Stakeholder Mobilisation for Language Policy Planning in South African Education

Abstract

Language barriers to teaching and learning in South Africa persist. The current study analyses the extent to which stakeholders have been involved in policy planning of language in the South African Education system to develop a conceptual model of stakeholder mobilisation for language policy planning in education. This is in the light of literature, indicating inadequate stakeholder consultation in the planning of language policy for teaching and learning in both the basic and higher education sectors. Sources consulted in this problematic subject include language policy documents, databases, newspapers and journals to find the latest developments for the past 10 years, cognisance of transformations and policy changes. One significant finding is inadequate stakeholder consultation. A notable argument in literature is that students are neither proficient in the second language nor in their mother languages. However, major barriers to proficiency include a negative attitude towards indigenous languages, a lack of equivalence of lexicon between English and indigenous languages, inadequate expertise in languages, as well as systematisation and implementation of policy. A conceptual model of stakeholder mobilisation for language policy planning that seeks to influence positive attitudes towards languages of teaching and learning is thus developed.