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SADTU Teachers at Work, History Lesson Lesson for Heritage Day, 2014: Languages Language in Schools The teaching of children in the mother-tongue that they have from home, when they enter school for the first time, may be a human right. If so, then it is a human right that is not yet being well observed in South Africa. Motivation for change in this regard comes not only from “human rights”, but also from the relatively poor rate of success, and waste of effort, in attempting to educate people in languages (such as English or Afrikaans) that they did not learn in the home and therefore do not, in the beginning, know. Imposing, on children, the stress of attempting, at a very young age, to learn in a language that they do not understand and have not been taught, is a cruelty. And of course, it is not successful. Children who are presented with this hurdle generally do not advance as fast as children who are welcomed into the formal education system in their own language. This situation reproduces the legacy of apartheid, and it will continue to do so until it is changed. Incremental Introduction of African Languages At the 10th Language and Development Conference held in Cape Town in mid-October, 2013, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga announced that: “South Africa has embarked on an Incremental Introduction of African languages (IIAL) policy. The IIAL policy will be implemented incrementally commencing in Grade 1 in 2015 and will continue until 2026 when it will be implemented in Grade 12.” And that: “In South Africa, from 2012, the phasing in of English in the curriculum starts in Grade 1, where English is offered as a subject at the First Additional Language whilst the Home Language is the language of learning and teaching in the first four years of schooling commencing from Grade R (reception year). In these early grades of schooling the focus is also on developing fluency and literacy in local languages to develop children’s sense of identity and self-worth.” At the same event, Dr Jennifer Joshua, Director: Curriculum, Implementation & Quality Improvement (GET) said: “The Incremental Introduction of African Languages (IIAL) policy intends to promote and develop the previously marginalised languages thereby increasing the use of African languages by all learners in the school system. The policy also aims to increase access to languages beyond English and Afrikaans by all learners, and promote social cohesion as a significant way of preserving heritage and culture.” The above quoted words indicate that there is a large programme under way in South Africa, having to do with Language in Schools, pre-planned by the Department of Basic Education. In our Introduction, we noted that Language is not a centralised phenomenon, but it is a thing generated, and constantly regenerated, by the people who speak, write and read the languages, including the children. Therefore, as important as the logic of the IIAL may be, it is the acceptance of it, or otherwise, by the masses, that will determine its success. Heritage Day is September the Twenty-fourth -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
