Ellen Hurst

Tsotsitaal, global culture and local style: identity and recontextualisation in twenty-first century South African townships

Tsotsitaal is a linguistic phenomenon which is inseparable from a style adopted by many youth living in urban townships in South Africa. The style is signalled by the unique and innovative lexicon of Tsotsitaal, and additionally indicated by clothing and other identity markers. Features of the style are ‘urban‐ness’, consumerism (in terms of brand names) and cultural iconography, such as music and sports. While many of these items are influenced by, or even drawn from, global cultures (particularly in the diaspora), they are transformed into uniquely South African cultural currency by a process of recontextualisation in township spaces and between individuals. There has been a dialogue between the Tsotsitaal style and the global since at least the 1940s, which should put to rest fears that increased global influence since the end of apartheid will diminish the integrity of local South African cultures.

‘When you hang out with the guys they keep you in style’: The case for considering style in descriptions of South African tsotsitaals

Abstract The collection of South African urban language phenomena called Tsotsitaal, Scamtho, Ringas (in short ‘Tsotsitaals’) etc, have been described differently as code-switching, mixed languages, or essentially slang vocabulary. These descriptions however, fail to acknowledge the centrality of performance to these phenomena. Tsotsitaals draw on extra-linguistic modes of identity performance such as body language, clothing, and other facets of what could commonly be called ‘style’. This article uses Couplands (2007) description of style to understand how tsotsitaals can be viewed as discursive practices performed to achieve social meaning. The research draws on fieldwork conducted in Cape Town in 2006–2007 to expand our understanding of tsotsitaals. It considers perceptions of the style associated with tsotsitaals from the viewpoint of both speakers and listeners in a township community in Cape Town. We argue that current terminology used for varieties of this sort is inadequate to describe the combination of performance, lexicon and style associated with tsotsitaals.

The Thing That Kill Us: Student Perspectives on Language Support in a South African University.

South African higher education institutions, in line with international practice and as a result of the ‘social turn’, are progressing towards mainstream academic literacy support for students. This shift has a political dimension in South Africa where, historically, disadvantage has had racial dimensions, in its departure from ‘deficit’ models of academic development and support. On the other hand, there are practical factors to be considered in the kinds of support we offer students. This article describes a survey of students studying in Engineering and the Built Environment at an English-medium university in South Africa to uncover language issues in their university careers. Students identify difficulties relating to a broad range of academic literacies, yet the research suggests that the process of mainstreaming academic literacy may have to be accompanied by targeted support for English as an Additional Language students.

A visual and linguistic comparison of features of Durban and Cape Town tsotsitaal

Abstract Tsotsitaal is a South African language phenomenon spoken in urban centres around South Africa which involves the use of a range of linguistic and semiotic resources as part of a process of styling an urban identity. The tsotsitaal phenomenon originated in the urban context of Johannesburgs racially mixed townships in the 1940s and it can now be found in all provinces. Although there are calls to recognise it as a ‘national language’, it is not clear what features the different regional varieties share. This article considers two regional examples of tsotsitaal – from Durban and Cape Town – to unpack their common features. The data analysed here was gathered in 2012, and involves video recordings of 22 young adults, aged between 16 to 25, speaking tsotsitaal together. The data was analysed to determine: the grammatical framework of each example; the lexical items both common to, and unique to, the two sites; topics areas of relexicalisation; and the use of gestures and other semiotic markers. The article demonstrates that tsotsitaals in geographically distant Cape Town and Durban share lexicon, gestures and relexicalised topics, but cautions that regionally and contextually specific features need to be taken into account in broad claims about, and descriptions of, tsotsitaals.

Translanguaging as a socially just pedagogy

South African higher education relies primarily on English as the medium of education. This is a result of the colonial history of the country, yet it disadvantages a large section of South African students who undertake their education in a language that is not their first language. It also reproduces the monolingual norm and anglonormativity. This can be read as a social justice issue, since students are impacted negatively by discrimination through language. Indeed, recent protest movements, particularly Rhodes Must Fall, have highlighted language as a critical issue in the “decolonisation” of the university curriculum. This article presents translanguaging pedagogy as a way to address this issue; it analyses the implementation of translanguaging pedagogies in an introductory course at the University of Cape Town in 2015 and 2016. Through an analysis of lecturer reflections, classroom practice and assessments, it highlights how translanguaging pedagogies can empower students who are disempowered by English monolingualism and it demonstrates how students respond positively to these pedagogies. The article makes the argument that multilingual pedagogies are a necessary response to the current crisis in South African higher education.

Navigating language: strategies, transitions, and the ‘colonial wound’ in South African education

Abstract Higher education institutions in South Africa are dominated by English, a result of the colonial history of the country and its education system, a legacy which is intensified by the current dominance of English in higher education worldwide. This paper applies a decolonial theoretical lens to argue that the dominance of English in South African education manifests in the ‘colonial wound’, what Walter Mignolo describes as the damage done by ‘the fact that regions and people around the world have been classified as underdeveloped economically and mentally’. It provides evidence for this argument by analysing a set of ‘language histories’ submitted by students at a prestigious English language university in South Africa. Strategies for educational success described by students include mobility and language shift, yet students find these transitions traumatic. They experience feelings of inferiority in terms of their own languages and social practices, which highlights the pervasiveness of the colonial matrix of power.

The identity reflected in the assessment criteria for a professional Honours degree thesis

Abstract It has been argued in recent educational literature that assessment drives learning, and that assessment should therefore rigorously align with the intended outcomes of a course of study. This article describes a research project analysing the assessment tool for the research component of a professional degree in a faculty of engineering and the built environment at a university in South Africa. The research employs an action research methodology to undertake two cycles of planning, fact-finding and execution in order to improve the assessment tool. During the first cycle of research the outcomes for the research component are found to orientate towards an academic rather than professional identity. Moreover, the academic expectations are not made explicit to staff or students in the assessment tool. During the second cycle a new tool is developed and implemented. Evaluation of the new tool shows improved alignment with the outcomes of the course. However, the analysis highlights a number of further areas for improvement, and the article concludes with recommendations for future assessment design.

Rural/Urban Dichotomies and Youth Language

‘African Urban Youth Languages’, a term usually used to refer to urban linguistic styles such as Sheng, Nouchi, Tsotsitaal, etc., have traditionally represented a streetwise, urban identity, linked to the rapid modernising and urbanizing forces present in contemporary Africa (Kiessling and Mous 2004). There has been some evidence that this indexicality has created a dichotomy between rural and urban youth, in terms of their representations of each other, and their language, clothing and other modalities of style/semiotic resources.

Dynamic Language: Sociolinguistic Perspectives on African Language, Ideologies and Practices

The advantage of these new approaches is that they are able to describe dynamic language, language change and fluidity, whereas before the aim was to describe language as bounded homogenous units.