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
2023-12-13
19
管理
问题
Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "must enjoy parity 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 Zulu-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 speak 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 larded with Indian and Zulu. [br] What is the main reason that Afrikaans is not used by black South Africans?
选项
A、Because it is not as fashionable as English.
B、Because it is not their native tongue.
C、Because it is difficult to learn.
D、Because it symbolizes the ruling class.
答案
D
解析
细节题。在南非种族隔离的情况下,英语和南非荷兰语是官方语言,但是人们更多地选用英语,因为尤其是南非黑人认为南非荷兰语是统治者的语言。原文是“Black South Africans increasingly rejected Afrikaans as the language of the main oppressor.”
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3268490.html
相关试题推荐
[originaltext]AnofficialfromthePhilippines’Presidentialpalacesaysthe
[originaltext]RedCrossofficialsinthePhilippinesestimatethatmorethan
[originaltext]SouthAfrica’sblackminershaveobservedaone-daystriketom
[originaltext]OfficialsinnorthernBrazilsayafour-dayriotatanotoriously
[originaltext]OfficialsinnorthernBrazilsayafour-dayriotatanotoriously
WhichofthefollowinglanguagesbelongstothesamelanguagefamilyasEnglish?
[originaltext]AtopEthiopianofficialsayshiscountry’sborderwarwithEri
Linguistshavefoundthatsignlanguagesandspokenlanguagessharemanyfeatu
Linguistshavefoundthatsignlanguagesandspokenlanguagessharemanyfeatu
FrustratedwithdelaysinSacramento,BayAreaofficialssaidThursdaytheypl
随机试题
按桩的承载能力不同,桩可分为()。A.混凝土桩 B.钢管桩 C.摩擦桩
若机器字长为8位,则可表示出十进制整数-128的编码是()。A.原码 B.
中国居民膳食中脂肪的参考摄入量为占总能量的()A.10%—15% B.20
水质氯化物测定加入1mL铬酸钾溶液,用硝酸银标准溶液滴定,硝酸银标准溶液的浓度(
在国际工程投标报价中,保函手续费属于( )。 A、直接费 B、现场管理费
新起恶寒微发热,头身疼痛,无汗,鼻塞流涕,口不渴,舌苔白而润,脉浮紧者,所属的证
影响期权价值的主要因素包括()。 A.标的资产的市场价格B.期权的执行价格
在电子邮政中处于主导和控制地位的是()。A:物流 B:信息流 C:资金流
(2020年真题)企业为执行不可撤销的销售合同而持有的存货,应当以合同价格为基础
隧道安全步距主要由()决定。A.施工方法 B.隧道围岩级别 C.二次衬砌时
最新回复
(
0
)