Some sociolinguistic aspects of second language teaching and learning of Xhosa

Zotwana, S Z

Some sociolinguistic aspects of second language teaching and learning of Xhosa

Thesis / Dissertation

1987

Abstract

I start this chapter by quoting two different utterances made by a character in George Eliot's Mill on the Floss. When Mr Tulliver uttered the above he was, unconsciously though it may have been, making a statement about how language operates in society. This, of course, is putting it in a nutshell. In fact, what Mr Tulliver was saying, was that: (i) language can serve as a mirror of social strata; (ii) language is of great importance in human relations; l (iii) language has variations and that some variations enjoy higher status than others; (iv) people can do many things with words. Also reflected in the above utterances is one of the misconceptions about language which has, fortunately I think, been successfully disproved, namely, that those who are linguistically disadvantaged cannot "see into things quick". Because Mr Tulliver made the utterances in the context of justifying his wish to give his son, Tom, what he called "a good eddication; an eddication as'll be bread to him" was (1980:8), that an it can be said that what he also was saying educational institution should equip the language learner with linguistic skills for living. "Living'' here is used not in the sense of being able to land a job which will enable one to make a decent living, but rather in the sense of being able comfortably to interact with the speakers of the language one has learnt irrespective of the variety of communication situations in which one may find oneself. Put differently, what Mr Tulliver was saying was that he, as a member of society, had observed an inalienable relation between language, society and education. Therefore he was making an utterance which had sociolinguistic undertones. 2 In the following paragraphs I shall attempt to explore what sociolinguistics is and what relation there is between sociolinguistics and the teaching and learning of language. The ultimate aim is to give a theoretical background which will help in the understanding and analysis of the practical problems that will be dealt with later.

Keywords

Xhosa

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