1. Topic:
1.1. A critical, emotional and theoretical reflection on why we should study lang. policy and planning, with examples.
2. What is interesting/ surprising? Any epiphanies?
2.1. Surprising history of Afrikaans.
2.1.1. (B) E.g. first written phonetically in Arabic script which allows us to tell how it was spoken aloud.
2.1.2. (B) E.g. 3 influential people
2.1.3. (B) Infl. of Khoisan and Malay langs. on common Afrikaans words.
2.2. (B) Originally used by indigenous people and slaves, it was not a white man's language in the beginning. Whites spoke Dutch = higher status.
2.3. Drastic status change of languages
2.3.1. English: from an oppressive colonial language to a symbol of freedom and economic/ global opportunities
2.3.2. (B) Afrikaans: at first a creole spoken by low classes to bridge the gap between people (before 1870), then a hated language of white supremacists used to segregate people during Apartheid (from 1875).
2.4. (A) Seeing English and Afrikaans white kids trying to learn science in isisXhosa really put things into perspective.
2.5. (A) Communication needs to be established before content can be taught.
2.6. (A) Eng. exposure only in classroom.
2.6.1. (A) Sometimes teachers are L2 Eng. speakers.
2.7. (A) English children have the means and the language to move overseas if their linguistic needs are not met. African language speakers do not have this option.
2.8. (C 220) Research shows that a student needs sufficient academic competence in both their home language and an additional language before they can switch over to the additional language.
2.8.1. (C 220) A minimum of 6-8 years of learning the additional language as a subject is needed before the switch can be successful.
2.8.2. (C 220) The RSA curriculum, however, still insists on an early transition to English and does not provide instruction in African languages past the 3rd grade.
2.9. (C 222) English has little use in the daily life of people who live in informal settlements and rural areas.
2.9.1. (C 222) Therefore, due to lack of practice, these students do not have enough vocabulary to accomplish literacy goals.
3. Emotional response to anything in particular? Anything you did not think about before, esp. with regards to language?
3.1. (A and B)The visible anger and frustration of students wanting to learn but prevented by language barrier gave rise to indignation on our part.
3.2. (B) AfriKaaps: apprehension turned to success when they performed. In defining a separate AfriKaaps identity, they actually brought people together. Their language became something to be proud of.
3.3. (C 228) The school system not only fails to teach literacy to African language speakers in early primary but fails across all languages in South Africa.
4. What infl. does lang. policy and planning have on people's democratic practices and on people's emotional well-being?
4.1. Kids think they are stupid because they do not understand the language of instruction
4.1.1. Lowers self-esteem and self-efficacy beliefs
4.2. Linguistic prejudice: politicians' intelligence is judged on their accent and proficiency in a language that is not their home-language.
4.3. Not all speakers of the 11 official languages are able to understand politicians and are therefore under informed when voting.
4.4. (A) Eng. and Afr. are still privileged langs. after Apartheid.
4.5. (A) There is a negative view of Afrikaans so English is advocated for but at the expense of African languages.
4.5.1. (C 226) There is little evidence that African speakers do indeed want English education.
4.5.2. (C 226) African parents struggle to answer surveys in English so they remain silent and decisions are made for them. It is assumed they want English education for their kids.
4.5.2.1. (C 226-227) Urban parents may prefer English medium schooling because English offers the most well-resourced educational prospects for their kids.
4.5.3. (C 226) The Pan South African Language Board found that 88% of citizens over 15 want home-language education and English at second language at school and beyond.
4.6. (A) 1/4 of kids that start grade 1 finish matric. Consequences for the economy and education.
4.6.1. Lack of education means uneducated voters.
4.7. (A) For RSA to become a democracy, African langs. (AL) need to become langs, of power.
4.8. (A) Medical practitioners that speak a person's language are more likely to be able to care for them as part of their democratic right.
4.9. Language policy and planning must go beyond tokenism.
4.10. (B) Writing the script
4.10.1. (B) Democratic process. Everyone wrote pieces.
4.11. (C 215) The Constitution of RSA advocates for the “promotion and development of multilingualism”.
4.11.1. (C 223) The aim in the education policy is to transition to English as fast as possible instead of encouraging multilingualism and the use of African languages.
4.12. (C 218) Unfeasible to implement all 11 official languages, therefore assimilation to English was agreed upon. Decided that African languages would be the language of instruction until grade 3, then there would be a switch to English medium.
4.13. (C 224) The new curriculum disadvantages African language speakers; The curriculum and learning expectations are not enough to enable the switch to English by grade 4. English and Afrikaans speakers continue to be privileged.
4.14. (D 6) Through the reclamation of linguistic power, the politics of linguistic rectification are promoted.
5. How can we make lang. in education more inclusive?
5.1. Mother-tongue education till matric and at university.
5.2. Bi/ multilingual approach, i.e. both English and African languages as the medium of instruction.
5.3. Provide teachers with training in their own language.
5.4. By changing the perception that (A) English is superior and that Africans must speak it for Whites to understand. Whites should also learn African languages.
5.4.1. (C 231) New educational language policy draft (2013) suggested that native speakers of non-African languages should have to take an African language as a school subject until matric.
5.4.1.1. (C 231) This will help with nation building and “social cohesion”
5.5. (A) Use of language aides in the classroom
5.6. (B) Change perspective of AfriKaaps from a laughable, low status version of Afrikaans to something to be proud of (e.g. through the AfriKaaps production).
5.6.1. (B) AfriKaaps: "The Kaap/ Cape dialect of Afrikaans"
5.6.1.1. (B) Spoken by: coloured community with diverse cultural heritage.
5.6.1.2. (D 1) AfriKaaps: a linguistic motion to challenge the negative connotations of Gamtaal for coloured multilingual speakers of Kaaps.
5.6.1.2.1. (D 1) Gamtaal: Gam was one of the biblical sons of Noah and the term is endowed with shame and cursedness.
5.6.1.3. (D 4) AfriKaaps: a type of linguistic activism that uses hip-hop and AfriKaaps to empower speakers of Kaaps.
5.6.1.3.1. (D 4) Hip-hop artists present a positive view of nonstandard varieties of Afrikaans.
5.6.2. (B) Aim of production: reconstruct AfriKaaps identity in a positive way.
5.6.2.1. (D 3) “AfriKaaps is about reclaiming Afrikaans”
5.6.3. (B) Lavender Hill high: student says AfriKaaps has gangster/ low class connotations = big impact on judgments of others and employability.
5.6.3.1. (B) Another student's opinion: if textbooks were written in AfriKaaps, then everyone would pass exams.
5.6.3.1.1. Everyone should have access to learning material in their home language.
5.6.3.1.2. (C 225) There is not enough reading material available to enable literacy in African languages.
5.6.3.1.3. (D 4-5) There are no multilingual sources to encourage multilingual speakers to find their voice, creativity and confidence in their speech style.
5.6.4. (B) Mixed Eng. and Afr. in AfriKaaps is frowned upon.
5.7. (C 219) Principle behind the language in education policy: all students should have access to the curriculum through additive bilingual and multilingual schooling.
5.7.1. (C 219) There was supposed to be an implementation plan, but this never materialised.
5.7.2. (C 231) Curriculum and assessment alterations between 1994 and 2012 have not lived up to the multilingual education policy.
6. How can we view multilingualism as a resource and not a problem?
6.1. Promotes tolerance and democracy
6.2. Access to cultural knowledge embedded in different languages.
6.3. It brings people together - you can only truly get to know someone if you speak their language. Unifying. Nation building. Social cohesion.
6.4. (A) It is actually cheaper to implement bilingual education
6.4.1. (A) Ignorance is expensive in the long run
6.4.2. (A) Students fail because of the language barrier so it is more expensive because they have to repeat the year.