Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Language Policy as a Sociocultural Tool: Insights from the University of Cape Town

  • Article
  • Published:
Higher Education Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This theoretically oriented article draws on the author’s previous research, which examined language policy and planning (LPP) of the University of Cape Town within the context of post-apartheid transformation driven by need to redress inequalities of the past, and demands of globalization. Drawing on critical linguistics, but indicating limitations of this approach, and recognizing complex interrelationships between LPP levels, this paper embeds discussion of LPP in higher education within a meta-theoretical framework of sociocultural theory by employing conceptualization of language policy as a mediatory tool. Illuminating theoretical discussion with examples drawn from the data, the article examines possibilities that sociocultural perspective opens up for language policy analysis. In that sense, it contributes to the ongoing discussion that aims to fill in theoretical gap regarding problematic dialectic between policy and practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bacchi, C. (1999) Women, policy and politics: the construction of policy problems, London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bacchi, C. (2000) ‘Policy as discourse: what does it mean? where does it get us?’ Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 21 (1): 45–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, S. (1990) Politics and Policy Making in Education, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, S. (1994) Education Reform: A Critical and Post-Structural Approach, Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, S., Maguire, M. and Braun, A. (2012) How Schools do Policy: Policy Enactments in Secondary Schools, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bamgbose, A. (1987) ‘When is language planning not planning?’ Journal of West African Languages XVII (1): 6–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bamgbose, A. (1991) Language and Nation. The National Language Question in sub — Saharan Africa, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barthes, R. (1972/2009) Mythologies, London: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beukes, A.-M. (2009) ‘Language policy incongruity and African languages in postapartheid South Africa’, Language Matters: Studies in the language in Africa 40 (1): 35–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blommaert, J. (1996) ‘Language planning as a discourse on language and society: the linguistic ideology of a scholarly tradition’, Language Problems and Language Planning 20 (3): 199–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boughey, C. (2009) ‘South Africa: University students can’t read?’, University World News, 30 August http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2009082810530924, accessed 10 March 2015.

  • Bridgman, P. and Davis, G. (2004) Australian Policy Handbook, St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brock-Utne, B. (2001) ‘The growth of English for academic communication in the Nordic countries’, International Review of Education 47 (3–4): 221–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brock-Utne, B. (2002) ‘The global forces affecting the education sector today — the universities in Europe as an example’, Higher Education in Europe XXVII (3): 283–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, A.W. (1996) ‘The International Role of English: The State of Discussion’, in J.A. Fishman, A.W. Conrad and A. Rubal-Lopez (eds.) Post-imperial English. Status change in former British and American colonies, 1940–1990, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 13–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, R.L. (1989) Language Planning and Social Change, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross, R. (2006) ‘Language teaching as activity: a sociocultural practice on second language teacher practice’, Ph.D. dissertation, Faculty of Education, Monash University.

  • Cross, R. (2009) ‘A sociocultural framework for language policy and planning’, Language Problems & Language Planning 33 (1): 22–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crystal, D. (1997) English as a global language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuvelier, P., du Plessis, T., Meeuwis, M. and Teck, L. (eds.) (2007) Multilingualism and Exclusion. Policy, Practice and Prospects, Pretoria: Van Schaik.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Education (DoE) (2002) Language Policy for Higher Education, Pretoria: Department of Education.

  • Department of Education (DoE) (2008) Report of the Ministerial Committee on Transformation and Social Cohesion and the Elimination of Discrimination in Public Higher Education Institutions, Pretoria: Department of Education.

  • Gale, T. (1999) ‘Policy trajectories: treading the discursive path of policy analysis’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 20 (3): 393–407.

  • Graddol, D. (2006) English next, London: British Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gramsci, A. (1971) Selections from Prison Notebooks, London: Lawrence and Wishart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, D. (2011) ‘ “When I hear Afrikaans in the classroom and never my language, I get rebellious”: linguistics apartheid in South African higher education’, Language and Education 24 (6): 517–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamel, R.E. (2007) ‘The dominance of English in the international scientific periodical literature and the future of language use in science’, AILA Review 20: 53–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, L.B. (2009) ‘The decline of academic bilingualism in South Africa: a case study’, Language Policy 8 (3): 327–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hornberger, N.H. and Johnson, D.C. (2007) ‘Slicing the onion ethnographically: layers and spaces in multilingual language education policy and practice’, TESOL Quarterly 41 (3): 509–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D.C. (2013) Language Policy, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kadalie, R. (2009) ‘South Africa: Transformation needs to be transformed’, University World News, 13 September http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20090912221731811&query=kadalie, accessed 10 March 2015.

  • Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2004) ‘The Language Planning Situation in South Africa’, in R.B. Baldauf and R.B. Kaplan (eds.) Language planning and policy in Africa: Vol. 1, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Limited, pp. 197–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karjalainen, M. (2009) ’It cannot solve all the problems but it can make a contribution’ The role of language policy and planning in the transformation of the University of Cape Town. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Finland.

  • LANGTAG (1996) Towards a national language plan for South Africa. Retrieved from, http://www.polity.org.za/polity/govdocs/reports/langtag.html, accessed 27 February 2013.

  • Lantolf, J.P. (2000) ‘Introducing Sociocultural Theory’, in J.P. Lantolf (ed.) Sociocultural theory and Second Language Learning, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lantolf, J.P. and Thorne, S.L. (2006) Sociocultural theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Louw, J. and Finchilescu, G. (2003) UCT Organisational Climate Survey, Cape Town: Unpublished Report, UCT.

  • Mabokela, R.O. (2001) ‘Selective Inclusion: Transformation and Language Policy at the University of Stellenbosch’, in R.O. Mabokela and K.L. King (eds.) Apartheid no More: Case Studies of Southern African in the Process of Transformation, Westport: Bergin & Garvey, pp. 59–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald, H. (2007) Feeding Hungry Souls: An Ethnographic Study of a Climate Intervention Strategy at UCT, Cape Town: Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cape Town.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madiba, M. (2012) Multilingualism in class: a transformation strategy? Retrieved from, http://www.ched.uct.ac.za/news/?id=8107&t=dn, accessed 4 May 2012.

  • Madlala, M. (2013) Language policy raises hackles. Retrieved from, http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/language-policy-raises-hackles1.1517783#comments_start, accessed 10 June 2013.

  • Mail & Guardian (2008) Advertisement for UCT, 11.-17. 4. April 2008. Print.

  • Ó Laoire, M., Rigg, C. and Georgiou, V. (2011) ‘Subaltern agency and language education policy: Implementing a language policy on the ground’, Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies 5 (3): 19–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orman, J. (2008) Language Policy and Nation-Building in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (2004) ‘Language studies and performativity’, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies 1 (1): 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (2006) ‘Postmodernism in Language Policy’, in T. Ricento (ed.) An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 60–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (2007) ‘The Myth of English as an International Language’, in S. Makoni and A. Pennycook (eds.) Disinventing and Reconstituting Languages, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 90–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson, R. (2003) English-only Europe? Challenging Language Policy, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Probyn, M. (2005) ‘Language and the Struggle to Learn: the Intersection of Classroom Realities, Language Policy, and Neocolonial and Globalization Discourse in South African Schools’, in A. Lin (ed.) Decolonisation, Globalization: Language-in-Education Policy and Practice, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Limited, pp. 153–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pütz, M., Fishman, J.A. and Neff-van Aertselaer, J. (eds.) (2006) Along the Routes to Power. Explorations of Empowerment through Language, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Reagan, T. (2001) ‘The promotion of linguistic diversity in multilingual settings. Policy and reality in post-apartheid South Africa’, Language Problems and Language Planning 25 (1): 51–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy, T. (2004) Higher education and social transformation. South Africa case study, Pretoria: Council on Higher Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Republic of South Africa (1996) The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. No. 108 of 1996 Cape Town: Republic of South Africa.

  • Ricento, T. (2000) ‘Historical and theoretical perspectives in language policy and planning’, Journal of Sociolinguistics 4 (2): 196–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saarinen, T. (2008) ‘Position of text and discourse analysis in higher education policy research’, Studies in Higher Education 33 (6): 719–728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schissel, J. (2009) ‘Narrative self-constructions of Senator Ralph Yarborough in the 1967 congressional hearings on the Bilingual education act’, Working Papers in Educational Linguistics 24 (1): 79–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scollon, R. (2001) Mediated Discourse: the Nexus of Practice, London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M.J., Dube, N., Gasnola, S. and Myeza, M. (2004) Same River, Different Boats 138 – Report on 13 Focus Groups with UCT Students, Cape Town: Unpublished Report, UCT.

  • Spencer, D. (2008) Huge increase in English – medium courses. Retrieved from http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20080404084327712, accessed 13 October 2008.

  • Steyn, M. and van Zyl, M. (2001) ‘Like that Statue at Jammie Stairs …’ Some Student Perceptions and Experiences of Institutional Culture at the University of Cape Town in 1999, Cape Town: Institute for Intercultural and Diversity Studies of Southern Africa. Unpublished Report, UCT.

  • Subotzky, G. (2003) ‘Symbolism and Substance: Towards an Understanding of Change and Continuity in South African Higher Education’, in H. Eggins (ed.) Globalization and Reform in Higher Education, Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education, pp. 164–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, M.A. and Levinson, B. (2001) Policy as Practice: Toward a Comparative Sociocultural Analysis of Educational Policy, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tollefson, J.W. (1991) Planning Language, Planning Inequality. Language Policy in the Community, London: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • University of Cape Town (1996) Mission statement. Retrieved from, www.uct.ac.za, accessed 29 October 2008.

  • University of Cape Town (1999/2003) Language policy, Cape Town: University of Cape Town.

  • University of Cape Town (2003) Towards a Language Plan for the University of Cape Town: 2005–2010, Cape Town: University of Cape Town.

  • University of Cape Town (2007) UCT Institutional Climate Survey 2007. Report, Cape Town: University of Cape Town.

  • van Weijen, D. (2012) The language of (future) scientific communication. Research Trends. Issue 31: 7–8, November. Retrieved from, http://www.researchtrends.com/issue-31-november-2012/the-language-of-future-scientific-communication/, accessed 2 April 2014.

  • Wertsch, J.V. (1985) Vygotsky and the social formation of mind, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univeristy Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oulu, P.O. Box 2000, OULU, 90014, Finland

    Magda Karjalainen

Authors
  1. Magda Karjalainen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Karjalainen, M. Language Policy as a Sociocultural Tool: Insights from the University of Cape Town. High Educ Policy 29, 131–148 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2015.6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2015.6

Keywords

Search

Navigation