首页
登录
职称英语
Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "mu
Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "mu
游客
2023-12-10
65
管理
问题
Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "must enjoy equality of esteem and be treated equitably". In practice English, the mother tongue of just 8% of the people, increasingly dominates all the others. Its hegemony may even threaten the long-term survival of the country’s African languages, spoken as the mother tongue of 80% of South Africans, despite the government’s repeated promises to promote and protect indigenous languages and culture.
Under apartheid, there were just two official languages, English and Afrikaans, a variant of Dutch with a dash of French, German, Khoisan (spoken by so-called Bushmen and Hottentots), Malay and Portuguese. Pre-colonial African languages were relegated to the black townships and tribal "homelands". Even there, English was often chosen as the medium of education in preference to the inhabitants’ mother tongues. Black South Africans increasingly rejected Afrikaans as the language of the main oppressor, English was a symbol of advancement and prestige.
Today, 16 years after the advent of black-majority rule, English reigns supreme. Not only is it the medium of business, finance, science and the internet, but also of government, education, broadcasting, the press, advertising, street signs, consumer products and the music industry. For such things Afrikaans is also occasionally used, especially in the Western Cape province, but almost never an African tongue. The country’s Zulu-speaking president, Jacob Zuma, makes all his speeches in English. Parliamentary debates are in English. Even the instructions on bottles of prescription drugs come only in English or Afrikaans.
Yet most black South Africans are not proficient in English. This is because most of their teachers give lessons in a language that is not their own. To give non-English-speaking children a leg-up, the government agreed last year that all pupils should be taught in their mother tongue for at least the first three years of primary school. But outside the rural areas, where one indigenous language prevails, this is neither financially nor logistically feasible.
Some people suggest reducing the number of official languages to a more manageable three: English, Afrikaans and Zulu, the mother tongue of nearly a quarter of South Africans. But non-Zulus would object. Unless brought up on a farm, few whites speak an African language. For the school-leaving exam, proficiency in at least two languages is required. But most native English-speakers opt for Afrikaans, said to be easy to learn, rather than a useful but harder African tongue. At universities African-language departments are closing.
Some effort is being made to protect African languages from this apparently inexorable decline. The Sunday Times, South Africa’s biggest-selling weekend paper, recently launched a Zulu edition. In September the Oxford University Press brought out the first isiZulu-English dictionary in more than 40 years.
Many of the black elite, who send their children to English-speaking private schools or former white state schools, may accept English emerging as the sole national language. Many talk English to their children at home. Fluency in the language of Shakespeare is regarded as a sign of modernity, sophistication and power.
Will South Africa’s black languages suffer the fate of the six languages brought by the country’s first Indian settlers 150 years ago? Maybe so, thinks Rajend Mesthrie at the University of Cape Town. For the first 100-odd years, he says, South Africa’s Indians taught and spoke to their children in their native tongues. But English is now increasingly seen as "the best way forward". Today most young Indians speak only English or are bilingual in English and Afrikaans, though they may continue to chat at home in a kind of pidgin English mixed with Indian and Zulu. [br] What is the author’s feeling towards the disappearance of African languages?
选项
A、disappointed
B、optimistic
C、neutral
D、critical
答案
C
解析
文章从一开始到结束都只是客观地描述南非语濒临灭绝的现象及原因,没有涉犀作者的感情色彩,因此选项C正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3261958.html
相关试题推荐
TheU.S.Constitutionprovidesthatthe______shallbePresidentoftheSenate.A、
TheBritishPrimeMinister’sofficialresidenceis,No.10______StreetinLond
[originaltext]OfficialsintheformerSovietRepublicofAzerbaijannowfear
Howmanyyearswillthetwoseniorofficialsfaceinprison?[originaltext]T
WhatdoesthenewsitemsayaboutAmiri?[br][originaltext]Officialshere
WhatdoesthenewsitemsayaboutAmiri?[originaltext]Officialsherearesa
[originaltext]Atwo-dayconferencetopromotetradeandinvestmentinAfrica
ThefollowinglanguagesbelongtoIndo-EuropeanLanguageFamilyEXCEPT______.A、
WhichofthefollowingstatementsisINCORRECT?A、TheBritishconstitutioninclud
Itistakenasagreatcontributionmadeby______thatlanguagesintheworlda
随机试题
HowmanycompaniesarepresentingproductsintheConsumerElectronicsShow?[br
集合竞价时,如果最后一笔成交是部分成交,则以前一日收盘价格为集合竞价产生的价格。()A、正确B、错误B交易系统逐步将排在前面的买入申报和卖
[originaltext]M:Thenthere’salsotheimportanceofknowingyourcreditscores
学校及其他教育机构中最基本、最主要的活动是()。A.按照章程自主管理 B.招
对快动眼睡眠影响小,成瘾性轻的安眠药是A.苯巴比妥B.地西泮C.司可巴比妥D.硫
A. B. C. D.
幼儿园放学的时候,孩子们聚集在走廊里等着父母来接,外面正下着大雨,秩序非常混乱。
()期货交易所首先适用《公司法》的规定,只有在《公司法》未作规定的情况下,才适
甲股份公司是一家上市公司,拟以增发股票的方式从市场融资。公司董事会在讨论股票发行
男性,17岁,近半月低热37.8℃,讲话含糊,情绪易激惹。对父母态度粗暴,有时打
最新回复
(
0
)