South Africa and the English Language

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how a multi-lingual and socio-culturally divided country as South Africa can benefit by having English as a lingua franca. It looks at how standard South African English does not need to be the English of white, middle-class mother-tongue speakers and how, instead, it can be the language which unifies all South Africans, empowering those who need power most.

From the Paper:

"Most - previously mainly monolingual - European countries have shifted to English as the lingua franca. English is no longer a foreign language in most EU member states. The trading capital of Europe is Brussels, which is situated in Belgium. This is a multilingual country which has Dutch, German and French as official languages, but where English is the language of communication and trade. At the same time, all Belgians retain their mother tongue, whether it be French, Dutch or German. Most Belgians nowadays learn English as a second language, and one of the other official languages as a third language. The same could be implemented in South Africa. If taught according to the system of additive bilingualism, a L1 Xhosa speaking child, would have its primary education in Xhosa, and learn English as a second language."

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