A profile of multilingual skills of young adult Xhosa mother tongue speakers

Abstract

In South Africa, a country with 11 official languages, bilingualism and multilingualism are common language features across the population. Out of this context popular and untested claims, relating to the extent and value of these bilingual and multilingual abilities, have been made. Kathleen Heugh QOO2) has challenged various popular views surrounding bilingual and multilingual education in South Africa that have become entrenched in our sociolinguistic debates, exposing the fact that there is very little or weak evidence to support these views. This thesis attempts to ascertain whether some of these claims could be verified, disproved, or possibly produce alternative perspectives. Through the use of questionnaires, a selection of Xhosa mother tongue speakers were asked to list, assess and comment on their various language skills. The four basic language skills focused on are the oracy skills of understanding (listening) and speaking, and the literacy skills of reading and writing. A profile of the respondents' linguistic abilities and attitudes has been constructed with specific emphasis on the use of ) Xhosa and English in different social contexts. This profile enables the identification of the languages in which the respondents claim proficiency. It also gives an indication of whether language shift is taking place, and provides information on attitudes towards the urban mixed Xhosa dialect. The data collected has been used to indicate: (i) the kinds of bilingual or multilingual skills that young adult learners have developed, (ii) which varieties of Xhosa were mostly used in this community of speakers, (iii) which variety of Xhosa these speakers preferred, and (iv) what explanations young ) Xhosa mother tongue speakers themselves provided for their use of a mixed code. The analysed data has been used to give an indication of how multilingual and multidialectal young speakers actually are. It has also been used to indicate which dialects of Xhosa are most popular and which are possibly in decline. This was further used to indicate whether young Xhosa mother tongue speakers perceive language shift as a real threat' or as an inevitable and acceptable consequence of the current, modem lifestyle in a multilingual social environment. Decisions on the necessity for intervention to develop, maintain or re-vitalize a threatened variety are considered on the basis of these findings. The insights gleaned from this type of questionnaire have been used to distinguish between real attitudes and patterns of language use as opposed to popularly assumed attitudes and patterns of use.