Linguistic Diversity In The Classroom

Abstract

Turn on the radio or television in a South African establishment and chances are you will have to flick the remote in order to find a channel you understand. Such is the linguistic diversity of this country. One hears many languages in most countries worldwide. At present, most countries have more than one official language. South Africa, however, boasts eleven official languages since after the first truly democratic elections in 1994, nine Bantu languages were granted equal status after centuries of dominance by Afrikaans and English/ Some view this as a victory for democracy. Some might argue that this move to declare even those languages spoken by less than 2% of the population as official was a hollow gesture made by the political negotiators at being politically correct. Others question the presumption of equal status and the practical implementation of such a constitutional right.