The Dilemma of the Mother Tongue: Prospects for Bilingual Education in South Africa

Abstract

The paper examines the position of the mother tongue in the proposed additive bilingual programmes in South Africa. It is argued that since the teaching and use of African languages, particularly as media of instruction, is less than adequate, their use in additive bilingual programmes, the official South African language in education policy, is unlikely to be successful. The paper is divided into three parts. First, the sociolinguistic, cultural, and political factors are examined. Here, apartheid education and its legacy are discussed. Second, using data from De Klerk (1996) and Smit (1996), language use and attitudes of South Africans to language and education are discussed. In this section, the pressures on standard African tongues by urban varieties and English are highlighted in relation to the pedagogical and theoretical underpinnings of additive bilingualism. Third, the practical possibilities for the implementation of mother-tongue medium of instruction given the 11 official languages, as well as the implementation of a viable bilingual education programme in which mother tongues play a decisive role are discussed. Finally, it is concluded that government's additive bilingualism policy is unlikely to succeed as long as role models, learners and their parents see little utility in languages other than in English.