Library books as environmental management capacity building opportunities exclude most South African languages

Phaka, Fortunate M.; Vanhove, Maarten Pieterjan; Preez, Louis H. Du; Hugé, Jean

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2022.12.020

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The South African government has made a decree and an obligatory regimen to ennoble the teaching of indigenous languages in schools (Makhanya & Zibane 2020). For example, learners are taught in their mother tongue during the foundation phase (Grades 1 to 3) of their schooling (Phaka et al 2023). Comparatively, in a process of transfiguration, several universities and colleges in South Africa offer courses in indigenous languages and literature (Steyn & Gunter 2023).…”

Section: What Is Being Done Contemporaneously Vis-à-vis These Languages?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…South African indigenous languages (in no particular order) are isiXhosa, isiZulu, isiNdebele, Xitsonga, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho and Siswati, and several dialects (Diko 2022a). The legacy of apartheid has continued in the post-apartheid era, where English and Afrikaans remain magisterial languages in politics, education, and the economy (Phaka et al, 2023). However, other language experts propound that the colonial languages remain languages of administration even in the legal and forensic fraternity in South Africa (Ariani et al 2014;Perkins 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The retainment of South African indigenous languages: a systemic literature review

Diko

2023

IJRBS

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Intricacies concerning indigenous languages in the South African milieu demonstrate intransigence that necessitates a scholarly contestation. This is in addition to the parades that have been made by the post-colonial government and language experts to ennoble the stature of these indigenous languages. With that context, this article underscores the historical component of indigenous languages and retainment strides - including challenges – that have been underlined in respect of South African indigenous language matters. The objective, among others, is to underscore those challenges concerning indigenous African languages, and in particular, South African indigenous languages exhibit tenacity. To ratify the claims of the article, a systemic literature review is appreciated as a fragmentary qualitative research methodology while conceptualization of language matters in South Africa couches the theoretical underpinnings. The principal discussion is that challenges that prevail within the phenomenon of language in the South African context must be acknowledged in a bid to solicit reasonable solutions to the problematized phenomenon. For future scholarly implications, it is debated that indigenous language matters must be contested.

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Section: What Is Being Done Contemporaneously Vis-à-vis These Languages?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The retainment of South African indigenous languages: a systemic literature review

Diko

2023

IJRBS

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“…For instance, some of the prominent forms of exclusion were witnessed in the rejection of certain materials or manuscripts that were constructed and assembled in the isiXhosa language (Kaschula, 2008). Some of the material that was rejected is that which addressed political issues that sought to emancipate Black South Africans (Phaka et al, 2023). The reasons, among many more, for such rejection, were based on the fact that the isiXhosa material (and many other African materials) fueled and triggered political unrest in the country -South Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some instances, material and manuscripts that embraced the culture of amaXhosa were scrutinised, manipulated and distorted by colonialists (and some publishing houses that were controlled and managed by colonialists) and eventually rejected with arguments that they were rejecting Western and European cultures such as Christianity. Ingqumbo Yeminyanya (The Wrath of the Ancestors) (1940) is one of the isiXhosa novels whose publication was characterised by several delays due to the colonial presumption that it rejected certain views concerning colonial and apartheid education (Phaka et al, 2023). This denotes that certain material that was constructed and assembled in the isiXhosa language was denounced by colonial and apartheid White agents on the basis of content or subject matter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The racial hierarchisation of the isiXhosa language in South Africa

Diko

2023

IJRBS

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The reality is that there is a relationship between language and race as advanced and qualified by ethnolinguistics. Such a relationship points to the subjugation of the isiXhosa language (habitually situated in South Africa), among other prescripts, which was fueled by racial hierarchization that ought to be debated within the paradigm of scholarly discourses. The subjugation, distortion and erosion of the isiXhosa language were led by the colonial, apartheid governance and administration that sought to impose censorship. Therefore, this article employs post-colonial theory to argue and scholarly prove that the language and many South African indigenous languages were oppressed based on racial notions that sought to accelerate neo-liberalist and imperialist perceptions. Hypothetically speaking, the isiXhosa language still suffers from the effects of (post)colonialism carried by colonial agents who continue to mock and humiliate the language. The debates and findings underline that such claims (racial hierarchization of the language) must be validated through theoretical and practical discourses. As a result, closing remarks infuse potential recommendations open to public scrutiny regarding the problematised phenomenon and/or conundrum.

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“…The initiation and significance of this article are necessitated by the reality that South Africa is a multilingual and multicultural country with eleven spoken official languages, to be named shortly, and several dialects (Diko, 2022a). Recently, the South African Sign Language (SASL) has been officialised (Phaka et al, 2023). While that is the case, it must be observed right from the onset that SASL will not form the basis of debates herein, instead the concentration will be on spoken languages only.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ramifications of the Neglect of Indigenous South African Languages by the South African Government: COVID-19 as a Case Study

Diko

2023

AJIMS

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Since the outbreak of COVID-19 towards the end of 2019 and its proliferation across the globe, the lives of many populations have been disrupted, causing intense turbulence in social, economic and political dimensions. With that in mind, this article reflects on and problematises the neglect of the indigenous South African languages by the national government in mainstream communications on COVID-19. Qualitative research inquiry is utilised to explore the importance of indigenous languages in South Africa’s healthcare system. By the same token, an attempt to underline some of the predominant challenges within the selected phenomenon is argumentatively presented using a scoping literature review as a research technique. The findings and discussions indicate that the desolation of indigenous South African languages can be regarded as a repetitive episode of the (post)colonial injustices pertaining to indigenous South African languages as well as the healthcare system. Thus, the concluding remarks emphasise the urgency of inculcating indigenous South African languages into all communication systems, with special reference to the healthcare system.

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Library books as environmental management capacity building opportunities exclude most South African languages

Cited by 5 publications

References 35 publications

The retainment of South African indigenous languages: a systemic literature review

The retainment of South African indigenous languages: a systemic literature review

The racial hierarchisation of the isiXhosa language in South Africa

The Ramifications of the Neglect of Indigenous South African Languages by the South African Government: COVID-19 as a Case Study

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