Say my name — if you can
School officials believe it’s time we got pronunciations right at school
DO you struggle with the tongue-twisting names of other cultures?
South Africa’s biggest teacher union and the language board say the country should make proper name pronunciation mandatory because your name is your identity. They say we should adopt a US-style programme to help teachers and pupils pronounce names properly.
Doing so would get names such as Anandani, Sphilisiwe, Nolosindiso and Annica rolling off the tongue.
WHEN Durban schoolgirl Anandani Pillay was in Grade 1, her father laid a formal complaint against her teacher, who “renamed” her Annie because she could not pronounce the child’s name.
Zandile Mncube’s surname has been mispronounced since Grade 1.
Her teachers now drop the Grade 6 pupil’s surname altogether, even at school awards ceremonies.
“When announcements are being made it goes something like this: ‘First place, Jenny Smith, second place, Natasha Singh, third place, Rose Peters, fourth place, Zandile.’ And it hits you as abrupt, because of the rhythm of the syllables and then the abruptness of just ‘Zandile’. It is as if she is never a full person, always half,” said her mother — who asked that her name not be used.
Anandani’s dad said he eventually taught his daughter’s teacher the correct pronunciation in a meeting with the principal.
South African parents, teachers, psychologists and the Department of Basic Education agree that far too many pupils’ names are mispronounced in classrooms and that something has to be done.
The American National Association for Bilingual Education launched a campaign this year to highlight the importance of pronouncing pupils’ names correctly.
Elijah Mahlangu, a spokesman for the Department of Basic Education, said: “We have not done a study to establish how big it is, but some learners do raise concerns about the failure by some among them to pronounce their names correctly.
“However, we need to take into context in this country where we have people from diverse cultural groups with a wide variety of lanthe guages, with 11 of them official.
“As a result of the diversity some names are difficult for people who don’t belong in those groups to pronounce simply because the names are not familiar to them.”
Durban Grade 6 pupil Hiranya Ramlackan said: “I think my name is a simple name. It’s easy to pronounce — I don’t know why some people get it wrong.”
Friends and even family often mangle her name, which is pronounced phonetically, she said.
The name, which means “birth of soul”, has Sanskrit origins.
While American parents and teachers are being educated through the My Name, My Identity campaign — which has a website offering teachers resources to learn to say a child’s name correctly — most South Africans are oblivious to the potential harm that comes with a mispronounced name.
Shame, embarrassment, pupils feeling burdened by names and poor academic performance from being disregarded by teachers are among the negative effects.
Parenting expert Stephanie Dawson-Cosser said teachers needed to take time to internalise the correct pronunciation of a pupil’s name, as it showed the sort of respect they needed to receive from pupils in their class. To not learn the proper pronunciation of a child’s name showed that the teacher didn’t care.
“There is enough research to show that teachers who take a personal interest in their pupils will inspire responsive behaviour in their pupils.”
University of Pretoria education psychologist Professor Kobus Maree recommended that pupils wear
As a result of the diversity some names are difficult for people who don’t belong in those groups