NATIONAL LANGUAGE BODY FOR AFRIKAANS 

Discussion document:  Proposed strategic framework for Afrikaans  (Discussion document as amended with inputs received during the Language Plan Conference held on 5 February 2005 in Johannesburg)

Following on the language survey and Afrikaans Language Indaba ("Afrikaanse Taalberaad") that took place in 2004, a workshop was held on 12 January 2005 in Pretoria on the proposed strategy for Afrikaans. An ad hoc committee consisting of three persons formed the work team: Dr. Neville Alexander, Dr. Karel Prinsloo (convenor) and Prof. Vic Webb.

The purpose of the workshop was:

(i) to review the progress of the language plan;

(ii) to condense all the documents of the language audit and the Afrikaans Language Indaba into a draft language plan in a concise format; and

(iii) to suggest the next steps in the process.

The report on the workshop was discussed on 17 January 2005 by a management group of the Language Indaba’s Continuation Committee and the National Language Body for Afrikaans (NLBA). They approved the report in its present form for wider distribution to the country-wide group of volunteer co-workers and persons interested in an Afrikaans language strategy, so that it could be discussed and ratified at a broad meeting on 5 February 2005 in Johannesburg.

The purpose of the meeting was:

During the meeting, the document was tabled and discussed. Certain amendments were proposed and accepted during the discussion. The meeting was also requested to submit further proposals for improvement of the broad strategy to the secretariat for the attention of the Interim Management, and those have already been added to the document.

During the conference on 5 February 2005 in Johannesburg it was found that there were sufficient grounds for the process to be continued.

(i) The language plan is committed to inclusivity: inclusivity in respect of all the sections of the Afrikaans speaking community as well as interested parties from other language communities.

(ii) The language plan recognises the fact that Afrikaans is the property of all who speak it. Afrikaans is also everybody’s collective responsibility.

(iii) The language plan is based on the premise that, if the Afrikaans language community succeeds in moving forward, that would also enable other South African languages to move forward.

(iv) The language plan endorses the language clauses in the Constitution as well as the values mentioned in the Constitution, inter alia the combating of discrimination and of socio-economic inequality, the pursuit of the equality of all individuals and the promotion of democracy.

(v) Reconciliation between communities who are using Afrikaans and between speakers of Afrikaans and other language communities is an important priority.

(vi) South Africans, and therefore also speakers of Afrikaans, have the right and should be afforded the opportunity to empower themselves by means of the language or languages of their choice.

(vii) "Unity in diversity" is pursued.

(viii) Multilingualism among the speakers of Afrikaans is regarded as an asset.

(i) The strategic plan should be seen as a process rather than as a product (and especially not as a "bastion").

(ii) The process should be handled with patience; it is a long-term process.

(iii) It has to be borne in mind that language planning is an extremely complex activity and that the achievement of objectives cannot be effectively controlled or predicted.

(iv) A strategic plan should be based on:

A strategic plan for the turnaround of language shift in Afrikaans can be developed with reference to a strategic planning model.

(i) It is recommended that an Interim Management act until the following Afrikaans Language Indaba (possibly in Augustus 2005). This Interim Management should consist of representatives of the NLBA and civil society. They are in general responsible for the planning and management of the Language Plan.

(ii) As part of the Interim Management there should also be a secretariat service to take care of the day-to-day work of coordinating as required by the process of implementing the language strategy. A suitable person (or persons) has (have) to be appointed for this task by the Interim Management.

(iii) The first focus groups for the various domains that were identified during the first Language Indaba for Afrikaans (e.g. Education, Arts, Heritage, Law, Labour, etc.) have to come into operation. Each focus group needs its own coordinating secretariat. The focus groups have to take care of the necessary networking, prioritising of tasks and practical plans for handling challenges. Not too many focus groups should be deployed initially, so that precious energy is not dissipated.

(iv) Work groups of the Afrikaans language strategy take care of the handling of specific areas as tasked by the Interim Management or by the focus groups, e.g. liaising with the media, fundraising, marketing, etc.

(v) It is proposed that the entire Language Indaba and language strategy initiative become the responsibility of a National Forum for Afrikaans that is to be established.

The National Forum for Afrikaans would not mean yet another burocracy being created. It is rather envisaged as an informal, loose kind of forum that would be driven strongly by civil society.

The NFA as civil organisation would work in close collaboration with PanSALB, which statutorily looks after multilingualism, and the NLBA which statutorily supports the technical advancement of Afrikaans.

It is anticipated that the other indigenous language groups may also in time establish similar language forums from their civil ranks. Jointly these forums would then be able to develop a South African civil movement for multilingualism, linking up with the work of PanSALB, the Dept. of Arts and Culture, the Dept. of Education and other government undertakings as well as the existing associations and cultural organisations running projects.

The envisaged NFA will consist of the following:

People will not formally become members of the NFA. Organisations will also not formally join as members.

Great effort has to be made to get the broad public involved on a civil and inclusive basis.

(i) The preliminary survey (as contained in "Verslag van ’n taaloudit oor Afrikaanse taalprojekte, verenigings en energieë, 2004") has to be continued and extended, as advised by experts during the first Afrikaans Language Indaba. They have to be asked for further guidelines in this regard.

(ii) During the language plan workshop, attention was given to a SWOT-analysis, a PEST-analysis (political, economical, socio-cultural and technological forces) and a scenario planning model. It is recommended that one or more of this type of analyses be applied more widely, for instance at the following Language Indaba.

Introductory remark:

The statement of its vision and mission, and the description of its aims and objectives have to be drawn up in collaboration with the broad community of concerned parties or their representatives. It cannot be formulated "from above" or by a chance spokesperson on behalf of the group. Therefore this matter will have to be discussed further during the following broad meetings.

The following draft vision statement is proposed:

Through the language plan initiative the Afrikaans speaking civil society wishes to contribute to the development of a language-political situation in multilingual South Africa in which Afrikaans (and therefore also the other indigenous languages) can be purposefully preserved and promoted, especially as high-function language of empowerment in the wider community.

A vision statement for Afrikaans has to contribute to:

A) the promotion of the national values and ideals of SA and the construction of a society modelled on the lines of pluralism

B) educational, economical, political and social development by the promotion of Afrikaans and multilingualism

C) the construction of a language-political situation in which Afrikaans plays a constructive role in a multilingual South Africa.

The same introductory remark stated at par. 6 applies here.

The Afrikaans language plan represents the manner in which the civil society interested in Afrikaans wishes to accept the responsibility for determining trouble-spots, flaws, priorities, working plans and a future vision.

The Afrikaans language strategy has to:

A) promote reconciliation among different communities

B) contribute to the meaningful implementation of the constitutional language clauses

C) uphold Afrikaans as high-function language

D) include an information campaign to enable decision-makers to appreciate the fundamental role that the language is playing in development, democratisation, reconciliation and nation-building

(i) Persuade the government to implement constitutional clauses regarding language and the policy on language-in-education

(ii) Persuade the Minister of Arts and Culture to pilot the SA Languages Act through Parliament

(iii) Distribute information on the importance of multilingualism

(iv) Distribute information on the importance and implementability of mother-tongue education.

(The following is a list of the kind of objectives that participants in the Afrikaans Language Indaba in Stellenbosch proposed in the course of their presentations or comments. It has not been arranged in order of priority nor according to main areas.)

(i) Changing the negative social meaning (stigma/the past history of "the future of Afrikaans") in certain communities (e.g. the "brown" communities, the Griekwa communities, the modern youth, the elite, the workers community); changing perceptions about Afrikaans

(ii) Increasing the prestige of Afrikaans

(iii) Breaking down suspicion between communities regarding language actions

(iv) Meaningful liaison with language leaders in the African language communities

(v) Establishing cooperation between linguistically directed bodies and coordinating their programmes and actions

(vi) Promotion of Afrikaans as primary, secondary and tertiary language of instruction (but NOT only based on language rights)

(vii) Promotion of Afrikaans in the government and business sectors

(viii) Promotion of the use of Afrikaans in technology (in wordprocessing programmes as well as in human language technology, but making sure that the proposals in this regard are well considered. Illustration: language technology cannot function as "one of the top ten technologies that are going to drastically change the economy and our lives before 2010" if the majority of South Africans are technologically illiterate and their languages are not high-function languages.

(ix) Strengthening the will of the speakers of Afrikaans to promote Afrikaans and to use it in high functions.

(x) Promoting a culture of reading in the Afrikaans speaking community.

(xi) Creating and maintaining a database on the language politics of Afrikaans (the language audit), including a source guide and bibliography.

Further remarks on aims and objectives:

(i) Language rights of Afrikaans have to remain a focal point.

(ii) Is the media not neutral in respect of the language of the community that it serves? Then the NFA-to-be has to enter into discussions with the media.

(iii) The NFA should even use Parliament to obtain empowerment for Afrikaans.

(iv) Afrikaans Universities have to continue to exist.

(v) Focus has to shift to how we should go about getting a proper language movement off the ground.

(vi) Powers to distinguish are necessary – this conference and the language strategy have to focus on the big picture; the details will automatically take care of themselves.

(vii) Success lies in coordination – the NFA could be a recipe for success provided that there is understanding for the individual organisations and unique identities.

(viii) Everybody has to work together to be part of the process of promoting Afrikaans as higher function language. All the functions should be as widely as possible available to everyone.

(In this section again only illustrative examples of the kind of projects and tasks are mentioned that were proposed during the Language Indaba. The list is not necessarily complete, and has also not been arranged according to domains or in order of priority. The focus groups for domains could please help with this.)

A) Extend the language audit and undertake a strategic interpretation thereof.

B) Obtain the cooperation of other institutions and establish a network of interested individuals and institutions in the country as well as in other countries.

C) Establish ties with international institutions that are concerned with smaller languages and advertise this cooperation aggressively.

D) Create and maintain a home page that makes provision for discussion.

E) Oversee the loose coordination of the language advancement activities of all the roleplaying institutions.

F) Obtain the cooperation and support of high profile figures.

G) Seek cooperation and obtain the support of language leaders in the African communities.

H) Run information campaigns and organise discussions

(i) in the ranks of education – especially in national and provincial departments of education,

(ii) in other government sectors, and

(iii) in the business sector with a view to emphasise the fundamental role of effective communication in the management of business institutions as well as the civil service, the importance of "mother tongue education", and the need for strengthening/promoting Afrikaans and the African languages.

I) Undertake and support empowerment projects, and skills development programmes in the townships, WITHOUT any political agendas, e.g. by making use of retired teachers.

J) Undertake service delivery projects, such as the provision of Afrikaans reading matter to black pupils.

K) Proclaim the importance of Afrikaans as first and second additional language subject at school by well-considered discussions with the national and provincial departments of education, learners, parents, the teaching community and control boards of schools, as well as with employers.

L) Oppose the hegemony of English/the overrating of the importance of English.

M) Organise regular media coverage and public discussion fora, and try to get positive coverage also in the English media; publish progress with the language planning process, in English on the Internet.

N) Get the support and cooperation of the Dept. of Arts and Culture (and its provincial equivalents) and obviously also of PanSALB.

O) Initiate/organise a discussion between the Dept. of Arts and Culture, and writers and publishers.

P) Further the language discussion with business people and government.

Q) Think of ways in which Afrikaans speaking consumers could apply their buying power to the benefit of Afrikaans.

R) Identify members of Parliament who would be able to act as champions for multilingualism and deliberate with them.

S) Establish a language fund.

T) Support the marketing of quality products in Afrikaans.

U) Market multilingualism in an aggressive and dynamic way – for training, effective management (in the public as well as the business domain), appointments and promotions.

V) Consider lobbying for the persuasion of decision-makers in the civil service.

W) Lend support to "transformation" (i.e. the promotion of equal opportunities) in a visible and meaningful way. Discrimination sometimes happens under the guise of transformation – this has to be stopped.

Rather replace the word "transformation" where it is being used in a vague manner. While SA is in a process of transformation, we have to be sure that the language rights that are entrenched in the Constitution, are practised in the community, so that Afrikaans may also flourish.

X) Make the report on the Indaba available and put the proposed strategy as a discussion point on Litnet, the "Vrye Afrikaan" and other relevant websites.

Y) Study available literature and do research, e.g.:

(i) Study literature on language expansion (and "reversing language shift") with regard to smaller languages. Obtain information on language development plans for languages such as Catalonian, Welsh, Irish, French in Canada, etc.

(ii) Determine what the viewpoints and language-political needs are in all the communities concerned.

(iii) Determine exactly how high-level bilingualism may be implemented in practice, e.g. in the highly multilingual (Gauteng) classrooms.

(iv) Research the past history of Afrikaans in the so-called "Coloured" community, and accept the fact that contemporary Afrikaans is the product of a "construction from a specific ideological angle" and that the contribution by marginalised groups had been largely ignored.

Further remarks about implementation strategies:

Regular feedback and communication on the language strategy are anticipated:

The entire language plan undertaking is seen as a project from the civil society and is regarded as coupled with PanSALB for legitimicy purposes.

For the subdivisions of the language strategy (costing units, task areas and projects), financial plans are being made and funds are being sought by the volunteer co-workers who accept the responsibility for these subdivisions.

Attention is also being given to central fundraising for aspects of the language plan and certain projects. A few fundraising specialists could be involved with this, and the advisory council of the NFA as prominent South Africans will be able to assist in establishing funding contacts.

Positive ideas for the completion of this manuscript were put forward during the discussions. The book should be seen as:

A more complete document on the proposed language strategy for Afrikaans has to be prepared for further ratification by the second Language Indaba.

Around the Language Indaba, attention should also be given to pointers that emerge (for instance from a SWOT-analysis, a PEST-analysis and a scenario planning) focusing on priorities to be addressed in a language plan.

It is suggested that Dr. Neville Alexander should be asked to deliver a paper on ACALAN, the Academy of African Languages, and how it may be linked up with the proposed NFA and its language plan for Afrikaans.

(The draft language strategy has been compiled by the ad hoc committee for the consideration of the language planning process: Neville Alexander, Karel Prinsloo and Vic Webb, January 2005.)

Convener of the ad hoc committee: Dr Karel Prinsloo 012 348 5550 (w)