Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil.
This thesis explores some issues relating to the sociolinguistic situation in South Africa,
attending especially to language variety and language attitudes. The focus is on the
teaching of language, specifically English, and on the relevant education of language
teachers in a multicultural country such as South Africa. In school systems such as the
South African education system which has for many years provided real access to education and power for a limited group of students only, the demands of modern society for greater language and cultural knowledge imply radical adjustments to literacy teaching and the training of language teachers. In the first chapter of the study, comments relating to conducting and reporting 'scientific research' are made, referring to the ideas of some philosophers of science and to qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Issues relating to language and society, language varieties and attitudes are reviewed in the second chapter. Chapter Three investigates traditional language teaching programmes and language awareness programmes and deliberates whether the latter could possibly influence language attitudes. Chapter Four contains the empirical section of this study. Firstly, the attitudes of several groups of English teacher trainees towards the use of four varieties of South African English in education were assessed. Thereafter, each group of trainees participated in a group discussion and lecture given by myself, the researcher. The lectures and discussions aimed at raising awareness of language varieties, especially as they relate to language learning at school level, and of questions of standard and evaluation and how they influence teachers and students. Then, the same attitude assessment questionnaire was administered to measure the attitudes of the post-test sample towards the use of the same four varieties of South African English. The data collected and impressions gained from observation of the respondents and the researcher's participation in the research situation were analysed and interpreted with the help of statisticians. The results of the pre-test and post-test were compared to determine if the attitudes towards the varieties of English had changed between the two administrations of the questionnaire. Following analysis and interpretation of the research results, Chapter Five explores the field of language teacher education and proposes a framework for a curriculum that would be relevant for the training of language teachers in South Africa. The chapter makes some suggestions as to how language awareness and critical language studies that extend to a critical awareness of genre could contribute to the effective preparation of language teachers.