Abstract
M.Phil.
With this study the better understanding of the skills in, the background with
relation to and the attitude towards communicative Afrikaans of .a specific group
of Public Administration students of the Technikon Northern-Transvaal is
investigated. The focus is principally on the socio-cultural factors that influence
the mastering of Afrikaans. The reseach design, including the problem
identification, is vested in the theoretical Vygotskyan concept of zone of proximal
development.
Founded on the theories of both MM Bakhtin and LS Vygotsky, the researcher
establishes an own interpretation of the zone of proximal development, when she
proposes an integration thereof with the H-model as thought heuristics (Henning
1996). According to this integrated model, the study of students' zone of proximal
development in Afrikaans as foreign language encompasses the study of: their
language skills; their knowledge of the language; personal and socio-cultural
influences; and their metalinguistic skills. This exposition serves as framework for
data gathering, data analysis and chapter division.
The format of the study is that of case studies which implies that an in-depth
investigation is done of various types of data - obtained from a quantitatively small,
but sociologically representative group of Public Adminsitration students, The
various types of data which are referred to, are: data from talks delivered; written
texts; data from listening and reading protocols; and data from interviews.
With the interpretation of the data an attempt is not only made to come to an own
understanding ("verstehen" - Weber (1958)) of the community of learners'
experience and usage of Afrikaans, but also to cultivate a sensitivity for this with
the wider teaching and research community.