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SUBMISSION TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY
LANGUAGE POLICY
- Language
and the Rill of Rights
1.1 The new Constitution should continue to make language a right.
1.2 Language rights should continue to be individual rights, not group
rights.
- Official
languages
,@.1 The official languages should continue to be the eleven languages
that were made official languages under the Interim Constitution.
The
"non-diminution" clause of the Interim Constitution that ensured the same
right-- for languages that they had previously enjoyed
should be removed. for
two reasons:
(i) This clause contradicts the clause which makes all eleven languages
equal, and it is proving an obstacle to the implementation
of a policy of
equal
treatment for all
(,ii) By the end of the Constitution, the accustomed to the treatment for all
language use will
official languages.
period covered by the Interim country will have
grown more implications of a policy of equal eleven languages. and patterns of
have
changed accordingly. In its submission to CODE'Z'A, the English Academy of
.Southern Africa advised that a new constitutional dispensation
for languages
would have a rapid effect on how languages are used in practice, and that
legislators should be prepared to make fairly
frequent changes to laws in order
to accommodate these changes. After a few months people's attitudes and the
practical use of languages
have already changed, and these changes can be
expected
to.increase in the remaining period before the new Constitution
comes into effect. It is a well known principle of language planning
that
legislation has to follow practice because it is not possible to control
language use to a significant extent through legislation.
The new Constitution
should, therefore, be more open-ended and not include such a stultifying,
retrospective clause.
- Shift
in emphasis
The new Constitution should move from an
emphasis on ,Protecting languages to putting languages to use.
The proposals which follow have this aim in view.
- National
language policy
A national policy for languages should be
developed which will contribute to national goals. Languages should be
approached as a
national resource for the promotion of such matters a--. social
development, employment and the export trade, as well as in the traditional
fields of culture and the media. PANSALB must have the powers to see that
national policy is implemented in all government departments.
For
example, language policy in education should be subordinate to national goals,
and it should not be left to education officials
to formulate this policy
without reference to broader considerations. Language policy in education
includes what languages are taught
(including foreign languages), in what school
years, and for what purposes. A much more subtle range of aims.
content and methods for language teaching than we have had in the past should be
developed: for
example, whether a language is to be taught only for receptive
understanding, or whether basic reading and writing --kill-- will
be taught, or
full spoken and written competence; and whether language teaching should include
the teaching of the
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associated culture of mother tongue speakers. Naturally, the Constitution
would not go into this sort of detail, but it is mentioned
here in order to
indicate how important it will be in future to ensure that education policy is
accountable to national goals.
- The
Pan-South African Language Board
5.1 PANSLAB should be kept, but the Constitution should give more clarity on
its line of responsibility, its accountability, its source
of funding, and
its-relation to the Provinces.
The position of PANSALB within government
and its powers should ensure that it is in a position to implement a national
strategy for
language development.
- State
subsidies
The Constitution should make it possible for the
State to grant subsidies to private institutions such as school-‑and
cultural
and arts bodies, and projects such as dictionaries. which are based on
language criteria.
E.R. Jenkins
Vista
University
P. Bag X634
Pretoria
OOC)L
27 December
1994
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