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International Day of Sign Languages: South African sign language must be promoted

The Schools Act considers South African sign language as an official language for the purposes of learning in a public school

Parents have long been told that reading to their child is an essential facet of good parenting. (John McCann/M&G)

Don’t just read to your children, talk to them too

What seems to be most important for child language development is the extent to which parents and children take turns when speaking to each other

Every two weeks a language disappears, taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage. (Madelene Cronje/M&G)

​Roll out the red carpet for SA’s indigenous languages

Although English may not be the de facto talk of the town in South Africa, in written form it continues to dwarf others

Outlandish: Second additional language is a seriously toned-down offering

‘Third language’ lost in translation

It does not make linguistic or financial sense to offer a subject so lacking in depth or substance.

More must walk the linguistic talk at universities

Universities that have actively pursued multilingualism have been vindicated.

Downsizing the humanities is a recipe for increasing alienation

Universities, industry and the state need research that includes input from civil society.

Multilingual degree opens up new world

Learning in one’s mother tongue promotes a deep conceptual understanding of a subject.

Frantz Fanon: Africa is threatened by ‘the absence of ideology’

Slavish insistence on English limits us

For centuries the language has defined what knowledge and truth are and by embracing it Africa will always be in a unequal position.

Most SA students choose English at school

More than 60% of South African pupils choose English for learning and teaching, the South African Institute of Race Relations has revealed.

Trying to find the right words

Trying to find the right words

Without an adequate academic vocabulary, students cannot prosper.

Looking in all the wrong places for real learning

Looking in all the wrong places for real learning

Trying to find ways of teaching English better won’t solve anything for most in South Africa.

Poetry gets into the groove

Poetry gets into the groove

English is much more fun when rapping and hip-hopping is involved

On the tip of the tongue

On the tip of the tongue

Research has shown that speaking two languages improves brain performance.

High court victory for SA languages

Attorney wins the first round of his battle to force the government to honour its constitutional duty towards South Africa’s official languages.

Linguistic exclusion

Certain languages are considered to be prestigious but community languages are often dismissed as irrelevant or second rate. Rowenna Davis reports.