Browsing by Subject "African languages"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Affirming a role for specialised dictionaries in indigenous African languages
    (Stellenbosch University, 2010) Nkomo, Dion
    One of the main problems facing speakers and language practitioners of indigenous African languages is the shortage of appropriate dictionaries for a variety of purposes. This lack results in users consulting any available but inappropriate dictionaries. Quite often, users are disappointed because a wrong dictionary does not normally provide the required assistance. Various functions, which the dictionary may serve, are sought in vain from inappropriate dictionaries and other terminological products. Consequently, the potential of lexicography in general and specialised lexicography in particular, remains unrealised owing to a variety of reasons. This article which mainly discusses the specialised dictionary, draws insights from Wiegand's (1984) general theory of lexicography and the theory of lexicographic functions (Bergenholtz and Tarp 1995, 2003; Tarp 2000, 2002, 2008) to affirm the role of specialised dictionaries in indigenous African languages and also to give insights into how such dictionaries may be produced.
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    It's easy to learn when you using your home language but with English you need to start learning languge before you get to the concept': bilingual concept development in an English medium university in South Africa
    (Taylor & Francis, 2009) Paxton, Moragh Isobel Jane
    This article describes a multilingual glossary project in the economics department at the University of Cape Town which gave multilingual students learning economics through the medium of English, opportunities to discuss new economic concepts in their home languages in order to broaden and enrich understanding of these new concepts. The findings from this project illustrate how important it is that students use a range of languages and discourses to negotiate meaning of unfamiliar terms. The article responds to Mesthrie's (2008) caution regarding the development of multilingual glossaries, dictionaries and textbooks at higher education level in South Africa. It argues that translation of terminology happens inevitably both inside and outside our university classrooms as multilingual university students, in peer learning groups, codeswitch from English to their primary languages in order to better understand new concepts and this could be used as an important resource for building academic registers in African languages.
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    The influence of social media marketing on the rise of emerging African Language repertoires in South African digital communication
    (2025) Mokgesi-Selinga, Masabata; Hall, Martin
    The multilingual South African landscape is represented by the country's twelve official languages, of which nine are African languages. This landscape presents an opportunity for brands to foster inclusive communication with and amongst diverse communities. As global communication increasingly becomes digitalised, social media is rapidly growing as an easily accessible communication platform for social engagements and digital marketing. This study aimed to analyse how African language speakers communicate with and about local brands on social media platforms to identify emerging social media trends and marketing opportunities using African languages when engaging with South African consumers. The research case study primarily observed the interaction between four proudly South African brands and the brands' “followers” on three social media platforms. The four brands were selected for being top-performing African brands that play a significant role in driving the continent's economic growth. The said brands have also enhanced their digital communication, resulting in stronger consumer engagement. The qualitative data was collected through screenshots of social media posts by the brands and their followers. For data integrity and analysis, the screenshots were converted into verbatim texts. Core findings indicate that social media platforms, particularly Twitter—rebranded as “X” —, are the quickest way to initiate and broadcast new African language repertoires. The social media platforms of four brands were included in this study: two food brands and two financial brands. The chicken-based food outlets, Nando's SA and Chicken Licken SA, went out of their way to celebrate the linguistic, cultural and social diversity of their followers by embracing new language repertoires, code-switching, and interacting with a great sense of humour. Meanwhile, the financial brands, Capitec and OUTsurance, did not communicate with followers in African languages, and their shortcoming was that they forfeited broader consumer engagement. This study illustrated that brands that engage consumers with familiar social jargon, such as emerging African language repertoires, have the potential to maximise their marketing opportunities, as observed from the social media marketing of Chicken Licken SA and Nando's SA.
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    The use of early-grade reading benchmarks to improve the efficacy of assessment in African languages
    (2025) Lobelo, Asanda; Ardington, Cally
    South Africa is facing a ‘reading crisis' where the majority of learners are unable to read for meaning or with understanding by the end of Grade 4. In recognizing this crisis, there have been considerable sector-wide efforts to improve foundational literacy outcomes, including the establishment of reading benchmarks in African languages. These benchmarks are a measure of grade-level reading proficiency that can be used to monitor progress at the national, provincial, district and school level. One way the benchmarks could be used productively at the classroom level, is enabling teachers to interpret assessment results into learning levels, based on progress towards meeting the benchmark. Formative assessment is crucial for effective teaching and implementing the curriculum. Furthermore, differentiated instruction programs have been gaining traction for their demonstrated potential to improve learning outcomes in contexts where within-grade heterogeneity is high with many learners not keeping pace with the curriculum. A key assumption of these programs is that educators know the learning levels of their learners. The evidence around teacher formative assessment practices and the efficacy thereof suggests that this assumption is not likely to hold in the South African context. To create a basis for differentiated instruction programs to improve literacy outcomes, teacher knowledge of the learning levels of their learners needs to be evaluated. Secondly, the processes through which teachers gain that knowledge, the formative assessment process, needs to be strengthened. The overarching purpose of this study is to generate insights into how the newly established benchmarks could be productively used in South African classrooms. We do this by examining current teacher knowledge of learning levels through their existing formative assessment practices and evaluate the effectiveness of a benchmarks-orientated intervention in improving that knowledge. Using longitudinal data from this pilot study across 39 schools, this paper estimates the intent-to-treat (ITT) effect, local average treatment effect and average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) of the intervention. The results show that teachers tend to overestimate the performance of their learners across the achievement distribution and the size of the misestimation is relatively large. Take-up rates of the intervention were fairly low and variable, but we find evidence that the intervention improved knowledge of relative reading proficiency of intervention-trained teachers relative to their untrained counterparts. This is even more so for trained teachers for whom we are able to confirm use of the intervention materials. These findings underscore the importance of enhancing the resources, training, and support provided to teachers for the formative assessment process. Furthermore, the inclusion of the reading benchmarks could be useful in augmenting such support.
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    The use of Translanguaging in assisting educators to teach African languages: A case study of Tshwane South Education District, Pretoria
    (2023) Gobodwana, Anele; Possa - Mogoera, Rethabile
    South Africa is a diverse and multicultural country with too many more spoken indigenous languages. It is also one of the fastest developing countries on the African continent. This multilingual nature coupled with migration from neighbouring countries, presents serious challenges for language planners and education authorities, especially the impact on education. This study, therefore, explores the use of Translanguaging and how it has facilitated the teaching of African languages in multilingual classrooms at the Tshwane South Education District in Gauteng Province. The primary objective of the research happened to track the transitioning of dialect or variant development across different grades in these multilingual areas. The secondary aim was to observe and document language practices in these schools to provide a firm base for future language planning efforts in South Africa. The research was conducted in two schools: one primary school and one high school. The focus of the study was on the entry and final standards of the fundamental classes, the middle classes, the exit primary classes (standard 5), and entry classes (standard 6), up until the year of schooling (standard 10). The data were collected using interviews, questionnaires as well as observation. The data were subjected to thematic analysis to get an in-depth understanding as well as to identify and generate new insights into Translanguaging. Whereas many of the educators speak more than one language, many were not aware of their Translanguaging practices in teaching. The participating educators also affirmed that they have been using Translanguaging without realising it. Educators further indicated that raising awareness about their language practices facilitated their teaching because they felt at ease switching and mixing languages in their teaching. In addition to the positive outcome, some educators alluded to the fact that in some areas they were faced with language barriers. The study therefore recommends that in addition to raising awareness amongst educators, the Department of Education and the Fundza Lushaka Bursary scheme should assess the language repertoires of teachers before commencement of employment. The study further recommends that language policy makers and planners need to be mindful of the impact of multilingualism and migration on the education system.
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    The utilisation of outer texts in the practical lexicography of African languages
    (Stellenbosch University, 2010) Chabata, Emmanuel; Nkomo, Dion
    In this article, an analysis of the utilisation of outer texts in recently compiled dictionaries of African languages is presented. The analysis is undertaken in the context of an upsurge of the compilation of dictionaries in the African languages. It is undertaken with a view to do a qualitative evaluation of the many new dictionaries of African languages that have come on the market in recent years. The point of departure is that prior to the recent lexicographic developments, the then available dictionaries were compiled in the context of the limited role the African languages played. It has been found that most of those dictionaries are limited in scope, perspective and function and hence less effective now that the languages are being assigned a greater social role. The evaluation of outer texts in modern dictionaries is therefore a way of measuring the extent to which lexicographic practice in the African languages is applying theoretical developments to produce better dictionaries.