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13 SEPTEMBER 2019,2017, Week 37 21 Tel: 011 862 8500 ITel: Fax: 086 241 5648I www.tametimes.co.za Volume 09, 23 May Week 011 862 8500
South African teachers switch languages in class
If you step into a classroom in South Africa’s Limpopo province during a lesson, you’re very likely to hear the teacher speaking more than one language… She might begin a sentence in English, and then switch to Sepedi – the African language most commonly spoken as a mother tongue in the province. This is a practice known as code switching or code mixing, which can form part of a translanguaging process. And it is not actually allowed in most South African classrooms. According to the country’s official language policies, schools must choose a language or languages of learning and teaching. Most choose English or Afrikaans and not the African language spoken in the area. African languages are then only taught as subjects and are rare-
ly used as a medium of instruction. But, as a recent study we conducted in Limpopo showed, the real daily language policy within classrooms differs significantly from the official language policy document of the school. Teachers use code switching as well as a translanguaging process, alternating and blending languages to help pupils understand concepts. There is a reason for this: research has proved many times that pupils learn best in their own mother tongues. This is, of course, not unique to South Africa – it happens in all multilingual societies to a certain degree. Some teachers who answered the questionnaire in Limpopo said they found value in code switching or translanguaging. They also felt that African languages were undervalued in their
schools. This is not ideal in a country with 11 official languages that enjoy Constitutional protection. A much more flexible and open teaching and language policy would help teachers and pupils to enable a meaningful learning environment in a multilingual and diverse classroom setting. Translanguaging should be embraced and supported as a teaching and learning technique. The research was conducted among 1 094 teachers at about 110 schools across Limpopo. This large scale quantitative study covered public primary and secondary schools and the questionnaire focused on general teaching conditions, language attitudes and teachers’ language practices. Only 16.5 % of all participating teachers reported never facing any language related challenges in their work. Others had all
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dealt with some issues related to language – either in terms of their school’s language policy or how they grappled with what languages to use in class. For some, these were strongly emotional issues. One told us: I feel strongly that learners should not lose their home language in favour of other languages. Home languages are part of their identity. Others thought code switching was a great idea and recognised its value: I fully agree that it would be good for learners to be taught in their mother tongue or at least allow for code switching in the classroom to allow learners better understanding. Other teachers viewed African languages as having limited use in teaching, especially in subjects like science. They believed these languages were better suited to social situations, and that their use should be limited to these situations. This indicates the importance and influence of language attitudes on language practices and policies. Importantly, we found that code switching was used in all schools – even those that did not explicitly allow it in their school language policy documents. Teachers used it mainly in oral communication, in classroom situations. Others were afraid to code switch because of their schools’ language policy documents.
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13 SEPTEMBER 2019
A NOTE FROM THE
September fuel increase
“STOP TREATING WOMEN AS TOYS”
EDITOR STOP KILLING
OUR SISTERS
As men we’ve already been labelled, some call us trash, some call us useless, and we’ve even been labelled as dogs. It’s time for us to change the way the world sees us Let’s stop killing our sisters! How will we continue developing the world? If we kill the people that are supposed to assist us. Let’s stop trafficking our future wives, Let’s stop raping our sisters, let’s save them instead of destroying them, let’s help then instead of killing them. Let’s turn our names from trash to treasure. From useless to useful, from dogs to doctors. Let us change our image
Weakness in the Rand drove fuel prices higher in September. This is according to the unaudited month-end fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund, in a press release by the Automobile Association (AA) on 28 August. According to the figures, 95 octane will rise by ten cents a litre, and diesel by 25 cents. Illuminating paraffin is also expected to climb by 21 cents. The only positive out of the latest figures is 93 octane which is showing a decrease of three cents a litre. The average landed price of fuel dropped across the board during August. If the Rand/US dollar exchange rate had remained flat, we could have expected a drop of up to 30 cents a litre for diesel and nearly 52 cents for petrol. Unfortunately, the continuing weakness of the Rand means that prices will increase instead.
President Cyril Ramphosa has called for a national effort to change the psyche of men in South Africa as he visited the family of slain University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana in East London on Friday. “The moral fibre of our nation is now at a point where men must take responsibility for the manner in which we treat the women of our country,” Ramaphosa said while sitting in the living room of the Mrweryana home with her family fellow political leaders and faithbased leaders. “Women should no longer be treated as toys, women should no longer be treated as objects that men want to kick around, want to rape and also want to kill. This
must now be stopped.” Ramaphosa personally offered his condolences to the 19-year-old’s relatives, also thanking the family for allowing people to use her name and image to mobilise people in the country to take action. He called for a bigger national project to stamp out the scourge of the rape and killing of girls and women. “We also have to start a much broader campaign which will encompass and involve a lot of our people so that the psyche of our nation, particularly the psyche of men must now be changed in the way that men relate to women, in the way that men relate to young women and girls.”
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE, NOT BODY PARTS, IS THE WAY TO GO
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A well-known traditional healer and president of the SADC Unified Ancestors Practitioners Associations, Dr Mbaimbai Hlathi, has called on traditional healers “not to tarnish their God-given skills of healing people with the use of herbs by using human body parts”.
Hlathi, who made a name for himself by helping many barren people have children, was speaking during a function to celebrate traditional medicine. The event took place on Saturday at the Giyani Stadium and was attended by many traditional healers from around the country, officials from the Kruger National Park, government officials and many community members. The theme of the day was Traditional Medicine is the Answer. In an interview, Hlathi said that celebrating and preserving traditional medicine as it had been used by communities for decades as an effective treatment was important. He further indicated that traditional healers should stick to their traditions and desist from killing people for ritual purposes. “Our gods gave us a whole land for
herbs that are used to cure the different diseases. Why should we go out and kill others for their body parts? We are saying it here that those who use body parts are not part of us. They are fake healers who are tarnishing our noble profession of healing people.” He described them as “fly-by-nights” and said that they should be exposed and punished by the law. “Ours is the task to heal people and not to kill others in order to heal,” he said. Hlathi urged traditional practitioners to take an effective part in preserving indigenous plants. He called on traditional practitioners to help save the rhino by not working with criminals, giving criminals muti to go and kill rhinos and committing any other crimes in communities.
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13 SEPTEMBER 2019
Constable kills female reservist before turning the gun on himself Police have confirmed that a 35-year-old Constable has shot and killed a 29-yearold police reservist before fatally shooting himself in Ha-Madodonga outside Louis Trichardt in Limpopo. The two were stationed at Tshilwavhusiku police station. Provincial police spokesperson Motlafela Mojapelo says it is alleged that the man followed her to her home where an argument ensued before the shooting occurred on Tuesday evening. “The police at Tshikwavhusiku are investigating a murder and an inquest docket after a 35-year-old police Constable shot and killed a 29-year-old woman under Tshikwavhusiku policing area. We are
really investigating the circumstance of the shooting and really don’t know what transpired, but apparently the police Constable was not on duty at the time and a service pistol has been used.” Mojapelo has urged police officers experiencing stress and depression to consult the internal psychology unit. “We are actually urging our members to make use of this helping profession whose duty is to assist police officers who might be going through difficult circumstances and so on. But, we believe if people can make use of this particular platform, they will be able to solve their problems rather than resorting to violence.”
Police hunt suspects after missing Limpopo girl (11) found dead
Limpopo police have launched a manhunt for the killer of an 11-year-old girl in Groblersdal. The young girl was re-
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ported missing on Thursday after she failed to return home from school. Her body was discovered the following day in the bush near Ga-Marishane village. Police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said: “The missing person incident was reported to the police and a search operation ensued until her lifeless body was found in the bushes outside Ga-Marishane village. Anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the suspect (s) involved in the murder should contact the crime stop number 086-00-10111.”
13 SEPTEMBER 2019
Vhadau Vha Damani lead the pack If the current league log for the GladAfrica Championship were the final one, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) would be gaining automatic promotion to the Absa Premiership Division. TTM are shining on top of the log with seven points accumulated from the three matches they have played to date. The Tshakhuma side moved to the top of the log, following their 3-0 victory over Swallows FC at the Thohoyandou Stadium last Saturday. The rookies, JDR Stars, dropped to the second spot on the log, two points behind TTM. The other teams that have five points in their league account are Richards Bay FC and University of Pretoria. Asked to comment shortly after their impressive 3-0 victory over Swallows FC, Mr Momcilo Medic, the team’s head coach, warned his players not to fall into the trap of becoming complacent and relaxing as if the league programme were over. He reiterated the fact that the league programme is a marathon that stretches over a period of 10 months. He further stated that the most impor-
Two gogos teams receive soccer kit Sidza Engineering recently donated soccer kit to two elderly women’s soccer teams, Mudumpabe Old Age team and Lavhelesani Old Age during a ceremony at Tshifudi. The gogos could not believe their eyes when they received the new kit and a soccer ball. Mr Lufuno Nedzamba of Sidza Engineering, the sponsor, said it had touched his heart when he learnt that the gogos were playing soccer without proper sports attire. He said the women were a true example of women’s empowerment, because they were proving that
there was no longer a sporting code for a certain gender. “You are keeping your bodies healthy and you must remember that a healthy body harbours a healthy mind. Let’s do away with the idea that elders are supposed to sit at home, doing nothing until sunset,” he added. He encouraged the elderly to keep up their active lifestyles. The captain of the Lavhelesani Old Age team, Ms Mpedziseni Mapholi, said they had established the team with the aim of helping the elders to relieve stress and keep them healthy.
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tant aspect for him was to motivate the players to maintain their current form and never to look back. He said that they would use the 10-day break to tighten up their loose ends. TTM displayed entertaining football throughout the game, but they could not find the net in the first half, despite numerous close-range attempts. Their opening goal came nine minutes into the last stanza. Thembisani Nevhulamba forced his way through the defence of Swallows and beat the keeper. TTM replaced Onyedikachi Ononogbu with Wisani Mandlazi. Mboniseni Mbandlwa, TTM’s dribbling wizard, was brought down within the box. That was a clear penalty for the home side. Jean Munganga, the team’s captain, took the responsibility and converted from the penalty spot. A substitute, Naeem Amoojee, made his presence felt when his second touch of the ball gave rise to TTM’s third goal in the dying minutes of the game. Amoojee gave the ball the final touch, following a square pass from Tumisang Mashele.
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