"You can't write in Kaapse Afrikaans in your question paper. . . .The terms must be right": Race- and class-infused language ideologies in educational places on the Cape Flats

Abstract

Language is integral to educational processes because it forms the basis for classroom communication and the medium for knowledge transfer. However, language is imbued with race-and class-related ideologies: ideas about "proper" and "educated" uses of language. Language ideologies are shaped by the linguistic norms of powerful groups and are based on political rather than linguistic factors. In this paper, I explore how language ideologies operated in three educational sites on the Cape Flats. Multisite ethnography was used to research language ideologies in classrooms, amongst a hip-hop group, and at a youth radio show. Participants in the study spoke a variety of Afrikaans known as Kaapse Afrikaans, which differs from the standard Afrikaans inscribed in the school curriculum. The research showed that language ideologies were perpetuated through semiotic processes known as iconicity, recursiveness, and erasure. Through iconicity, Rosemary Gardens youths' language was inextricably linked to colouredness-a mixed race and language with low status attributed to both. Whereas standard Afrikaans was described as "pure, high, proper, and real," Kaapse Afrikaans was recursively depicted as "low, deficient and slang." These semiotic processes functioned to erase young people's use of language at schools, particularly repressing Kaapse Afrikaans in its written form. On certain occasions, the hip-hop group used language freely as they commented on their local environments. Powerful linguistic ideologies will continue to denigrate marginalised youth, even if radical teachers and hip-hop culture dismiss them. Educators should, therefore, both endorse the linguistic resources youth bring to classrooms and arm them with powerful forms of language and knowledge that hold power elsewhere.

Addressing gender discrimination in cognitive assessment using the English Comprehension Test

“…In this study, culture and language are interrelated as words can be regarded as the overlap of race and class (Cooper, 2018). The intersection between the race and class includes culture, which may explain the differences observed across gender groups and, more specifically, the differences between languages.…”

“…In light of numerous cross-cultural findings (Flanagan & Ortiz, 2001;Foxcroft, 2004;He & Van de Vijver, 2012;Van de Vijver & Rothmann, 2004), and this study in particular, these conclusions appear to be inadequate for explaining the findings across gender groups but may explain the differences across language groups. In South Africa, it can be deduced that language is influenced by race and culture (Cooper, 2018;Foxcroft & Aston, 2006;Ormrod, 2008;Vygotsky, 1978). Thus, the implication of language, which cannot be separated from race and culture, provides a more substantial reasoning for the observed gender differences in this study.…”

“…Thus, the implication of language, which cannot be separated from race and culture, provides a more substantial reasoning for the observed gender differences in this study. This is because of language often being influenced by a person's race and culture, which forms part of the contextual aspects impacting on language (Cooper, 2018;Foxcroft & Aston, 2006;Ormrod, 2008;Vygotsky, 1978). The intersection of race and culture in language needs to be considered when examining the results of non-native English individuals in English cognitive assessments.…”

#AfrikaansMustFall

“…La "raza" fue motivo divisorio hacia adentro y hacia fuera del movimiento afrikáner, hacia adentro ya que distinguían entre quienes eran Blancos y Negros y hacia afuera por estar en contra de la hegemonía de inglés (Roberge, 1990;van der Waal, 2012). Cooper (2018) llama a esa división una 'jerarquía lingüística racial" (p. 38). La lengua fue, y aún es, usada como instrumento de lucha ante la pérdida de poder, control y de la imposición del inglés (Webb, 2010) Roberge (1990) menciona el rol de la religión en la construcción identitaria de los afrikáners como pueblo elegido y superior.…”