Gary P. Barkhuizen

Language Curriculum Development in South Africa: What Place for English?

As in other parts of the world, language-in-education planning in South Africa is composed of two interrelated domains: decisions about languages taught as subjects and decisions about languages used as media of instruction (or languages of learning, as they have come to be known in South Africa). Alternative political ideologies and educational philosophies have clearly determined the nature of each of these decisions and their implementation—a point especially true of the South African situation. In this article we focus on the changing role and status of English within new language-in-education policies in South Africa. Because the implementation of new policies needs to be understood in the light of past policies and their effects, we briefly place current policy debates in their historical context. We then present a model that provides a descriptive framework for analyzing and evaluating decisions made relating to language-in-education planning. We discuss existing constraints on policy implementation in the South African context and conclude by identifying issues related to the process of language-in-education planning that we discovered through ongoing assessment of the planning process itself.

Anticipating language shift: Afrikaans speakers moving to New Zealand

Abstract ‘The study of language maintenance and shift is concerned with the relationship between change and stability in habitual use, on the one hand and ongoing psychological, social or cultural processes, on the other hand, when populations differing in language are in contact with each other’ (Fishman et al. 1966, 424). This article reports on the initial stages of language shift on a micro level, in a study carried out on 15 Afrikaans speakers, all of whom were in the final stages of preparing to emigrate to New Zealand. The study explores the linguistic attitudes of the emigrants, both to their mother tongue (Afrikaans) and to English and their vision of what lies ahead, linguistically and offers a view on possible long-term linguistic outcomes for these families.

The role of Xhosa in an Eastern Cape army camp

This article reports on a study which investigated the role of Xhosa as a ‘link’ language in a South African army camp. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected by means of a questionnaire, interviews with army personnel and observations of military life in the camp. It was found that English is the language used for formal, work-related activities; in line with the unofficial language policy of the camp. Xhosa was, to some extent, used as a link language, but usually during informal, off-duty activities.

Crowding and lack of space in an English multilingual setting: an interactional analysis

Crowding in South African schools and classrooms is a problem which has prevented effective teaching and learning for some time, and is a problem which will continue to exist as long as the supply of educational facilities lags behind the demand for a good education. This article reports on a study conducted in a multilingual, English Second Language high school classroom during the first six weeks of the school year. The study investigated the effects of crowding and lack of space on the interactional behaviour of the teacher and the students in the classroom. Specifically it explored the amount of instability that was generated in the life of the teacher and the ways in which she was organized to reduce or prevent that instability.