Abstract
The terminologisation of the African languages has been hotly debated for more than a decade, yet little progress has been made in devising strategies to guide this process. The following are among the indicators that the time is ripe to realise the ideal of terminologisation: the lack of success thus far achieved in facilitating scientific knowledge through non-mother-tongue education; the existence of a noteworthy stock of technical terms in the African languages; and the positive attitudes of educators towards the use of the mother tongue, especially in rural areas. These indicators are backed up by statistics on pass rates for Physical Science in the Northern Province; the results of an attitude/opinion survey among teachers of Science in this region; lexical data obtained from an empirical survey as well as from an independent source. The results of the research seem to validate terminologisation of Sepedi from an educational point of view. It is, however, realised that the attitudes and perceptions of other stakeholders such as pupils and parents need to be taken into account when recommendations are made with regard to sensitive issues such as terminologisation and the language of scientific communication.
Highlights
Terminologisation of the African languages has been hotly debated for more than a decade and numerous workshops, conferences, academic publications and seminars have been devoted to this topic or aspects thereof (d. Cluver 1987, 1989; MatSela 1987; LANGTAG Subcommittee on the Development of (South) African Languages 1996; National Terminology Services 1997)
In the terminologisation debate objectives and motivations such as the following have featured: functional elaboration, which will allow a speaker of any official South African language to use his/her language effectively in any context (Cluver 1989); full empowerment through the language which a speaker knows best (Ngubane 1997: 7); providing access to knowledge and allowing concept-formation in the language the speaker knows best (Mthembu 1997: 99); providing the opportunity to exercise democratic language rights (Ngubane 1997: 7-8); the compilation of technical defining dictionaries for each of the school subjects offered in the mother tongue at primary school level (Cluver 1996: 10); and facilitating mother-tongue education up to secondary and tertiary level
The primary aim of this paper is to indicate, on the basis of empirical research, that the development of the African languages as special languages for the full spectrum of scientific and technological disciplines is feasible and advisable for the following reasons: the lack of success far achieved in facilitating scientific knowledge through non-mother-tongue education; the stock of technical terms that already exist in the African languages; and the positive attitude of educators regarding selective multilingualism in the classroom
Summary
Terminologisation of the African languages has been hotly debated for more than a decade and numerous workshops, conferences, academic publications and seminars have been devoted to this topic or aspects thereof (d. Cluver 1987, 1989; MatSela 1987; LANGTAG Subcommittee on the Development of (South) African Languages 1996; National Terminology Services 1997). These areas are characterised in the Green Paper on Science and Technology (s.a.) as the "absolutely vital components of economic and social progress" Access to these domains, as to most other domains in life, is provided through language, and if the linguistic code employed denies access rather than facilitates it, knowledge remains exclusive to the historically privileged. The primary aim of this paper is to indicate, on the basis of empirical research, that the development of the African languages as special languages for the full spectrum of scientific and technological disciplines is feasible and advisable for the following reasons: the lack of success far achieved in facilitating scientific knowledge through non-mother-tongue education; the stock of technical terms that already exist in the African languages; and the positive attitude of educators regarding selective multilingualism (including the use of the mother tongue) in the classroom
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
