Bertus van Rooy

Towards a Norm in South African Englishes.

In this article, we investigate the perception and application of the norm in South African English with specific reference to Black South African English. In terms of the model of three phases for the development of an indigenised norm proposed by Gill (1999), we hypothesise that South African English is in the liberation and expansion phase. Our notion of language standards and the context of the acquisition of Black South African English are presented as contextualisation of the problem. Thereafter, we attempt to test our hypothesis empirically. Three sets of data are presented and analysed. Firstly, the attitudes towards and perception of the norm by black teachers of English indicate that there are conflicting opinions about what the norm is, but there is general agreement that English must adjust itself to the new South African context. Secondly, the application of the norm is examined in a correction exercise, where the teachers display a high level of acceptance of standard English forms, but considerable disagreement about the acceptability of non-standard forms. Thirdly, the data on the reception of the norm by the learners testify to confusion about the acceptability of various non-standard forms. On the basis of these three sets of data, we conclude that Black South African English is indeed an emerging norm for South African Englishes, but one that has not yet been established securely.

The effect of learner errors on POS tag errors during automatic POS tagging

The use of a corpus as a language resource is enhanced when it is part of speech (POS) tagged. There are a number of computer tagging programs (taggers) available. In order to decide which taggers to use to POS tag the Tswana Learner English Corpus (TLEC), the performance of three taggers (TOSCA-ICLE, Brill tagger, and CLAWS) was evaluated on a small sample of the corpus. An evaluation of an unedited version of the sample indicated that learner spelling errors contributed substantially to tagging errors. All spelling errors were then corrected and the edited sample was retagged. With the spelling errors removed, the performance of all three taggers improved. This article reports on the influence of the other learner errors on the performance of the taggers. It was found that 38% of the tag errors made by CLAWS on the edited sample were due to learner errors. In the case of TOSCA 19%, and in the case of Brill 14%, of the tag errors were due to learner errors.

The language issue and academic performance at a South African University

Abstract Academic performance at universities in South Africa is a cause of concern. It is widely acknowledged that there are a variety of factors that contribute to poor academic performance, but language is regarded as one of the most important issues in this discussion. In this article, the relationship between language and academic performance at a South African university for the first-year group in 2010 (n = 900) is investigated, taking their performance in their second (2011) and third (2012) year into account. The authors review: (a) the relationships between measures of language ability (matric scores, and scores on university placement tests like the NBT and TALL/TAG); and (b) the relationship between these language measures, performance in courses offered by universities to support students and general academic success indicators to investigate the language issue and academic performance at university. The main findings of the study are: (a) matric average results above 65% are useful to predict academic success at university; matric average results below 65% cannot be used with confidence to predict success at university; (b) language measures (e.g. matric language marks, and scores on academic literacy tests used by some universities) are not good predictors of academic success at university; (c) there are strong positive relationships between the academic literacy components in the NBT and TALL/TAG; and (d) scores achieved in academic literacy modules are good predictors of academic success. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of strategic decisions that academic managers should consider when they reflect on the language issue and its impact on academic performance at South African universities.AbstractAcademic performance at universities in South Africa is a cause of concern. It is widely acknowledged that there are a variety of factors that contribute to poor academic performance, but language is regarded as one of the most important issues in this discussion. In this article, the relationship between language and academic performance at a South African university for the first-year group in 2010 (n = 900) is investigated, taking their performance in their second (2011) and third (2012) year into account. The authors review: (a) the relationships between measures of language ability (matric scores, and scores on university placement tests like the NBT and TALL/TAG); and (b) the relationship between these language measures, performance in courses offered by universities to support students and general academic success indicators to investigate the language issue and academic performance at university. The main findings of the study are: (a) matric average results above 65% are useful to predict...

The feasibility of simultaneous interpreting in university classrooms

The article reports on a study of the feasibility of the simultaneous interpreting of lectures at the Potchefstroomse Universiteit vir Christelike Hoër Onderwys (now the Potchefstroom Campus of North-West University). An experiment was set up to determine if learners who are not fully proficient in Afrikaans, the medium of instruction, will benefit from simultaneous interpreting into English. The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference between students who receive interpreting into English and tuition in English directly, while students who receive instruction in Afrikaans perform significantly more poorly than those in the English-medium lecture. A further finding of the experiment is that Afrikaans-speaking students perform significantly better when instructed in Afrikaans rather than in English. On the basis of the results, it is recommended that simultaneous interpreting be implemented as an alternative to a monolingual Afrikaans or English instructional policy or a parallel medium of instruction policy.The article reports on a study of the feasibility of the simultaneous interpreting of lectures at the Potchefstroomse Universiteit vir Christelike Hoer Onderwys (now the Potchefstroom Campus of North-West University). An experiment was set up to determine if learners who are not fully proficient in Afrikaans, the medium of instruction, will benefit from simultaneous interpreting into English. The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference between students who receive interpreting into English and tuition in English directly, while students who receive instruction in Afrikaans perform significantly more poorly than those in the English-medium lecture. A further finding of the experiment is that Afrikaans-speaking students perform significantly better when instructed in Afrikaans rather than in English. On the basis of the results, it is recommended that simultaneous interpreting be implemented as an alternative to a monolingual Afrikaans or English instructional policy or a parallel medium of instruction policy. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2005, 23(1): 81–90

The Consonants of Bsae: Current Knowledge and Future Prospects

Die konsonante van Swart Suid-Afrikaanse Engels (SSAE) word in hierdie artikel ondersoek Beskikbare navorsingsbevindinge word opgesom en aangebied naas nuwe data oor Tswana-Engels. Die resultate dui daarop dat SSAE nie bale verskil van ‘Respectable’ Suid-Afrikaanse Engels (RSAE) sover dit die konsonantinventaris betref nie. SSAE word gekenmerk dew die afwesigheid van die dentale frikatief [ð] en die neutralisasie van onderskeidings tussen palatale frikatiewe en affrikate. Konsonantklusters in sillabe-aansette is ook baie soortgelyk in SSAE en RSAE, maar SSAE word gekenmerk deur heelwat vereenvoudiging in kodaklusters, veral deur die skrapping van eksplosiewe. Moontlike rigtings vir verdere navorsing word in die slotafdeling voorgehou.Die konsonante van Swart Suid-Afrikaanse Engels (SSAE) word in hierdie artikel ondersoek Beskikbare navorsingsbevindinge word opgesom en aangebied naas nuwe data oor Tswana-Engels. Die resultate dui daarop dat SSAE nie bale verskil van ‘Respectable’ Suid-Afrikaanse Engels (RSAE) sover dit die konsonantinventaris betref nie. SSAE word gekenmerk dew die afwesigheid van die dentale frikatief [ð] en die neutralisasie van onderskeidings tussen palatale frikatiewe en affrikate. Konsonantklusters in sillabe-aansette is ook baie soortgelyk in SSAE en RSAE, maar SSAE word gekenmerk deur heelwat vereenvoudiging in kodaklusters, veral deur die skrapping van eksplosiewe. Moontlike rigtings vir verdere navorsing word in die slotafdeling voorgehou.

Diachronic Approaches to Modality in World Englishes: Introduction to the Special Issue

The collection of articles presented in this special issue of the Journal of English Linguistics is the first of its kind as a thematically and methodologically coherent set of contributions dealing with the diachronic dimension of the grammar of postcolonial varieties of English. To date, the bulk of descriptive World Englishes research has consisted of synchronic comparisons of the lexico-grammar of the parent variety and Postcolonial Englishes, often accounting for the present-day differences in contactlinguistic and language-acquisitional terms, or with reference to certain “universals of New Englishes” or “angloversals” (Mair 2003). Barring a number of forerunners (e.g., Fritz 2007; Dollinger 2008; Hundt & Szmrecsanyi 2012; Rossouw & van Rooy 2012), the grammars of contemporary postcolonial varieties have not been considered from a historical linguistic perspective, as stages in their own evolution. Indeed, such a research focus remains unmentioned in Bolton’s (2005) survey article on World Englishes research. Nor is historical linguistics mentioned by Schneider (2003:236) as one of the linguistic subdisciplines that the study of “world-wide Englishes” builds on, in spite of the fact that it “should . . . be most obvious” that “the sociolinguistic and linguistic scenarios in which New Englishes have evolved lend themselves to an investigation of . . . language variation and change” (Schneider 2003:238). While the historical investigation of any sociocultural phenomenon is hardly in need of further justification, the arrival on the scene of World Englishes scholarship of Schneider’s (2003) own “dynamic model” of the emergence of New Englishes has made the need for historical linguistic investigation of such varieties all the more pressing. As a hypothesis of a “diachronic process” (Schneider 2003:235), the model very much remains in need of empirical underpinning, in particular with relation to

Complexity in word–formation processes in New Varieties of South African English

Abstract The research question posed in the article is whether South African English (SAE) has reached Phase four of Schneiders (2007) Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes. This phase is characterised by early indications of linguistic convergence between the Indigenous and Settler strands. In the article, the focus is on lexical innovation and morphologically complex forms in a corpus of approximately 703 300 words from the Vaal Weekly community newspaper. The data are analysed according to semantic domains and morphological structure. To determine if SAE has gone beyond Phase three of Schneiders (2007) model, three criteria are proposed: generality, acceptability and codification in dictionaries. The results show that lexical innovations in the semantic domains are often loanwords originating from the culture of the indigenous strand. There is considerable evidence supporting Phase four among lexical innovations: widespread semantic diffusion, a considerable degree of acceptability, as indicated by use in other newspapers, and codification in the South African Concise Oxford Dictionary. The results for the morphology of complex words show that most of these forms are unique to the Vaal Weekly. The generality and more than negligible degree of acceptability of compounding also indicate that SAE has reached Phase four, but derivational processes, while revealing some generality for negation, otherwise fail to meet the criteria of acceptability and codification. The majority of the analyses support a conclusion that SAE has entered Phase four, but morphologically complex forms are not yet conclusive in this respect.

Stress Placement in Tswana English: The Makings of a Coherent System.

This paper investigates stress placement in one variety of Black South African English (BSAE), namely Tswana English. Current research points to two possible hypotheses about stress in BSAE. The penult-hypothesis holds that the penult syllable is stressed in BSAE, while the random-hypothesis suggests that a variety of stress assignment strategies are employed by BSAE speakers, without the possibility of predicting stress placement. A data corpus of 333 polysyllabic words was analysed in detail to determine the properties of the Tswana English stress system. These properties were subsequently interpreted by means of Optimality Theory. The major conclusion is that stress is stored lexically in function words, but a coherent system of ranked constraints exists for content words. These constraints account for a very high percentage of the observed data. Both the penult- and random-hypotheses are rejected. It is shown that stress is attracted by the penult, but superheavy final syllables may attract stress to the final syllable, while the presence of certain suffixes may attract stress to the antepenult.

A multi-dimensional analysis of a learner corpus

The present study reports on a multi-dimensional analysis (Biber, 1988) of the Tswana Learner English (TLE) corpus, together with the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS). A new multidimensional model is extracted, since the similarities between nativeness and non-nativeness mask differences between linguistic features to such an extent that it is not possible to come to a complete understanding of such differences using the standard 1988 model.A basic five factor model was extracted. Dimension 1 can be taken to capture advanced literacy, specifically as far as complex noun phrase structure is concerned, with the function of expressing information densely. Dimension 2 can be regarded as an indication of transparency and Dimension 3 captures a range of informal style features. The features that group together as Dimension 4 represent a style of writing that is more nuanced and precise and as a provisional label, we propose contextualisation of information. Dimension 5 can be regarded as the persuasive dimension in student writing, a feature that has been identified as a very important characteristic by Biber and Grabe (1987), and also in our own study of student writing.The most striking differences between the two corpora are on Dimensions 1 and 4. LOCNESS shows more advanced literacy than the TLE, and also contextualises information more extensively than the TLE. On the other dimensions, both corpora contain essays that display the various different styles available, showing that as a register, student writing allows for some internal stylistic variation independent of whether the writers are native or non-native speakers of English. The results confirm the usefulness of the multidimensional model, particularly to the extent that a new model is extracted. Substantial overlap between some of the dimensions in this study and dimensions in other models indicate that multidimensional modals are sensitive to particular kinds of feature groupings, which should be taken as evidence in favour of the general validity of this kind of approach.

A word-class tagset for Setswana

This paper aims to present a general tagset for use in an automatic word-class tagger, functioning largely at the level of word-classes, rather than pure morphological information. In view of the importance of reusability, guidelines and standards for tagsets are identified, concentrating on the standards proposed by the Expert Advisory Group on Language Engineering Standards (EAGLES) within the framework of the European Union language technology initiatives. Certain criteria for both tagsets and tag labels are identified. Thereafter, problems and solutions for tokenisation in Setswana are discussed, with emphasis on the challenge presented by the disjunctive orthography and the agglutinative character of Bantu languages. The bulk of the article is then devoted to the development of a tagset for the various part-of-speech categories of Setswana, as a test for the extent to which the EAGLES standards can be adopted and adjusted to make them suitable for an agglutinating language. The conclusion is that this is indeed possible to a large extent, with minor elaborations necessary, in particular as far as the disjunctively written prefixes of verbs are concerned.