0

TITLE : ASSINMENT : ESSAY

CORSE CODE : LEX 111E

NAME : SIZIPHIWE

SURNAME : XOZWA

STUDENT NUMBER : 202203688

S.Xozwa 202203688u University of Fort Hare

1

Introduction

The goal of this essay is for us to know how was the language situation in the past
and how is the language situation progressing.The essay is made up of three
section.Which says how was the language situation in South Africa from the colonial
period , period and in post-apartheid period.
During the colonial period the languages that were spoken was English,
Afrikaans,French,Portugees and Spanish.So our african languages were now widely
recognised.During apartheid period the language that was mostly used was
Afrikaans and the dectators forced people to use Afrikaans as their first language
and they force children in schools to be taught in Afrikaans.In the post apartheid
period which is now , efforts are being made to adress the issue of african languages
that are not being explioted.Children are also struggling to learn languages that are
not their own, they need to be taught in their mother tongue.

BODY

COLONIAL PERIOD

During colonial period colonies forced people to use their languege and they also
restricted their langueges. The conflict between Afrikaners (also known as Boers)
and White South Africans of British ancestry, which culminated in two Anglo-Boer
Wars (1880-1881 and 1899-1902), can be seen as a background area of conflict,
with the languages of Dutch (later Afrikaans) and English as a background area of
conflict.
The Afrikaners were aware of this, since'...the people's actual being was embodied
in Afrikaans' "living language"' (Glioma, 1997: 122). Aside from this battle, there was
another one between the two colonial languages and the African languages. Two
distinct ideas of colonialism have been recognized in terms of education: that of
Latin-speaking colonialism and that of non-Latin-speaking colonialism. Europeans
(French, Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish) and Germanic Europeans (British, Dutch,
and German).
The former tended to demonstrate cultural and linguistic supremacy, as well as a
dismissive attitude toward "local cultures." While the former tended to claim racial
supremacy, resulting in racial segregation in educational and other venues, the latter
tended to assert racial superiority, resulting in racial segregation in educational and
other settings (Mazrui, 1988: 89).
While the British tolerated African languages, they were hesitant to extend English
education for fear of politicization and mobilization through the common medium of
communication. The goal to '...keep the language difference between the
Englishman and his black subject, as a manner of preserving the psychological
difference between them.' (Mazrui, 1988: 98).

S.Xozwa 202203688 university of fort hare

2

First, colonialism created a (new) linguistic hierarchy in which the colonizer’s

language was inscribed as the most prestigious language and eventually came to
rule the rest of the world. Each colony's administrative and commercial framework.
"African dialects are not" because "African dialects are not” strategy in francophone
Africa, "no languages of civilization " (Davesne 1933: 6), The usage of only French,
for example, was mandated. The British, on the other hand, encouraged the
dominant languages in their colonies as part of their "divide and rule" policy
(Brenzinger 1992), but this had the same effect of establishing the European
language as the most respected language.
These behaviors had a significant influence on the language status in the area.
African languages, for example, were firmly placed at the bottom of the linguistic
hierarchy, receiving only auxiliary status at best. This thus "froze the chances for
practically all African languages to evolve functionally." It also halted linguistic rivalry
for entry to new areas, and to some extent, the European language slowed the
spread of existing African vehicular languages." Spencer (1985, p. 394) The
colonizer's language, on the other hand, became a requirement for all individuals
who lived in the colony.

APARTHEID PERIOD

English and Afrikaans were the official languages of South Africa during apartheid
era. Indigenous languages were deemed inferior, as were the people who spoke
them.
During apartheid, English and Afrikaans were given a greater status than other
languages in order to ease access to good services, expertise, and information in
order to fulfill customer expectations and needs (Eastern Cape Language Policy).
Prior to 1994, the official languages of the country were English and Afrikaans. South
Africa is a country in Africa. Only pupils who spoke English or Afrikaans as their first
language had an advantage. The majority of South Africans speak an African
language at home.
For example, Zulu make up around 22% of the population 16 percent speak
Afrikaans and fewer than 10% speak English as their primary language, whereas 18
percent speak isiXhosa language. Other indigenous languages are spoken by the
rest of the population (National Department of Education1992.)

POST APARTHEID PERIOD

In South Africa, there are around 25 distinct languages spoken, 11 of which have
been awarded official status under section 6 of the Constitution (Act No. 108 of

S.Xozwa 202203688 university of fort hare

3

1996) on the basis that they are spoken by approximately 98 percent of the
population.
The 11 official languages are isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, and siSwati (all of which
belong to the Nguni language group); Sesotho, Sepedi, and Setswana (all of which
belong to the Sotho language group); Tshivenda, Xitsonga, English, and Afrikaans
(all of which belong to the Sotho language group)
As a result, South Africa is a multilingual country. The fact that multiple indigenous
languages are spoken across provincial borders, shared by speech communities
from various provinces, is a noteworthy feature of multilingualism in South Africa.

CONCLOSION
South Africa has a very big problem when it comes to language. It has the problem
since colonial period to apartheid period until now. South Africa still has language
problem because pupils still have difficulty learning English which they are taught in
schools. Children need to be taught in their own language.

REFLECTIONS

My academic skills are getting better after I wrote this assignment. In the readings
learnt a lot about the history of South Africa which I did not know well before.

My academic writing skills improved as well because I was not used to writing more
than 300 words but now, I have managed to get up to 1000 words. I still need to go
through the history of South Africa because I didn’t know anything about it I had to
look for readings and google.

References
Bettina Migge, Isabelle Leglise. (2007, January). language and colonialism. RasearchGate, pp. 5-6.

Dr Bana, P. Tshotsho. (2013). mothert tongue debate and laguage policy in south africa.
international journal of humanities and social science, 39.

Ngubane, D. B. (2003, february 12). national language policy framework. department of arts and
culture, pp. 5-6.

W.Bostock, W. (2018, August 6). South Africa's envolving language policy educational implications.
Journal if curriculmn and teaching, 27-28.

S.Xozwa 202203688 university of fort hare