Drawing on research evidence over the past decade, this presentation examines ways in which linguistic hegemony has limited learning opportunities in the educational domain. Ways in which these may be transformed and decolonized are proposed.
Drawing on evidence from research over the past decade, this presentation considers some of the ways in which linguistic hegemony has limited learning opportunities in the educational domain in South Africa. Examples of deterrents which affect learning and the construction of knowledge are drawn from early childhood education settings where English is used in contexts where there is little exposure to it; from lower primary school settings where children struggle to become biliterate; from secondary school settings where teachers' poor command of the language of instruction, coupled with a lack of understanding of content affects disciplinary teaching across the curriculum, and from tertiary education settings where students enrolled for professional degrees involving clinical and pedagogic practices fail to share their practical experiences because of the language barrier. This, in turn, affects the quality and integrity of the post-clinical or post-practicum debriefing experience. However, such experiences of linguistic disempowerment can also provide affordances for decolonization strategies to be introduced. Within a framework of a theory of change and a critical participatory research paradigm, ways of productively harnessing linguistic diversity are discussed which can overcome the challenges of linguistic hegemony thereby providing spaces where learning and teaching are jointly designed so that they become mutually beneficial. Such strategies include role reversals and language learning where teachers become learners and non-African language speakers learn African languages.
