Abstract
Attitudes towards varieties of a language have been an issue in educational contexts. For example, it is generally said that societies have a positive attitude towards the standard variety and a negative attitude towards the non-standard varieties of a language. The attitudes towards language varieties can affect their use in education and can have an impact on learners’ learning and achievement. In some contexts, learners hold a view that dialect-speaking learners have lower academic potential than learners speaking the standard dialect. The learners’ attitudes have significant implications for the use of dialects in the classroom as it can determine the value and emphasis given to the dialect in education. Therefore, this article establishes the attitudes held by learners towards the recognition and development of isiBhaca in the education space in Umzimkhulu. Using mixed methods, the study followed a survey research design. Data were gathered from 128 purposively selected learners from Grades 6 and 7 at six schools in Umzimkhulu. Mean scores about the belief statements were calculated in order to analyse the quantitative data, whereas the qualitative data were analysed thematically. The study found that learners held positive attitudes towards the recognition and development of isiBhaca in the education space, although they were unsure as to whether this recognition should extend to the language being given official status in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, where it has a significant number of home language speakers.
Highlights
Foley (2001) argues that despite the fact that the South African Constitution (Act No 108 of 1996) guarantees learners the right to receive education in the language of their choice, there are some very real difficulties involved in the implementation of the new national language policy in South Africa
We sought to establish whether learners held positive or negative attitudes towards the introduction of isiBhaca in their education; our conclusion is that they held positive attitudes towards isiBhaca
We sought to establish whether they believed that the introduction of isiBhaca in their education would be beneficial or detrimental to the same, as opposed to the retention of isiXhosa and isiZulu in their education; we conclude that they believed that the introduction of isiBhaca would be beneficial to their education
Summary
Foley (2001) argues that despite the fact that the South African Constitution (Act No 108 of 1996) guarantees learners the right to receive education in the language of their choice, there are some very real difficulties involved in the implementation of the new national language policy in South Africa. This challenging situation is made worse by the fact that there are variations within languages. Tegegne (2015) argues that linguistic diversity is limited to multilingualism, but there are variations within the same language. It is generally said that societies hold a positive attitude towards the standard variety and a negative attitude towards the non-standard varieties (Tegegne 2015)
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