Language-in-education policy and language practices in Botswana primary schools: a case study of 3 schools
- Authors: Tselayakhumo, Dumelang
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Translanguaging (Linguistics) , Multilingual education -- Botswana , Home and school -- Botswana , Language in contact -- Botswana , Language and education -- Case studies -- Botswana , Language policy -- Botswana
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68271 , vital:29226
- Description: This is a multiple case study of language practices in relation to the language-in-education policy of Botswana. The impetus for this study came after realising a decline in the academic achievement of learners as they move to higher levels of education. Taking into cognisance other factors like socio-economic background and marginalised communities, this study intended to investigate language practices at 3 primary schools at Standard 1, Standard 4 and Standard 7. Cases were selected from 3 various schools in different districts that present the language situation in Botswana. School A was in Kgalagadi district where the dominant spoken language is Shekgalagarhi, a minority language of Botswana. School B was in Southern district where the dominant spoken language is Setswana, the national language of Botswana and School C was in Gaborone city, the capital city of Botswana, where languages of Botswana come into contact and parents mainly use English to communicate with their children at home. Observation of language practices at these schools was the primary technique of data collection. The researcher also used questionnaires and focus group discussions for authentication. It was realised that whereas the language-in-education policy of Botswana is monoglossic, as it separates languages into separate functions, language practices in the three primary schools were transglossic, as they involved the use of different language varieties in the classroom. However, the researcher discovered that there was limited translanguaging that limited learner creativity and participation in class. The language practices revealed compliance and non-compliance of some schools to the national language-in-education policy. The researcher found language teaching to be one of the factors that limited content acquisition in content subject lessons. Realising the irrelevance of the policy to the linguistic needs of learners, this study proposes guidelines on the implementation of a multilingual micro policy that considers both the strong and the weak versions of translanguaging. This will open ways for translanguaging henceforth, active participation and enhanced performance for all Batswana. It also proposes the study of 3 languages: a minority language of Botswana, Setswana and English as compulsory subjects to embrace multilingualism and for the development of indigenous languages.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Investigating the role of media in the identity construction of ethnic minority language speakers in Botswana : an exploratory study of the Bakalanga
- Authors: Thothe, Oesi
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Linguistic minorities -- Botswana , Kalanga language (Botswana and Zimbabwe) , Kalanga (African people) -- Ethnic identity , Language policy -- Botswana , Mass media and language -- Botswana , Mass media and ethnic relations -- Botswana , Mass media -- Audiences , Mass media -- Social aspects -- Botswana
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3547 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017788
- Description: This dissertation investigates the role of media in the identity construction of minority language speakers in Botswana, with a focus on the Bakalanga. The study is informed by debates around the degree to which the media can be seen to play a central role in the way the Bakalanga define their own identity. As part of this, it considers how such individuals understand their own sense of identity to be located within processes of nation-building, and in particular in relation to the construction of a national identity. It focuses, more particularly, on the extent to which the absence of particular languages within media can be said to impact on such processes of identity formation. The study responds, at the same time, to the argument that people’s more general lived experiences and their broader social environment have a bearing on how they make sense of the media. As such, it can be seen to critique the assumption that the media necessarily play a central and defining role within processes of socialisation. In order to explore the significance of these debates for a study of the Bakalanga, the dissertation includes a contextual discussion of language policy in Botswana, the impact of colonial history on such policy and the implications that this has had for the linguistic identity of the media. It also reviews theoretical debates that help to make sense of the role that the media plays within the processes through which minority language speakers construct their own identity. Finally, it includes an empirical case study, consisting of qualitative interviews with individuals who identify themselves as Bakalanga. It is argued that, because of the absence of their own language from the media, the respondents do not describe the media as central to their own processes of identity formation. At the same time, the respondents recognise the importance of the media within society, and are preoccupied with their own marginalisation from the media. The study explores the way the respondents make sense of such marginalisation, as demonstrated by their attempts to seek alternative media platforms in which they can find recognition of their own language and social experience. The study thus reaffirms the significance of media in society – even for people who feel that they are not recognised within such media.
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- Date Issued: 2015