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
2024-12-16
0
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/3876518.html
相关试题推荐
Underthe1996constitution,all11ofSouthAfrica’sofficiallanguages"mu
Underthe1996constitution,all11ofSouthAfrica’sofficiallanguages"mu
______istheofficiallanguageoftheRepublicofIrelandand______isthesec
Itistakenasagreatcontributionmadeby______thatlanguagesintheworlda
______linguisticsreferstothestudyofalanguageorlanguagesatasinglepo
Learningforeignlanguages,bothatschooloraftergraduation,canberewar
Learningforeignlanguages,bothatschooloraftergraduation,canberewar
Learningforeignlanguages,bothatschooloraftergraduation,canberewar
Learningforeignlanguages,bothatschooloraftergraduation,canberewar
Learningforeignlanguages,bothatschooloraftergraduation,canberewar
随机试题
Whatdoesitmeantoobeythelaw?That【B1】______whereyouare.Differentc
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSORANUMBERforeachansw
Afterretiringfrom30yearsofteaching,EthbellPeppercouldeasilyhaved
肝血吸虫病的病理学特征是:()A.汇管区病变 B.肝实质内虫卵结节 C.
关于场外交易市场的表述,以下说法正确的有()。A.通常是通过集中而有形的市
贫血是指外周血中单位容积内Hb浓度、红细胞计数及(或)红细胞压积()相同年龄
下列化合物属于醛类的有机物是()。A.RCHO B. C.R—OH D
案例一(3): 心理咨询师:您近期的睡眠怎么样? 求助者:不好,早晨
A.1/5 B.1/4 C.1/3 D.1/2 E.2/3桩核冠中桩的直
(2017年)含尘废气中水汽接近饱和,去除其中颗粒物的使用工艺技术是()。A.
最新回复
(
0
)