Literacy researcher calls for multilingual language policy
WHEN the beautiful journey of storytelling begins, it also paves the way for early literacy.
In those very early years, when Baby is primarily still at home, this happens with ease in the mother tongue.
Once the child enters the formal schooling system, however, the mother tongue is often pushed aside because of the social milieu and because none of the teaching takes place in the mother tongue.
Often the journey with literacy from here on must continue in one of the dominant languages – English and Afrikaans.
Xolisa Guzula, currently doing her PhD in language and literacy at the University of Cape Town, describes how this continuing dominance of English and Afrikaans in former “Model C” schools is propped up by a “cycle of blame”.
“Many previously white primary and secondary suburban schools offer only English and Afrikaans as ‘home language’ and ‘first additional language’ sub- jects,” she explains, “and this continues apartheid’s ideology of bilingualism. Where an African language is offered, it is given marginal status as ‘second additional language’.”
This means African languages get little space on the timetable and few resources.
She and fellow researcher Carolyn McKinney say that primary school principals have “defended this fact by saying their pupils continue on to high schools that only offer these languages. High school principals, in turn, reported that they had to offer English and Afrikaans because their feeder primary schools were not offering African languages”.
Guzula says this is a “convenient cycle of blame which signals bad faith” and that there is lots of room for improvement.
She says that if all members of a school community were committed to a spirit of a multilingual language policy in South Africa, surely they would consult with each other and design collaborative language policies.
But society’s “collective beliefs about whose languages ‘ matter’” makes any meaningful collaborations a pipe dream.
That doesn’t mean attempts aren’t made, but do they work if not part of a “natural” process where language use takes priority?
Earlier this year, Helen Zille made a speech in parliament in which she described how a governmental language unit had launched the official isiXhosa terminology for chess.
“By standardising these terms, we are capturing the colour of this beautiful language and promoting its popular use amongst all South Africans. We now know that the official isiXhosa word for ‘checkmate’ – ‘ skaakmat’ – is ‘ uthinjiwe’. Soon we will be launching the official terminology for the game of cricket.”
But linguistics consultant Dawn Daniels isn’t convinced this could have much of an impact. “New words are coined every day, a natural process where some words catch on and eventually make it into the dictionary and others just fade away. Last year, we saw phablet [phone+tablet] and Mx [gender-neutral alternative for Mr, Mrs or Ms] make it into the Oxford English Dictionary. We must have a need for these words as they were used often enough to qualify for inclusion,” says Daniels.
On the language unit’s endeavour, however, Guzula says: “While they must be having a lot of fun making up expressive words in isiXhosa, it could be seen as an unnatural process; a strategy contrived to promote a game and make those who were previously marginalised feel more included. I’m not convinced that language follows the laws applied to chickens and eggs.” She said that a “more authentic and useful language would arise by providing adequate resources for all to play. In the heat of the game, the right words would soon be born”. To find out more about becoming a FUNda Leader, visit
For more information about the Nal’ibali readingfor-enjoyment campaign and the “Story Bosso” competition, visit or