Graduation Year
Spring 2012
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Humanities: Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture
Reader 1
Tony Crowley
Reader 2
David Roselli
Reader 3
Carmen R. Fought
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2012 Kelsey E. Figone
Abstract
The South African Constitution recognizes 11 official languages and protects an individual’s right to use their mother-tongue freely. Despite this recognition, the majority of South African schools use English as the language of learning and teaching (LOLT). Learning in English is a struggle for many students who speak indigenous African languages, rather than English, as a mother-tongue, and the educational system is failing its students. This perpetuates inequality between different South African communities in a way that has roots in the divisions of South Africa’s past. An examination of the power of language and South Africa’s experience with colonialism and apartheid provides a context for these events, and helps clarify why inequality and division persist in the new “rainbow nation.” Mending these divisions and protecting human dignity will require a reevaluation of the purpose of education and the capabilities of South African citizens.
Recommended Citation
Figone, Kelsey E., "The Hegemony of English in South African Education" (2012). Scripps Senior Theses. 43.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/43
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