Language Policy in south__ africa

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1、DEBATESLanguagePolicyandPlanningintheNewSouthAfricaNevilleAlexanderProjectfortheStudyofAlternativeEducationinSouthAfricaUniversityofCapeTownIntroductoryRemarksSouthAfricaisinthegripofahistorictransition.Inallsectorsofsocietymajordebatesaboutthebestpoliciesforestablishin

2、gandconsolidatingdemocracyaretakingplace.Themosturgentandmostvisiblestrugglesandtensionsaretobeobservedinthesphereoftheeconomyandofsocialpathologysuchascriminalityanddrugs.Insomeareas,however,majorchangesarebeginningtobeimplemented.Manyoftheseareareaswheretheauthorsofth

3、epoliciesconcernedknowverywellthattheirinterventionswillonlybearfruitafterverymanyyearsofhardworkandcarefulmonitoringofthepoliciesimplemented.Suchanareaislanguagepolicy.On9November1995,therewasestablishedtheLanguagePlanTaskGroup(LANGTAG),anadvisorycommitteetotheMinister

4、ofArts,Culture,ScienceandTechnology.Itsmaintaskistoadvisetheministerabouttheprocessestobefollowedandtheissuestobeaddressedinordertoarriveatanacceptablelanguageplanforthecountry.TheestablishmentofLANGTAGiscertainlyamilestoneinthehistoryoflanguagepolicyinSouthAfrica.Itisa

5、lsotheculminationofmanyyearsofdedicatedanticipatoryresearchonthepartofasmallgroupoflanguagespecialists,peoplewhohadthegoodfortunetoreadthemovementofhistorycorrectlyandwhoare,therefore,wellplacedatthisimportantmomenttogivedirectiontothetendenciesthatarebecomingmanifestin

6、thissocialdomain.Buttherewasnoinevitabilityaboutthisdevelopmentandevennowthematterisbynomeansdecided.Inordertounderstandthesignificanceofthisdevelopmentitisnecessarytolookbackbriefly.HistoricalbackgroundLetusbeginwiththeoppressivepoliciesoftheapartheidregime.UndertheNat

7、ionalParty's(ChristianNationalEducation)policyoftheAfrikanerisationofSouthAfricansociety,theAfricanlanguagesweredeliberatelydevelopedasAusbau-languages,i.e.,evenwhereitwaspossibleinlinguisticandpoliticaltermstoallowthevarietiesofaparticularlanguageclusterorsub-group,suc

8、hasthe`Nguni'group,toconvergeintoamoreembracingstandardwrittenform,theyweresystematicallykeptseparatethroughle