Pub Date : 2019-09-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2019.1691633
Bertus van Rooy
Abstract This article reviews published research on South African learner corpora, focussing on available corpora and a synthesis of research themes and findings. Previous corpora for English amount to 4.2 million words of undergraduate writing and 1.85 million words for Afrikaans. Research yielded findings on cohesion, coherence, metadiscourse, grammatical features, vocabulary, spelling errors, and learner errors. Cross-cutting trends indicate the overuse of high frequency functional categories and high frequency lexical resources, and similarities between student writing and spoken conversation. Overall, this article documents the sizable body of research that has been conducted to date.
{"title":"Learner Corpus Research in South Africa (1989–2019)","authors":"Bertus van Rooy","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2019.1691633","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2019.1691633","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article reviews published research on South African learner corpora, focussing on available corpora and a synthesis of research themes and findings. Previous corpora for English amount to 4.2 million words of undergraduate writing and 1.85 million words for Afrikaans. Research yielded findings on cohesion, coherence, metadiscourse, grammatical features, vocabulary, spelling errors, and learner errors. Cross-cutting trends indicate the overuse of high frequency functional categories and high frequency lexical resources, and similarities between student writing and spoken conversation. Overall, this article documents the sizable body of research that has been conducted to date.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"50 1","pages":"70 - 89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2019.1691633","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46175269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2019.1684978
K. Spowage
Abstract This article uses a case study to interrogate the politics of French in Africa. It examines French involvement in the Rwandan Civil War (1990–1994), and argues that by conceptualising institutions such as La Francophonie as “cultural” bodies, we risk obscuring their properly political functions. Through a consideration of the history of language in French colonial thought, and the translation of that history into the post-colonial idea of francophonie, the article foregrounds the political and economic benefits that France has received as a result of the spread of its language and culture. The article also provides an account of the role played by language and culture in France's decision to support the Habyarimana government in a war that culminated in genocide. Ultimately, it argues for the importance of recognising linguistic organisations as political entities.
{"title":"Beyond “Fashoda Syndrome”: The Rwandan Civil War and the Politics of La Francophonie in Africa","authors":"K. Spowage","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2019.1684978","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2019.1684978","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article uses a case study to interrogate the politics of French in Africa. It examines French involvement in the Rwandan Civil War (1990–1994), and argues that by conceptualising institutions such as La Francophonie as “cultural” bodies, we risk obscuring their properly political functions. Through a consideration of the history of language in French colonial thought, and the translation of that history into the post-colonial idea of francophonie, the article foregrounds the political and economic benefits that France has received as a result of the spread of its language and culture. The article also provides an account of the role played by language and culture in France's decision to support the Habyarimana government in a war that culminated in genocide. Ultimately, it argues for the importance of recognising linguistic organisations as political entities.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"50 1","pages":"25 - 4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2019.1684978","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41587271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-08-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2018.1553993
Logan Cochrane, Y. W. Bekele
Abstract In 2018 there were demands for the creation of new regional states in Ethiopia by ethnolinguistic groups seeking greater self-determination. Two examples of this were the Sidama and Wolaita, with some members of the latter advocating for the creation of an “Omotic Peoples” regional state. The idea of Omotic unification is not new to southern Ethiopia. When the amalgamated language of Wogagoda was introduced in the 1990s, the peoples of the region rallied in opposition against government. This article explores the intersection of language, politics and power during that period, which resulted in the withdrawal of a language policy and the creation of new, disintegrated administrative structures. Drawing upon historical experiences, this article reflects on the role of ethno-linguistic identities and their implications for contemporary decision making about languages of instruction and administrative boundaries. The results provide insight into situational contexts that may enable or constrain bottom-up and top-down language policy processes.
{"title":"Politics and Power in Southern Ethiopia: Imposing, Opposing and Calling for Linguistic Unity","authors":"Logan Cochrane, Y. W. Bekele","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2018.1553993","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2018.1553993","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In 2018 there were demands for the creation of new regional states in Ethiopia by ethnolinguistic groups seeking greater self-determination. Two examples of this were the Sidama and Wolaita, with some members of the latter advocating for the creation of an “Omotic Peoples” regional state. The idea of Omotic unification is not new to southern Ethiopia. When the amalgamated language of Wogagoda was introduced in the 1990s, the peoples of the region rallied in opposition against government. This article explores the intersection of language, politics and power during that period, which resulted in the withdrawal of a language policy and the creation of new, disintegrated administrative structures. Drawing upon historical experiences, this article reflects on the role of ethno-linguistic identities and their implications for contemporary decision making about languages of instruction and administrative boundaries. The results provide insight into situational contexts that may enable or constrain bottom-up and top-down language policy processes.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"50 1","pages":"26 - 45"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2018.1553993","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45771118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-20DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2019.1690556
N. Mollema
(2019). New Frontiers in Forensic Linguistics: Themes and Perspectives in Language and Law in Africa and Beyond. Language Matters: Vol. 50, Language Politics in Africa, pp. 90-92.
{"title":"New Frontiers in Forensic Linguistics: Themes and Perspectives in Language and Law in Africa and Beyond","authors":"N. Mollema","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2019.1690556","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2019.1690556","url":null,"abstract":"(2019). New Frontiers in Forensic Linguistics: Themes and Perspectives in Language and Law in Africa and Beyond. Language Matters: Vol. 50, Language Politics in Africa, pp. 90-92.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"50 1","pages":"90 - 92"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2019.1690556","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45129457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2018.1551924
Olusanmi Babarinde, Elizabeth T. Babarinde, K. Obitube
Abstract This article examines the effectiveness of computer-assisted language instruction using Mavis Computel’s English–Yoruba talking books and pen. Using a developmental design, 21 children, aged 10, from highly educated Yoruba families were divided into an experimental and a control group. The groups were subjected to a study session in the same venue and at the same time but in different classes for three academic terms. Both groups wrote the Yoruba paper in the compulsory National Primary School Leaving Examination written along with other students. Though the experimental group did well in the examination, the control group performed much better. The contents of the books are structured according to the NERDC curriculum. This methodological approach the talking books adopt to the teaching of Yoruba enables the users to teach themselves through imitation, repetition, and audio-visual content. This article encourages government collaboration in the further development of the talking books.
{"title":"Computer-Assisted Instruction and Language Learning: Evidence from Mavis Computel’s English–Yoruba Talking Books","authors":"Olusanmi Babarinde, Elizabeth T. Babarinde, K. Obitube","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2018.1551924","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2018.1551924","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article examines the effectiveness of computer-assisted language instruction using Mavis Computel’s English–Yoruba talking books and pen. Using a developmental design, 21 children, aged 10, from highly educated Yoruba families were divided into an experimental and a control group. The groups were subjected to a study session in the same venue and at the same time but in different classes for three academic terms. Both groups wrote the Yoruba paper in the compulsory National Primary School Leaving Examination written along with other students. Though the experimental group did well in the examination, the control group performed much better. The contents of the books are structured according to the NERDC curriculum. This methodological approach the talking books adopt to the teaching of Yoruba enables the users to teach themselves through imitation, repetition, and audio-visual content. This article encourages government collaboration in the further development of the talking books.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"50 1","pages":"100 - 111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2018.1551924","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42528658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2019.1574876
A. N. Conduah
Abstract The literature on language, immigration and the labour market mostly links destination language proficiency to higher earnings. Thus, it emphasises economic motivation for immigrants’ destination language learning. A questionnaire with open-ended and close- ended questions was used to survey 100 Ghanaian immigrants living in Johannesburg with regard to factors that stimulate or impede the learning of South African indigenous languages. The findings of this article affirm that economic migrants mostly learn destination languages for economic purposes. However, the study further revealed that social motivation is also important for immigrants’ language learning. Even though some of the participants successfully used English in their workplaces and other contexts, the established members of the host community’s preference for using South African indigenous languages for social purposes made the participants socially motivated to learn these languages. They later appreciated the social access and acceptance they gained through their proficiency.
{"title":"Social Imperatives for Destination Language Learning","authors":"A. N. Conduah","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2019.1574876","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2019.1574876","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The literature on language, immigration and the labour market mostly links destination language proficiency to higher earnings. Thus, it emphasises economic motivation for immigrants’ destination language learning. A questionnaire with open-ended and close- ended questions was used to survey 100 Ghanaian immigrants living in Johannesburg with regard to factors that stimulate or impede the learning of South African indigenous languages. The findings of this article affirm that economic migrants mostly learn destination languages for economic purposes. However, the study further revealed that social motivation is also important for immigrants’ language learning. Even though some of the participants successfully used English in their workplaces and other contexts, the established members of the host community’s preference for using South African indigenous languages for social purposes made the participants socially motivated to learn these languages. They later appreciated the social access and acceptance they gained through their proficiency.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"50 1","pages":"112 - 140"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2019.1574876","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44248755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2019.1635306
L. Barnes
From a sociolinguistic perspective, Namibia is a fascinating country. Under the peace agreement following World War I, South Africa was given a mandate to govern the former German colony of Southwest Africa. During this period of South African hegemony, Afrikaans became entrenched as the country’s dominant language. After independence, one of the steps in the attempt to bring Namibia, the former satellite state of South Africa, into the global arena was to change its language policy radically by introducing English as the only official language of the country and of education. Despite these changes, the roots of the historical legacy of Afrikaans are deeply embedded in the country’s language ecology. Another significant aspect of Namibia’s linguistic legacy is that it boasts a number of still-thriving indigenous languages from a language family that long ago became extinct in South Africa. For this reason, it seems appropriate to foreground Gerald Stell’s article on code-switching practices in Namibia, which can be read against this sociohistorical backdrop. His article takes the form of a case study involving informal intra-ethnic interactions featuring five Namibian ethnicities. He addresses the question of whether these multilectal behaviours can become stylistically functional and, subsequently, whether this stylistic potential translates into sociolinguistic indexicalities.
{"title":"Editorial","authors":"L. Barnes","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2019.1635306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2019.1635306","url":null,"abstract":"From a sociolinguistic perspective, Namibia is a fascinating country. Under the peace agreement following World War I, South Africa was given a mandate to govern the former German colony of Southwest Africa. During this period of South African hegemony, Afrikaans became entrenched as the country’s dominant language. After independence, one of the steps in the attempt to bring Namibia, the former satellite state of South Africa, into the global arena was to change its language policy radically by introducing English as the only official language of the country and of education. Despite these changes, the roots of the historical legacy of Afrikaans are deeply embedded in the country’s language ecology. Another significant aspect of Namibia’s linguistic legacy is that it boasts a number of still-thriving indigenous languages from a language family that long ago became extinct in South Africa. For this reason, it seems appropriate to foreground Gerald Stell’s article on code-switching practices in Namibia, which can be read against this sociohistorical backdrop. His article takes the form of a case study involving informal intra-ethnic interactions featuring five Namibian ethnicities. He addresses the question of whether these multilectal behaviours can become stylistically functional and, subsequently, whether this stylistic potential translates into sociolinguistic indexicalities.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":" ","pages":"1 - 2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2019.1635306","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43863440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2019.1607535
G. Stell
Abstract This study addresses the question of how multilectal behaviours can become stylistically functional. It proposes as a case study informal multilectal behaviours in Namibia, where indigenous languages co-exist with English and Afrikaans, the country’s lingua francas. The data involve informal intra-ethnic interactions featuring five Namibian ethnicities. A turn-by- turn analysis seeks to establish whether the participants’ code-switching patterns possess sequential salience and thus stylistic potential. Subsequently, an ethnographic perspective is taken to confirm whether this stylistic potential translates into sociolinguistic indexicalities. The study finds that—apart from white Namibians—the ethnolinguistic groups involved tend to display comparable interactional patterns of convergence/divergence in their code-switching behaviours, suggesting that the participants attach stylistic potential to code-switching. The ethnographic perspective links English to authority/worldliness, native languages to ingroupness, and L2 Afrikaans varieties to “street smart” attributes. Additionally, it shows that specific code-switching patterns are used as balancing acts between these values.
{"title":"Indexicalities in Code-Switching Practices across Namibian Ethnicities","authors":"G. Stell","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2019.1607535","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2019.1607535","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study addresses the question of how multilectal behaviours can become stylistically functional. It proposes as a case study informal multilectal behaviours in Namibia, where indigenous languages co-exist with English and Afrikaans, the country’s lingua francas. The data involve informal intra-ethnic interactions featuring five Namibian ethnicities. A turn-by- turn analysis seeks to establish whether the participants’ code-switching patterns possess sequential salience and thus stylistic potential. Subsequently, an ethnographic perspective is taken to confirm whether this stylistic potential translates into sociolinguistic indexicalities. The study finds that—apart from white Namibians—the ethnolinguistic groups involved tend to display comparable interactional patterns of convergence/divergence in their code-switching behaviours, suggesting that the participants attach stylistic potential to code-switching. The ethnographic perspective links English to authority/worldliness, native languages to ingroupness, and L2 Afrikaans varieties to “street smart” attributes. Additionally, it shows that specific code-switching patterns are used as balancing acts between these values.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"50 1","pages":"28 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2019.1607535","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48566517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2019.1572775
P. Onanuga
Abstract African writers represent and reflect their cultural and sociolinguistic realities in their writings in spite of the necessity of acceding to the globalising and hegemonic dictates of English. This linguistic hybridisation is asserted through the use of indigenous linguistic practices. This article studies the use of proverbs and its relationship with power and politics in Femi Osofisan's (2012) play Yungba-Yungba and the Dance Contest. While the proverbs, as is customary in Yoruba society, function as conversational lubricants, they reveal diverse pragmatic implications. I identify the nexus of power and politics in proverbs with the contextual functions of mediation, provocation and admonition/caution. Ideologically, the proverbs contribute to the thematic preoccupation of political awakening and document the Yoruba ethos and mores, particularly in the face of language endangerment. More importantly, they assist in indexing a global issue: the recurrent conflict between progressive forces and oppressive regimes.
{"title":"Proverbs, Power and Politics: A Linguistic Analysis of Osofisan’s Yungba-Yungba and the Dance Contest","authors":"P. Onanuga","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2019.1572775","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2019.1572775","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract African writers represent and reflect their cultural and sociolinguistic realities in their writings in spite of the necessity of acceding to the globalising and hegemonic dictates of English. This linguistic hybridisation is asserted through the use of indigenous linguistic practices. This article studies the use of proverbs and its relationship with power and politics in Femi Osofisan's (2012) play Yungba-Yungba and the Dance Contest. While the proverbs, as is customary in Yoruba society, function as conversational lubricants, they reveal diverse pragmatic implications. I identify the nexus of power and politics in proverbs with the contextual functions of mediation, provocation and admonition/caution. Ideologically, the proverbs contribute to the thematic preoccupation of political awakening and document the Yoruba ethos and mores, particularly in the face of language endangerment. More importantly, they assist in indexing a global issue: the recurrent conflict between progressive forces and oppressive regimes.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"50 1","pages":"50 - 72"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2019-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2019.1572775","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43017851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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