Afrikaner and his language." In: Studies in African linguistics 10, 3: 313-316. Hang on, this is going to be a never-ending letter, I'll have to be more selective - books only: Brooks, A. and J. Brickhill 1980 Whirlwind before the storm: the origins and development of the uprising in Soweto and the rest of South Africa from June - December 1976. London: International Defence Ais Fund for South Africa. Crawhall, N.T. (ed.) 1992 Democratically speaking: international perspectives on language planning. Salt River: National Language Project. Crawhall, N.T. 1993 Negotiations and language policy options in South Africa. The National Language Project Report to the National Education Policy Investigation Sub-committee on articulating language policy. Salt River: National Language Project. Kloss, H. 19778 Problems of language policy in South Africa. Vienna: Wilhem Braunm?ller. Lanham, L.W. and K.P. Prinsloo (eds.) Language and communication studies in South Africa. Current issues and directions in research and inquiry. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Msimang, C.T. 1992 Afrivan language and language planning in South Africa. (The Nhlapo-Alexander notion of harmonisation revisted). Inaugural address 20 August 1992. Pretoria: Bard Publishers. Young, D. (ed.) 1987 Language planning and medium in education. Cape Town: The Language Education Unit, University of Cape Town and SAALA. There is no shortage of articles. The debate has to a large extent focussed on Afrikaans and only now are a few articles appearing on the African languages.Mail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue