• Login
    View Item 
    •   KovsieScholar Home
    • KovsieJournals
    • Perspectives in Education
    • PiE 2011 Volume 29 Issue 4
    • View Item
    •   KovsieScholar Home
    • KovsieJournals
    • Perspectives in Education
    • PiE 2011 Volume 29 Issue 4
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    The odd couple: diverging paths in language policy and educational practices

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    persed_v29_n4_a2.pdf (349.6Kb)
    Date
    2011
    Author
    Prinsloo, Mastin
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    This paper examines the divergences between what educational policy calls for in South African schools with regard to language and learning and what takes place in schools. It argues that South African constitutional and education policy statements employ an idea of languages as bound entities and systems, and combine this understanding of languages with discourses on language rights and of language endangerment. An alternative view studied language as practice rather than system. From this perspective the idea of ‘a language’ is a misleading shorthand for a diverse range of language varieties, genres, registers and practices. Such resources are not equally distributed among users of these resources and they carry different social weightings or valuations. This paper argues that the language assumptions in language policy ‘erase’ linguistic complexities and assume a linguistic homogeneity and stability which is inappropriate. A view of language is developed where language operates as a ‘non-neutral medium’ in stratified social contexts of all kinds. These inequalities operate just as much within designated ‘languages’, in terms of the varieties and their uses within that language, as across them. The observed differences between policy prescription and language practice provide support for this alternative perspective on language.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11660/3560
    Collections
    • PiE 2011 Volume 29 Issue 4

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2016  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
     

     

    Browse

    All of KovsieScholarCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2016  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback